Matthew 18:21-22 says: “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Until seventy times seven was not given to mean forgiving just 490 times. Jesus was not teaching that on offense 491, we were free to harbor malice toward the offender.
On this topic, Elder Lynn G. Robbins said: “Obviously, the Savior was not establishing an upper limit of 490. That would be analogous to saying that partaking of the sacrament has a limit of 490, and then on the 491st time, a heavenly auditor intercedes and says, “I’m so sorry, but your repentance card just expired—from this point forward, you’re on your own.”
The Unforgiving Servant
Jesus went on the tell the parable of the king and the unforgiving servant. The servant owed the king 10,000 talents. A talent represented what a day laborer could earn in a year. Various scholars differ on the monetary value, but for clarity, I’ll use current US dollars. Ten thousand talents would equate to debt of approximately four billion dollars.
Clearly, the servant was unable to pay such an incomprehensible debt and the lord commanded that he and his family be sold into slavery. The servant fell down, worshipped him, and said “Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” The king had compassion for his servant and forgave him of the debt. How this king must have loved this servant to be willing to forgive so much.
As the parable continues, this same servant, now free from his four-billion-dollar debt to the king, sought out his fellow servant who owed him “an hundred pence”, or about $5,000. The scene repeats and the fellow servant says, “Have patience with me and I will pay thee all”. The servant of the king would not forgive and had his fellow servant cast into prison.
When the king discovered these actions, the king said unto him “O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as I had pity on thee?”
Finally, Jesus says in verse 35: “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”
Unfathomable Debt
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught regarding this parable. He said, “Jesus uses an unfathomable measurement here because His Atonement is an unfathomable gift given at an incomprehensible cost. That, it seems to me, is at least part of the meaning behind Jesus’s charge to be perfect. We may not be able to demonstrate yet the 10,000-talent perfection the Father and the Son have achieved, but it is not too much for Them to ask us to be a little more godlike in little things, that we speak and act, love and forgive, repent and improve at least at the 100-pence level of perfection, which it is clearly within our ability to do.”
Harboring unforgiveness or bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Seems silly to me but holding on to that grudge will eat away at your soul, day after day. We can and must forgive.
Until seventy times seven.
Love Your Enemies
In Matthew 5:38-48, Jesus preaches the sermon on the mount and gives some of the most difficult commandments to the Jews (and to us) that He has ever taught before. He says that “whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” Roman soldiers, hated by the Jews, could command any Jew to carry his pack for up to a mile. Jesus is telling them, not just one mile, but gladly carry it twice that far!
Jesus then says: “Love your enemies”. The “enemies” to which he refers were any person(s) with such a deep hatred for them that they wanted them dead. Actual enemies who hate you, irreconcilably, and are resolved to inflict harm against you. That is the word Jesus used when he said “enemies”. (for a deeper dive into this word go here)
490 Chances?
This leads me to how willing God is to forgive us, until seventy times seven. Let me illustrate using Laman and Lemuel from the first 17 chapters of 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. From chapter 1 through chapter 17, Laman and Lemuel progress from being argumentative, but obedient to their father, to seeking to kill both Lehi and Nephi repeatedly. Over and over and over again, God gives them a chance to repent and change their ways. In 1 Nephi 17:45, Nephi laments to them, “Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.”
Laman and Lemuel Get the Point
Laman and Lemuel had progressed in their hard-heartedness to the point of murder. And in verse 48 they were ready to throw Nephi off a cliff to kill him. Even at this point, God was willing to forgive them and performed another miracle on their behalf. Nephi, infused with the Spirit, said: “In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him.”
The physical manifestation of the power of God was the only way left for God to get through to Laman and Lemuel. An extreme measure to save these sons of His from progressing toward eternal damnation. And it worked for a time, for they said: “We know of a surety that the Lord is with thee, for we know that it is the power of the Lord that has shaken us.”
Let go of the grudge
Now turning to Nephi. If anyone had the right to hold a grudge, it was him. For eight years, he had suffered at the hands of his brothers. Multiple times they had tried to kill him (the very definition of “enemy”). And at this moment, filled with the power of God, Laman and Lemuel fell down at his feet and were about to worship him. Does Nephi take this chance to get some payback, to justly strike at these wicked men? No, for he understood what God was trying to do for his brethren. Nephi said, “I am thy brother, yea, even thy younger brother, wherefore, worship the Lord thy God, and honor thy father and thy mother”. He loved them and he forgave them.
So, my friends, what is required of us to become like God? What is required to “be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”? Love God with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. Using all that you have and can ever have, love God that much. And in so doing, you will learn to forgive as He is willing to forgive you. For me, this means I must keep learning, growing, and changing.
“Things that don’t change remain the same. And when we are through changing—we’re through.” (Boyd K. Packer, Kingsland Georgia Stake Conference, Aug 1997)
Today, let go of that grudge, forgive, and ask for forgiveness … until seventy times seven.
