The Profundity of Forgiveness Part2: Answering the Challenge of Biblical Forgiveness

Forgiveness doesn’t seem to come naturally to us. It can often seem like a challenge. Much like us, in the Bible Simon Peter thought of himself has a very forgiving person but Jesus was soon to correct him. Jesus proceeded to tell a parable that showed how humans can have a very illogical bitterness when wronged and then showed what true forgiveness looked like. He showed this level of forgiveness with a subtle reference to a little known passage in the Hebrew Bible.

But what about "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth"? Why did Moses command this if we are to forgive? In this episode we discuss how Jesus taught us to forgive people, what that would look like, and the challenges associated it with it.

 

 

All episodes can be found at www.switchinglensespodcast.com

Music by Brian Buchanan

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

 

 

Episode Outline

1. Matthew 18:21-35 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+18&version=esv
   1. Peter seems to be coming off as “extremely forgiving” by asking if he should forgive 7 times.
   2. In typical Jesus fashion he challenges our assumptions by saying “not 7 times but 77 times.”
      1. The 77 times only appears in one other place in the Bible and that is during a poem from Lamech back in Genesis 4:23
         1. Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. 24 If Cain's revenge is sevenfold,then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.”
   3. Jesus tells the story about a king and his servant
   4. After the servant goes after his fellow servant he throws him in jail until he can pay back the debt
      1. How is he going to pay back the debt in jail?
      2. Therefore, what is the purpose of putting him in jail? Does this reflect the kind of response we see today when people are wronged?

(music break)

1. How should we handle situations where people wrong us?
   1. Some would say “What about an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth?
   2. Jesus shows us in the passage right above this one in verse 15