Matthew 18

I believe that Jesus is using an extended metaphor here. In other words, by comparing disciples to children initially, it probably means that the “little ones” he is talking about later are actually disciples. When you think about it that way, Jesus gives us some pretty important guidelines for discipleship.

1. Disciples turn to God in trust and humility. He saves us. He provides for us. He guides us. He loves us. It’s all about Him, not us. We aren’t great, He is! (1-4)
2. Disciples minister to other disciples. (5)
3. As a part of that ministry, disciples guard against engaging in sin or encouraging sin because they don’t want to be a bad example to others. The world encourages sin already, and that’s enough of a test/temptation. In fact, the consequences for leading someone else into sin are dire. Don’t do it! (6-9)
4. Disciples recognize how much God cares for His children. It seems that He cares so much that His angels watch over them and report back to Him. But isn’t God omniscient? Yes, but He still gives out jobs, even to us! This is also a very poetic way of saying that God knows what is going on. Even though some of His children may be caught in sin, He still cares, seeks, brings back, and rejoices. Shouldn’t we do the same? (10-14)

Church discipline is a topic that nobody wants to talk about! But, in truth, it should never get to that point. A believer, caught in sin and confronted (and I believe it would be a significant sin based on 1 Corinthians 5:1-3), should repent! But if he/she doesn’t, then it becomes more complicated. That’s when you take someone with you to witness your confrontation, so that you can report back to the church if restoration was attempted but refused. And the context here is instructive. The phrases “if two of you will agree” and “where two or three are gathered” refer to the judgment of the church body, and to use them in any other way is problematic.

We’re also reminded here that forgiveness is huge. Peter thinks he’s being magnanimous and that forgiving someone (after repentance, which is made clear in Luke 17:4) seven times is a lot. He’s expecting praise! But Jesus says that you should be ready to forgive 77 times, and goes on to teach a parable about it.

A man owed an unbelievable amount to his lord – $6 billion! He is forgiven. But then he holds someone accountable for a $12,000 debt and has him thrown into prison. Others weren’t happy about it and let the lord know what had happened. The lord then throws him into debtor’s prison. The lord believed that he should have been forgiving since he had been forgiven of so much.

The lesson is clear. We owed a massive debt to God that we couldn’t repay. God forgives us of that debt when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. Since we have been forgiven of so much, how can we possibly refuse to forgive others? And if we do refuse, it has massive implications for our lives: “So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.” What could that mean? A loss of the sense of his presence. A loss of peace, hope, and joy. Barriers between us and God. Frustration. Futility. Anger. Bitterness. Do we really want to live that way?

Thought for the day: Reconciliation of relationships should be one of our primary goals as believers.

Matthew 5:23-24 (WEB) “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”