WATCHWORD:
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” 22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! 23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. 26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. 28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. Matthew 18:21-30
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Matthew 18:32-35
Meditation:
70 x 7
Leave it to Peter to get us all in trouble. He just had to ask for specifics. Had to press Jesus to put a number on forgiveness, so now we’re stuck with it. He said it, we believe it, and now we can’t avoid it. We cannot make up excuses. At some point in time, complicated by differing sets of circumstances, we may ask ourselves, forgiveness? How hard could that be? Then we realize that it’s just one of many challenges that we face, trying to live our lives as Christians.
But, let’s not be too hard on Peter, he asked a reasonable question and he doubled what the Book of Amos tells us about forgiveness. He asked, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” Amos set the rabbinical standard at three, then hedged it to four. So, seven was generous.
I wonder if we take forgiveness seriously, enough. Forgiveness is our feeble attempt to imitate the blessed repentance of God. “Repentance of God?”, you may ask. If we take seriously what God has told us in the Old Testament, He set severe standards of obedience. We see His Standard applied during the 40 years of the Exodus, when, on one day, 26,000 Israelites were snake-bit and died because they disobeyed.
When the Bible says that God repents, the Bible means that God relents or changes his mind when considering severe punishment for our disobedience. Forgiveness, when given with serious intent and commitment, accomplishes the same thing. When your friend “done you wrong”, hurt your tender feelings, or disappointed you, forgiveness, offered with serious intent, puts that “wrong” aside and, while not necessarily forgotten, allows the relationship to continue.
I think the repentance of God is contained within the blessedness of God’s love and compassion for us. Our life model is Jesus, Lord and Savior, who always sought to do God’s will. That is our standard.
70×7? A simple statement of the persistence of love that we are commanded to extend to our sisters/ brothers. When we are hurt by another, that standard is reflected in the Lord’s command to love others as He loves us. Our shortcomings, Our shortfalls, Our stumbles are all covered in his Divine Love. Amen? Amen.
Forgiveness on the Emerald Isle:
Father Sullivan’s Sunday sermon was “Forgive Your Enemies.” He asked how many of the congregation have forgiven their enemies? About half held up their hands. He then repeated his question. Now about 80 % held up their hands. He then repeated his question once more. All responded, except one elderly lady. “Mrs. O’Malley, are you not willing to forgive your enemies?” “I don’t have any.” “Mrs. O’Malley, that is very unusual. Please tell the congregation how a person cannot have a single enemy in the world?” Mrs. O’Malley sweetly replied, “I’m ninety-three-years-old and I outlived every one of those witches.”
Two Prayers, Same Subject – Forgiveness:
Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Lord, please help me to forgive those who have hurt me and have sinned against me. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, I can choose to live free of bitterness and anger over what others have done to me. Help me to release them into your hands, and heal the wounds of my heart. Because you have forgiven me, I can make the choice to forgive others and live in peace, joy and freedom. Amen.
