MAT 18

Who is the Greatest?

Mk. 9:33-37; Lk. 9:46-48

1 At that time, the disciples approached Jesus, saying with competitive hearts, "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

2 And summoning a child to Himself, He made him stand in the midst of them as an object lesson

3 and said, "Truly, I say to you with solemn emphasis: Unless you are converted and have a change of heart and become like children in humility and dependence, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven at all.

4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself and makes himself lowly like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 And whoever accepts and welcomes one such child in My name and for My sake accepts Me.

6 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin or stumble in their faith, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be plunged into the depths of the sea and drowned.

Causes of Sin

Mk. 9:42-48; Lk. 17:1-2

7 Woe to the world on account of the causes of sin and stumbling, for it is unavoidable that causes of sin will come in a fallen world; nevertheless, woe to the man through whom the cause of sin comes.

8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin and stumble, cut it off and cast it away from you. It is better for you to enter eternal life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire of hell.

9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and cast it away from you. It is better for you to enter life one-eyed than to have two eyes and be cast into the hell of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Lk. 15:3-7

10 "See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones who believe in Me, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in heaven and have access to Him.*

12 What do you think? If any man possesses a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills temporarily and go and seek the one which strayed?

13 And if he finds it after searching, truly, I say to you that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which did not stray but remained safe.

14 So it is not the will or desire of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

A Brother Who Sins

Lk 17.3

15 "Now if your brother sins against you and wrongs you, go and rebuke him between you and him alone. If he listens to you and repents, you have gained your brother and restored the relationship.

16 But if he does not listen to you, take with you in addition one or two others as witnesses, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be validated and established.

17 And if he fails to listen to them and remains unrepentant, tell it to the church for corporate discipline. But if he fails to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

18 "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth in accordance with God's will shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

19 Truly, I tell you again: If two of you on earth come into agreement concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.

20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am present among them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave

21 Then Peter approached Him and said, "Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"

22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but rather up to seventy times seven—limitless forgiveness.

23 "For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a man—a king—who wanted to settle accounts with his servants and determine what was owed.

24 And when he began to settle the accounts, one was brought to him who had a debt of ten thousand talents—an impossible amount to repay.

25 And since he lacked the means to repay such an enormous debt, the master ordered him to be sold as a slave, as well as his wife and his children and all that he had, to effect partial repayment.

26 Then the servant fell prostrate and began to pay homage to him, saying with desperation, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.'

27 And the master of that servant, moved by compassion for his plight, released him from the debt and forgave him the entire debt graciously.

28 But when that very servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii—a small amount, about three months' wages, and taking hold of him, he began to choke him violently, saying, 'Pay back what you owe immediately.'

29 Therefore, his fellow servant fell to the ground and began to beg him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you.'

30 But he was not willing to show mercy. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he would repay that which was owed.

31 So when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were very sad and troubled, and went and explained fully to their master all that had taken place.

32 Then his master summoned him and said to him with anger, 'Wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me and pleaded for mercy.

33 Ought you not to have shown compassion to your fellow servant, even as I showed compassion to you and forgave your enormous debt?'

34 And in anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to torture him until he should repay all that was owed—which was impossible.

35 So also My heavenly Father will do to you and judge you, unless you each forgive your brother from your hearts with genuine forgiveness."

Notes

10 Some ancient manuscripts interpolate Luke 19:10 at the end of this verse, thereby creating a new verse 11: “ For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”

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