Tuning into the Bible
HOW MANY TIMES SHALL I FORGIVE?
Tuning in
Do you find it difficult to forgive others?
Bible reading: Matthew 18:21-22
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Revd Brian comments...
We all know from experience that inter-personal relationships demand a degree of understanding, tolerance and flexibility. I know that even in the family of the church it’s almost inevitable that someone is going to offend another, someone is going to hurt another and someone is going to tread on another’s toes.
I wonder if Peter was having a bad day with his brother Andrew? I wonder if the other disciples getting on his nerves? Whatever the reason, Peter was prompted to ask Jesus the question that we find in Matthew 18:21; "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
The first disciples of Jesus, often called "the twelve", were a mixed bunch. Some of them were better at working with their hands and some of them were better at working with their head. Geographically, eleven of the twelve were from up north and one of the twelve was from down south. Being drawn together as followers of Jesus must have made for some very difficult and awkward times.
Not surprisingly the time came for Jesus and his first disciples had to address the issue of forgiveness and it was Peter who posed the question, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
If Peter had gone with his question about forgiveness to a Jewish rabbi of the day the answer would have been three times. But experience had taught Peter that Jesus usually sets the standard higher. Up to seven times, Lord? Is that how often I should forgive? As usual the reply of Jesus must have left Peter well and truly staggered, Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. (Some versions of the Bible have 70 times 7, but 77 times is the accurate translation.)
TWhy did Jesus use the number seventy-seven? There is only one other passage in the Bible that uses the number seventy-seven and its in Genesis 4:24 where we read, "If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times".
Cain, the firstborn of Adam and Eve, killed his brother Abel. As a result Cain came under a curse and was destined to be a restless wanderer on the earth, having difficulty making a living from the ground. Cain feared that he would be killed himself but the Lord put a sign of protection on him.
Cain married and had children. But the line of Cain’s decent through his son Enoch culminated in a character called Lamech, who was a bigamist and a murderer. He compounded these reprehensible activities with an intense arrogance and belligerence. He even boasted to his wives, “I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” From the time of Lamech the number seventy-seven became associated with a spirit of revenge.
I wonder how many of us would not recognise the potential in our hearts and lives for deep-rooted anger, ongoing resentment, unresolved bitterness, and a commitment to revenge? We have a tendency for making others pay and for getting even because of the real or imagined things that others have done to us!
There is no place for a spirit of revenge among the followers of Jesus. On the contrary the followers of Jesus should be known for their spirit of forgiveness.
