The disciples were arguing who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. They wanted to have the best seat in His kingdom. They thought Jesus was going to rule an earthly kingdom and they were thinking of political greatness and not greatest of character. Jesus used a child to make His point. He said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." - Matt. 18:3-4.
The world calls someone greater, because the person is superior to others. God calls a person greater if he is humble and serves others. We are to serve others who are weak, helpless and despised by the world. The key to true spiritual greatest is humility. We are to submit to Jesus as a child yields and trusts his parents. Jesus tells His disciples they need to change.
Our attitude should be like that of Jesus. He didn't think Himself greater that anyone else. He was selfless and humble. He didn't think about His own needs, but the needs of others.
Principle: The greatest in God’s kingdom is the one who humbles himself like a child.
When Jesus says "I tell you the truth", He is really emphasizing His words. There are about seventy references to this same quote. We hear people say all the time say ‘I tell you the truth’, but their actions don’t show it. Jesus backed it up with miracles demonstrating He was from God. He backed it up with authoritative preaching and teaching. He backed it up with predicting his own death and resurrection and then seeing it through. That’s proof that when He said, ‘I tell you the truth’ He was, in fact, telling the truth. His most important truth is that God loved the world so much that He sent His one and only Son to redeem a sinful world.
Do you believe Jesus when He says that He is telling the truth?
He said we are to be like ‘little children’ meaning we are to be humble and recognize that we are powerless and completely dependent on God like children are dependent on adults to care and protect them from harm. Little children trust adults to provide for them and the disciples needed to trust Jesus completely.
Also when He speaks of ‘little children’, He is speaking not only to His disciples but to all believers. They were young Christians new in belief in Jesus. Luke 9:46-48 refers to the "lease among you" which are new believers and to those unable to defend themselves - the handicap, the poor, and to children. Ways we can put into practice what Jesus is saying here is to accept others who might not be worthy by worldly standards. We can give them credit when they deserve it, stand up for them when they can't stand up for themselves, and not judge them. When we welcome the "little children", we welcome Jesus and God. Mark 9:33-35 tell us that if you want to be first, you must be last and a servant to all.
"But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." - Matt. 18:6. We can influence others to sin by our bad examples or we can influence them positively by setting good examples. If we cause them to sin by our words or actions, then Jesus takes this very seriously. We are in danger of Hell.
As parents we set bad examples by gossiping, arguing, swearing, cursing, not reading our Bible or praying, and not going to church. We set good examples by teaching and letting them see us pray, studying the Bible, attending church, and helping others. Don't say, "Do as I say, not as I do", but be an example and do and say what they should do and say.
Do you set good examples for your children?
Do you insist on religious education as you do secular education?
In verses 8-9 Jesus talks about removing hands, feet or eyes that causes you to sin. He doesn’t mean you should actually remove a hand, foot or eye. Our hands and feet can do bad things and our eyes can look at wrong things. He’s saying we must control them so we won’t sin. Sin should not be taken lightly. Sin leads to judgment and the eternal fire. Loosing a body part would be bad, but it would be much worse to lose our souls in eternal punishment.
Matthew 18:10-14 Jesus continued teaching by telling the disciples to not look down on or disrespect other believers. He called them ‘little ones’. He demonstrated this by teaching the parable of the lost sheep. To Jesus all believers are precious to God, especially new believers. The lost sheep in the story is a sinful man. When one sheep stumbled and fell away, God left heaven to save him. When he was found or saved, all of heaven rejoiced. This teaches us that a believer sometimes stumbles and falls away yet God still loves him. Each one of us is important to God. Each one of us is personally and individually cared for. He truly loves us and is not willing for any to perish. When we stumble or lose our way, He is there to find us and bring us back. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16.
If Jesus cares for everyone of His sheep and will even search after those who have gone astray, then how could we even think about looking down on or despising any believer?
What causes you to stumble?
Principle: God judges those who causes another to stumble.
Matthew 18:15-35 - True Forgiveness
In this section Jesus is talking about church discipline. He teaches what to do if a brother or believer sins against you. The normal thing to do is to ignore the problem hoping it will go away, hold a grudge, or complain to others. Complaining or holding a grudge is not true love and can cause division in the church. Jesus said we are to first go to him and show him his fault. If he doesn't listen then we are go to him again taking one or two others with us. If he still will not listen, then we are to take him before the church meaning a group of Christians. If he still refuses to listen, then we are to treat him as a pagan. By doing these things we are showing love and concern for him and have a desire for him to repent. We want him to be restored in fellowship with other believers. Gal. 6:2 says we are to "carry each other's burdens".
"I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I will them." - Matt. 18:19. Jesus is borrowing language from this Old Testament passage in Deut. 19 where it says that two or three witnesses must agree in order to bring a legally binding charge against someone. God is the authority and when we come together, He is there to guide and direct us in our decisions. He doesn’t mean that He is not with us when we pray alone. He listens to our prayers whether we are alone or not. I think this is a promise to the disciples and to us for the days to come after He is resurrected and returns to heaven. He is reassuring the disciples that He will be among them in some way even though He is not physically there.
Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive someone. Jesus said "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." - Matt. 18:22. In other words we are to continually forgive no matter how many times it takes. There is no limit of how many times we should forgive.
Jesus told the story of how a master forgave his servant for a large debt he owed. The servant then had an opportunity to forgive one of his servants for a small debt, but did not. He had him put into prison and tortured for his debt. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from our heart." - Matt. 18:35. This symbolizes Hell for us, if we do not forgive. If we forgive others, then God will forgive us. We should remember what Jesus did for us on the cross. "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." - Eph. 6:32.
Just think if we lived by these truths in our home, church, school, and workplace. There would be less arguing and fights and no bullies in school. Our home and our workplace would be less stressful and a happier place to live and work.
Principle: Godly humility forgives others because
God has forgiven us.
How can you forgive someone when you don't feel like it?
Tell God how grateful you are for His forgiveness. Here are some words you might use.
Father God,
Thank you for your eternal forgiveness and your loving grace even though I don't deserve it. When I stumble or lose my way, you seek me out and bring me back. Help me to be more loving, compassionate, and forgiving to others as you have to me. I am forever grateful. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Join me here next week as we continue our study of Matthew -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
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