Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? until seven times?
Peter's question follows the Lord's teaching on how to deal with a brother who sins: go to him and win him back. Peter now shifts the subject from the brother to himself. Not how do I win him, but how many times must I?
Peter was not inventing a number out of nowhere. He was stretching a limit he already knew. His question also moves the focus onto himself.
The question is tied directly to what the Lord had said. But He had not said a word about forgiving a brother. Our Lord never used the word "forgive" once. He had spoken of gaining a brother who had sinned... We think it is now specifically the question of personal grievances we may have against a brother. Peter thinks and speaks of self. The Rabbis had given this rule: "If a man sins against another, pardon him once. Pardon him a second time. Pardon him a third time. Do not pardon him a fourth time."
Against a ceiling of three, seven looked like real generosity.
Seven was as far as Peter could imagine mercy going. The Lord's reply refused the whole idea of a ceiling.
The largest idea of grace that Peter had was "till seven times." That was certainly beyond the day of law, which demanded righteousness and knew nothing of forgiveness. It may even be beyond what many of us actually practise. But it will not do for Christ... Under the reign of law, forgiveness was unknown. The rule was "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." But in the kingdom of heaven, under the rule of a rejected, heavenly Christ, forgiveness takes its character from Him. It has no limit.
(Older translations read "seventy times seven." The ESV has "seventy-seven times.")
Peter picked the perfect number. The Lord's answer went past numbers altogether.
Seven was the perfect number. But the Lord answers that He has put no such limit, and then puts one that is practically no limit at all. Peter is after all still viewing things from the standpoint of personal rights. He must still be seeking his own to some extent. But love does not seek its own. So the personal element still rules here — "sin against me, and I." The Lord therefore takes up this very side of things, but turns it in another direction: "How often will I sin against God, and God forgive me?" If there is no limit there, and I am aware of it, how can Peter ask this question at all?
Heard as a rule, the answer is crushing. Heard as a description of how the Lord already treats us, it becomes easy.
And Peter might well have said, "Impossible." But I can understand the Lord replying: "Peter, I am only asking you to treat your brother the way I am treating you." Ah, that makes it easy. It is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the way He is treating me. He is forgiving me seventy times seven. If I cannot forgive my brothers and sisters the same way, my heart has lost the sense of His grace.
Unlimited forgiveness does not mean the wrong is never named. Repentance still has its place.
We may rebuke him, and we should. But if he repents, we must forgive him at once. If he wrongs us seven times a day and says each time, "I repent," forgiveness must never be lacking. This is grace. God never grows tired of forgiving us when we confess our sins. We express His heart, so we are to show the same readiness to forgive the sins of our brother.
The Lord did not stop at a number. The parable that follows exposes what can still hide in a forgiven heart.
A man may receive a full pardon for all his offences from the very God he has sinned against, on the ground of the atoning sacrifice of Calvary. He may then refuse to show mercy to a fellow human being who has wronged him! A beggar with God, and a tyrant with men! Oh, the appalling inconsistency.
- Three — the rule Peter knew stopped pardon at three offences. His "seven" already went well past that.
- Seven — the biggest grace Peter could picture. It still fell short, because it set a limit, and forgiveness under a rejected Christ has none.
- Self — the giveaway is in the wording: "against me, and I." Counting offences means still standing on personal rights.
- Sum — the Lord turns the question round: how often do I sin against God and find forgiveness? No limit there, so no ledger here.
- Servant — the parable that follows shows the man who forgets that sum: a beggar with God, a tyrant with men.
Jesus says to him, I say not to thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven.
Peter comes to Jesus with an offer he thinks is generous, and the answer removes the ceiling altogether. Can forgiveness be counted at all, and where does a disciple find the supply for such a demand?
Peter was not inventing a figure at random. Teachers of his day had already fixed a limit on forgiveness, and Peter stretched it. But his own words give him away.
The Rabbis had already decided about this, and their limit was three times. Peter had so far appreciated the spirit of the Lord's words as to more than double this number. Seven was the perfect number. Should he forgive an offending brother up to seven times? But the Lord answers that He has put no such limit. Then He gives a limit that is no limit at all in practice… After all, Peter is still viewing things from the standpoint of personal rights. He must still be seeking his own to some degree. But "love does not seek its own." So the personal element still rules here — "sin against me, and I."
Some translations read "seventy-seven times" and others "seventy times seven," but the Lord's number is not a new total to count down. And forgiveness without limit does not mean sin stops mattering.
That is not a count of 490 times. It means we go on doing it as long as there is a need. It does not mean we are to condone sin against the Lord. But when the wrong affects us, the spirit of forgiveness is always to be in our hearts, and we are to be ready to express it.
Where does forgiveness like this belong? Not to law, but to a kingdom whose King the world turned down.
In the kingdom of heaven — not under the law, but under the rule of the rejected Christ — forgiveness is unlimited. How wonderful! The deeper holiness that Christianity reveals is the very thing that feels the deepest love, and carries that love out to others… Our Lord insists that there was no end at all to forgiveness. It is always to be in the heart of the Christian.
The command sounds impossible until you notice that it is not asking for anything new. It asks the disciple to pass on the exact treatment he is already receiving.
Peter might well have said, "Impossible." But I can imagine the Lord replying: "Peter, I am only asking you to treat your brother the way I am treating you." Ah, that makes it easy. It is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the way He is treating me. He is forgiving me seventy times seven. If I cannot forgive my brothers the same way, my heart has lost the sense of His grace.
A wrong can be personal, and it can also become a matter for the whole church. The two are handled differently.
What should mark the disciple was grace. If personal forgiveness achieved the purpose, it was to be given again and again. Church discipline is another thing. It becomes a matter of judgment, needed to clear the conscience. The spirit of forgiveness belonged to the very nature of the Christian. God's forgiveness made him one, and he had no share in it if he did not have its spirit.
The measure behind the number is God's own grace. Yet a heart can receive that grace and still turn hard.
Grace without limit is what He meant, and this follows the pattern of God's infinite grace, as the Gospel reveals it to us… A man may have received a full pardon for all his offences from the God he has sinned against, through the atoning sacrifice of Calvary. And then he may refuse to show mercy to a fellow human being who has wronged him! A beggar with God, and a tyrant with men! Oh, the appalling inconsistency.
- Ceiling — Peter more than doubled the accepted limit of three, and still thought in numbers. The Lord's answer removed the ceiling instead of raising it.
- Counting — The number is not a debt of 490 pardons. It is the end of counting: keep forgiving as long as there is need.
- Source — The measure is not effort but supply. Christ asks you to treat your brother the way He is treating you.
- Scope — Grace without limit covers wrongs against me. It does not excuse sin against the Lord, and church discipline is a separate matter.
- Test — Grace received must pass on. A beggar with God who turns tyrant with men has lost the sense of his own forgiveness.