# Matthew 18 📖: Greatness and Forgiveness in the Kingdom [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Matthew Overview]] | [[Matthew 17]] | [[Matthew 19]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Questions About the Greatest **Principle**: Jesus’ Leadership Principles are different from the world. [[#Verse 01]] At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  [[#Verse 02]] He called a child, had him stand among them,  [[#Verse 03]] and said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!  [[#Verse 04]] Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  [[#Verse 05]] And whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me. [[#Verse 06]] “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea.  [[#Verse 07]] Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! It is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom they come.  [[#Verse 08]] If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.  [[#Verse 09]] And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell. ### The Parable of the Lost Sheep **Principle**: Everyone is important to God. [[#Verse 10]] “See that you do not disdain one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.  [[#Verse 12]] What do you think? If someone owns a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray?  [[#Verse 13]] And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.  [[#Verse 14]] In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones be lost. ### Restoring Christian Relationships **Principle**: Conflict resolution the Jesus Way. [[#Verse 15]] “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother.  [[#Verse 16]] But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that **_at_** **_the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established_**.  [[#Verse 17]] If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector. [[#Verse 18]] “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.  [[#Verse 19]] Again, I tell you the truth, if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.  [[#Verse 20]] For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.” [[#Verse 21]] Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother who sins against me? As many as seven times?”  [[#Verse 22]] Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times!" ### The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave **Principle**: Forgiven People Forgive People [[#Verse 23]] “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.  [[#Verse 24]] As he began settling his accounts, a man who owed 10,000 talents was brought to him.  [[#Verse 25]] Because he was not able to repay it, the lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made.  [[#Verse 26]] Then the slave threw himself to the ground before him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’  [[#Verse 27]] The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt.  [[#Verse 28]] After he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 silver coins. So he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’  [[#Verse 29]] Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’  [[#Verse 30]] But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt.  [[#Verse 31]] When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place.  [[#Verse 32]] Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me!  [[#Verse 33]] Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’  [[#Verse 34]] And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed.  [[#Verse 35]] So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.” # ==📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary== ##### Verse 01 ##### Verse 02 ##### Verse 03 ##### Verse 04 ##### Verse 05 ##### Verse 06 ##### Verse 07 ##### Verse 08 ##### Verse 09 ##### Verse 10 “**Their Angel**”-Jesus states that the “little ones” have angels who are always in heaven in the presence of God the Father. The precise meaning of this statement has generated significant interpretive debate. Many interpreters understand this to suggest that each believer has a guardian angel of the highest rank who maintains constant access to God’s presence. This reading draws support from Jewish tradition, which held that each nation had a guardian angel, and appears reflected in Acts 12:15, where people refer to “his angel,” suggesting a personal angelic presence. However, this interpretation faces significant challenges. While angels do minister to those inheriting salvation, Scripture and Jewish sources from the New Testament period contain no explicit teaching about one angel per person. Rather, the evidence points to guardian angels assigned to nations. An alternative explanation proposes that the “angels” represent the spirits of the “little ones” after death, who will always behold God’s face in glory—meaning Jesus warns against despising believers because of their ultimate destiny in God’s presence. This reading treats “always see” as describing a class of people rather than individual moments. Matthew’s phrasing—describing angels as “their” angels—indicates that these angels are assigned and associated with the “little ones,” with their interest focused on the welfare of these believers. Ultimately, whether the reference points to individual guardians or the future glorified state of believers themselves, Jesus emphasizes that the Father takes special care of his “little ones” who believe in him ##### Verse 11 ##### Verse 12 ##### Verse 13 ##### Verse 14 ##### Verse 15 ##### Verse 16 ##### Verse 17 ##### Verse 18 ##### Verse 19 ##### Verse 20 ##### Verse 21 ##### Verse 22 - I read somewhere once that rabbis commonly taught during this time that forgiving 3 times was divine. If this is true, Peter probably thought he was doing right by forgiving twice as much and then one extra. Jesus blew his mind by saying never stop forgiving. ##### Verse 23 - Jesus speaks about forgiveness as a relationship between three people: you, Him, and the other. Notice that the first and primary relationship is between Him and us. ##### Verse 24 ##### Verse 25 ##### Verse 26 ##### Verse 27 ##### Verse 28 ##### Verse 29 ##### Verse 30 ##### Verse 31 ##### Verse 32 ##### Verse 33 ##### Verse 34 ##### Verse 35 ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Chapter 18 is the fourth of Matthew's five major teaching sections, often called the Community Discourse. 2. Children had little status in the ancient world, which made Jesus' example (18:2-4) surprising. 3. The millstone in 18:6 is literally a "donkey's millstone," a stone so large it took a donkey to turn it. 4. The two or three witnesses in 18:16 come from the Law (Deuteronomy 19:15). 5. Gentiles and tax collectors (18:17) were outsiders to the Jewish community, yet Jesus Himself welcomed both. 6. The Greek of 18:22 can mean seventy-seven times or seventy times seven. Either way, Jesus means forgiveness without limit. 7. Jesus' number reverses Lamech's boast of seventy-sevenfold revenge (Genesis 4:24). 8. Ten thousand talents (18:24) was an enormous sum. One talent equaled about 6,000 days' wages for a laborer. 9. A hundred silver coins (18:28) was about a hundred days' wages, a real debt but tiny compared to the first. 10. Selling a debtor and his family to repay a debt (18:25) was a known practice in the ancient world (2 Kings 4:1). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Good Shepherd who seeks the one lost sheep (18:12-14) and the Lord who is present when His people gather in His name (18:20). Having forgiven us an unpayable debt, He calls us to forgive others (Colossians 3:13). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Jesus says the greatest in the kingdom is the one who humbles himself like a little child (18:3-4). What does childlike humility look like? 2. Jesus gives a step-by-step process for dealing with a brother who sins against you (18:15-17). Why is going privately first so important? 3. The servant who was forgiven a huge debt refused to forgive a small one (18:23-35). Why is it so hard to forgive, and how does the gospel change that? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 3: Unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. - 📖 verse 14: The Father does not want one of these little ones to be lost. - 📖 verse 15: If a brother sins against you, go to him privately first. - 📖 verse 20: Where two or three gather in Jesus' name, He is there among them. - 📖 verses 21-22: Jesus tells Peter to forgive not seven times, but seventy-seven times. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Mark 10#Verse 15.|Mark 10:15]] and [[1 Peter 05#Verse 05.|1 Peter 5:5-6]] - Receive the kingdom like a child; humble yourselves. - 🔗 [[Luke 17#Verse 01.|Luke 17:1-2]] - Woe to the one who causes a little one to stumble. - 🔗 [[Matthew 05#Verse 29.|Matthew 5:29-30]] - Radical action against sin. - 🔗 [[Luke 15#Verse 03.|Luke 15:3-7]] and [[Ezekiel 34#Verse 11.|Ezekiel 34:11-16]] - The shepherd seeks the lost sheep. - 🔗 [[Leviticus 19#Verse 17.|Leviticus 19:17]] and [[Galatians 06#Verse 01.|Galatians 6:1]] - Gently restore a brother caught in sin. - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 19#Verse 15.|Deuteronomy 19:15]] - Every matter established by two or three witnesses. - 🔗 [[1 Corinthians 05#Verse 01.|1 Corinthians 5:1-5]] - Church discipline for unrepentant sin. - 🔗 [[John 20#Verse 23.|John 20:23]] - If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. - 🔗 [[Ephesians 04#Verse 32.|Ephesians 4:32]] and [[Colossians 03#Verse 13.|Colossians 3:13]] - Forgive as God in Christ forgave you. - 🔗 [[Genesis 04#Verse 24.|Genesis 4:24]] - Lamech's seventy-sevenfold vengeance reversed. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Matthew 18 - SOAP|God is There]] ## 📂 Internal Notes [[Forgiveness (RLCConference 2026- Session 2)]] - It's about God and you. - It's about one broken person seeing the brokenness in another. - It's a team sport.