How many times should I forgive?

Matthew 13:21-22

21 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?’ 22 Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

Paying attention to the narrative flow shows something interesting. Peter heard in the process of dealing with the offender, outlined in yesterday’s text, the call to forgive. And so he asked Jesus how many times he needed to forgive someone. Peter understood that forgiveness is the hoped-for outcome of the dispute resolution Jesus provided.

A comment on the original Greek – it could be seventy-seven times as translated here, or it could be seventy times seven, which is 490 times. It does not really matter; it is a very big number. In other words, forgiveness is the default position of the Christian life. Forgiveness is the thing we offer to those who have wronged us. 

At the heart of Christianity is that Jesus died that we might be forgiven. Frequently we marvel that Jesus as he is being executed prays, “Father, forgive them.” The one who forgave, invites us to follow his example and offer forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Here Jesus indicates the call to forgive never finds an end. Just as his forgiveness never ends, we are to offer a similar kind of ever-flowing forgiveness. Not offering it in our power or in our strength, but in the hope and promise and strength we receive in the forgiveness Jesus offers us. Flowing into our lives from Jesus, it flows from us to those around us.

Taking this idea and connecting it to children and youth. Young children think forgiveness is easy, they do it easily. As they get older it becomes harder, and as adults it is often difficult to forgive. But if we can do the hard work of forgiving, we leave an example for children and youth as they get older and as forgiveness becomes more difficult. If we as adults can forgive, we can show the next generation the patterns that lead to reconciliation and healing. As we forgive one another, we invite children to not lose their ability to forgive each other.

PRAYER:

O Lord, transform our lives to be people who can forgive. So that we can be examples for others to see and follow, just as we follow the example of your Son Jesus Christ who cried out, “Father, forgive them.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.