But Jesus trumps it with His answer: “I tell you, not as many as seven, . . . but 70 times seven” (Matthew 18:21–22). I know I’ve asked myself how many times I have to keep forgiving the people who wronged me. How many times do I have to let people off the hook? If we were to take this verse literally, I suppose we could stop at 490. But I don’t think this verse is about the number. Jesus is explaining to Peter that there is no magic number because we live in a world where we’re never completely