Reflection: Matthew 18:21-35

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent – Matthew: 18:21-35

Today we have another challenging Gospel. Peter comes to Jesus and bluntly asks him how many times he needs to forgive another, be that his brother, his sister, friend or co-worker. Peter asks if he should forgive the other person seven times? I wonder: did Peter have a family member, a spouse or a friend whom he had wounded multiple times? Or was Peter simply asking the question because he wanted to hear how Jesus would answer his question?

As often is the case, Jesus does not answer Peter’s question directly. Rather Jesus bluntly tells Peter that he should forgive the other person, not simply 7 times, but 77 times! Now that is a lot of forgiveness! It often is easier to forgive another if the hurt or insult is minor. However, when a person has been betrayed or slandered by another person, most of us also would find it difficult to forgive the individual. And this is understandable: our trust has been betrayed!

Was Peter surprised at Jesus’ answer? Was Peter thinking of a family member or friend that he needed to forgive? Or was Peter remembering someone he had hurt or wounded? Was Peter hoping that at some point, he would be forgiven?

Hopefully, over time, we will forgive the person who wounded us. And in this process, we also free ourselves of the heavy burden we have been carrying. Lack of forgiveness usually has more effect on us than on the individual we need to forgive. Resentment and anger poison us. If we are not able to forgive the other person, we may be the one who carries the heavier burden. True, it is not easy to let go of our anger and hurt. However, if we can place our anger, hurt and resentment into God’s hands, over time God will heal our resentment, hurt and anger. However, it may take a long time.

The grace is Jesus does not expect us to deal with these hurts and resentments alone. Jesus walks with us, encourages us and over time, gives us the grace to let go and hopefully to also forgive the one who hurt us. However, we have to be patient with this process. And, we need to keep coming back to Jesus and ask him to help us forgive. Jesus wants us to ask him to free us of this burden, this pain. Jesus is with us and He will answer our prayers!

Today may we place all our burdens, our anger and our pain in Jesus’ hands. This will lighten our load immensely and it also will free us! However, will we, do we, trust Jesus?