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Thanks be to God!
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Thanks be to God!
An occasional bit of wit 'n' wisdom as gleaned from the wise and learned. Family fun and times to share.
Peters approached Jesus and asked him,
"Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must
is forgive him, as may as seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times
but seventy-seven times."
(Matthew 18: 21-35)In Scripture, we can track one indication of the gradual movement of the human race (by God's grace) toward the Reign of God. It has to do with the reduction of vengeance.
~~~Genesis (which reaches back to pre-history) tells of Lamech, a son of Cain, who boasted: "I have killed a man for wounding me, a boy for bruising me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold." (Genesis 4:23-24)
~~~Exodus (which treats events that took place in about 1,200 B.C.) tempers this approach: "If injury ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot..." (Exodus 21:23-24)
~~~Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, takes the human race to a new level: "You have heard that it is said, 'An eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you...when someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well." (Matthew 5:38-39)
~~~Now, 13 chapters later in that same Gospel, Peter asks how many times one has to do this. Jesus says that, to bring about the Reign of God, mercy must be measureless.
Vengeance prevents us from moving forward, for it simply adds evil to evil. Jesus calls us to break the vicious circle of evil for evil, and respond to evil with goodness, this bringing creation closer to its destiny.