From the desk of Pastor Ben

Peter’s Inquiry About Forgiveness

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”     (Matthew 18:21)

In view of Jesus’ teaching about church discipline, Peter here wonders how many times believers are obligated to forgive those who persist in transgression. How many times should they be allowed to repent and rejoin the fellowship? To his credit, Peter personalized his Lord’s instruction, and his primary concern about his own responsibility prompted the asking of this pertinent question.

Peter had a real penchant for asking questions. He always wanted to be sure he understood the implications of Christ’s words and deeds, and so he would receive much wonderful teaching from Jesus. God approves of genuine questions because He blesses those who truly seek to know Him and His truth. Jeremiah recorded this divine insight: “You will seek Me and find me when you search  for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Likely, with great thoughts of himself, Peter suggests a limit of 7 as the number of times a person ought to be forgiven and restored. 7 is more than twice the number allowed by the teachings and traditions of the rabbis (3; Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13), which was made into a universal rule for limiting both God’s times of forgiveness and His people’s. The Jews had illogically reasoned that it would be presumptuous for people to forgive one another more than 3 times, if that was God’s limit. Peter no doubt believed Jesus would be impressed with his generous suggestion of 7, which reflected his growing understanding of Jesus’ instruction and personal example regarding compassion and mercy.

Ask Yourself:
When confronted with a challenging lesson from Scripture, are you more likely to apply its consequences and responsibilities to others than to yourself? In what ways do you need to look first to your own compliance before concerning yourself with what someone else is or isn’t doing?