Matthew 18 - Is There a Limit on Forgiveness?
Matthew 18 - NIV
The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
I like the TPT's translation as well,
2Jesus called a little one to his side and said to them, 3“Learn this well: Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable like a little child , you will never be able to enter in. 4Whoever continually humbles himself to become like this little child is the greatest one in heaven’s kingdom realm
We can see where the disciple's heads were at, as they were wondering, "Who was the greatest in the kingdom?". Their whole line of thinking was more along the lines of power and authority. They still had not gotten the message about the "upside-down" nature of Jesus' kingdom. I.e. the first will be last and the last will be first
So, Jesus uses the example of children. Jesus called a child to illustrate his point. Jesus told them that unless they have the same child-like faith of this little one they could not enter the kingdom of heaven. God's kingdom was not given to those in power and authority, but to those who humbled themselves and acknowledged Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Being the greatest in God's kingdom is all about trust, and who better to illustrate trust than a small child. Those who welcome such humble ones in essence are welcoming Jesus.
Would you say you have child-like faith? Why or why not? How have you demonstated it recently?
Causing to Stumble
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
On the flipside Jesus had very stern warnings for those who lead other vulnerable people away from Jesus. It would be better for them to have a huge boulder tied on their shoulder and tossed off in the middle of the sea than to face God's wrath. It almost seems like Jesus is harder on someone who causes others to stumble than for their own stumblings.
But in regard to the things that cause one stumble, Jesus makes it clear that one should go to any lengths to eliminate those temptations from your life. He says it your "Hand causes you to sin you should cut it off!" Does he mean this literally, of course not, although some have tried to apply it literally. This is why someone says the bible must ALWAYS be literally interpreted gets it wrong. The truth Jesus is teaching here is not about self-mutilation but being willing to remove things in your life that cause you to stumble.
Are you ruthless in getting ridding things in your life that cause you to stumble? Or, maybe it is even others in your life that bring out the worst in you! As they say, "Bad company corrupts good morals."
The Parable of the Wandering Sheep
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11] [12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
In this parable Jesus teaches on the great love Jesus and the Father have for all people. Though he has concern about all his sheep, when one wanders off it gets his immediate attention.
TPT translates, "Think of it this way: If a man owns a hundred sheep and one lamb wanders away and is lost, won’t he leave the ninety-nine grazing the hillside and thoroughly search for the one lost lamb?"
Bottom line: Lost sheep matter to God and they should matter to us!
Do you think the church spends too much time on the 99 sheep who are found and not enough time on the one who is lost? How would you determine this? I.e. Number of people who come to Christ or come back to Christ? Baptisms of adults?
Dealing With Sin in the Church
15 “If your brother or sister[b] sins,[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[d] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[f] loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
This is by far the best teaching on conflict in the bible, and of course it comes from our master teacher Jesus. Importantly it avoids triangles where there is a problem between A and B and they get C involved. C and A and C and B have conversations which is called "triangulation". Jesus' method of conflict resolution involves the following principles.
1. If you have a problem with someone or they have offended you in some way go to talk to them face to face about it. Don't gossip or complain about them to others but go straight the person.
2. If the person you believe has offended you, won't listen to you, or you can't work it out, bring in a third person to mediate. This person should be independent, a mature Christian, and it would be good if they were a good communicator.
3. If the other person is in the wrong and won't listen to you or the mediator, they should be brought before the church. This could be the elder board or Church Council. If this person will not offer an apology and make amends this person would be disciplined by the church.
It they continue to rebel against the authority structure of the church they would be asked to leave.
Do you see how clean this method is? Granted I have never seen this work perfectly, but logically it is the best way to resolve a conflict between two Christians that limits the collateral damage.
How have you seen conflicts in the church handled? Do they resemble this model Jesus set forth? How this conflict resolution model help you in your conflicts?
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g] 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Jesus then teaches on the concept of forgiveness. Peter wants to know the number of times he needs to forgive someone. Peter takes a leap and throws the number "7" out there. I can almost see Peter puffing his chest out a little thinking that's pretty darn gracious of him. Jesus answers him by saying the number is "seventy times seven times". There is a lot of discussion about what the exact number is, but that is missing the point.
Whatever the exact number Jesus is quoting, it's clear it means an unlimited amount of times. Today we use the math symbol "infinity" to illustrate a number that can't be calculated. Jesus means when it comes to forgiveness, we are to forgive others as the Lord has forgiven us. Would you want the Lord to cap your forgiveness at a certain number?
To further illustrate his point, Jesus tells a parable. Once again he uses the phrase, "the kingdom of heaven is like", which he has used 32 times in Matthew. So Jesus is teaching on what does "forgiveness" look like in the kingdom?
In the parable a man with a huge amount of debt (roughly equal to 20 years of wages) begged his master to forgive his debt. The master had mercy on him and forgave him all of his massive debt. But then on his way home the man ran into a fellow servant who owed him a mere pittance in comparison, about 3 months of wages.
Instead of extending the same mercy to his co-worker, the man demanded him to pay. He showed him no mercy, and when he could not pay, he threw him into jail. When the other workers saw this, they were outraged and brought the story back to the master, who was justifiaby outraged. The man was thrown into jail to be tortured until he paid back his whole debt.
A Christian should be the most graceful, merciful, and compassionate person on this earth. When we realize the massive about of debts the Lord has paid on our behalf, we have reason to withhold mercy from anyone. There are many Christians who harbor unforgiveness in their hearts. Not only does it offend the Lord, but it is proven when we harbor resentment and unforgiveness it poisons our hearts!
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