The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 18

¹ At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

² And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,

³ And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵ And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

⁶ But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

• This isn’t necessarily speaking about children in the flesh, but spiritual children. The traits of a little child are that they put their trust in their parent, they believe them and obey them. Little children are humble and know they don’t know enough to be independent…. They know they don’t have skills to survive and look to their parents for the skills. Spiritual children are the same way… they look to God without question. They have no battle going on in their mind about what is best for them, they know God is in charge and like it that way. They are humble, loving, grateful, eager to serve and easy to instruct.
• When a spiritually older Christian take on instructing a newly converted Christian they need to do so with caution and awareness that they will be held accountable for how they handle these spiritual Children. Since these are the Christians that have no fleshly barriers that get in the way of their prayers, no spiritual habits that hinder their walks with God… they are always in his presence spiritually. They may not know theology yet, but their humble heart positions them under God’s special protection.
• About the way this verse is often used by anti-abortion advocates: While it is taken out of context in that the point of these verses aren’t about the murder of babies in the womb, it actually still applies. These verses about spiritual children hinge upon God’s protection of actual children. The Holy Spirit used how actual children and their innocences are avenged by God for offenses committed against them to show how God feels about spiritual children. If a person does either of these things and die without repentance, they will face the wrath of God.

⁷ Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

• The temptation to sin is out there, this is why we have a choice, if we had no temptation to sin and only every did good, we wouldn’t have a free will. Without a free will, we aren’t choosing to serve God… we are simply living as we are designed to live. God wanted us to decide to serve him… so… temptation is a thing we all face.

⁸ Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

⁹ And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

• This is hyperbole used to show how extremely important it is not to follow sin and resist it at all cost… even that of your hand or eye.

¹⁰ Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

¹¹ For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

• Baby Christians need to be treated with love and patience. I read on a facebook post about a woman who was being treated badly by others at her church. I believe she said they look at her snidely and make her feel unwelcomed. The tragic truth is some people go to Church to worship Jesus, learn and fellowship with fellow believers and some go to church to practice their religion. Those practicing their religion often set up this hierarchy of members based on how long they’ve been going and how involved they are in things. They do this to feel superior to others and will sometimes go out of their way to make new members feel like outsiders. They don’t feel bad about this because they aren’t Christians… they’re religious people (tares). This is a stern warning for those folks… and for the older Christians who place too much of a burden on younger Christians. These situations look like heavy-handed correction with no encouragement. It sends out the message that the younger Christian can’t do anything right and becomes vexing to them so much so, they sometimes fall away from hopelessness.

¹² How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

¹³ And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

¹⁴ Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

• Even the new convert, baby Christian has value to God… we all do. If God rejoices over one lost sheep, imagine how he will respond to the one who caused the sheep to be lost in the first place.

¹⁵ Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

¹⁶ But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

¹⁷ And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

• When a person has done something to us, we should go to them in private and tell them how their actions affected us. This gives them their first chance to repent and restore the relationship. When a person doesn’t feel like their actions were harmful or they are lifted in pride, they won’t receive what you have to say, so then you take with you one or two people to hear the situation as you try to get the other person to recognize what they did and repent for it. It’s essential that a person recognize what they did and repent…which is more than saying they are sorry; it’s also taking actions to never do that behavior again because the person recognizes the behavior as wrong. If this isn’t done, and the person never acknowledges their error and repents for it, they will repeat the behavior. If after taking witnesses to see the person and hear the situation, the offending person does not repent, then it’s time to take it to the church. Allow them to explain it to the offending person to bring him/her to repentance. If after this the person still doesn’t own their actions and repent for what they’ve done to you, they are to be treated like a sinner. A person who won’t repent for their sins is choosing to walk in error and should be treated like those who choose this path.

¹⁸ Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

• The Apostles/Disciples would determine what things were forbidden (bound) and what things were allowed (loosed) on this earth, and those things would also be bound or loosed in heaven. We are talking about a person being confronted for behavior against another member of the church and the actions that are taken to restore the relationship. If the Church hears the situation after the other two attempts, they are to make the final determination. If the person repents, they are restored and everything is fine… but if they decide to stand their ground, refuse to acknowledge what they’ve done, and repent, then the Church has the authority to put the person out of the church. This action will be honored in heaven. This is what this passage is speaking about. Some folks have taken this verse out of context to mean they can bind up things they don’t like from having an effect and loose things they do like in prayer.

¹⁹ Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

• Verse 19: Two or three come together and agree on these church issues; God the Father is going to do it. I know people (myself included) have believed this to be the way we get God to move on a prayer request… by praying with two or three other people… but that isn’t the meaning of this verse. This verse was written giving the disciples authority on earth to govern the Church. These disciples knew the gospel; they were taught by Jesus and were not going to use these verses to decree things that weren’t maintaining the teachings of Jesus. So often people use these verses to pray for things they want to happen without considering that our sovereign Father has his plans for our lives, and by placing us in different situations that may be uncomfortable, he is getting us ready for his plans. If we were truly able to assemble 2 or 3 people to agree on anything we want, we would be undermining this sovereignty and would no longer be seeking his will, but trying to bring forth our own. So these verses are not about a sure-fire way of getting God to follow our will. They are about being a church elder in charge of making a church decision … a person who already knows the will of God and is living in alignment with it that comes in agreement with two or three other elders to agree on an action that governs the church.

²¹ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

• We’re still talking about forgiving a Christian brother who offends. The flow of the conversation is unbroken, and Peter asks a logical question about this topic: How many times do I forgive a person who keeps doing the same sin?

²² Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

• This is an example of hyperbole. The number is meant to show a limitless amount…seven is the number of perfection so Jesus is telling us to walk in perfect forgiveness towards others.

²³ Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.

• When a parable informs us that a situation is like the Kingdom of heaven, we need to understand this to mean the same way this parable plays out is how things in heaven are going to play out. In this parable the king takes account of his servants… so we know God will look at us and take our behaviors and hearts into account.

²⁴ And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

• In today’s dollars, it’s barely countable… in the billions of dollars.

²⁵ But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

²⁶ The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

²⁷ Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

• When this man couldn’t pay back the king, he worshipped him and begged him to be patient…and the king was compassionate for him…he went beyond just having patience with him; he forgave the debt entirely. Like Jesus, who died and gave his life to cover our sins and give us forgiveness.

²⁸ But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.

• He took this person by the throat to force him to pay a little over a dollar in today’s money.

²⁹ And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

³⁰ And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

This man who fell at his feet was asking the same thing of him that he had asked of the king. What strikes me is that the situation he was in with the king did not build compassion in him… there was no love in his heart. The experience of asking the king to forgive him had not changed him.

³¹ So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.

³² Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:

³³ Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

³⁴ And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

• It’s unlikely this man would ever be able to pay a debt like he owed.

³⁵ So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

• The first servant, who was forgiven for billions of dollars in today’s currency, asked for forgiveness so he would not have to face the consequences of his debt. He admitted he owed the money and asked for patience in paying the king back… but the king had compassion and forgave the debt completely. Had this man actually come to the king in true repentance, he would have had a change of heart and would not have tried to shake down the man who owned him a dollar and some change. The gratitude for the king’s forgiveness would have carried over and covered the debt of his debtors who asked for the same mercy he asked for.

Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

NOTES: Forgiveness is an act of the will; it isn’t a feeling. It’s a choice to align yourself with the will of God. Because forgiveness is not a feeling, but your will… you will still have feelings at first… you might still feel anger… or hurt. If you sit and ruminate on the feelings, the resentment will grow… and if instead you meditate on what God says about the situation and your alignment with his will, that will grow. One way to align with the will of God is to pray for the person and pray for yourself that you be ready and willing to mend the relationship when they repent, and you forgive them either way. Forgiving someone who hurt you does not mean you have to stay in an abusive situation. You can forgive someone and still not trust them until they earn it. Don’t confuse trust with forgiveness.