Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
“Not seven times but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:22)
In today’s world, we would call a person who showed that kind of forgiveness a doormat, a glutton for punishment, a masochist. “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,” the saying goes.
And yet in a very few weeks, we’re going to see that Jesus isn’t just spouting pretty theoretical words here when he talks about forgiveness. In his final moments on earth, he’s going to forgive
those who nailed him to that cross and mocked him. Upon his resurrection, he’s not going to launch a vendetta against Peter and the others who denied him or were nowhere to be found at the critical hour; he’s going to wish them peace and ask them to care for his people and, by inference, forgive them.
Heady stuff. And yet, for us, maybe it’s our heads that are the problem. We keep track of petty grievances and major wounds. We rub our own salt in them, keeping them fresh and raw and painful. May we learn from Jesus’s actions, not just his words, that forgiveness is the better course.
