CONTEXT FOR CHAPTER 18 (JESUS’ “FOURTH DISCOURSE”) Matthew 16:13-20 (key verse is 16:18) Matthew 16:21-23 (Jesus foretells His death AND resurrection) Matthew 16:24-28 (Jesus discusses the cost of discipleship) OUTLINE OF MATTHEW 18 Matthew 18:1-5 (the measure of true greatness in the kingdom) Matthew 18:6-9 (stumbling blocks) Matthew 18:10-14 (caring for the “little ones”) Matthew 18:15-20 (“If your brother sins….”) Matthew 18:21-35 (forgiving personal offenses) NOTES ON MATTHEW 18 True Greatness in the Kingdom (vv. 1-5) 18:1: - Contrast these verses with Mark 9:33-35 - This conversation is rooted in Matthew 17:25-26; if Jesus has a special relationship with the “king” of heaven, how should people in the kingdom of heaven relate to the “kings of the earth?” - The disciples aren’t asking Jesus about hierarchies in the Church, or even less about the afterlife; questions of rank are taken very seriously in secular society, so how do we deal with questions of rank in the kingdom of heaven? 18:2-3: - Children were people of no status in society; they were burdens and obligations, not contributors - Jesus is talking about status, not about characteristics/qualities; He is summoning His disciples to assume statuses of no importance! 18:4: True greatness is to be found in becoming “little” in status, true importance in becoming of no significance (see Philippians 2:8, where Jesus exemplified this for us) 18:5: - The ‘child’ of vv. 2–4 represents the ‘little ones’ (insignificant believers) of 18:6, 10, 14, and in this verse the transition has already begun. - One such child therefore is not a reference to children as such, but to those who as Jesus’ followers (“in My name”), whether young or adult, have accepted the child’s status - The ‘greatness’ of such ‘children’ (v. 4) lies in their relationship to Jesus. - Compare Matthew 25:31–46 for the principle of receiving Jesus in receiving His “little ones” - One application of this principle might be “acceptance of little people, ‘average’ Christians and especially youth, by ecclesiastical leaders” (Gundry) Stumbling Blocks (vv. 6-9) Disciples are vulnerable, and stumbling blocks are a real danger. They can be found both in ourselves (vv. 8–9) and in other members of the disciple-group (vv. 6–7), hence the relevance of this section in ch. 18. 18:6: Having started with the metaphor of an unimportant child, Jesus fully transitions to “little ones” in reference to His disciples. Similar language has been used of Jesus’ disciples in 10:42 and 11:25, and it will be taken up in the “least” of 25:40, 45. This is how they appear in the world’s eyes, weak and insignificant; compare the “poor in spirit,” “meek” and “persecuted” of 5:3–12. 18:7: Disciples live in a word full of stumbling blocks, and the world will be subject to God’s judgment as a result, but those “woes” also apply to those people who place stumbling blocks in front of Jesus’ disciples. 18:8-9: Jesus says almost the same exact thing in 5:29-30, with a different emphasis (there, it’s personal sin); here, Jesus is warning us to remove all those things that may cause our brother/sister disciples to stumble – the context/emphasis is on relationships, after all. Caring for the “Little Ones” (vv. 10-14) The “little ones” have already emerged in the preceding verses as ordinary Christians, who in their vulnerability need the care of their fellow-disciples. That message is now backed up with the thought that God’s care extends to every one of them. It is in this connection that Matthew includes the parable of the straying sheep. It is, as in Luke 15:3–7, a parable of God’s “pastoral” care. Verses 15+ will show how disciples are to imitate His concern in their care for their straying fellow-disciples. 18:10: Here even individuals have their heavenly representatives, who always behold the face of God, a phrase derived from courtly language for personal access to the king. So even the least of the “little ones” enjoys constant personal access to God. 18:12-13: - In Luke this parable is aimed at Jesus’ opponents, who objected to his “evangelistic” concern with undesirables; here it is addressed to disciples, to remind them that God’s “pastoral” care is extended to all his “little ones.” - In Luke, the sheep is “lost” (i.e., not yet part of the kingdom); here, the sheep is “astray/straying.” It is a disciple (one who is part of the kingdom) who is losing his way. 18:14: The moral is clear, and vv. 15+ will help us understand how to live out the seeking/saving of the straying sheep. “If Your Brother Sins….” (vv. 15-20) This passage is often seen as a guide to church leaders on disciplinary action. But vv. 15–17 are addressed to ‘you’ (singular), the individual disciple, and their concern is not with the punishment of an offence but with the attempt to rescue a ‘brother’ whose sin has put him in danger. The passage is thus a practical guide to how a disciple can imitate his Father’s concern for the wandering sheep (vv. 10–14). 18:15: The disciple is not to ignore a fault he sees in his fellow-disciple, but to confront him with it, with the hope that he will repent, and so will be “gained” (see 1 Cor. 9:19–22; 1 Pet. 3:1 for this verb referring to the conversion of an outsider; here it is of a disciple who is rescued from spiritual ruin). This pastoral concern easily degenerates into a destructively critical spirit (see 7:1–5); but one of its marks is that it is exercised, if possible, between you and him alone. Only if that fails is a wider “exposure” needed. 18:16: The next recourse must be to involve one or two others. Their function is to add force to the persuasion; if he will not listen to one, he may be convinced by two or three witnesses (Deut. 19:15). The law in Deuteronomy 19 relates to a “judicial” trial, but there is no such scene here; the point of the Old Testament reference is the principle that multiple testimony is more convincing, not the specific judicial application. 18:17: - But still the object is not that “the church” should take disciplinary action, but that the offender should listen; i.e. this is the ultimate level of persuasion to lead to repentance. The church meets not to adjudicate a dispute, but for a pastoral appeal. - If the appeal fails, this verse says nothing about excommunication or other disciplinary action by the church, but prescribes the attitude “you” (singular) should then take to the impenitent offender. - A Gentile and a tax collector were proverbially people from whom a good Jew kept his distance. While Jesus rejected this attitude in its literal application (e.g. 8:5–13; 9:9–13; etc.), he can still use the expression metaphorically for someone to be avoided (‘ostracized’, Gundry; ‘put in quarantine’, Bonnard). After all persuasion has failed, a cold shoulder may still bring him to his senses; at any rate there can be no real fellowship with someone who has so blatantly set himself against the united judgment of his fellow-disciples. 18:18: - Peter’s legislative authority is therefore here vested in the disciple group as a whole. The basis of the church’s appeal to the sinner in v. 17 was their united conviction of what was right or wrong conduct for a disciple; this verse assures them that they have a right to such a conviction, and that therefore their refusal to allow the brother’s sin to pass without rebuke carries the prior endorsement of heaven. - “Bind” and “loose” here, as in 16:19, have neuter objects (whatever, not “whoever”), and refer to the pronouncement of what is or is not sin, rather than directly to the condemnation or forgiveness of the sinner, though the latter will clearly follow. 18:19-20: The primary application is to their prayer for the sinner of vv. 15–17, but the principle of Jesus’ presence among his people, and therefore of the efficacy of their agreed request, can hardly be confined to that specific situation (even though, like other such promises in 17:20; John 14:12–14; etc., it is not to be regarded as an automatic formula for success where prayers are agreed which are not compatible with the one in whose name they are uttered). Forgiving Personal Offenses (vv. 21-35) The concern about a brother’s sin in vv. 15–17 was not necessarily motivated by injury to oneself, but rather by a pastoral concern for the brother’s own discipleship, which might even require an attitude of ostracism. But this response must not be motivated by personal retaliation; so vv. 21–35 now emphasize the priority and the unlimited application of forgiveness in the area of a disciple’s personal relationships. The proper severity of v. 17 must be balanced by a forgiving attitude which reflects the disciple’s own experience of much greater forgiveness. 18:21-22: - The Rabbis discussed the question, and recommended not more than three times. Peter’s seven times is therefore generous, but Jesus’ reply does away with all limits and calculations. - Jesus’ allusion to Genesis 4:24 neatly contrasts Lamech’s unlimited vindictiveness with the unlimited forgiveness of the disciple.