THE EXPECTED DEPTH OF FORGIVENESS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Matthew 18:21-22

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” 

Luke 17:4

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Here are some lyrics from a contemporary Christian song several years ago:

It’s the hardest thing to give away
And the last thing on your mind today
It always goes to those who don’t deserve

It’s the opposite of how you feel
When they pain they caused is just too real
Takes everything you have to say the word:

Forgiveness

Live life long enough and you’ll find yourself in a position where you have to forgive someone else and depending on the circumstances, that can be one of the hardest things you may ever have to do. Sometimes the pain others cause through wronging you can take you to a place where you feel like a person is not worthy of receiving your pardon.

Maybe you’ve been there. Maybe you’re in that place right now.

Given all this, it’s no surprise that the Bible takes time to provide us guidance and direction on the matter, and there is no better source of wisdom and direction than Jesus Himself. Look at what He had to say about forgiveness in today’s verses as we continue to study from Matthew 18:

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”  Matthew 18:21-22

As we see in so many other instances, we are more like Peter than we may want to admit. That’s what makes him such a fascinating case study as we examine the first followers of Jesus. In this case, we find Peter having a belief that there must be some limitation to the matter of forgiveness. We know this because he seeks to set a final number when answering his own question directed toward His Master:

“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Peter doesn’t mention a particular transgression here. He is more interested in finding out the standard for the number of times a person could be forgiven before the person offended could be released from their forgiveness obligation. In Peter’s mind, it seemed that seven times would be plenty. Surely if a person had not ceased wronging him by then, they would never stop so why even waste time pardoning them any further.

Well, Jesus wasted no time to let Peter know that he had fallen way short of His expectations for forgiveness:

“I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Note here how Jesus sends a message that one needs to forgive exponentially more that the number of times Peter tried to establish. And then He went on to show how to do it by example, something He is still doing this very moment.

Need to validate this?

Ok, ask yourself this question:

How many times have I needed forgiven by the Lord in my life for the sins I committed?

I believe you may get to seven very quickly, perhaps not even making out of s single day depending on your behavior.

Imagine if Jesus put a limit on forgiveness. Where would we all be today?

In dire straits, that’s where.

Thanks be to God we don’t serve a Savior who is like that, a Savior who places a limitation on His mercy and grace. Rather, we find a Savior who showed us measuring stick for pardon at Calvary’s cross when He uttered these words:

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

You remember the scene, right?

Jesus had been falsely accused and then convicted, sentenced to die a horrific, criminal’s death although He was completely innocent. They took Jesus and crucified Him, fulfilling the words of John who called Jesus the “Lamb of God”. Indeed, Jesus was offered up by God as a perfect, unblemished atoning sacrifice for all the sins of mankind, even those who chose to ridicule and deride Him as He hung, suffered, and bled out. Here were just some of the remarks made by the very people Jesus had come to save:

“He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

“If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

“You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

“He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.”

“He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Little did any of these people know that Jesus possessed the power to command legions of angels to come from the heavens and strike them dead in a moment’s notice. But He didn’t do that, did He? No, He simply asked for His Father, God, to pardon them:

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

Friends, if Jesus, nailed to the cross and dying an excruciating death, could forgive those who opposed Him, then we can (and need to) forgive everyone. For if people who sin against us were of their right mind, they wouldn’t treat us as they do. Through their actions, they, like those who mistreated Jesus, show that they do not know what they are doing and we should be raising them up before God in prayer, just as Jesus did, asking for them to be forgiven.

Through Jesus, we are shown the expected depth of forgiveness. Now it’s up to us to put it into practice.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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