Leader Guide

Drama

We are doing a skit today about forgiveness. Assign the parts of the king and two servants and give the actors simple costumes, if desired. Tell the rest of the class to play the guards and other servants. Narrate the story with great feeling, pausing for children to pantomime the actions. Emphasize all names in the story so children know when to begin acting.

In Matthew 18:21-35, Peter asked Jesus if he had to forgive someone seven times. Jesus said, “No, not seven times, but seventy times seven!” Then He told this story to teach His disciples about forgiveness:

• The king looked at his accounting book to find out how much money his servants owed him. He saw that Servant 1 owed him millions of dollars!
• Servant 1 got out his wallet … and checked all of his pockets … but he didn’t have a penny!
• The king said, “Sell that servant—along with his wife and children and everything he owns!”
• Servant 1 was very upset! He fell down on his knees … and desperately begged, “Please, be patient with me! I promise to pay you back!”
• The king scratched his head … and thought about it. He felt sorry for the servant, so he said, “Okay, let him go. He doesn’t need to pay me back. I forgive him for the whole debt!”
• Servant 1 then went to Servant 2, who only owed him a few thousand dollars. Servant 1 grabbed Servant 2 by the throat— very gently, of course! —and demanded that he pay all of it right away!
• Servant 2 fell down on his knees … and begged desperately: “Be patient with me and I will pay you back!”
• But Servant 1 refused! He called the guards… and told them to come and arrest Servant 2… and put him in prison until he could pay every penny.
• When all the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened …
• The king called in Servant 1 and said, “You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have mercy and forgive your fellow servant?”

Did Servant 1 do what our SuperVerse says today; why or why not?

Let’s say our SuperVerse, Ephesians 4:32, and see if you are correct. 

Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

What do you think; was Servant 1 kind? No! Was he tenderhearted? No! How about forgiving? No! Wow, he didn’t do anything that Jesus wants us to do! Jesus set an example for us in forgiving others. He forgave and continues to forgive us every day, so we need to forgive others as He forgave us!

If time permits, repeat the skit allowing different actors to play the parts.