Matthew 18: 21-22, "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.' "
Our church family has been reading through the New Testament this past year. A few days ago, our reading was chapter 18 of Matthew. Apparently the "seventy-seven" is more accurately translated "seventy times seven" for a grand total of 490. The obvious question is, if my brother sins against me 491 times, can I go ahead and lower the boom on him/her? It doesn't seem likely that that is the case. As I have read this passage and pondered what Jesus was saying, there's something that has occurred to me:
That number has come up in scripture before.
In Daniel 9:24, "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to put an end of sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy."
Again, the total is 490. While it is properly understood that this prophecy essentially gives us the timeline to expect the first advent of Messiah, there are some rich words in that verse. It is a picture of COMPLETENESS in forgiveness of sin and the atonement.
I asked a former pastor what his take on this and, without quoting him, he agreed. He pointed out that the reason for the captivity to last 70 years was to give the land its sabbaths which were owed. That would again total 490 years from the time of the kings. Now God was decreeing another 490 years until Messiah would come, make a new covenant, would complete all things. The lesson being that we are to forgive others just as Jesus has forgiven us. (Col. 3:13)
This is borne out by the parable which follows in Matthew 18: 23-35 about the servant who was forgiven a debt he could never pay. But then was unwilling to forgive a fellow servant.
God has forgiven us far more than 490 times. He has forgiven us COMPLETELY. We are to forgive others just as he has forgiven us -- COMPLETELY.
