Jesus expects his followers to forgive others and he offered this parable in Matthew 18:21-35 to help us understand that means everyone. Download this Sunday School lesson below and prepare to teach.
What is mercy? The concept can seem foreign or abstract to children, until it is put in relative terms, like getting a time-out pardon. It is important to communicate to youngsters that forgiveness is a huge component of our relationship with God. As we have gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His grace, we want to impart that upon one another, as well. This Sunday school lesson contains ideas for sharing the parable of the unmerciful student with children, emphasizing why we are to forgive others and appreciate God’s forgiveness.
Lesson focus: This discusses the parable of the unmerciful servant, but the main emphasis should be focused on the idea of forgiveness. It is important to forgive others because we recognize that God has granted us forgiveness. It isn’t always easy, but we demonstrate gratitude for God’s gift of mercy when we extend that to others around us.
Target Audience: Kindergarten-6 th grade (or whoever you might have around!)
Materials Needed: Construction paper, decorative materials, glue, scissors, markers, pencils, erasers, pipe cleaners, staples, stickers, Bible (all optional, depending which activities you choose to use—except for the Bible, you need that for sure).
Lesson Opening: This lesson focuses on mercy and forgiveness. We forgive others not just once or even seventy times, but countless times, recognizing what God has done for us. In fact, demonstrating mercy to others can actually be freeing to us, because grudges can weigh us down, but giving others mercy and love releases us.
Here are some activities to get kids thinking…(select the best ones for your audience and age group):
Explain that today we’ll look at a Gospel passage where Jesus told a parable about someone who did not forgive another person. As we go through, we’ll talk about how important it is for us to forgive other people, and to appreciate God’s mercy upon us.
Ask: Have you ever deserved a punishment, and gotten out of it? How did you feel?
Bible Lesson: As always, how you choose to experience the story will vary according to the ages and abilities of your children (and how many are participating). This passage lends itself nicely to dramatic presentation, whether through puppets, skits, or mime-acting. Remind students of previous conversations surrounding the idea of forgiveness or conflict resolution. In today’s lesson, Jesus will tell a story to emphasize why it is important for us to grant mercy to one another.
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. -Matthew 18:21-22
In this Bible passage, Peter asks Jesus if there is a forgiveness “quota” or a limit to how many times we are required to forgive others. Maybe he was trying to get out of forgiving someone, or he was hoping if he forgave just a few times, he could justify revenge or writing someone off. The number seven was seen as whole or complete…Jesus surprises Peter by telling him that he should actually forgive someone seventy times (or 77 times) seven…this did not limit the forgiveness to 490, though, but was representing an infinite amount of forgiveness offerings.
Ask: Have you ever had to forgive someone? Was it challenging? Why?
Jesus told a story to remind people why forgiveness is so important:
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. -Matthew 18:23-27
Wow…that sounds pretty nice, right? The king forgave the man’s huge debt and let him go completely free and clear! Do you think you would be relieved if you were let off when you should be punished? Probably so! But guess what? This many was not too grateful. Rather than living in peace with others, he found a friend who owe him just a little bit, and did not demonstrate mercy…
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. -Matthew 18:28-31
Does this seem fair? Probably not! And the king didn’t think it seemed too fair either. Although he had previously shown the man a great deal of mercy, this time around, he was not so fortunate:
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” -Matthew 18:32-35
Ask: Why do you think Jesus gave this parable? What does it mean for us? Remind children that we know God forgives us no matter what…but He also wants us to show grace to others.
Now, sometimes it is hard for us to forgive one another. There might be time when people do really mean things to you, and you have to be careful about allowing them to hurt you again and again. You might forgive, but still remember how they acted. God can help us with that. We can go to Him in prayer, acknowledging His work in our lives and asking for His help when forgiving other people. It isn’t always easy, but it’s part of our duties as God’s children!
Close with a prayer thanking God for His abundant mercy and forgiveness. Ask for His help in being merciful to those around us, even when forgiveness can be challenging.
Crafts: “Forgiveness erases wrong” heart card; “mercy breaks the chains” handcuffs; “More than seventy times” collage.
Follow up/Additional Activities
New Sunday School Curriculum: Our Bible lessons are designed to keep the kids’ attention and show how God's Word makes a difference. Every series is flexible enough for a wide-age group and affordable enough for small churches. Download a free Bible lesson in pdf or view our latest Sunday School curriculum for small churches.
Good Evening, I am looking at the Sunday/Church School lessons for kids. No age group has been assigned to me as of today but once I have the age group I will be assisting, I would definitely contact you, everything that I see would be helpful. thanks
Again, thank you for these great ideas, and your effort to help us impart The Word of God to children. May God bless you.
As a father, I have struggled with teaching my children God’s word in a manner to where they would understand. Three young boys in three age groups makes it difficult. Thank you for providing a platform that allows me to teach my children the word of God in our home! Your work is helping families plant seeds. I know this takes plenty of time, thought, and prayer. Thank you for your heart, humility and obedience.
We will pray for you as you continue to be led to do this blog.
I want to really caution about the part where it is says “allowing us to get hurt again and again” and “God can help us forget what they did.” We aren’t always talking about being mean on the playground. Some children are real victims of abuse. We need to also teach children that forgiveness *does not mean* that it’s ok to let someone hurt you again and again. Forgiveness can mean moving away from that person. Forgiveness can mean telling someone what another person did so that you can be safe.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean “what you did to me is ok.” It means “God will judge you, I will not.” This is a really really important caveat, especially as there are some churches where abuse is not dealt with properly. I’d personally remove that part about “getting hurt again and again.” That is not okay. God doesn’t want that for us.
© 2024 Ministry-To-Children.com by Tony Kummer. All rights reserved. But you have full permission to freely re-share and adapt this content under [CC BY-SA 4.0]. This means giving source credit and sharing any derivative works in the same way. 📖 Freely ye have received, freely give.
