Matthew 18:21-22
Why Math Impacts Our Charity Towards Ourselves and Others
If you have not read my article “The Good Samaritan and Forgiveness,” then I recommend beginning there. In that article, I delved into the legal aspects of forgiveness. The legal language of Forgiveness in Luke 10 includes:
Luke 10:25-37
The Language of Law
- “What shall I do…” v25
- “What is written in the Law.” v26
- “You shall…” v27
The Language of Accounting:
- “The one who showed him mercy.” v37
The Language of Oughtness:
- “A priest was going down the road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.” v31
- “So likewise a Levite,…when he saw him, passed by on the other side.”v32
- “But a Samaritan….when he saw him, he had compassion.”v33
- “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” v36
- “You go, and do likewise.” v37
The Language of Legal Advocacy:
- “But desiring to justify himself,…” v29
Forgiveness Provides More Than Mercy
There is more to forgiveness than its legal aspects. And more manifestations than just the act of mercy. God beckons us to pursue forgiveness in our lives because of how good forgiveness is to us. To me. When I forgive or am forgiven I find sweetness. By inviting us to forgive one another, God is showing us the path that beckons back to our initial directive – to make all creation as beautiful, good, and true as we can.
Much like a vehicle has tire alignment, we have relational alignment. Forgiveness is relational realignment when our relationship gets off course. We are more than just out of alignment, but we are also out of alignment.
It rolls off the tongue – “forgive.” How to forgive? How to be realigned? Much like controlling our tongue, it seems an impossible task.
Forgiveness Provides Joy
I want to forgive because I experience the joy that is in forgiveness. I know it from repeat practice. And…..yet, here I am. Again. Preaching the Gospel to myself. I confess that I keep coming back to Peter’s question to Jesus,
“Lord,
how often will my brother sin against me,
and I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”Jesus said to him,
(Matthew 18:21-22) ESV
“I do not say to you seven times,
but seventy-seven times.”
I think Peter’s question is completely fair. When I think about those with whom I have a conflict (from my perspective – accurate or not), I get amped up on the idea of justice. I often daydream about exacting justice for perceived wrongs – the magnitude of it, and how powerful and quick I could make this retribution. I would have tart retorts on the fly.
I have ceased asking myself why it is so difficult for me, a person who daydreams of revenge, to forgive. I recognize how my behavior continues to buttress myself so that forgiveness comes hard. I refer to this behavior as “tilling the soil of envy.”
“Father, in my mind I want to be a hero of faith like Abraham, David, or Elisha. But I can’t even forgive one person. Help me!”
If God’s way of forgiveness were a way of metrics then I have zero hope. His Way of Forgiveness does not include a balance sheet. It shreds it and incinerates the balance sheet. Concerning the missing funds in the account, God replaces them so that it is balanced.
Forgiveness Provides Nourishment
To be able to live a lifestyle of forgiveness, I must till the soil of repentance. The soil of repentance requires certain nutrients. One of the nutrients God has given us to add as we till this soil is forgiveness. Seeking it and giving it. Forgiveness nourishes the tree you are trying to grow. That tree is the relationship between you and the other person in the relationship.
When we remain fixed on Jesus, He helps us cultivate the soil of our repentance.
My article on The Good Samaritan illuminates the Principle of the Stone of Stumbling in Scripture. As in Luke 10, the answer to the Lawyer’s question is the same here. There – “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer is “You need Jesus.” Here – “How often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” The answer is “you need Jesus.”
If you don’t come out of these parables with the answer “I need Jesus” then you have stumbled over the Rock of Offense.
Everybody Stumbles on the Rock of Offense
Like the lawyer, each day I stumble over the Rock of Offense and must realign my vision so as not to stumble. Did the lawyer know that eternal life meant to intimately fellowship with God eternally as you continue to cultivate the original directive of creation by making all things beautiful, good, and true? Does he realize the thing he chases after is to live and fellowship with the man he is addressing?
Back to the aforementioned question by Peter…
“Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
I have confessed to God that this is a “fair” question. (Uh-Oh). The Holy Spirit illuminated for me how this question is a trap. A Trap that results in our stumbling over Jesus in our pursuit of Jesus. Peter’s question incorporates:
- A faulty (thus false) justification
- A testimony of faithlessness.
The answer to Peter’s question is “You need Jesus.”
Can You Repeat the Question?
What exactly is Peter asking Jesus here? Yes. He is asking Jesus about forgiveness. But he is also giving us the context of forgiveness.
“Lord,
Matthew 18:20 (ESV)
how often will my brother sin against me,
and I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
The Language of Law:
- “My brother sin against me.”
The Language of Accounting:
- “How often?”
- “Seven times?”
The Language of Oughtness:
- “And I forgive him?”
The Language of Legal Advocacy
- “Against me.”
Where then does Peter stumble? Peter displays pathos in his question to Jesus.
Peter:
“Lord! How often – his sin (as he points aggressively toward Andrew) – against me (he begins tapping his chest vigorously), my brother! UP and until seven times? ! ?”
Sometimes we treat this question as theoretical. It is not theoretical in the slightest. It was very real to Peter and Andrew. Our lives testify to its reality in our lives every day with others.
There are some things about yourself you can’t hide.
There are persons who see you for who you are.
Some things are true for all people, at all times, universally.
You need forgiveness.
Forgiveness is Aligning Ourselves to Our Reality
Forgiveness is one of them. You have people you need to forgive. So do I. I have people with whom I need to seek forgiveness. So do you. It is a constant reality for all of us. And It is beautiful. Forgiveness is beautiful. Forgiveness is good. As Christians, our whole world should revolve around the active outpouring of this blessing in our lives. Forgiveness is as necessary as oxygen. You must breathe it in and out.
When we make this question theoretical, we rob it of its purpose. The “Up and until seven times?” is our key. Peter grabs one of the iconographic numbers of those who belong to God and attempts to apply it literally. Thus he stumbles over the Stone of Righteousness.
The Number of Wholeness
The number 7. The number that reflects “whole, perfect, complete.” Peter sees the idea behind this number – the idea of complete and whole forgiveness – but by making “seven” literal, he robs it of its purpose iconographically. Peter’s amalgamation of the iconographic 7 to a literal number 7 is the stumbling because it leaves the ability to forgive within Peter’s own –
- Strength,
- Assessment of reality,
- Understanding of justice,
- Assessment of Andrew’s wrongs against him, and
- Assessment of his wrongs against Andrew.
Are you hurting to forgive? In His reply to Peter, Jesus not only reveals that Peter is mistaken in his assessment of how to go about forgiving but also illuminates the path toward God and His forgiveness. In the next article, I will pursue Jesus’ response to Peter’s question, including The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. This parable urges us to move beyond mere calculations on forgiveness and into a realm where forgiveness fills lungs.
I am Iz. I am a follower of Jesus who seeks to understand the world around me. I use my life experiences and struggles as a platform to reach out and help others, offering insight into how faith can be used to overcome any obstacle. I pray my blog will be a beacon of hope for you who face similar challenges. May this be an encouragement to you.
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