Matthew 18
18
The Most Important Person in the Kingdom
1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2Jesus called a little child over and had them stand in the middle of the group. 3Jesus then said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you’ll never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever becomes humble like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And anyone who welcomes a child like this one in my name welcomes me.
Don’t Cause People to Sin
6“But what if someone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin? It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around their neck and drown at the bottom. 7Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Things like that must come. Woe to the person who causes them! 8If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter life with only one hand or foot than to go with two hands or two feet into hell, where the fire burns forever. 9If your eye causes you to sin, pull it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter life with one eye than to be thrown into the fire of hell with two eyes.
The Story of the Lost Sheep
10-11“Make sure you don’t look down on one of these little ones. I tell you, their angels in heaven see face to face my Father who is in heaven.
12“What do you think? Suppose a man owns 100 sheep and one of them wanders away. Won’t he leave the 99 sheep on the hills and go look for the one that wandered off? 13Truly I tell you, if he finds that sheep, he’ll be happier about it than about the 99 that didn’t wander off. 14It’s the same with your Father in heaven. He doesn’t want any of these little ones to be lost.
When Someone Sins Against You
15“If your brother or sister sins against you, go and tell them privately what they’ve done wrong. If they listen to you, you’ve won them back. 16But if they won’t listen to you, return with one or two others. Scripture says, ‘Every matter must be proved by the words of two or three witnesses.’ 17If they still refuse to listen, then tell it to the community of believers. And if they refuse to listen even to the community, then treat them the way you would treat an unbeliever or a traitor.
18“Truly I tell you, what you tie up on earth will be tied up in heaven, and what you set free on earth will be set free in heaven.
19“Again, I tell you truly, if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20Where two or three people gather in my name, I am there with them.”
The Servant Who Had No Mercy
21Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times should I forgive a brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22Jesus answered, “Not seven times, I tell you, but 77 times.
23“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to collect all the money his servants owed him. 24First, they brought him a man who owed 10,000 bags of gold. 25Since he wasn’t able to pay, his master ordered the man, his wife, his children, and everything he owned to be sold to pay back the debt.
26“Then the servant got down on his knees in front of him. ‘Give me time,’ he begged, ‘and I’ll pay everything back.’ 27His master felt sorry for him, so he forgave him what he owed and let him go.
28“But then that servant went out and found another servant, who owed him 100 silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29“The other servant got down on his knees. ‘Give me time,’ he begged him, ‘and I’ll pay it back.’
30“But the first servant refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he paid back what he owed. 31When the other servants saw this, it made them very angry. They went and told their master everything that had happened.
32“Then the master called the first servant back in. ‘You ungrateful servant,’ he said. ‘I forgave you everything you owed because you begged me to. 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on the other servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34The master was so angry that handed him over to the jailers to be punished until he paid back everything he owed.
35“That’s how my Father in heaven will treat each of you if you don’t forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
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Matthew 18
18
1Around that time the disciples came to Jesus, and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2Jesus called over a small child. He had the child stand in front of them. 3“I tell you the truth, unless you change the way you think and become like little children, you won't ever enter the kingdom of heaven,” he told them. 4“But whoever humbles themselves and becomes like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5Whoever accepts a little child like this in my name accepts me. 6But anyone who makes one of these little ones who trust in me sin, it would be better for them to have a large millstone#18:6. Literally, “a donkey millstone,” referring to the massive millstone turned by a donkey, rather than a small millstone turned by hand. tied around their neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
7What a disaster is coming on the world for all its temptations to sin! Temptations will surely come, but it will be a disaster for the person through whom the temptation comes! 8If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It's better for you to enter eternal life crippled or lame rather than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into eternal fire. 9If your eye causes you to sin, pull it out and throw it away. It's better for you to enter eternal life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the fire of Gehenna.#18:9. “Gehenna.” See note under 5:22.
10Make sure you don't look down on these little ones. I tell you that in heaven their angels are always with#18:10. Literally, “see the face of.” my heavenly Father. 11#18:11. Verse 11 is not in the earliest manuscripts. 12What do you think about this? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders off, won't he leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of the one that's wandered away? 13And if he finds it, I tell you he really rejoices over that sheep more than the ninety-nine that didn't wander away. 14In the same way my heavenly Father does not want any of these little ones to be lost.
15If a brother#18:15. Or “fellow believer.” sins against you,#18:15. The words “against you” are not in all the early manuscripts. If they are omitted, then this recommendation becomes a general one dealing with anyone's sins, whether “against you” or not. go and point out the wrong to him, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you've won your brother over. 16But if he doesn't listen, then take one or two more people with you, so that by two or three witnesses the truth can be confirmed.#18:16. See Deuteronomy 19:15. 17If, however, he refuses to listen to them, then tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church as well, then treat him as a foreigner#18:17. Literally, a “Gentile,” a non-believer. and a tax collector. 18I tell you the truth, whatever you ban on earth will have been banned in heaven, and whatever you allow on earth will have been allowed in heaven.
19I also tell you that if two of you agree here on earth about something you're praying for, then my heavenly Father will do it for you. 20For where two or three gather together in my name, I'm there with them.”
21Peter came to Jesus and asked him, “Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother for sinning against me? Seven times?”
22“No, not seven times. I would say seventy times seven!” Jesus told him. 23“This is why the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with those servants who owed him money. 24As he began to settle accounts, one servant was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.#18:24. An astronomical amount. 25Since he didn't have the money to pay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all his possessions, so that the debt could be paid back. 26The servant fell down on his knees and said to his master, ‘Please be patient with me! I will pay everything back!’ 27The master took pity on the servant, released him, and canceled the debt. 28But when that same servant went out he found one of his fellow-servants who owed him just a hundred denarii.#18:28. A denarius was a small coin. The contrast is between the huge amount forgiven the first servant and the very small amount owed to him by the second servant. He grabbed him by the neck and choked him, saying, ‘Pay me back what you owe me!’ 29His fellow-servant threw himself down at the man's feet and begged him, ‘Please be patient with me! I will pay you back!’ 30But the man refused, and went and threw his fellow-servant into prison until he paid back what he owed.
31When the other servants saw what took place they were shocked and upset. They went and told their master everything that had happened. 32Then the master called the man back in and told him, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you all your debt because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have been merciful to your fellow-servant as well, just as I was merciful to you?’ 34His master became angry and handed him over to the jailors until he had repaid all the debt. 35This is what my heavenly Father will do to every one of you unless you sincerely#18:35. Literally, “from your heart.” forgive your brothers.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com