The bible has a lot to say about the forgiveness of sins - the new testament is all about the work of Jesus Christ who was sent by God to suffer and die for just that reason. To help his followers understand the true nature of forgiveness, Jesus used two parables. These parables are the parable of the Unforgiving Servant, which teaches of God’s unlimited mercy and passing it forward, and the parable of the Prodigal Son, which teaches that repentance will always lead to God welcoming us back with open arms. Both of these parables relate to the sacrament of reconciliation - the humility required to ask for forgiveness, and God’s willingness to do so, to restore our relationship with Him.
There are two parables in which Christ speaks of forgiveness
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The main concept of Reconciliation is the forgiveness of sins - mainly grave, or ‘mortal’ sins. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus uses debt as a metaphor for sin. He describes the servant’s debt of 10,000 talents - equivalent to several million dollars today. The point is that it is an impossible debt - just like how the sins of humanity, our sins, are much more than we could ever repay. And yet God (the king), forgives us (the servant) regardless. Another aspect of Sacrament of Reconciliation is the restoration of our relationship with God. The second parable - the Parable of the Prodigal Son - covers this, using the father and son in the story as stand-ins for God and us respectively. Sin, in this parable, can be attributed to the son’s decision to leave his father - in the same way, that when we sin, we choose to turn away from God. On the other hand, the reunion of father and son is similar to us making the choice to ask for forgiveness - and God rejoicing when we come back to Him. As demonstrated by these two parables, the purpose of the sacrament of reconciliation is repent for our sins and to repair our broken relationship with