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HELEN SANDERS
8-8-2022
SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN
Peter came to Jesus and asked him a simple question In Matthew 18:21, “Then came Peter to him (Jesus) and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Til seven times?” He expected Jesus to respond yes, but he did not. He said in verse 22, “Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, until seventy times seven.”
Some bible scholars go on to add that the seventy times seven, which is 490, is not forgiveness over a lifetime. It is 490 in one day. If you take 24 hours and divide that by 490 you come up with over 20 times an hour. That would mean that you forgive someone every three minutes in a 24-hour-day. This is beyond what anyone could do. What Jesus is saying that you never stop forgiving. There is no limit to the times we forgive a person.
If everyone lived with this kind of attitude we would have fewer arguments, fewer wars, and more peace. Unfortunately, most do not live by this standard, but it should be the goal of every Christian.
Is there offense in your life? Do you bristle when you hear the name of someone that “did you wrong” or someone that caused you grief or hardship? Then this message is for you. You must let go of those things and forgive them.
Jesus goes on to say to Peter in the same chapter about a man that owed a debt so large he could never pay it off. The debt collector was going to put him into prison until he could pay for all of it. The debtor begged for mercy and the debt collector forgave him. No more debt. This same man with the forgiven debt a while later saw a man that owed him a few dollars and demanded he pay it. The man asked him for mercy, but he showed no mercy. He threw him into prison for the small debt.
When the first debt collector found this out, he brought him before him and berated him for what he had done. He said (my interpretation) “didn’t I forgive your large debt? Couldn’t you have done the same to this man?” He was then thrown into prison to pay the debt he owed with no way to every pay it off.
The story Jesus spoke of is really about our sin. There is absolutely no way for a man or woman to pay for their sin. But God, through mercy, forgives our sin. He washes it away. He pays our debt of sin that we have no way of paying for us. Yet, if we show no mercy to those that have hurt us, we will be like the one that had no mercy.
God wants us to forgive constantly. We cannot hold anything against anyone since we have been forgiven through salvation. Seventy times seven in one day? Yes, and more if needed. It is to be a constant flow. That is the way we are to live.
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