LUKE xvii. 3-10.
We are always inclined to set a limit to our moral obligations. We wish,
as we say, "to draw a line somewhere." We want to appoint a definite place
where obligation ceases, and where the moral strain may be released. The
Apostle Peter wished his Master to draw such a line in the matter of
forgiveness. "Lord, how oft shall I forgive? Till seven times?" He wanted
a tiny moral rule which he could apply to his brother's conduct.
Not so the Lord. Our Master tells His disciple that in those spiritual
realms relations are not governed by arithmetic. We cannot, by counting,
measure off our obligations. Our repeated acts of forgiveness never bring
us nearer to the freedom of revenge. No amount of sweetness will ever
permit us to be bitter. We cannot, by being good, obtain a license to be
evil. The fact of the matter is, if our goodness is of genuine quality,
every act will more strongly dispose us to further goodness. It is the
counterfeit element in our goodness that inclines us to the opposite camp.
It is when our forgiveness is tainted that we anticipate the "sweetness"
of revenge.