Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” – Matthew 18:21

Peter was feeling good about himself. He was magnanimous in his proposition to Jesus with his question. The Pharisees taught that a person should be forgiven up to a maximum of three times. That was one more than anyone could be forgiven for infringing the law. It was a privilege the Pharisees arrogated to themselves for being the most righteous. “Uncommon feat to the ordinary person,” they said. So, you can understand the source and basis of Peter’s question.

“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Now, see it this way. Maybe somebody had been making Peter’s life very uncomfortable. The person had offended him the first time, and Peter forgave him. The person did it again and received Brother Peter’s mercy. “He will not do it again,” Peter may have thought. But he did – a third time. Now, our brother is thinking, “Does he really care? Is he not taking me for granted? Will he not continue to hurt me, as long as long as I forgive, like it’s not a big deal?”

Peter may have remembered the teaching of the Pharisees, which stipulated that to be truly righteous, the offended could forgive a third time, but no more. Peter then may have gulped a big lump, and with a deep sigh, tersely said to his offender, “Okay, I forgive you; but not another time.”

So, why is Peter’s tormentor running to him again, palm in palm, for another dose of mercy? He must be joking! Tough call for Brother Peter, for he has gone with his offender to the pinnacle of Mt. Forgiveness with the last offense. What should he do?

Thankfully, there is a new Teacher in town, Jesus the Son of God, and Peter has direct access to Him. In fact Peter is very intimate with him and so he comes to Jesus with a smug attitude.

“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Notice what Peter did. He lifted Mt. Forgiveness by a hundred percent and topped it with a bonus layer. He laid it before the Teacher, as if to say, “Top it, Jesus. Seven is the number of perfection, so how far up could you go?”

“I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven,” Jesus said.

“You can’t be serious, Master! You mean I have to forgive this guy, four hundred and ninety times? That’s ridiculous! Who can do that?”

The master Teacher that Jesus is, He tells the story of the servant who was forgiven much, but failed to be merciful to his fellow servant who owed him only a small amount of money relative to what he was forgiven by his master (Matt. 18:23-35). The ungrateful servant had this poor servant imprisoned till he could pay. The Master heard of it, called the ungrateful servant, reprimanded him, and threw him into prison for failing to forgive his brother, as he was forgiven earlier (32-34).

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart,” Jesus said.

Imagine Brother Peter’s face at this time. His offender is off the hook, he knew it. Not only that; the offender is granted forgiveness as many times as he asks for it.

Now, that’s new! But, it’s the Kingdom requirement. It’s called grace unlimited. It flows from Calvary and is dispensed lavishly (Eph. 1:7-8). As you have been forgiven for your past, present and future sins, it says, so forgive your brother or sister with same magnanimity.

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Col. 3:13).

It’s too difficult this time? The Holy Spirit says, “Just yield to me, and I will carry you through it.”