70 X 7

Matthew 18:21-22  Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

It’s funny how often God’s way of figuring is different than ours. For example, Peter came to Jesus and asked, “How many times do I have to forgive this guy? You know what, I’ll be generous and say seven times. Does that sound good?”

Per usual, Jesus was quite a few steps ahead of Peter and answered, “Not seven times, seventy times seven. Let’s just start there…”

You can almost see the Texas Instruments calculator in Peter’s head, “Seventy times seven? That’s, that’s 489, no, 490 times! That guy is going to be bad to me 490 times?”

No, Peter, you are going to be bad 490 times. Let’s make sure your sins are covered. Then Jesus tells the parable of a servant who is forgiven a huge debt by his king, but refuses to forgive a small debt he is owed by someone else. When the king finds out about the man’s lack of forgiveness, the man is sentenced to be tortured.

The math is very simple: I must forgive as much as I am going to need forgiveness. I am sure this doesn’t apply to you, but I know I need a LOT of forgiving by God, so I must be really forgiving to others. It’s God’s math, and it works for our benefit!

Today’s Readings: 1 Chronicles. 14,15; Psalm 132; Matthew 18

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