Matthew 18:8-25

Summary
In today’s reading, the need to get rid of offence caused by hand, foot or eye rather than being caught off from the kingdom of God. There was an illustration of one sheep going astray from a hundred and how the man will leave the rest to chase after the one that was lost. Jesus further stressed the need to communicate with those who wrong us their fault and to take it further to other witnesses and the church if there is no headway in solving the solution. Jesus also stressed the power of agreement between two people. The importance of forgiveness up to seventy times seven was told to peter after he asked the number of times he could forgive when wronged.

LIFE APPLICATION
The reality of life is that there will be some little foxes that want to spoil the vine. These come in form of temptations that want to distract from God’s kingdom, unforgiving spirit that wants to stop the flow of god’s blessings and much more. We should however follow peace with all men and get ready to forgive as many times because of God’s love.

Personal Declaration
I follow peace with all men in all that concerns me

Reading – Matthew 18:8-25

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.

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] [a]

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.

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.”

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.

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 18:11 Some manuscripts include here the words of Luke 19:10.
2. Matthew 18:15 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verses 21 and 35.
3. Matthew 18:15 Some manuscripts sins against you
4. Matthew 18:16 Deut. 19:15
5. Matthew 18:18 Or will have been
6. Matthew 18:18 Or will have been
7. Matthew 18:22 Or seventy times seven
8. Matthew 18:24 Greek ten thousand talents; a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wages.