What Jesus Did

"So the kingdom of heaven is like a king that decided to collect the money that his servants owed him. The king began to collect his money. One servant owed the king several thousand pounds of silver. The servant was not able to pay the money to his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant's wife and children. The money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed. But the servant fell on his knees and begged, 'Be...

 

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, when my brother won't stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?"

—Matthew 18:21

Key Thought
Like so many of us do, Peter wants to know the limits of the Lord's demand for radical forgiveness. While by human standards Peter's "7 times" principle is quite generous, in Jesus' Kingdom, to even ask for a limit to forgiveness is to reveal that his mind is still dominated by worldly...

 

"I tell you the truth. When you speak judgment here on earth, that judgment will be God's judgment. When you promise forgiveness here on earth, that forgiveness will be God's forgiveness. Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something, then you can pray for it. And the thing you ask for will be done for you by my Father in heaven. This is true, because if two or three people are together believing in me, I am there with them."

—Matthew 18:18-20

Key Thought
Several...

 

"But if that person refuses to listen, then go to him again and bring one or two people with you. Then there will be two or three other people that will be able to tell all that happened. If that person refuses to listen to them, then tell the church (group of believers). If that person refuses to listen to the church, then treat him like he is a person that does not believe in God. Treat him like he is a tax collector."

—Matthew 18:16-17

Key Thought
The old line about education in...

 

"If your brother or sister does something wrong to you, go and tell that person what he did wrong. Do this alone with that person. If that person listens to you, then you have helped that person to be your brother again."

—Matthew 18:15

Key Thought
It's one thing to reach out to the fallen brother or sister who has lost sight of the way. It's quite another to restore a brother or sister who has wronged us personally. But underneath the episodes of this chapter lies a subterranean...

 

"If a man has 100 sheep, but one of the sheep becomes lost, then the man will leave the other 99 sheep on the hill. He will go to look for the lost sheep. Right? And if the man finds the lost sheep, the man is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 sheep that were never lost. I tell you the truth. In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost."

—Matthew 18:12-14

Key Thought
The Father loves all of his little ones. He doesn't want...

 

"Be careful. Don't think these little children are worth nothing. I tell you that these children have angels in heaven. And those angels are always with my Father in heaven."

—Matthew 18:10

Key Thought
This is one of those very interesting passages that we are tempted to make too much of. First, notice the angels are not called guardian angels and are not even said to be present with the children. Jesus' point, the "little ones" (remember it's not just children, but the helpless and...

 

"If your hand or your foot makes you sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose part of your body but have life forever. That is much better than to have two hands and two feet but be thrown into the fire (hell) that burns forever. If your eye makes you sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better for you to have only one eye but have life forever. That is much better than to have two eyes but be thrown into the fire of hell."

—Matthew 18:8-9

Key Thought
In a...

 

"If one of these little children believes in me, and another person causes that child to sin, then it will be very bad for that person. It would be better for that person to have a millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the deep sea. I feel sorry for the people in the world because of the things that make people sin. Those things must happen. But it will be very bad for the person that causes those things to happen."

—Matthew 18:6-7

Key Thought
Jesus is telling us to be...

 

"If a person accepts a little child like this in my name, then that person accepts me."

—Matthew 18:5

Key Thought
There are two key thoughts here. First, Jesus is talking about actual children. His rebuke of the disciples when they didn't welcome children, but pushed them away, is clearly an example of that.
But, there is a deeper issue that will dominate the rest of the chapter. Because children in Jesus' culture were powerless, without rights, and vulnerable, they became the symbol...