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It is not for us surely to think this impossible. The context is the disruption of community due to actual, objective loss in a legal sense. Brad Jersak has wisely understood the passage as such in this way: I suspect treating them as unbelievers is NOT so much about exclusion or shunning or excommunication. He who brings Jesus and the blessing of Jesus to a child is doing a Christlike work. Alas for the world because of stumbling-blocks! Matthew 18:15-17 The New King James Version (NKJV) 15 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. And Jesus wanted it to be. How to prove that the supernatural or paranormal doesn't exist? The Lord, no doubt, knew the heart of His servant, and could feel for him in the effect that circumstances took upon him. Parents, and the disciples, like the Pharisees, were shown that grace, just because it is the expression of what God is to a ruined world, takes notice of what man in his own imaginary dignity might count altogether petty. Note, We must not be weary of well-doing, though we see not presently the good success of it. In truth, this was Emmanuel, God with us. In the end of the chapter is set forth parabolically the unlimited forgiveness that suits the kingdom; here, I cannot but think, looking onward in strict fulness to the future, but with distinct application to the moral need of the disciples then and always. "If he shall neglect to hear them, and will not refer the matter to their arbitration, then tell it to the church, to the ministers, elders, or other officers, or the most considerable persons in the congregation you belong to, make them the referees to accommodate the matter, and do not presently appeal to the magistrate, or fetch a writ for him." The Lord then had been shown such as He was towards Israel, had Israel in their leprosy come to Him, as did the leper, even with a faith exceedingly short of that which was due to His real glory and His love. I say not how fax he had realized this profound truth; I say not that he could have defined his thoughts; but he knew and declared His command of all as truly God. It was really after the transfiguration recorded in chapter 17 of our gospel. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 3. Matthew 16:17-18. In the context of Matthew 18:15-20, we see that the sin is personal, private, and the person guilty of the offense is personally accessible. Thou wouldest have healed him, wouldest have preserved his friendship, but he would not, and so has forfeited it." Anyway, I have a question that I wondered if you might answer. We can imagine how the eyes of the people would turn ever and again to the hillside watching for the shepherd who had not come home; and we can imagine the shout of joy when they saw him striding along the pathway with the weary wanderer slung across his shoulder, safe at last; and we can imagine how the whole village would welcome him, and gather round with gladness to hear the story of the sheep who was lost and found. If this article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? God has given his people the responsibility to deal with such cases, and they must find out Gods will and do it. Applying this command today becomes more difficult because the number of the disciples is incalculable and they live around the globe. It is not only the fact that God slighted matters of prescriptive ordinance because of the ruined state of Israel, who rejected His true anointed King, but there was this principle also, that certainly God was not going to bind Himself not to do good where abject need was. How He loves that simple faith and trust that is in the heart of a child. Therefore a child also means a beginner in the faith, one who has just begun to believe, one who is not yet mature and established in the faith, one who has just begun on the right way and who may very easily be deflected from it. [2.] After this our Lord sees great multitudes following Him, and gives commandment to go to the other side. But here pardon dispensed on earth arouses the pride of the religious leaders to the quick, and implacably. "No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment; for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse." You say, "Well, explain it to us." It is a summons from the King to His people Israel. Not only shall the Judge of all the earth do right, but what will not He do who gives all good? If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and If he listens to you, you have gained your brother." (Matthew 18:15 ESV) God proves what He is by the revelation of Jesus. "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my Father who is in heaven.". (i) First and foremost, there is the quality of humility ( Matthew 18:1-4). You say, "Well, isn't that works then, forgiveness on works?" So it was here; and our Lord turns to eternal account, in His own goodness, the shortcoming of John the Baptist, the greatest of women-born. The point of the passage, however, is for the restoration of the sinner to be reconciled to the body of Christ. Fasting, indeed, would follow when the Bridegroom was taken from them. This is not a make-a-wish prayer formula for three people in a circle singing praise songs and reveling in some spiritual phenomenon of the Lords presence. Rather, the peace of the community is so important to Christ that He makes this promise (my expanded translation): Wherever two are three of you are concerned about the unity of the community, where you had to make judgment in a case, and you are in agreement on it, I will stand behind your judgment. Next, He lays bare the capricious unbelief of man, only consistent in thwarting every thing and one that God employs for his good; then, His own entire rejection where He had most laboured. 28:18-20), but "gates" here has a different sense. And behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death. A king forgave a servant a huge debt, but the servant then refused to forgive a fellow servant a small debt (Matthew 18:23-30). He had brought out the kingdom before in view of that which betrayed to Him the unpardonable blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. If they join in the same prayer, if they meet by appointment to come together to the throne of grace on some special errand, or, though at a distance, agree in some particular matter of prayer, they shall speed well. This was the very blessing that aroused, above all, the hatred of the scribes. In many ways this is one of the most difficult passages to interpret in the whole of Matthew's gospel. for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. The grounds of such a judgment will naturally come before us ere long: I can merely refer to it now as my conviction. Ignatius was surnamed Theophoros, which means God--carried, and the tradition grew up that he had received that name because Jesus carried him on his knee. "Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish; but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." He can only be treated as one outside the church, not hated, but not held in close fellowship." In him there was a spiritual force far beyond that found in the leper, to whom the hand that touched, as well as cleansed, him proclaimed Israel's need and state as truly as Emmanuel's grace. Let none suppose that, in giving my own convictions, I have the presumptuous thought of putting these forward as if they were the sole motives in God's mind. Mt 18:21-22 correspond to Lk 17:4; the parable and the final warning are peculiar to Matthew. If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine, and go out to the hills, and will he not seek the wandering one? Jesus Christ teaches His disciples principles that will help them lead the Church. It is here called everlasting and this word everlasting occurs frequently in Jewish ideas of punishment. This is the second reference to ekklesia in Matthew and the only other occurrence of this word in the four Gospels. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence [about three thousand dollars]: and he laid his hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, You pay me what you owe me. 137.]. Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven ( Matthew 18:22 ). However, not only does the Bible never say that, the Bible tells us the Church is the final authority. The English translators have thus given the sense well; for the expression really conveys this slight, though the word "fellow" is printed in italics. And if your eye proves a stumbling-block to you, pluck it out and throw it away from you. . It might be well enough for a Pharisee; it might be worthy of a legal formalist, but it would never do for God; and the Lord Jesus was come here not to accommodate Himself to their thoughts, but, above all, to do God's will of holy love in an evil, wretched world. A letter may be misread and misunderstood; it may quite unconsciously convey a tone it was never meant to convey. A. R. S. Kennedy drew this vivid picture to contrast the debts. I enjoy the way you put Truth into words! Thank you so so much. That is why the shepherd could leave the ninety-nine. He said, "if two or three are gathered, I'll be there." In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus is giving instructions in how to correct a local church member who has fallen into a sin. (i) The love of God is an individual love. And whenever there are two, there are always three, wherever there are three visibly present, there is always four. Andrew was confronted in his sin, called to repent and as an act of repentance, submit to his church leaders. That is one of the worst sins that anyone could ever commit. I am the surgeon and I am telling you, we've got to operate immediately. That is an incredible debt. Receiving a little child in Jesus' name refers to complete acceptance of a child-like believer because of his innocent and unrestrained trust in the Lord. Here, too, these Pharisees question and reproach His grace, when they see the Lord sitting at ease in the presence of publicans and sinners, who came and sat down with Him in Matthew's house. Handbook on Church Discipline by Jay Adams. The universal Church is in view in Matthew 16:18. The people might have failed, but, surely, there were some differences surely those that were honoured and valued were not so depraved! That is specially so if he goes out from a protected home where no evil influence was ever allowed to play upon him. Is it not most sweet to see, that He who proves His divine glory at once associates us with Himself? The Lord has nothing for them, or for Him, but to go right on to the end. Thus, and after the tenderest sort, there is that which evidences the Messiah on earth present to heal His people who appeal to Him; and the Jew, above all counting upon His bodily presence demanding it, I may say, according to the warrant of prophecy, finds in Jesus not merely the man, but the God of Israel. The third step, if necessary, is to report the situation to the "church." (Matthew 19:30.) Matthew has already used this saying of Jesus in a different context in Matthew 5:30. that man or that woman who has done this evil deed, to your gates, If that is the case, and it is to be rigidly and legalistically applied, Paul apparently failed Matthew 18 because he received a second-hand report from those of Chloes house (1 Cor. But still, it was His carrying on the great process of shewing out more and more the total rejection of His rejectors. Jesus warns his disciples to be humble and harmless, 7. to avoid offenses, 10. and not to despise the little ones; 15. teaches how we are to deal with our brothers when they offend us, 21. and how often to forgive them; 23. which he sets forth by a parable of the king who took account of his servants, He was then present, a man despised, yet with title to forgive sins, proved by immediate power to heal. And thus He, whose glory was so forgotten by His disciples Jesus, Himself thinks of that very disciple, and says, "For me and thee.". Hence the Lords words are timeless. Oh, what a heart is ours! The first mention was in Matthew 16:18. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. According to Matthew 16:18, what is the relationship between the NT church and OT church? Far from lowering the position of His servant, He declares there was none greater among mortal men. In its biblical context, sin was treated more harshly than it is today. From this it was deduced that God's forgiveness extends to three offences and that he visits the sinner with punishment at the fourth. Not that "tell it to the church" would have meant to original audiences "send messages to every community of believers in the world", but it has to mean that the issue is now not something involving the personalities or experience level of a few people directly involved, but a decision by the church in general (probably communicated better/wider than in our Internet Age!). The fact is, beloved brethren, there is but one Jesus; and whoever it may be, whether John the Baptist, or the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, after all it is divinely-given faith which alone sustains: else man has to learn painfully somewhat of himself; and what is he to be accounted of? Such a sinner shall suffer a fate worse than death. Jesus could not have told his disciples to take things to the Church, for it did not exist; and the passage implies a fully developed and organized Church with a system of ecclesiastical discipline. If he were willing to follow the Lord, it was for what he could get. Disagreeing with someone is not scandalous behavior. Elders indeed were not part of the picture at this point. God used this love-inflicted wound to move him to repentance ( Proverbs 27:6 ). There are many lovely characteristics in a child--the power to wonder, before he has become deadeningly used to the wonder of the world; the power to forgive and to forget, even when adults and parents treat him unjustly as they so often do; the innocence, which, as Richard Glover beautifully says, brings it about that the child has only to learn, not to unlearn; only to do, not to undo.