490 misses the point

I hate it when I get into an old argument with someone. The outcome is the same because the issue is the same. The emotions involved in the argument are the same. It's like seeing the same movie over and over. I had just such an occasion today.

The issue is over a hurt inflicted by a third party. It was a deep hurt inflicted on both of us in the argument by this third party. But the infliction of the wound was several years back. I think the difference is that one of us has practiced the principle of forgiveness while the other has allowed resentments to fester.

"How many times should a person forgive another believer?" Jesus knew the angle of the question being asked. He knew humans loved limits. They love to extract justice after a limit has been reached—a sort of 3 strikes and you're out philosophy. So when Peter mentions the suggestion of a limit like 7 times, Jesus multiplies the 7 by 10 and further multiplies that answer times the 7 used as the delimiting factor. The kicker is that Jesus gives a reason for doing so:

"... because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts. He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars." You know the rest of the story. The whole episode is in Matthew 18. I know my life. I owe a million dollars. I do not want to be guilty of turning around and asking someone to pay for a $10 debt. Although I get accused of not caring, I will not continue with thinking of the hurt. It doesn't matter in light of the grand scheme of how ugly my own life is without grace. Forget it. The Maker of all people is also their judge. If he thinks the third party should suffer recrimination for the hurt inflicted, then so be it. But, it's not because I am asking for it. I am grateful for the mercy I have received time and again rather than the recrimination that should have come my way.

So when the argument comes up again, I will be silent on the issue again. The Great Teacher has said forgiveness is the best path. I am going to eat, grab my keys and get on down the road. I have moved on regardless of the hurt. It's not my call. My call is in the form of an equation: 70 X 7.