THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 18:21-27
“I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:22)
Whether 70×7, or 77 times, its a whole lot of times.
In other words, stop counting, just forgive!
Jesus is not suggesting a mathematical formula for how long to show mercy.
He is magnifying Peter’s attempt at being extra-gracious… ‘you’ve only just started!’
Love is a debt that we never finish paying (Romans 13:8).
God is loving like this, His patience with us is immense (1 Timothy 1:16).
It is ONLY because of His mercy that the kingdom of God is restored.
God does not give us time to repay it, because He knows we can’t.
Instead He has mercy (takes pity) on us, and releases us without penalty.
This sounds good to me, I know the hugeness of my debt.
It gets harder when applied to others, especially terrible people.
For some reason, Jesus uses this story to compare my debt with others.
I need to be forgiven, just like everyone else – including terrible people.
Knowing how much I’ve been forgiven is necessary for knowing how much I need to forgive others.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, I love Your forgiveness for me, but I resent it for more ‘terrible’ people. Help me to see that to You, my sins are terrible too, and yet You’ve forgiven me.