Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother if he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

 

At that time, 21 Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother if he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus answered, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 For the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle accounts, someone was brought to him who owed him a large sum of money. 25 Since the servant had nothing to pay, his master ordered him sold as a slave, along with his wife and children and everything he owned, and payment would be made. 26 But the servant fell at his master's feet and begged him, 'Just wait a while, and I will pay you everything. ' 27 When the master saw this, he had compassion on him, released the servant, and forgave him the debt. 28 As he was leaving, that servant found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay me what you owe. ' 29 His fellow servant fell at his feet and begged him, 'Just wait a while, and I will pay you everything. ' I will pay you back.' 30 But the servant would not hear of it. He went out and had him thrown in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to their master and told him everything. 32 Then the master sent for him and said to him, "You wicked servant! I forgave you all your debt because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had compassion on you?" 34 The master was angry and handed the servant over to the torturers until he should pay back all that was owed. 35 This is what my Father in heaven will do to you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." 19:1 When Jesus had finished these words, he left Galilee and came to the territory of Judea beyond the Jordan.

Should one forgive 7 or 70 x 7? This is an expression taken from Genesis 4:24: "If Cain is avenged seven times, Lamech will be avenged seventy-seven times." It is meant to be infinite. By replacing the verb "avenge" with "forgive", Jesus demands that forgiveness be given forever. Seven is a perfect but limited number. Seventy times seven indicates unlimited action. There is no limit to doing good, to being able to give another the possibility of a new life. Jesus makes this truth even clearer when he tells the parable of the debtor.

A high official owed his boss an enormous sum equivalent to 10,000 talents. A talent is not a coin, but a Babylonian unit of measurement that was worth 36 kg of gold. In Jesus' time, this value was a little higher, reaching 58.9 kg. Therefore, in gold, 10 thousand talents were equivalent to 589 tons of gold. It is truly an absurd amount! And who is this official? He is a Satrap, a high-ranking official of the king who was unable to free himself from the debt. By law, he and his family were to be sold into slavery. By begging the king, he received forgiveness for the debt. Two important things here: first, the employee had contracted an unpayable debt, which concerns sin, which in turn cannot be eliminated by mere human strength, by man's limited will. Sin humiliates man to the point of making him lose his own dignity and suffer death. Second, only the boss could resolve this situation without causing irreparable damage to the life of that employee. In other words, only God can free man, forgive his sins and save him from death. This is precisely what the text reveals: a God who takes the initiative to free the sinner. What is impossible for man, God makes possible according to His love and power. Here the idea that we will be saved through our own efforts does not apply. Nor does it mean that there will be no effort on our part, but rather as a response to the merciful attitude of God, who acts on our behalf, in order to free us and lead us to communion with Him.

The same official, once free, is put to the test. Someone owed him a much smaller amount (100 denarii, that is, a third of his annual income) than he owed the king. He pleaded for a while, but the king did not want to listen, he did not pay attention to his debtor's cry and, mercilessly, threw him into prison. Here too there are two important things: first, this official is acting in the king's place, since he is in a position to grant forgiveness or enslave his debtor. Second, the debtor acts as the official, that is, as the other sinful brother, limited, a slave to sin and a wanderer on the roads of death. In both situations, there was a plea for forgiveness; in the first, the debt was eliminated; in the second, personal interest prevailed. In the first, the king granted the grace of a new life; in the second, the official imprisoned the gift of God, being incapable of understanding the mystery of divine mercy. The king's action, in the first case, obliges the forgiven to spend his entire life forgiving, because it is such an immense act of kindness that it will never be equaled.