Matthew 18
18
Who Is the Greatest?
(Mk. 9:33–37; Lk. 9:46–48)
1About that time the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in God’s kingdom?”
2Jesus called a little child to come to him. He stood the child in front of the followers. 3Then he said, “The truth is, you must change your thinking and become like little children. If you don’t do this, you will never enter God’s kingdom. 4The greatest person in God’s kingdom is the one who makes himself humble like this child.
5“Whoever accepts a little child like this in my name is accepting me.
Jesus Warns About Causes of Sin
(Mk. 9:42–48; Lk. 17:1–2)
6“If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it will be very bad for that person. It would be better for them to have a millstone tied around their neck and be drowned in the deep sea. 7I feel sorry for the people in the world because of the things that make people sin. These things must happen, but it will be very bad for anyone who causes them to happen.
8“If your hand or your foot makes you sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose part of your body and have eternal life than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the fire that burns forever. 9If your eye makes you sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better for you to have only one eye and have eternal life than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
Jesus Uses a Story About a Lost Sheep
(Lk. 15:3–7)
10“Be careful. Don’t think these little children are not important. I tell you that these children have angels in heaven. And those angels are always with my Father in heaven. 11#18:11 Some Greek copies add verse 11: “The Son of Man came to save lost people.” See Lk. 19:10.
12“If a man has 100 sheep, but one of the sheep is lost, what will he do? He will leave the other 99 sheep on the hill and go look for the lost sheep. Right? 13And if he finds the lost sheep, he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 sheep that were never lost. I can assure you, 14in the same way your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost.
When Someone Hurts You
(Lk. 17:3)
15“If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, go and tell them what they did wrong. Do this when you are alone with them. If they listen to you, then you have helped them to be your brother or sister again. 16But if they refuse to listen, go to them again and take one or two people with you. Then there will be two or three people who will be able to tell all that happened.#18:16 Then … happened See Deut. 19:15. 17If they refuse to listen to them, tell the church. And if they refuse to listen to the church, treat them as you would treat someone who does not know God or who is a tax collector.
18“I can assure you that when you speak judgment here on earth, it will be God’s judgment. And when you promise forgiveness here on earth, it will be God’s forgiveness.#18:18 when you speak … God’s forgiveness Literally, “whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.” 19To say it another way, if two of you on earth agree on anything you pray for, my Father in heaven will do what you ask. 20Yes, if two or three people are together believing in me, I am there with them.”
A Story About Forgiveness
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when someone#18:21 someone Literally, “my brother.” won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?”
22Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times.#18:22 seventy-seven times Or “seventy times seven,” a very large number, meaning there should be no limit to forgiveness.
23“So God’s kingdom is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24The king began to collect his money. One servant owed him several thousand pounds#18:24 several thousand pounds Literally, “10,000 talanta” or “talents.” A talent was about 27 to 36 kg (60 to 80 pounds) of gold, silver, or copper coins. of silver. 25He was not able to pay the money to his master, the king. So the master ordered that he and everything he owned be sold, even his wife and children. The money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.
26“But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27The master felt sorry for him. So he told the servant he did not have to pay. He let him go free.
28“Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’
29“The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’
30“But the first servant refused to be patient. He told the judge that the other servant owed him money, and that servant was put in jail until he could pay everything he owed. 31All the other servants saw what happened. They felt very sorry for the man. So they went and told their master everything that happened.
32“Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant. You begged me to forgive your debt, and I said you did not have to pay anything! 33So you should have given that other man who serves with you the same mercy I gave you.’ 34The master was very angry, so he put the servant in jail to be punished. And he had to stay in jail until he could pay everything he owed.
35“This king did the same as my heavenly Father will do to you. You must forgive your brother or sister with all your heart, or my heavenly Father will not forgive you.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Matthew 18
18
Whoever Becomes Simple Again
1At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, “Who gets the highest rank in God’s kingdom?”
2-5For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.
6-7“But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don’t have to make it worse—and it’s doomsday to you if you do.
8-9“If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.
10“Watch that you don’t treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don’t you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?
Work It Out Between You
12-14“Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn’t he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn’t want to lose even one of these simple believers.
15-17“If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.
18-20“Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”
A Story About Forgiveness
21At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”
22Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.
23-25“The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn’t pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.
26-27“The poor wretch threw himself at the king’s feet and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.
28“The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, ‘Pay up. Now!’
29-31“The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ But he wouldn’t do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.
32-35“The king summoned the man and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn’t you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?’ The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that’s exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn’t forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.