Matthew 18

קרא את הפרק הזה בכוונה

Matthew 18 is Jesus's teaching on life inside the community of his followers, and it begins with a child. Asked who is greatest in the kingdom, Jesus sets a child among the disciples and says that entering the kingdom requires becoming like one. He warns of millstones for anyone who causes a little one to stumble, tells of a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep for one, lays out how to confront a brother who sins, promises his presence where two or three gather, and, when Peter asks how often to forgive, answers with seventy-seven times and a parable about a servant forgiven an unpayable debt who would not forgive a small one.

פתח פירוש פרק

Matthew 18 answers a question the disciples keep asking in different forms: who is the greatest? Jesus answers by calling a child over and standing him in the middle of the group. Unless you turn and become like this, you will not even enter the kingdom, let alone rank in it. From that child the chapter never really moves away. The little ones must not be caused to stumble; better a millstone and the sea than that. The little ones must not be despised; their angels see the Father's face. When one of them wanders, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and goes after the one, because the Father is not willing that any of them perish. When one of them sins against you, go to him privately, then with witnesses, then before the church, and know that Christ himself is present where two or three gather in his name. Then Peter asks the question the whole chapter has been leading to: how many times must I forgive? Seven? Not seven, Jesus says, but seventy-seven, and tells a story to explain why. A servant who owed a king more than he could earn in a thousand lifetimes was forgiven everything, walked out, and seized a colleague by the throat over a few months' wages. The king's question is the chapter's question: should you not have had mercy, as I had on you?

קטעי מפתח

Matthew 18:1-6 Matthew 18:12-14 Matthew 18:15-20 Matthew 18:21-35 Deuteronomy 19:15

Historical and literary context

The chapter is the fourth of Matthew's five great teaching blocks, sometimes called the community discourse, given in Galilee before the final journey to Jerusalem. Children in the ancient world had no status, which is the point of Jesus's object lesson. The procedure for confronting a sinning brother draws on Deuteronomy 19 and its rule of two or three witnesses, and "tell it to the church" is one of only two uses of the word "church" in the Gospels. The ten thousand talents of the parable was an almost unimaginable sum, larger than the annual revenue of whole provinces, set against a hundred denarii, a few months' wages.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 5 answer the question of greatness with a child. Verses 6 to 9 warn against causing little ones to stumble and against the hand, foot, or eye that causes oneself to sin. Verse 10 speaks of the angels of the little ones. Verses 12 to 14 give the parable of the lost sheep, with the Father unwilling that any little one perish. Verses 15 to 20 lay out confrontation, witnesses, the church, binding and loosing, and Christ's presence among two or three. Verses 21 to 35 are Peter's question, the answer of seventy-seven times, and the parable of the unforgiving servant, ending with the warning that the Father will treat those who refuse to forgive from the heart the same way.

Why this chapter matters

Matthew 18 has shaped how churches handle greatness, sin, and forgiveness. Its picture of the child as the model of the kingdom reversed every ancient assumption about status. Its step-by-step process for a brother who sins, private confrontation, then witnesses, then the church, is the foundation of Christian practices of correction and reconciliation. "Where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them" is among the most quoted promises of Jesus. And the parable of the unforgiving servant is the Bible's sharpest illustration of why forgiven people must forgive: the debt God cancels is beyond repayment, and the debts we hold against each other are small beside it.

Interpretive tension to watch

The chapter promises that whatever the church binds or looses on earth is bound or loosed in heaven, and that the Father grants what two agree to ask. Readers have taken these as sweeping guarantees or as promises tied to their context of reconciling a sinning brother. Likewise, the parable ends with the forgiven servant handed over to be tortured until he repays. Is God's forgiveness conditional on ours? The chapter's own logic suggests that refusing to forgive reveals a heart that never received forgiveness, rather than a bargain God revokes.

שאלות לפרק הזה

Jesus answers a question about greatness by placing a child in the middle. What about a child is he asking the disciples to become?
The process in verses 15 to 17 begins privately. Why might Jesus insist on that order, and what goes wrong when it is skipped?
The forgiven servant is choked by a debt of a few months' wages after being released from one of impossible size. Where does that proportion show up in your own grudges?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

הוספה להערות

1 At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, 3 And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. 6 But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh. 8 And if thy hand, or thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to go into life maimed or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee having one eye to enter into life, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10 See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 What think you? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray: doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains, and go to seek that which is gone astray? 13 And if it so be that he find it: Amen I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that, than for the ninety-nine that went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. 15 But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. 16 And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. 17 And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. 18 Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven. 20 For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. 21 Then came Peter unto him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith to him: I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him, that owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 But that servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 And the lord of that servant being moved with pity, let him go and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow servants that owed him an hundred pence: and laying hold of him, throttled him, saying: Pay what thou owest. 29 And his fellow servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he paid the debt. 31 Now his fellow servants seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord called him; and said to him: Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: 33 Shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow servant, even as I had compassion on thee? 34 And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt. 35 So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.

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קרא את הפרק הבא Matthew 19 in Douay-Rheims 1899.

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