The Forgiveness Business

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?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

That’s from Matthew 18:21,22.

That’s not easy.

That sounds harsh.

St. Peter already had an answer to his question in mind: 7.  Seven was considered to be the perfect number (and if you want a mind-numbing recitation of why, here’s a quick search result with more than you and I’d ever need to know: https://www.biblewheel.com//Topics/seven.php). All he needed was for Jesus to nod at him and he’d be good to go, confirmed and justified n his sense of being offended and angry.

But Jesus didn’t just throw him a curve ball; Jesus threw the entire stadium back at him: “77 times.”

Sounds like we’re in the forgiveness business.