Seventy Times Seven

Our 4-year-old granddaughter awoke cold and wet.  Changing her sheets, her daddy remarked, "Maddie, I'm sorry you wet the bed," to which she mumbled, "That's alright, Daddy.  I forgive you."  Our son told me that is her normal response when someone says they are sorry. She may have things a little mixed up, but if only grown-ups could be that forgiving!

In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother who sins against him. Seven times?  But Jesus says he must forgive him seventy times seven, obviously meaning an unlimited number of times.

We had a discussion on this in our Wednesday night Bible study recently.  Some people thought forgiveness should only be given upon repentance. Jesus does say in Luke 17:3-4 that one should forgive if another says he is sorry and stops sinning.

He even says in Mark 11:26 and Matthew 6:15 that, "If ye forgive men their trespasses, then your heavenly father will forgive you; but if ye forgive not, then neither will your father forgive you." We learn in the Lord's prayer to say, "Forgive us our trespasses (debts) as we forgive those who trespass against us."  If we expect forgiveness, it sounds as if we must forgive!

The thought was raised in Bible study that in many instances, we should forgive even though there has been no repentance, instead of keeping unforgiveness, hate and resentment in our own heart. As a pastor's wife, I once counseled a woman to forgive her ex-husband rather than hold bitterness against him forever.  She became very upset with me, saying he should only be forgiven if he asked for forgiveness.  Not only was she bitter against him, she left the church and did not come back.

There is a saying that harboring unforgiveness is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die. I wonder if the reason Jesus can't forgive sins in this case is because the heart is too hard to receive it. (The Bible tells us to harden not our hearts.)  We know that there are some things Jesus wanted to do on this earth that he couldn't do.  The Bible says that he could not do many mighty works in his own country because of the unbelief of the people. Matthew 13:58.

Jesus says unless we become like a little child, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.  One of the characteristics of children is that they are very forgiving.  May we become like them.