Matthew 18
18
Who is the Greatest?
Mk. 9:33-37; Lk. 9:46-48
1 At that time, the disciples approached Jesus, saying, “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 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, 5 and whoever accepts one such child in My name accepts Me. 6 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, 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.
Causes of Sin
Mk. 9:42-48; Lk. 17:1-2
7 Woe to the world on account of the causes of sin, for it is unavoidable that causes of sin will come; nevertheless, woe to the man * through whom the cause of sin comes.
8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it away from you. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 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, * for I say to you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. **
12 What do you think? If any man possesses * a hundred sheep, and one of them strays, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go and seek the one which strayed? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which did not stray. 14 So it is not the will 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, * go and rebuke him between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take with you in addition one or two others, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be validated. 17 And if he fails to listen to them, tell it to the church. 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 will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 Truly, I say to you once more, that if two of you agree on earth about any issue 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 in their midst.”
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. 23 “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a man—a king—who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he began to settle, one was brought to him who had a debt of ten thousand talents. 25 And since he lacked the means to repay, the master ordered him to be sold, as well as his wife and his children and all that he had, to effect repayment. 26 Then the servant fell prostrate and began to pay homage to him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.’ 27 And the master of that servant, moved by compassion, released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that very servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and taking hold of him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 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. 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 went and explained fully to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘Wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Ought you not to have shown compassion to your fellow servant, even as I showed compassion to you?’ 34 And in anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to torture him until he should repay all that was owed. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, unless you each forgive your brother from your hearts.”
Notes
1 Greek of the heavens. So also v. 4
2 Some ancient manuscripts insert the name Jesus at this point, so that it reads: Jesus made him stand in the midst of them
6 Greek depth
7 Or person, as the term is generically understood
10 One ancient Greek manuscript inserts at this point the participial phrase who believe in Me, from a parallel in 18:6
10 Greek in heavens. So also vv. 14,19
10 Some ancient manuscripts interpolate Lk. 19:10 at the end of the verse, thus creating a new verse 11. Verse 11 then reads: For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost
12 The singular verb possesses is contextually supplied to the text for the purpose of clarification
15 Some ancient manuscripts omit the prepositional phrase against you
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
