READ - RESPOND - REPEAT

Peter vs. Andrew

In Matthew 18, Jesus is teaching his disciples:
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17; ESV)
Immediately following that...
Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.(Matthew 18:21-22; ESV)
One of the commentaries that I read says that Jewish law or tradition required forgiveness three times and that Peter probably figured he was being generous suggesting that Christians should forgive maybe as many as seven times - that he was likely shocked and awed at Jesus response.
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What is interesting to me about this, and I don't know if it is an artifact of the translation or my filters I'm reading it through or what, but this second passage (Mat 18:21-22) sounds to me like a specific dispute between biological brothers instead of a hypothetical dispute between metaphorical brothers.
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As if Andrew had been vexing Peter somehow and within hearing of Andrew, Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?" Sort of a gentle gouge at Andrew and a way of suggesting that he (Peter) was the long-suffering and overly-forgiving brother. The way I read it makes Jesus' response even more personally convicting.
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Anyway, that's my non-canonical thought of the day.

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