21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Thoughts: Jesus had just talked about gathering together. One impediment to gathering together is to hold grudges, to want revenge, or just not wanting to be around those you don't like. What if someone keeps doing things that need forgiveness. Truth is, we all do that. Some bad habits are hard to break. The rabbis had a saying to forgive someone three times. Peter thought he was doing good to ask, "seven times?" But Jesus said seventy times seven. Jesus was not saying, "You can forgive someone 490 times but not 491." He was saying an uncountable number. Forgiveness is what Jesus came for. In many ways forgiveness is a distinguishing mark of Christianity. We do not earn our way to heaven- rather we are forgiven to get there by the cross of Christ. If we cannot gather together and forgive then our souls are in danger indeed.
But the church is also in danger indeed if we allow ourselves to be offended and just walk off. There is, of course balance here. But Jesus did not indicate balance. We tend to over-balance toward being offended. The church that never repents of sin is wrong. But the person who sees sin in the church and leaves is also sinning. The sin of divisiveness and schism is everywhere in scripture. We are often quick to be offended- and slow to be gracious and patient. Elijah, Jeremiah, Jesus all were patient with the church of their time. The church was so corrupt in Elijah's day (with real Baal worship) that he was the only prophet of the Lord left. Jesus said we should not separate the weeds from the wheat- meaning to live in the midst of sinners in the church- and thus a church that is at least partially corrupt. There really is no pure church on earth. If we leave in anger we are in danger spiritually. How can God forgive us our debts if we do not forgive our debtors at the church? If there is no forgiveness, there would be no church. Jesus formed the church on the cross. Without the forgiveness and sacrifice of the cross we would not be believers. It frankly takes tremendous sacrifice to forgive others when we have been offended. But God does that, and we are called to do that too.
But the church is also in danger indeed if we allow ourselves to be offended and just walk off. There is, of course balance here. But Jesus did not indicate balance. We tend to over-balance toward being offended. The church that never repents of sin is wrong. But the person who sees sin in the church and leaves is also sinning. The sin of divisiveness and schism is everywhere in scripture. We are often quick to be offended- and slow to be gracious and patient. Elijah, Jeremiah, Jesus all were patient with the church of their time. The church was so corrupt in Elijah's day (with real Baal worship) that he was the only prophet of the Lord left. Jesus said we should not separate the weeds from the wheat- meaning to live in the midst of sinners in the church- and thus a church that is at least partially corrupt. There really is no pure church on earth. If we leave in anger we are in danger spiritually. How can God forgive us our debts if we do not forgive our debtors at the church? If there is no forgiveness, there would be no church. Jesus formed the church on the cross. Without the forgiveness and sacrifice of the cross we would not be believers. It frankly takes tremendous sacrifice to forgive others when we have been offended. But God does that, and we are called to do that too.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for forgiving me. Help me to forgive others because you have forgiven me. Let my ability to forgive grow.
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