Hard Times
And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Luke 17:4 NASB
Forgive – Read these words from Yeshua again. Slowly. Let them sink in. If someone sins against you over and over, and keeps coming back saying, “I repent,” what are you required to do? Oh, how difficult are these words! How taxing, perhaps even vexing! This is the last thing, the absolutely last thing, we want to do. Yes, we may be magnanimous the first or second time around. There is a kind of moral merit badge associated with dispensing forgiveness to the unworthy. Yes, we may have been injured, slighted or upset, but there is a kind of emotional release in knowing that the other person has to beg us for restoration of the relationship. But a third time? Now the strain is building. “How long do I have to put up with this?” we begin to ask ourselves. Then four, then five. By now we reached the statute of limitations on forgiveness. Certainly we have long since passed the edge of compassion. Now we are teetering toward revenge. Or, at the least, reprisals. And yet Yeshua goes on. Six, seven. What is the point here? By this time we are surely convinced that our forgiveness has made no distinguishable difference to the offender. Now we entertain the thoughts that we are being played, that our willingness to forgive is being abused. Now we are the ones who are angry!
How can Yeshua expect ordinary human beings to put up with this kind of sinful abuse and still forgive?
Before we even try to answer that question, perhaps we need to understand what forgiveness really means. The Greek verb is aphiemi (to let go, to pardon). But this Greek verb is used for many different Hebrew words.
In the LXX [aphienai] is used for a whole series of Hebrew words, a. for those which denote either “release,” “surrender” etc. or “leave,” “leave in peace” etc. (esp. common for [hinniah] e.g., Ju. 2:23; 3:1; 16:26; 2 Βασ. 16:11; 20:3; Psalms 104:14; or for [azab] Ex. 9:21; 2 Βασ. 15:16 etc.; and [natan] e.g., Gn. 20:6; Ex. 12:23; Nu. 22:13 etc.); b. for verbs of “remission” and indeed for [nasa’] e.g., Gn. 4:13; Ex. 32:32; Psalms 24:18; 31:5; for [salah] e.g., Lv. 4:20; 5:10, 13; Nu. 14:19; 15:25 f.; Is. 55:7; and [kaphar], Is. 22:14.[1]
Obviously, Yeshua’s words translated into Greek cover a wide range of deliberate restoring actions. When you forgive, do you consciously attempt to let go, to pardon, release, to leave in peace, to carry off, to lift away, to expiate the guilt of the other? Or are your words simply expected social protocol, lacking the real depth of spiritual affirmation?
Perhaps the reason it is so hard to forgive in the Hebraic sense is that it reminds us of how distant we are from our own sense of peace, release and remission.
Topical Index: forgive, aphiemi, Luke 17:4
[1] R. Bultmann, aphiemi, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Vol. 1, p. 510. 1964- (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich, Ed.) (electronic ed.) Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
I think it’s more on the lines of the other person is acting on protocal. You truly cannot be sorry if you verbally abuse me 7 times in a day. Teshuva happens when you don’t repeat the sin. Am I missing something?
Probably not, but the requirement does not ask us to FIRST assess the intention of the other. We are to respond no matter what the intention since our responsibility is to act AS IF every apology is sincere.
Thanks for writing on this. I had forgotten about this verse. I guess I’m just wondering where the line gets drawn- are we to stay in abusive relationships as long as the person keeps apologizing?
…it’s a question I do struggle with when it comes to this topic…in the midst of trying to navigate a relationship that involves repeated sorrys and repeated abuse.
I follow what you are saying Skip; I just don’t agree with it. The reason being is that 3 times makes a pattern. I can follow the whole forgiveness train for the first 2 times, but by the third, it’s a pattern – it’s not longer an event. At some point it switches to, “Sorry” isn’t going to cut it. Especially considering that Hebrew is verb based, I really don’t care if someone is cognitively ‘sorry’. It cost someone absolutely nothing to say, “sorry”. So my thought is at a certain point is, it has to cost someone by actions of some sort to show they are sorry and asking for forgiveness if it’s repetitive thing otherwise, “sorry” is just a thought and doesn’t imply a single thing. It’s like someone saying, “I’m happy” but crying and can’t get out of bed and hasn’t ate in a week – I would begin to think our definitions of, “happy” are different. If I make no progress so show God that I am sorry for my sins, and just going through the motions of prayer asking for forgiveness. Baby steps are fine but no action doing the same thing over and over and over and over again with no improvement would mean by actions i just don’t really care.
Hi Skip, from the Greek written here and the underlying Hebrew understanding, what if they don’t come and say, “I repent.” I’m sure you’ve experienced as well as you’ve walked out your faith even “Christians” who’ve done terrible things and have never said, “I’m sorry. I repent.” Or, those who ignore you or never acknowledge their offenses. Is this inferred in this passage?
The Shoe Now on the Other Foot
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)
Doesn’t Peter “appear” to be magnanimous? Here’s the reality. – How many times have “I” sinned against my [Elder] Brother, and asked Him for forgiveness? Seven times? No, seven times seventy!! And He has forgiven me – every time!!
Did David know how it felt to be forgiven? ~ But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared! ~ (Psalm 130.4)
The LORD’s prayer? ~ Forgive us our debts as [in the same way?] we forgive our debtors!
Bottom line? Christ receiveth sinful men. The wandering, philandering, errant son knew this. Up close and personal,— so have I. “Father forgive me!” – for I have sinned!
And may we ever be mindful of the final prayer of our Savior and Near-Kinsman Redeemer: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
The weapons of our warfare? Forgiveness, and the ability to forgive those who “trespass against us,” in the life of a Christian (or in a Christian home) is huge. As practice makes perfect, today our (always) good God will see to it (in a very personal and practical way) that we will have plenty of opportunity to practice forgiveness.
Seven times? No. Seven times seventy!!
Is forgiveness forgetting for us humans? There are toxic or dangerous people. Some of us may have grown up with this type of person. So setting boundaries is needed. I think Skip talks about the three different types of fools. We can forgive but it doesn’t mean we have to expose ourselves to dangerous or abusive situations. We let go.
Madeleine, I am in full agreement with you! We have to let go, be released ourselves from that volatile situation, get far away, and not be continuously subjected to that kind of abusive environment.
Shalom!
See but I don’t see letting it go as the same as, forgiving. I could be very wrong though. If you don’t hold on to, “this person is toxic because of xyz” it is too easy to just forget and come to the idea, ‘why is it that we stopped interacting – couldn’t have been that bad”
Does this teaching not turn on: “I repent”?
Forgiveness is a great release, when it’s done whole heartily,it feels as if a great load has been lifted off of your shoulders , you feel free, I know I have been there! Seventy times seven, our heavenly Father said we should forgive , it’s a blessing,. SHABBATH SHALOM all have a blessed day!
Sometimes a good teaching can best be presented by focusing on the absurd to make the point that needs to be made over and over and over, to the human creature. We just don’t get it, many times. Or maybe it’s better stated, we just don’t want to get it, because it may require a change and a change for the better. It’s not unlike Yeshua’s teachings that end with, ‘let them who have ears listen.’ The absurd point is we all have ears, don’t we? And we all listen with those ears, don’t we? Of course we do. But, the teaching lies in what it means to hear, to the speaker, Yeshua. We heard only if we apply the teaching in our lives. If you don’t apply, then you don’t obey and the next logical step is, you really aren’t a ‘follower’ of Yeshua. The same with the requirement of forgiveness. An absurd is presented. A person offends you over and over and over, in this case, seven times in one day. The teaching is the requirement to forgive each time. Never mind the reality, that the person offending you, belongs, most likely in the category of a ‘fool’ (there are many teachings in scripture on how to deal with a fool). This teaching is Yeshua’s attempt to get us to ‘really get’ the concept of forgiveness. If you ‘get it’, then you will apply it every time in your life. No exceptions. Yeshua’s teachings require obedience, and obedience is usually where the human creature goes, ‘yes, but’, and then modifies the commandment or justifies an opposite action of unforgiveness, while still claiming to be a real follower of Yeshua, what we in church-world call a Christian.
What is the purpose of Yeshua teachings? Know the law or God or is it do the intent of the law. If all judgement is for God, do we really need to forgive…. What is there to forgive when we identify no wrong. Be slow to anger, it is not a sin to be angry… but when angry do not sin…
What is the purpose of Yeshua’s teachings? Perhaps it’s found in the Lord’s prayer, i.e., ‘that God’s will be done on Earth, as it’s done in Heaven (God’s dimension)’. All of Yeshua’s teaching focus on that will and what the Creator is doing in the restoration and renewal of His whole creation, Earth included. If you follow Yeshua’s teachings, you are Yeshua’s disciple and thereby doing the will of God. If you are doing the will of God, you will be active in the restoration process on Earth, that was begun with the resurrection and vindication of the Messiah. It’s all about bringing about God’s rule and reign on Earth as it is in His dimension (Heaven).
Restore God s intent. Is Torah God’s intent or His guidelines to help us achieve His intent…
Earth is self sustaining. She feeds us as our seasonal changes require. Yet we eat the scavengers create to keep the earth functional and clean. Yeshua taught as did His disciples that if we break one rule obeying the others are of no use. Hence the new covenant reminder that we are saved by grace and not obedience to every letter of the Torah.
Without falling to teach Torah we may not judge on non adherence to as then we be judged.
Will ignorance to Torah adherence then still play a roll or will our attitude towards ourselves and others be the ultimate judge of our faith…
Maybe Yeshua’s condensing of the law into two commandments, says it all. ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ These are God’s ‘Cliff Notes’ for all His creation. They are simple enough for even the human creature to follow, if, and it’s a big if, if he is willing to do it. And grace, grace has always been the driving force of the Creator. It did not start in the New Testament. The first act of creation was an act of grace by God. Salvation, getting saved, has been almost the entire thrust of Christianity. That single focused mission has battled with the two great commandments continuously, especially the ‘loving your neighbor’ and its’ application in God’s good creation. I am drawn to N.T. Wright’s observation that ‘salvation is important, but it’s not the most important thing God is doing’. God’s message from Genesis to Revelation to His human creatures, created in His image is simple: I am here. I created. I sustain. I love. I have a purpose and a plan for the Cosmos. I partner with my human creatures on this Good Earth. I offer to all humanity, this partnership. To me, it’s even simpler: ‘Come from Love and be your best.’ The judging will take care of its’ self, if that is a continuing worry. It should not be!
David I disagree that the creation was a deed of grace… there was nothing to save no salvation needed. From the biblical records it seems that the creation was for a self purpose of God, something not revealed in the scriptures… Except if some early teachers chose to keep these records secret…
That the OT referred to something attainable on earth through God’s grace, power and blessings is not disputed as that is proven throughout the OT and even the NT. This seems to have been misunderstood as salvation by the christian fathers… Although Skip has already taught us that YESHUA per se means salvation – I add to this God’s will that takes on flesh.
No real mention here of eternal life until the records of John. Then the records seem to change and the apostles start talking of something to happen a ‘second coming’ of Yeshua to collect those that keep his teachings based on his last promise to his disciples and then the later revelations of John and this is were the christian teachings of salvation comes from… it is not the one Skip refers to YESHUA, Emanuel, God with us, God’s will taking on flesh. Not a new principle as the OT already revealed this reality, it was just forgotten and had to be revisited…
AND as you conclude your message “Come from love… – It should not be!” All this is proof of your conviction that you live according to the teachings of Yeshua as should all of us… And that God has made His abode in you – fullness of law as Yeshua said he came to manifest.
The OT brought to us in a very concise version. Matthews till John.
But you hitch grace only to the act of salvation or getting saved, which has been nearly the only focus of the Christian faith. I see everything God does as an act of grace, all creation,everything. He didn’t have to do it, and nothingness could hardly have earned it. And as I see it, nowhere in Torah is the proscription that God’s salvation is manifested in keeping the Law, and keeping it without error. Admittedly, many who were zealous for the Law made Torah into a sort of ‘idol’, but that was never YHWH intention. Yeshua brought clarification about Torah’s correct interpretation. The concept of Christian grace can make one quite lazy in their faith. We are quick to say, ‘we are saved by grace through faith, forgetting the most important part which follows, i.e., ‘for good works.’ The whole Epistle of James addresses this leaning toward ‘laziness’, by those misintrepreting God’s grace initiative. Grace is all over the OT and all over the NT. In actuality, the whole Bible is nothing more then God’s application of His loving Grace for the whole Cosmos, with an obvious focus on His human creatures.
Well phrased and debated thank you for your time and effort.
Shalom
Could be Laura, or is it the lost feeling for not being the same as other followers that force us to try and create a relationship pre-mature…. Annanias was an apostle yet all the records reveal of him is that he baptized Paul. Patience in his conviction revealed what works God had prepared for him. Is this not the calling; learn this from Yeshua be meek and humble and from Solomon and Job be patient until you become meek and humble so that God can use according to his will..
My 2 cents for this blog.
ADAMANTLY Disagree…. We are called to´know Him´ – that is our primary ´work´ here on earth… to love Him with ALL our heart, soul, mind and strength – to return to Him as our FIRST LOVE. In the end He WILL NOT SAY: ¨Go from Me – you didn´t restore the earth¨ – you´re preaching Dominion Theology which is a completely errant (FALSE) in his ideology. (See https://carm.org/christian-reconstructionism-theonomy
This is another favorite and one to tuck away for reference. I read a piece not too long ago someone else had written on this seven times seventy. Another teachable moment. Good to be in this place.
“In “The Power of Forgiveness,” Elie Wiesel (blessed be his name) refers to a Jewish view that in order to be
forgiven, one must first admit to wrongful action and apologize. The German government, in response to his request, did indeed issue a formal apology at the Knesset in Israel for its involvement in the Holocaust.
At the same time, Wiesel looks at pictures of the lost children and questions whether or not he can, in fact, forgive the acts that took so many lives and destroyed so many families.”
Judaism does not recognize confession of personal sin to a religious figure as part of the process of sin and repentance.!
Judaism does not recognize absolution as part of the process of sin and repentance. There is no designated authority who can dispense forgiveness of sins after confession and penance; rather, sins between persons require the asking and granting of forgiveness by the parties concerned while sins between persons and God require the asking of forgiveness by the penitent and the granting of forgiveness only by God. Finally, Judaism does not recognize reconciliation (the whole-hearted yielding of all inner negative feeling) as a necessary part of the process of sin and repentance. Although reconciliation is known and even desireable, rabbinic Judaism realizes that there are other modes of rapprochement that are fully adequate and, perhaps, more realistic.
Teshuvá is the key concept in the rabbinic view of sin, repentance, and forgiveness. The tradition is not of one mind on the steps one must take to repent of one’s sins. However, almost all agree that repentance requires five elements: recognition of one’s sins as sins (hakarát ha-chét’), remorse (charatá), desisting from sin (azivát ha-chét’), restitution where possible (peira’ón), and confession (vidúi)
.”Recognition of one’s sins as sins” is an act of one’s intelligence and moral conscience. It also involves realizing that such acts are part of deeper patterns of relatedness and that they are motivated by some of the most profound and darkest elements in our being.
The tradition is quite clear, however, that recognition of sin, remorse, restitution, and confession, if they are done without desisting from sin, do not constitute teshuva.
The most basic kind of forgiveness is “forgoing the other’s indebtedness” (mechilá).
Mechila is, thus, an expectation of the offended person but only if the sinner is actually repentant. It is core to the Jewish view of forgiveness, just as desisting from sin is core to the Jewish view of repentance. Without good grounds, the offended person should not forgo the indebtedness of the sinner; otherwise, the sinner may never truly repent and evil will be perpetuated.
No human can “atone” the sin of another; no human can “purify” the spiritual pollution of another.
How does forgiveness differ from condoning, excusing, or forgetting? A common theme regarding forgiveness across traditions seems to be the usefulness of distinguishing between the transgression and the transgressor. – js.emory.edu
Interesting reads I have enjoyed, and hope that you will too. Shalom!
Thank you, Ester — good read!
I think we usually read this as if your brother repeatedly does the SAME sin over and over the same day — which might be where we get hung up on the repentance first requirement. And I think the need for repentance is true if it’s a repetition of the same sin. But Yeshua doesn’t say it’s a repetition of the same sin. It could be, but it might be seven DIFFERENT sins in a day. Have you ever had one of those days when EVERYTHING your spouse or kid does is offensive? I’ve been on both ends of this one. Seventy times seven sins a day can be an easy count to reach.
May I be so bold as to offer this thought. Maybe Christianity tries to force a person’s relationship with God to fit certain categories. As in you have to do this, and then this and so on. Instead of letting people walk with God as He sees fit.
Right, Laura! I think so too!
We do and have been given FREE will to decide and choose, WHY allow ourselves to be boxed in?!
Shalom!
Thank you all for your insight, esp Ester, David, and Skip. There is much here for us to put into practice, Now as our example Yeshua has shown us let us ” go and sin no more” Shalom