There are certain New Testament parables that, once heard, are very difficult to forget. For me, one such is the story of the Unmerciful Servant, found in Matthew 18. Jesus tells the tale of a man who is forgiven a huge debt by his master after pleading for mercy, but refuses to show any forbearance to a man who owes him a much smaller debt, and indeed has him thrown into prison. The master hears of this and angrily orders that the first man be jailed himself.
The message is clear: all of us have been forgiven our sins by God, and we must extend that forgiveness to others. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” as Christ puts it in Luke 6. “The measure that you use for others will be used to measure you.”
