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In today’s Gospel Peter asks a question to Jesus, how many times does one forgive someone? Excellent question, to paraphrase Peter, Jesus is asked about the limits of forgiveness. Jesus poetically points out that forgiveness is limitless to anyone following him. This answer is not surprising; as Jesus frequently spoke about forgiveness. One of the last statements he made before his death on the cross is the prayer, “forgive them father for they do not know what they are doing”! Forgiveness in various forms is found in all major religions. Christianity is no different. I have spoken about forgiveness in this podcast. I invite my listeners to check out the editions on April 20, 2026, November 9, 2025, and February 16, 2025, for insights on forgiveness.

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This week’s Gospel reminds me of the letters of St. Paul to the Corinthians where he is addressing the different factions. Jesus realized that when two or more people get together there will be disagreements and in some cases conflict. Misunderstandings and different perspectives will impact all communities regardless of how unified or religious they are. Despite his frequent calls for peace, Jesus knew his followers would need to know how to deal with conflict.

So many of the teachings of Jesus speak about how the expression of our faith is impacted by how we treat people. One of my favorite examples of this is the teaching from Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” We basically relate to God through our interactions with others.

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The most significant line in this Gospel is Jesus saying, “Get behind me, Satan”. In the past when I have preached on this Gospel, I’ve always understood this passage as Jesus directing this comment to Peter, thus indicating that while Peter recognized Jesus as the Messiah, he did not fully understand the mission. I am now wondering if Jesus was making this comment to himself. I wonder if Jesus had a brief moment of wanting to believe Peter and not have to suffer the fate he knew would be his. Let me share with you why I think this.

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