Seventy-Times-Seven Love

The other day I was driving to my night class, enjoying the quiet of the car and the time to clear my head after a long day of work. My peace was interrupted, however, when the car who had been riding my bumper suddenly zoomed around me into the lane of oncoming traffic, in order fly past me and down the road. My immediate reaction was confusion—I was going a few miles above the speed limit, so I can’t have been slowing him down too much, and besides, I knew that all that lay ahead was a long line of backed up cars waiting at a light that is persistently red (I drive this route a lot). My next feeling was one of indignation, the same kind you get when someone cuts you off or beeps at you two seconds after the light turns green (side note: this happens a lot in New Jersey).

Just as I felt myself beginning to feel comfortably indignant, an image flashed in my mind of Christ on the cross, praying for the forgiveness of those who had nailed him there, and I was immediately ashamed. More than the pettiness of my current complaint, I was ashamed of my heart’s default, which is so obviously still set to “selfish.” How quickly I deplete my love for others, which translates in to a lack of forgiveness and patience. Christ calls us to—and Himself was the perfect model of—a love that forgives over and over.

^“Then Peter came and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” –Matthew 18:21-22

In what little I know of biblical numerology, seven is a number that signifies fullness, completion, and perfection. When Jesus tells us to forgive seventy-times seven, He does not mean we are to forgive 490 times, but rather that we are to forgive until completion and to perfection. I'm still trying to tease out exactly what this means, but I know it certainly means I shouldn't be keeping a tally of "I forgive you" moments so I can pat myself on the back.

God understands how hard it is to forgive. Tempted in every way, Christ was no stranger to provocation. During his public ministry He was mocked, belittled, tested, and pursued—soon after beginning to teach in Galilee, Jesus even found himself in the midst of a group of angry Jews that intended to throw Him off a cliff! (Luke 4:29) Scorned by many during his life, Jesus was brutally treated at its end. Mocked, beaten, and spit upon, Christ endured not only the thorns and pain of torture, but the insults and jeers of those who had once hung upon His every word. Jesus had every right to indignation and judgment, and yet, He ceded both to the Father. God Himself has experienced the most righteous indignation imaginable, but not once did He withdraw forgiveness, nor did He ever love us any less.

Alexander Pope once wrote: “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” This is certainly true—but by God’s grace, we as humans are able to forgive with God’s divine love. What a mystery! When we are provoked, insulted, or hurt, we need to humbly ask that the Father would grant to us His perfect love and forgiveness for others: seventy-times-seven!

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" 1 Peter 1:15-16