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Lesson 33 of the Discipleship Making process.
I left you last time with this question, “What is the difference between the two sayings, ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I repent’?”
When Jesus finished telling the disciples the process for reproving an erring believer Peter approached Him with a question that lies in the heart of every believer. Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? In this lesson we will cover Jesus’ reply to Peter’s questions and the instructions He gave the disciples on the same issue a few months later.
Read: Matthew 18:21-35, Mark 9:49-50
When Peter approached Jesus with his question concerning the number of times that he should forgive he added a second question, “Until seven times?” Peter’s use of the number seven in this manner wasn’t just arbitrary. In Hebrew the word is shaba, literally meaning “to be complete”, and refers to something that cannot be altered or broken. It references the idea that when a person makes an oath he repeats it seven times.
So when Peter used the term “seven times” (shaba or sevened) he was seeking clarification from Jesus. In English, Peter might have phrased the question this way, “Is it okay to forgive someone who says he repents up to seven times since in fact he has not made it an oath yet?”
Jesus replied to Peter’s question in this manner, “I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until (the concept of a point in time) seventy times seven.” In Hebrew what Jesus said is a clear reference to the prophecy of Daniel 9:24: “Seventy sevens have been decreed for your people and your holy city . . . to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” In this case, Jesus is telling Peter that he must continue to forgive fellow believers until the things stated in Daniel’s prophecy come to pass.
To reinforce His point, Jesus couples it with a kingdom parable. In the parable a certain king (God) forgives a man his debt (sins), equivalent to 461,500 years worth of wages. But that man does not forgive the debt (sins), equivalent to 1/3 of one year’s wages, of another. Because he withheld forgiveness from another, the king (God) turns him over to the torturers until the debt is paid. The purpose of the parable is to illustrate how much God has forgiven us in relation to how little we have to forgive others.
Jesus concludes the parable with the statement, “For everyone will be salted with fire.” The term “salted with fire” is a reference to sacrifices made to God. In the Old Testament all sacrifices were required to be salted before they were burned with fire. Salt served as a reminder to both God and man that a covenant relationship existed between the two parties (Numbers 18:19, Leviticus 2:13 and 2 Chronicles 13:5). So it is entirely appropriate for Christians, who are to offer themselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), to be salted with fire.
It is truly a sacrifice to forgive another his sins, especially when everything in us is crying out for retribution, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Jesus recognized it and that’s why He used the illustration of salt. It was to remind His disciples that they were in a covenant relationship with God (Matthew 6:14-15).
In addition to covenant use, salt has two primary uses:
- To season or make palatable - Colossians 4:6
- To preserve or save from decay - James 5:19-20
In part 2 of this lesson, we will see the conclusion of Jesus’ instruction on “Forgiving Believers Who Repent”.
Until next time . . . Godspeed!
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