Insane Forgiveness (Friday Devotional)

 

Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?”

“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.”

- Matthew 18:21-22

The definition of insanity, goes the oft-repeated cliché, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Popularly attributed to Albert Einstein, that witticism speaks to the necessity for changing ineffective habits—if ain’t broke then don’t fix it, but if it is broke, then quit expecting it to work! Repetition only makes sense if what you’re doing is helping you.

So then, what’s the deal with Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness? Asked how often it would be appropriate to forgive a fellow believer, someone with the same spiritual grounding in the grace of God that you have, Jesus responded that seven times—more than twice the amount required by the Law of Moses—was insufficient. Don’t forgive seven times, Jesus said, but seventy times seven.

Isn’t that, well, insane? If someone is wronging you over and over again, if they’re taking advantage of your patience and goodwill, if they simply can’t get their act together, then doesn’t it make more sense for you to just cut them off? Isn’t it more efficient and more reasonable to offer conditional forgiveness instead of unconditional grace?

The answer, quite simply, is yes. Jesus’ command to forgive and forgive and forgive, even when our brothers and sisters continue to stumble, is an entirely unreasonable demand. But it’s also exactly what God does for us. Our Father in heaven loves us so much that, despite our repeated and even willful disobedience, He forgives our sins if we do no more than confess and repent. So mighty is His mercy, so great His grace, that He sent His only Son to secure our salvation, even as we continue to let Him down.

What He asks of His disciples is that we do the same for each other. Even when others call it unreasonable or inefficient or insane, the church is meant to be a place where repentance is always accepted and forgiveness always extended. Does it make sense? No. But then, grace has never been about logic—it’s about love.