The insecure Peter, as usual looking for approval asks, 'How often must I forgive my brother¡K? 'Seven times' seemed to be a very generous offer and he expected a clap on the back for it because he knew Jesus put a high priority on forgiveness. The parable of the 'Unforgiving servant' is designed to subvert Peter's and our usual way of thinking. The parable exaggerates the amount the servant owed his master/king. It was ten times the king's annual income! Whereas the amount his fellow servant owed him was a mere '100 days' wages of a labourer.

Why do we forgive others? We forgive because we have been forgiven by God. Being forgiven we know we are loved - knowing we are loved we can love others and forgive. Peter realised this even in his lifetime. Having failed, denying the Lord he was forgiven so completely that he could not/would not boast he loved Jesus ten times more than the others. He didn't need to compete anymore. Knowing our own egoistic tendencies to selfishness makes us observe ourselves and learn to forgive ourselves and others.

The awareness we are forgiven sinners is a blessing in our spiritual life. The great difference between Jesus and the Pharisees was that he wanted to set people free from their past. The Pharisees, however, labelled people with their past, as prostitutes, tax-collectors, sinners! Jesus reverenced people in the present and gave them the capacity to love themselves again and to be good again.