"Then came Peter to Him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven."
Matthew 18:21-22
Part 1
Today: How Often Should I Forgive Someone?
Home is where we are seen and known as we really are, “warts and all!” Our careful “public personas” do not exist here. With the lack of much personal space at home, we are often pushed together to live our semi-transparent lives. Our lives are always visible to those who share our abode with us. Living close to each other in our homes, we often end up with bruised ribs and bumped shins to show for it. Or it might just be that we have “accidentally” elbowed our spouse in the ribs or tripped them up as they walked by. As children, my brother and I at times would mark out our personal space in our shared bedroom with masking tape and dare each other to violate our sanctuaries! Face it, even for a loving family, living together can make for challenging times as we try to get along residing with each other. And unfortunately, home is probably the place where our Genesis three natures drop their guards the quickest and shine their brightest. As sinners, each of us has the inclination toward selfishness, wanting our own way. If we do not get it, we can really cause problems for everyone else! No wonder my family knows me so well!
The fact is, any time two or more sinners live together under the same roof, there are bound to be problems. Believers, learning to live godly, and learning to live together will require that we work on our interpersonal relationships. Peter understood this when he asked the Lord how many times he should forgive his brother. Learning to forgive is a great place to start learning how to get along with others.
“Then came Peter to him, and said.”
Peter had his faults, as did the other eleven disciples. But when Peter had a question about things that matter, he went to the right person for answers. Jesus has just been talking to the men about the believer’s duty to be forgiving and handle issues between believers correctly (Matthew 18:15-20). Peter’s question is a logical follow-up to the Lord’s teaching.
“Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?”
“How often?”
Instead of seeing Jesus’ teaching as a matter of the heart, Peter looked for a magic number. In a way, aren’t we also like this? We want to know the point at which we have done enough and do not need to do anymore. Peter wants to know when his obligation to his brother is finished.
“But the question itself indicates complete misunderstanding of the Christian spirit.”[1]
“The man who asks such a question does not really know what forgiveness means”[2] (Plummer).
If I really care about my sinning brother, how can I help him? Tomorrow we will think about what we should do when someone wrongs us. See you then.
Quote:
“Forgiveness is God’s command” [3] (Martin Luther).
“The voice of sin is loud, but the voice of forgiveness is louder” [4] (Dwight L. Moody).
[1] Cambridge Bible, the electronic version in eSword. Matthew 18:21.
[2] Plummer is quoted by A.T. Robertson. Word Pictures in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword. Matthew 18:21.
[3] Luther’s quote Downloaded: Thursday, February 11, 2021. From: https://www.christianquotes.info/top-quotes/18-powerful-quotes-about-forgiveness/.
[4] Moody’s quote Downloaded: Thursday, February 11, 2021. From: https://www.christianquotes.info/top-quotes/18-powerful-quotes-about-forgiveness/.