Mark Sorensen “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times should I forgive a brother or sinner who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’” – Matthew 18:21-22
Fresh off of the heels of Jesus talking about addressing sin within the lives of other believers, Simon Peter asked Jesus a question on forgiveness. “How many times should we forgive? Up to seven times?” Seven times? Where’d that number come from? In the Old Testament, there was a Jewish belief that the magic number was three times. You were called to “forgive and forgive and forgive.” (see Amos 1-2) In light of that then, many commentators believe that what Simon Peter was actually doing was throwing out a number that more than doubled three times. Hence, seven times. ”Go big or go home,” perhaps, Simon Peter thought. But isn’t it just like Jesus to go beyond our limited thinking? As Peter leaned back, confident in his big number, Jesus smiled and said, “No Peter, sometimes it will take more. Sometimes, it may even take 77 times.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was the magic number that – when you reached it – forgiveness just melted away and all was well with your heart and world? That’s not always the case, however. Wounds happen. Hurts occur. People make decisions that not only hurt themselves, but others in the process. Yet, we’re called to be a people of forgiveness. In Matthew 18:21-22, Jesus was reminding His disciples (and all of us), that forgiveness must be a place that we walk toward, even though it may be a continual, daily process.
I loved the quote that Dr. Stew Grant shared in last Sunday’s closing message from our “TKO” series: “We don’t heal in order to forgive, we forgive in order to heal.” So true.
Believe it or not, one of my favorite scenes that captures the heart of why we must come to a place of forgiveness was found in the 2015 live movie version of “Cinderella.” You can fast forward to about three minutes in but you’ll remember the story. Cinderella, having finally been found by her Prince Charming, is walking out of the house and her eyes fall on the wicked stepmother. What does she do? She pauses, takes a breath, and then the words come out: “I forgive you.”
WATCH: Cinderella Ending Scene
Cinderella’s forgiveness of her stepmother was Cinderella’s realization that – to truly walk into her happily ever after – she didn’t want to carry the pain of the past into her future.
Remember, when she said those words, “I forgive you”, she wasn’t saying, “I excuse the pain you inflicted on me.” Instead, she was simply saying, “I am not carrying that with me from this point on.”
I’ve loved spending time in Matthew 18 over these last several weeks. Our prayer is that, through the messages on humility, honesty and forgiveness, you’ve found some healing and encouragement within these words from Jesus. May God continue to open our eyes to His grace and truth at work in the world around us, and may we, as the children of God, be His hands and feet to a hurting world.
In Jesus’ name.
