Matthew 18:21-22

Posted by DJL on Oct 4, 2014 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”

If I wasn’t sure whether or not Matthew had consciously referenced “Gentiles and tax collectors” purposefully or not in the last passage in order to help later communities think more creatively and critically about how they treat those who will not be reconciled to the community, I’m pretty sure now. Surely it can’t be a coincidence that immediately after recording instructions on what to do with those who will not admit their sin and need for reconciliation, the very next scene has Peter ask how many times he must forgive someone.

Before moving too quickly to Jesus’ answer, however, let’s spend a moment considering Peter’s question. For after asking his question, he suggests an answer, offering “seven” as not simply a legal requirement but a genuinely generous suggestion. After all, it’s nearly inconceivable that were someone to sin against four or five or six times we would just keep forgiving that person. We’d begin to think it was deliberate, or at least dangerously compulsive. Yet Peter offers seven times as an above-and-beyond kind of answer.

To which Jesus replies, “not seven times, but seventy-seven.” I’m not sure why, actually, our translation reads this way. A more literal translation is “seventy times seven” or 490. Preposterous. Outlandish. Inconceivable.

Except that’s what Jesus says.

More importantly, that’s what Jesus does, forgiving us over and over and over again and inviting us to do the same.

Which makes me realize that, finally, this business about forgiveness isn’t about a particular requirement or a number of times at all, as if anything as important to a relationship as love or forgiveness can be counted. Rather, Jesus’ answer encourages us to recognize that forgiveness isn’t something we do but a way of being, a way of being in relationship. A way of being a disciple.

All of which, among other things, puts the prior question of what to do with those who cannot be reconciled into a whole other perspective.

Prayer: Dear God, when we feel wronged or slighted and are considering how to respond, before making a decision let us remember how much you love us and therefore how much you have forgiven us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.