Matthew 18

“Who then is the greatest in the kingdom?” (vs. 1-5)—The apostles ask Jesus that question and are surely surprised at His answer. He calls a little child to Him and said, “’Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’” (vs. 3-4). The humble, trusting, pure-hearted nature of a child is something we must be “converted” to.

Offenses will come, but woe to him through whom they come (vs. 7-14)—“’But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea’” (v. 6). A solemn warning, indeed, but the Lord is reminding us to be very careful of our words and actions. In an extreme hyperbole, He says, “’If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire,’” (v. 8), and repeats the same warning regarding an eye in verse 9. In other words, nothing is worth going to hell over. Whatever the cost, avoid sin. Verse 10 has been taken by many to mean we each have our own “guardian angel”: “’Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.’” If we all have a special angel watching over us, this is the only verse in the Bible that alludes to it. And if we do have a special angel watching over us, what’s he doing? Why doesn’t he keep us from sinning? Or dying in accidents? Or getting blown up in a war? And what are they doing up in heaven if they are supposed to be helping us down here on earth? Angels do a lot of things in the Bible, but whether there’s one up in heaven with my name on him is problematic at best.  Yet, there is no doubt they work in providence for the accomplishment of God's will:  "Are [angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14).  But that's not the same as saying we each have one.

Redeeming a brother (vs. 15-20)—Jesus gives a procedure here for correcting a brother (or sister) who sins against us. First, go to him alone. If that doesn’t correct the problem, then take two or three witnesses with you to try to rectify the matter. If there is still no repentance on the part of our brother, take the matter before the church and “’if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector’” (v. 17). Withdrawal of our precious fellowship from a brother or sister is a sad thing, but is commanded and, at times, must be done (I Cor. 5:13; II Thess. 3:6). We simply cannot let the church be filled with ungodly people who live like the world; if we do, then how will those outside the body see any difference between us and them? “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (I John 1:7). But if one of our brethren is no longer walking “in the light,” then he has broken that fellowship and it must be recognized by the church. But not as an act of vengeance: “Do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother” (II Thess. 3:15). The two ideas behind church discipline are: one, to save the soul of the one who has sinned so grievously, and two, to keep the church pure (I Cor. 5:6). It’s painful, but must be done for the good of all.

Verse 20, "'For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them'" is not an excuse to skip worship services on Sunday as long as some other saint is with us.  Actually, in this context, it has to do with apostolic authority, not the Lord being with two or three Christians meeting.  The latter is true, of course, but that's not the meaning here.  And "forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" (Hebrews 10:25) is a grievous sin:  "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins" (Hebrews 10:26).  That principle is true regarding any sin, but it's put in the context of deliberately absenting ourselves from our worship assemblies.

How often should we forgive our brother? (vs. 21-35)—The discussion of forgiveness continues. Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’" (v. 21), and no doubt thinks he is being extremely magnanimous. It was a maxim among the Jews not to forgive one’s brother more than three times. Peter doubles that number, and adds one more just to show how “loving” he is. Of course, Jesus replies “seventy time seven” times (v. 22); in other words, there should be no end to our forgiveness. He then relates a parable about how merciful God has been to us. A king was going to settle accounts with his servants. One of them owed him 10,000 talents, a figure probably equal to the national debt of this country; or at least, that’s the idea. In other words, a debt he could never pay. He asks for time and mercy, and the king compassionately forgave the whole debt. But then this same servant was owed a pittance by a fellow servant who, as servant number one had done, asked for time and mercy. The first servant refused, and threw his fellow servant into prison. The matter got back to the king, who rightfully rebuked and punished the servant he had forgiven. The lesson is clear. We owe God a debt we can never pay, and yet He has forgiven us. We, to be like God, must have the same spirit of mercy and forgiveness towards those who sin against us.