Forgive Offenders

“Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21-22 ESV). This command was prompted by a question Peter asked Jesus about forgiveness. Apparently Peter thought there was a limit on the number of times a person should be forgiven. Since Peter suggested seven times, Jesus also responds with a number. The number given was large enough to suggest no limit and was validated as such with an illustration.

The setting of the illustration is the kingdom of heaven and its king who wishes to settle accounts with his servants. He calls up one who owed more than a lifetime of wages and wanted payment. The servant fell on his knees and begged for time to repay, which would be an impossibility. Out of pity the king released him and forgave his debt. That forgiven servant then goes and finds a fellow servant and requires payment of debt owed him. That servant asks for time to repay, but the request was denied and he was sent to prison until he could pay in full.

The purpose of this story is to illustrate that each of us owes God more than we could ever pay to cover our sin and if we expect to enter heaven we would have to be forgiven our enormous debt. That forgiveness was made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus, but it comes with conditions; a humble submission before Jesus in belief and the willingness on our part to forgive others: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15 ESV). Just as God is willing to forgive us who offend him, we are to forgive those who offend us, and without limit.

Prayer

Father, it appears that a characteristic of a believer is the willingness to forgive others. The range of seven times to 777 times would suggest we must forgive the small offenses as well as the large ones. Father, as I study persecution, I see extreme examples of this by those who can transfer their need of justice to God and then share expressions of love and forgiveness to those who are persecuting them. Replacing our need of justice with forgiveness is not natural and requires direction and strength from the Holy Spirit. Father, thank you for making that ability available and providing us with an example with Jesus and those who are willing to die for their faith.

See "The Commands of Jesus" Index to view other commands.