The King and children
18
📚At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”18:1 This question revealed a big error in the thinking of the disciples – one still very common today. See Matt 20:20-21; Mark 10:35-37. Compare Jer 45:5. It is exceedingly important that those who are tempted to desire great things for themselves learn the lesson Jesus taught here.⚜
2 📚And Jesus called a little child to him, and set him among them,
18:2 Here was a living object lesson – a child simple, trusting, humble. Little children do not seek to be great.⚜
3 📚and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted, and become as little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
18:3 Mark it down as absolutely certain – those who are ruled by pride and those who seek for their own greatness will never enter God's kingdom, let alone be great in it (unless they repent and humble themselves). Compare Matt 5:3-4; 20:25-28; Isa 57:15; 66:2; Prov 3:34; Luke 9:23; 18:13-14. The first condition for entering God's kingdom is the denial of self – see Matt 16:24-26. All this is the exact opposite of the way men generally think by nature.⚜
4 📚Therefore whoever humbles himself like this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
18:4 See also Matt 20:25-27. We can rise in God's eyes only by abasing ourselves and being willing to accept a low place, not by grand aims to promote ourselves and struggles for high positions. If we promote ourselves we may be able to achieve success in men's eyes, but not in God's eyes. This does not mean we should humble ourselves with the purpose of attaining greatness. This would be no humbling of self at all.⚜
5 📚And whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me.
6 📚But whoever is a cause of stumbling 📖 to one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for him that a millstone were hung around his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 📚“Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! For of necessity there will be stumbling blocks, but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!
18:7 In this fallen world it is certain that temptations to sin will come to everyone. But this does not mean that men are not responsible when they tempt others. See what the real source of woe to the world is.⚜
8 📚Therefore if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to go into life lame or crippled, than having two hands or two feet to be thrown into everlasting fire. 9 📚And if your eye causes you to stumble, pull it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to go into life with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
18:8-9 See notes at Matt 5:29-30. Jesus repeated important truths to impress them on His hearers. There are two words here about the punishment of hell not found in Matt 5:29-30 – “everlasting” and “fire” (see also Matt 3:10, 12; 5:22; 7:19; 13:40, 42, 50; 25:41). The purpose of dealing with oneself drastically is to “enter life” – this means to receive eternal life now and to live in God's presence forever.⚜
10 📚“Watch out that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
11 📚For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost.
12 📚“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go into the mountains, and look for the one that has gone astray? 13 📚And if it so happens that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine which did not go astray. 14 📚Just so, it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
18:12-14 A parable repeated in Luke 15:4-7 with certain changes in wording. See notes there. We are not to vainly imagine we are better than those who leave the way and fall into sin and look down on them (v 10). There are two possible views about these sheep – they could represent unsaved men (compare Isa 53:6), or else believers in Christ who wander away (Ps 119:176).
Notice the following facts: the sheep here are all owned – they signify God's special property. That is, they are either saved people already, or those whom God has chosen to be saved (John 6:37; 10:16; 17:6; Eph 1:4). The wandering sheep will not be left to wander forever. Christ goes after them. Wandering “sheep” cause great activity in heaven. God's great heart cannot rest as long as there is a single one of His still wandering away. Those brought back are a cause of great joy to God. For other references to sheep and their shepherd see Ps 23; Isa 40:11; Jer 31:10; Ezek 34:11-16; John 10:1-29.⚜
The King instructs His disciples about His Church
15 📚“Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, alone, between you and him. 📖 If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 📚But if he will not listen, take with you one or two more, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
18:16 Deut 19:15. This means keep trying to get him to accept the truth.⚜
17 📚And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses to listen to the church, 📖 let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
18 📚“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.
18:18 Here we see that all the disciples possessed the same authority to bind and loose as Peter was given in Matt 16:19.⚜
19 📚“Again, I tell you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.
18:19 This promise is in the context of church discipline, and gives a word about the kind of prayer made by an assembly that God will answer. There must be oneness of mind, purpose, motive, and trust – a thing often difficult to achieve.⚜
20 📚For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I among them”.
18:20 The subject is still the local church. A church does not need to be large to have Christ there. Observe that Jesus promises He will be in many places at one time. Throughout the world a great many local churches meet in His name at the same time, and Jesus is with them all. Compare Matt 28:20. This can be true only of God who alone can be in all places at once. Jesus was conscious that He shares God's nature. See Phil 2:6; Luke 2:11.⚜
The King teaches about forgiveness and gives the parable of the unforgiving servant
21 📚Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
18:21 Verse 15. Peter thought that seven times to forgive a brother was surely all that God could require.⚜
22 📚Jesus said to him, “I do not tell you, ‘up to seven times’, but up to seventy times seven.
18:22 This is the same as saying there is really no limit to the number of times God requires us to forgive others. The following parable gives a good reason for this: no matter how often God's children forgive others it is nothing compared to the number of times God has forgiven them.⚜
23 📚 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
18:23 Note on kingdom of heaven at Matt 4:17. God too keeps accounts concerning people and will settle those accounts. He does so because it is just and right to do so.⚜
24 📚And when he began to settle them, someone was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 📖 25 📚But since he had no means to pay off the debt, his master commanded that he, his wife and children, and all that he had, be sold and payment made.
18:25 The amount the servant owed his master would be utterly impossible for him to pay, either in money or in services. In the same way, it is completely impossible for any of us to pay our debt to God. Shall we try to pay with good works? They are like filthy rags (Isa 64:6). What men regard as works of merit are worse than worthless in the eyes of the true God. A lifetime of good deeds would not blot out a single sin. Shall we give Him our money? One soul is worth more than the whole world (Matt 16:26). Silver and gold cannot purchase our forgiveness (Ps 49:7-8; 1 Pet 1:18).
We have absolutely nothing with which to pay our debt to God – nothing. The selling of people to pay debts was a way of the ancient world. See Lev 25:39; 2 Kings 4:1. But no selling of ourselves, or all who belong to us, could ever purchase forgiveness from God.⚜
26 📚“Therefore the servant fell down and worshipped him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’
18:26 In his desperation he was promising an impossible thing. And men will give God many such promises when they want something from Him – promises which they can never keep.⚜
27 📚Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, and let him go, and forgave him the debt.
18:27 There was only one way for such a debt to be erased. That was the way of free grace. In His compassion God completely forgives and cancels the repentant and believing sinner's debt toward Him. See Luke 24:46-47; Acts 13:38-39; Rom 3:23-26; Col 2:13; Titus 3:3-7.⚜
28 📚“But that same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. And he seized him and grabbed him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe.’ 29 📚And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 30 📚And he was not willing, but went and threw him into prison until he paid the debt.
18:28-30 A hundred silver coins (denarii) was the equivalent of a hundred days' wages for a laborer, a very small amount compared to the other debt in this parable. This contrast between the two debts is meant to teach us that our sin against God, our “debt”, is far worse than anyone's sin against us. This servant showed himself to be hard and ruthless. Grace shown him had not changed his heart.⚜
31 📚“So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sad, and came and told their master all that had been done.
18:31 A Christian treating fellow Christians in such an unmerciful manner shocks and pains God's people.⚜
32 📚Then his master, after calling him, said to him, ‘You wicked 📖 servant! I forgave you all that debt because you asked. 33 📚Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 📚And his master was angry and handed him over to the torturers until he paid all that was owed to him.
35 📚“My heavenly Father will also deal with you in the same way, if each one of you, from your hearts, does not forgive his brother his trespasses”.
18:23-35 Here is one of the great passages on forgiveness in the Bible. We can learn some very important lessons from it.⚜
18:33-35 God requires His children to be forgiving as He is forgiving – Matt 5:7; 6:14-15; Eph 4:32. This is a rule of the kingdom of God. If it is not obeyed there will be severe penalties to suffer somewhere, sometime. Perhaps this is the principal lesson the Lord taught here (v 35). Observe that forgiveness must be “from your heart”, and not merely saying words.
God will punish an unforgiving person. The “tormentors” may refer to the sufferings and troubles of this life that will come to God's children if, perchance, they do not forgive others. Or, if the wicked servant is regarded as an unsaved man, they may refer to the pains of hell in the hereafter. The parable cannot mean that a saved person may lose his salvation if he does not forgive others. Saved people learn to forgive others (Matt 6:14-15), and they will not be lost (John 6:39-40; 10:28; Rom 5:9; Phil 1:6).⚜