Peter's Try at Greatness
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Matt. 18:21.
Now there is a practical question. One wonders why Peter even asked it. But, given the context, perhaps the reason is not difficult to discover. For one thing, Jesus had been speaking to the topic of problems between individuals. For another, the disciple had been hearing echoes of glory in his head ever since Jesus had commended him at Caesarea Philippi. And third, since that time all of the disciples had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.
Peter was sure that it was him. And now he would demonstrate it before them all, including Jesus, who would undoubtedly have praise for his generosity.
"How often am I to forgive my brother...? As many as seven times?" (Matt. 18:21, NEB). Peter had no doubt about the "greatness" of his statement. After all, seven forgivenesses is a lot, especially since the rabbis taught that one must not forgive more than three times.
Thus Rabbi Jose ben Hanina claimed that "he who begs forgiveness from his neighbour must not do so more than three times." And Rabbi Jose ben Jehuda said, "If a man commits an offense once, they forgive him' if he commits an offense a second time, they forgive him; if he commits an offense a third time, they forgive him; the fourth time they do not forgive."
The biblical base for that ruling appears in the opening chapters of Amos, from which the rabbis concluded from the oft-repeated "for three sins" of the various nations, "even for four," that the limit of God's forgiveness was three times. Thus Peter, in an act of exceptional generosity, doubled the accepted Jewish quota and added one for good measure. Not bad for a hard-fisted and probably short-tempered fisherman.
But behind Peter's outward question lies one that interested him far more. Namely, when have I reached the limit of forgiveness? When with a clear conscience can I cut loose and let people have it? Or when, after I have filled the obligatory limit, may I be my real self and with clear conscience give people what they deserve?
Those are questions all of us would like to have answered. Christ's disgusting response is "never."
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Matt. 18:21.
Now there is a practical question. One wonders why Peter even asked it. But, given the context, perhaps the reason is not difficult to discover. For one thing, Jesus had been speaking to the topic of problems between individuals. For another, the disciple had been hearing echoes of glory in his head ever since Jesus had commended him at Caesarea Philippi. And third, since that time all of the disciples had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.
Peter was sure that it was him. And now he would demonstrate it before them all, including Jesus, who would undoubtedly have praise for his generosity.
"How often am I to forgive my brother...? As many as seven times?" (Matt. 18:21, NEB). Peter had no doubt about the "greatness" of his statement. After all, seven forgivenesses is a lot, especially since the rabbis taught that one must not forgive more than three times.
Thus Rabbi Jose ben Hanina claimed that "he who begs forgiveness from his neighbour must not do so more than three times." And Rabbi Jose ben Jehuda said, "If a man commits an offense once, they forgive him' if he commits an offense a second time, they forgive him; if he commits an offense a third time, they forgive him; the fourth time they do not forgive."
The biblical base for that ruling appears in the opening chapters of Amos, from which the rabbis concluded from the oft-repeated "for three sins" of the various nations, "even for four," that the limit of God's forgiveness was three times. Thus Peter, in an act of exceptional generosity, doubled the accepted Jewish quota and added one for good measure. Not bad for a hard-fisted and probably short-tempered fisherman.
But behind Peter's outward question lies one that interested him far more. Namely, when have I reached the limit of forgiveness? When with a clear conscience can I cut loose and let people have it? Or when, after I have filled the obligatory limit, may I be my real self and with clear conscience give people what they deserve?
Those are questions all of us would like to have answered. Christ's disgusting response is "never."
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