Mateus 18
David Guzik · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 18
Guzik adds a lengthy comment - Jesus taught an important and often neglected principle regarding forgiveness. There are many sincere Christians who withhold forgiveness from others for mistaken reasons – and they feel entirely justified in doing so. Their reasoning works like this: We should not forgive another person who sins against us until they are properly repentant. This is because repentance is mentioned in the context of our commands to forgive (such as in Luke 17:4), and because our forgiveness to others is to be modeled after God’s forgiveness of us. Since God does not forgive us apart from repentance, so we should not forgive others unless they properly repent to us. We even have the duty to withhold such forgiveness and to judge their repentance, because it is ultimately in their best interest to do so.. This thinking – even if it means well – is incorrect and ultimately dangerous. This parable shows us why it is incorrect for us to think, “God doesn’t forgive me without my repentance; therefore I must withhold forgiveness from others who sin against me until they properly repent.” That thinking is wrong, because I do not stand in the same place as God in the equation, and I never can. God stands as One who has never been forgiven and never needed forgiveness; I stand as one who has been forgiven and needs continual forgiveness.. Therefore – if it were possible – we should be far quicker to forgive than God is, without precondition of repentance, because we stand as forgiven sinners who must also forgive. We have an even greater obligation to forgive than God does. Since we have been forgiven so much, we have no right to withhold forgiveness from others. We are the debtor forgiven almost an infinite debt; will we hold on to the small debts others owe to us? If anyone had the right to withhold forgiveness it is God – and He forgives more freely and more completely than anyone we know. What possible right do we have to hold on to our unforgiveness? It is also important to understand that a distinction can and should be made between forgiveness and reconciliation. True reconciliation of relationship can only happen when both parties are agreeable to it, and this may require repentance on one or both of the parties in the conflict. Yet forgiveness can be one-sided. Furthermore, forgiveness does not necessarily shield someone from the civil or practical consequences of their sin. For example, a homeowner may personally forgive the man who robbed his house, yet it is still appropriate for the robber to be arrested and put in jail. On a personal level, forgiveness is required. On a civil and societal level, the man should be punished by the magistrates (Romans 13).. Nevertheless, the principle clearly stands. In context, this parable was given to make us more forgiving, not less forgiving. No one could reasonably read this parable and think that Jesus was trying to restrict the forgiveness of His disciples. NET NOTE - Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15. Heavenly (3770) ouranios means of or in heaven. OURANIOS - 9V - Matt. 5:48; Matt. 6:14; Matt. 6:26; Matt. 6:32; Matt. 15:13; Matt. 18:35; Matt. 23:9; Lk. 2:13; Acts 26:19 Forgive (863) aphiemi (Includes an in depth discussion on forgiveness) from apo = prefix speaks of separation, putting some distance between + hiemi = put in motion, send) conveys the basic idea of an action which causes separation. Literally aphiemi means to send from one's self, to forsake, to hurl away, to put away, let alone, disregard, put off. It conveys the basic idea of an action which causes separation and refers to total detachment, total separation, from a previous location or condition. It means to send forth or away from one's self. It refers to the act of putting something away or of laying it aside. In secular Greek aphiemi initially conveyed the sense of to throw and in one secular writing we read "let the pot drop" (aphiemi). From this early literal use the word came to mean leave or let go. It is worth noting that the most common way aphiemi is translated in the NAS is left (to go away from a place, to depart from, to remove oneself from an association with, to leave behind - [ponder how these might relate to "forgiveness!"]) (38x) followed by forgive (23x) and forgiven (23x). In secular Greek literature, aphiemi was a fundamental word used to indicate the sending away of an object or a person. Aphiemi was used to describe the voluntary release of a person or thing over which one has legal or actual control. The related noun aphesis meant described a setting free. .Later it came to include the release of someone from the obligation of marriage, or debt, or even a religious vow. In its final form it came to embrace the principle of release from punishment for some wrongdoing. . Colin Brown adds that aphiemi means "With a personal object, to send forth, send away (of a woman, to divorce; of a meeting, to dissolve, end), to let go, to leave, dispatch; with an impersonal object, to loose (e.g. a ship into the sea), to discharge (e.g. arrows), to give up. In the figurative sense the verb (aphiemi) means to let alone, permit, let pass, neglect, give up (taking trouble, etc.); in Josephus, Ant., 1, 12, 3, to lose one’s life, die. The legal use is important: to release from a legal bond (office, guilt, etc. and also, a woman from marriage, e.g. Hdt., 5, 39), to acquit (e.g. cancellation of criminal proceedings, Plato, Laws, 9, 86, 9d), to exempt (from guilt, obligation, punishment, etc.; e.g. Hdt., 6, 30). Similarly the noun aphesis (e.g. Demosthenes, 24, 45) means release, pardon, or remission, etc (New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan) The Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, contained many of these ideas. In the Old Testament aphiemi spoke of releasing a prisoner or remitting a debt, but it also came to mean pardon or forgiveness. Aphiemi is used in Lev 16:10 to describe sending the scapegoat into the wilderness, a foreshadowing of the ultimate forgiveness Jesus' death in our place provided for us by grace, not merit. Stephen Olford - —Matthew 18:35 According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Here is certainly strong language! How can the believer read such a verse and not see to it that he has a forgiving spirit? The apostle Paul teaches the same truth. He says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted [corresponding with his heart in the verse above], forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). And John: “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). Thus, a forgiving spirit is essential. In fact, it is the positive fruit of one born of God. In another place, it is given as the condition for prevailing prayer. O Lord, cultivate in me the same forgiving spirit You have shown me. Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Feeling Unforgiven? “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”—Matthew 18:35 WE OFTEN QUOTE THIS PETITION from the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:12 NKJV). But the wording of that request should lead us to ask ourselves, “What if God only forgave me to the extent that I’ve been willing to forgive those who have sinned against me?” It’s sobering to think about. And it’s something we can’t ignore, for in the verses that follow directly after the Lord’s Prayer, we hear Jesus saying, “If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (verses 14–15). Strong words. They are so stark and direct, in fact, that we who are saved by grace yet unforgiving in our hearts find ourselves looking for loopholes, dodging the obvious, trying to convince ourselves that He must have meant something less exacting. Yet in reality, we find nowhere to hide. When we refuse to forgive, something is blocked in our relationship with the Father. The Scripture affirms what our own experience confirms—a clear connection between our willingness to extend forgiveness to others and our ability to appropriate and experience His forgiveness for our sins. I have met many believers who find it difficult to accept and experience God’s love and forgiveness. There can be any number of reasons for that, of course. But one of the biggest is a refusal to forgive others. Those who hold on to bitterness, who refuse to forgive, cannot hope to enjoy the full, sweet taste of His compassion and mercy. Do you struggle with doubting or distrusting God’s mercy toward you? Could there be any unforgiveness in your heart that is limiting your capacity to experience His grace and forgiveness? Adrian Rogers - excerpt from full sermon THE FREEDOM OF FORGIVENESS - SCROLL TO PAGE 423 Second reason: not only the grace factor, but the guilt factor. Now, notice what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, verses 14 and 15: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14–15) Now, you think about that. The person who refuses to forgive destroys the bridge over which he must travel. An unforgiving spirit is unforgivable. Forgiving and being forgiven go together. The only person who can afford not to forgive is the person who will never need forgiveness. Notice the prayer: “Father, forgive us, as we forgive those …” (Matthew 6:12) Now friend, if you don’t intend to forgive that person who has wronged you, that’s a very foolish—and even a stupid—prayer for you to pray: “Father, you treat me like I’m treating them. Father, forgive me as”—in the same manner—“I forgive others.” Now, you think about what you’re praying. You say, “Well, I’m not going to forgive the other person,” then, “Father, don’t forgive me.” “Well, I’ll forgive her, but I’ll never have any more to do with her.” God says, “Okay. I’ll forgive you and never have any more to do with you.” You see what you’re asking? “Father, forgive us as”—in the same manner that—“we forgive those who sin against us.” (Matthew 6:12) May I tell you, friend—listen carefully—an unforgiving spirit is not merely you missing a blessing; it is a wicked, vile, gross sin, in the same category as stealing or blasphemy. Why? Because, what is God? God’s nature, Brother Jim, is a nature to forgive. That is the nature of God. And aren’t we glad that He is a forgiving God? We’re so glad of that. Well, then, if you don’t forgive, you’re not like God. And if you’re not like God, what is that? Ungodliness. An unforgiving spirit is ungodly. It is ungodly. It is a terrible thing. Jesus illustrated this with a story. Take your Bibles, and turn to Matthew chapter 18 here, for just a moment, because we’re going to be there for a second—Matthew chapter 18. Jesus, speaking about forgiveness, illustrates it this way; He gave a parable—Matthew 18, beginning in verse 23: “Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, who would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, who owed him ten thousand talents”—now, just underscore that: ten thousand talents. Here’s a man taking inventory; here is a man who’s having an audit done, and he finds out that a man owes the king ten thousand talents—“But forasmuch as he had [nothing with which] to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made”—that is, he’s to be put in debtor’s prison—“The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all”—but we’re going to see that was a vain boast because there was no way he could have done it—“Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.” (Matthew 18:23–27) “Loosed him” means that he “set him free.” Now, don’t miss what Jesus is saying in this parable. If you’re not careful, you’re going to miss it. When He said, “ten thousand talents,” He was talking about an enormous debt. A talent was the largest measure of money known in the Roman world. The research that I did said that it would be equal to the wages of ten thousand men for seventeen years. In today’s dollars, it would be billions of dollars. When Solomon built the temple, the wonderful temple that he built there, and overlaid it with gold, the Bible says there were five thousand talents of gold in that magnificent temple. (1 Chronicles 29:7) This man owes ten thousand talents. As a matter of fact, the word talent here literally means “without number.” It was used for that number. Sometimes the Bible translates it “myriads”—just “myriads.” It’s the Greek word we get our word myriad from. It means it’s just some astronomical amount of money. This man is in debt. There is no way possible that he can pay, and the king forgives him. At that moment, it cost the king ten thousand talents. Now, what happened, according to this story? Well, you find out that that man who had been forgiven goes out and finds someone that owes him money. Look, if you will, in verse 28: “But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, [who] owed him an hundred [denarii]”—now, a denarius is a day’s labor—“and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what thou owest.” (Matthew 18:28) “Pay what you owe.” Now, here’s a man who’d been forgiven myriads; here’s a man who’s been forgiven billions, and he has somebody that owes him a hundred days’ wages, takes him by the throat, and says, “Pay me.” And the man says, “I can’t pay you right now. Have mercy.” But Matthew 18, verse 30 says, “And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.” (Matthew 18:30) Do you see it? Do you see the analogy that Jesus is making? And Jesus speaks of the wickedness of that man who had been forgiven and would not forgive. (Matthew 18:32) And so, here’s what Jesus said in verse 35. He talks about, then, the king, who is very wroth and has that man who had been forgiven taken and put in prison himself. And He says in Matthew 18, verse 35: “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” (Matthew 18:35) Now, what is our Lord saying? Our Lord is saying, “It is absolutely wicked for those of us who have been forgiven so much to refuse to forgive somebody else.” Is there somebody who’s wronged you and you’re holding back forgiveness, and you have had our Lord, with the gold of His blood and the silver of His tears, to pay your sin debt? Do you know what James says in James 2, verse 13? “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath [shown] no mercy.” (James 2:13) Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) Why should I forgive? Listen, friend, I need to forgive because of the grace factor: I have been forgiven. I need to forgive because of the guilt factor: I will still need to be forgiven day by day. And only a person who never sins can afford not to forgive, which is no one. David Jeremiah - DELIBERATELY FORGIVE We also do a better job being a channel of God’s grace when we—like Christ—deliberately forgive those who have sinned against us. By God’s grace, hymn writer Fanny Crosby was able not only to forgive the doctor who ruined her vision, but she was also able to thank God for her blindness. She wrote this little prayer: “I am praying, Blessed Savior, to be more and more like Thee. I am praying that Thy Spirit like a dove may rest on me.”2 And her blessed Savior—and ours—once told a story of a servant who owed an enormous sum of money to his master. It was impossible for him to pay it, so the master graciously forgave the debt. But the debtor, freed from his obligation, found a man who owed him a small sum and threw him into debtor’s prison for failing to repay the loan. When the master heard of it, he summoned his servant and said, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” The master threw his servant to the torturers. Then Jesus spoke these stark words: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Matthew 18:35).… Psychologists are discovering how the act of forgiving others actually improves mental and even physical health. In one recently published study, participants attended a six-hour workshop explaining how holding a grudge can cause psychological and physical damage; they were also taught techniques for forgiving others. The majority of those people who chose to forgive reported significant improvement in their relationships as well as in their physical and emotional health.3 How relevant is the Bible’s advice! J R Miller - Matthew 18:35 If we have truly received divine forgiveness—we will be forgiving toward others. As one says, "If you get pardon from God, you will give it to a brother; if you withhold it from your brother, you thereby make it manifest that you have not gotten it from God." So we are brought face to face with a most solemn practical teaching which we dare not ignore. Have we the forgiving spirit? Can we sincerely pray, "Forgive us our sins—as we forgive those who sin against us"? No doubt the lesson is hard, for it is so against nature; yet we all know by experience that the cherishing of resentment never brings peace to our hearts. People say, "Revenge is sweet;" but it is not true. It really makes bitterness for him who cherishes it. The gratification of a moment, becomes pain afterward. Oswald Chambers —Matthew 18:35 THE FULL FRUIT OF SANCTIFICATION is biblically demanded of the one who has received the grace of sins forgiven. If the unmerited mercy of God shown to me is not reshown to others, my justification is annulled. If the unmerited forgiveness of God awarded to me is not exercised toward others, my justification is annulled. Forgetting is the essence of divine forgiveness. Unless my forgiveness of other people “forgets” their trespasses against me, the grace of God in me is a mere painted flower, and I am a play actor. Listen to this warning: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Nancy Leigh DeMoss —Matthew 18:34 NKJV The Quiet Place: Daily Devotional Readings - Page 1 MEDICAL RESEARCH has consistently shown that people who harbor pent-up emotions such as anger, bitterness, and inner hostility will often manifest these issues in their physical bodies. Such individuals frequently show a propensity for high blood pressure, impaired immune function, muscle spasms, hormonal changes, memory loss, even an increased risk of heart attack. Interestingly, both the words anger and angina share the same Greek root. Please hear me. I’m not saying for a moment that every ache or pain is caused by bitterness or unforgiveness. I don’t want to make anyone who suffers from organically rooted diseases to feel condemned, or to suggest that you shouldn’t pursue medical treatment for physical ailments. But I’m convinced that more often than we realize, some of the chronic mental, emotional, and even physical disorders that people struggle with are rooted in anger we’re unwilling to release. God never intended our bodies to hold up under the weight of unresolved conflict. In the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18, Jesus linked a refusal to forgive with God turning us over to “torturers” (“tormentors” [KJV]; “jailers” [ESV]). When I find myself dealing with persistent, unexplainable physical symptoms, I think it’s important to at least ask the Lord if there’s anything He’s trying to get my attention about, any residual anger or bitterness that might be taking a toll on my body. Being a forgiving person will not guarantee a pain-free life. But I can’t help wondering how much pain we might be spared (and how much money we could save on doctors’ and therapists’ bills) if we refused to let bitterness take root in our hearts. Is there any unresolved issue in your heart that could be having an adverse effect on you—physically, mentally, emotionally? Burying the Hatchet - Old Joe was dying. For years he had been at odds with Bill, formerly one of his best friends. Wanting to straighten things out, he sent word for Bill to come and see him. When Bill arrived, Joe told him that he was afraid to go into eternity with such a bad feeling between them. Then, very reluctantly and with great effort, Joe apologized for things he had said and done. He also assured Bill that he forgave him for his offenses. Everything seemed fine until Bill turned to go. As he walked out of the room, Joe called out after him, "But, remember, if I get better, this doesn't count!" Background on Bury the Hatchet - The phrase has its roots in a tradition among Native American tribes, particularly during peace negotiations. Tribes would literally bury a hatchet, tomahawk, or other weapon as a symbolic act of ending hostilities and committing to peace. This ceremonial gesture was meant to show that both parties had no intention of engaging in further conflict. Today, the phrase is used figuratively to describe reconciliation in a variety of contexts. We may smile at this story. Yet what a clear picture this gives of the way we sometimes treat one another. The forgiveness we profess is often superficial (Not from the heart, Mt 18:35, Ezek 36:26, 27). It may be prompted by fear, or to gain some selfish advantage, or to clear our conscience--not out of genuine love for God (cf Lk 7:41-47) and the one who has wronged us. Yes, we may say we forgive, but when the least little friction arises, we are quick to resurrect past grievances. We must understand the breadth and length and height and depth of God's forgiveness in Christ on the Cross, foreshadowed by these beautiful pictures... Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (ED: Where is the east and west pole?) Isaiah 38:17 “Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back. Isaiah 44:22 “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” Micah 7:18-19+ "Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. (Then put up a "No Fishing" sign like Corrie Ten Boom likes to say!) In short, we like to "bury the hatchet" with the handle sticking out. That way we can easily pick it up again and use it to our advantage. How different is the forgiveness Jesus talked about! (Mt 18:15-22). If our sinless Lord is willing to forgive us--with all our faults--how can we withhold pardon from those who have sinned against us? True Christlike forgiveness buries the hatchet completely. Those who say they will forgive but can't forget, simply bury the hatchet but leave the handle out for immediate use. --D. L. Moody Misunderstanding forgiveness often keeps us in bondage to grudges. --Gotquestions.org Christ the Lord our debt has paid— All our sins on Him were laid; We like Him should try to live, Always ready to forgive! —Bosch Garth Brooks ("We Bury The Hatchet" on the Album: Ropin The Wind) has a song which speaks of the unforgiving heart… We bury the hatchet But leave the handle stickin' out We're always diggin' up things We should forget about When it comes to forgettin' Baby, there ain't no doubt We bury the hatchet But leave the handle sticking out One more illustration - WHEN FORGIVENESS SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE - Corrie ten Boom, author of The Hiding Place, was taken captive and spent time in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. While in prison, Corrie saw incredible abuse, so inhumane that it drove the prisoners to incredible depths, including intentionally allowing lice to breed on their bodies because the more lice they had, the less likely it would be that the guards would molest them! And Corrie even witnessed the death of her own dear sister. After the war, God sent Corrie ten Boom on a mission of mercy through the war-torn cities to encourage residents to choose forgiveness over bitterness. She would motivate her audiences by sharing some of the atrocities she had experienced, implying that if she could forgive such horrors, so could her listeners. One night speaking, she immediately recognized the man who came walking down the aisle as a particularly cruel guards in one of the concentration camps. The man did not recognize her however. As he approached Corrie he said... Fraulein, you don't know me, but I was a guard in one of those camps. After the war, God saved me. I wish I could go back and undo those years. I can't, but I've just been prompted by God to come tonight and ask you, would you please forgive me? Then he extended his hand to her. Can you imagine the horrible thoughts and memories that raced through Corrie's mind as she recognized his face and then even worse, heard his incredible plea for forgiveness? How could she? Corrie said her arms froze at her side and she was literally unable to move. The flashbacks in her mind replaying the atrocities, the death of her sister, the abuse. And then God's Spirit said to her, Corrie, what have you been telling everyone else to do? As an act of your will, will you choose to forgive? Corrie went on to explain what happened next... I reached out my hand, and I put it in his, and I said, 'You're forgiven. She later reported that at that moment... It was like a dam broke loose—all the bitterness and resentment—and God set me free. QUESTION - What does the Bible say about grudges? ANSWER - We all have reasons to hold grudges. People wrong us. Situations hurt us. Even God does not always do what we think He should do, so we get angry. We hold offenses against those who have wronged us, and often against God who we think should have done things differently. A grudge is nothing more than a refusal to forgive. So, since this tendency is inherent in all of us and seemingly unavoidable, what does the Bible say about it? God has such a strong concern about grudges that He included a specific command about them when He gave the Law to the Israelites. Leviticus 19:18 says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” It is interesting that God concluded this particular command with the words “I am the Lord.” In doing so, God reminded us that He is the Lord, not us. To hold a grudge is to set ourselves up as judge and jury—to determine that one person’s wrong should not be forgiven. No human being has the right or authority to do that. Romans 12:19 says, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” Misunderstanding forgiveness often keeps us in bondage to grudges. We think that to forgive is to excuse sin or pretend the offense did not matter. Neither is true. Forgiveness is not about the other person. Forgiveness is God’s gift to us to release us from the control of someone who has hurt us. When we retain a grudge, we give someone we don’t like power over our emotions. Without forgiveness, just the thought of an offender can send acid to our stomachs and heat to our faces. In essence, we make that person an idol, giving him or her control over us (Deuteronomy 32:39). But when we forgive, we release to God any right to vengeance or restitution. Forgiveness puts our relationship with God back in proper alignment. We acknowledge that He is the Judge, not us, and that He has the right to bring about any resolution He chooses. Forgiveness is the choice to trust God rather than ourselves with the outcome of the offense. We often hold on to grudges because we feel we have the responsibility to see that justice is done or that others know how badly we were hurt. But when we release the situation to God, along with the right to dictate the ending, we free the Lord to work as He sees fit without our anger getting in the way (Matthew 18:21–22). It is important to remember that forgiveness and reconciliation are not synonymous. Forgiveness is a matter of the heart. It is an act of surrender to God’s will and is primarily between us and God. We release to Him our right to hang on to anger (Psalm 115:11). However, reconciliation depends on the true repentance and proven trustworthiness of the offender. For example, in the case of spousal abuse, the victim must forgive as part of her ongoing healing. She can release her anger to God. But, at the same time, she must keep protective boundaries in place until the abuser has proven over time that he is worthy of her trust (see Proverbs 26:24–25). “The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). We do God no favors by trying to “help” Him right a bad situation through our vengeance. He does not need our anger. He needs our cooperation as we submit to doing things His way (Proverbs 3:5–6). And God’s way is always to forgive as He has forgiven us (Matthew 18:35; Ephesians 4:32). We can release a grudge with a simple act of our will, by offering the whole situation to God and letting go of it. Forgiveness brings healing to our souls and allows God to build His strength and character into our lives as we allow Him to reign as our only God (Romans 8:29). Related Resources: What does the Bible say about resentment? What does the Bible say about bitterness? D A Carson - EDITORIAL ON ABUSING MATTHEW 18 D. A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Several years ago I wrote a fairly restrained critique of the emerging church movement as it then existed, before it morphed into its present diverse configurations.1 That little book earned me some of the angriest, bitterness-laced emails I have ever received—to say nothing, of course, of the blog posts. There were other responses, of course—some approving and grateful, some thoughtful and wanting to dialogue. But the ones that displayed the greatest intensity were those whose indignation was white hot because I had not first approached privately those whose positions I had criticized in the book. What a hypocrite I was—criticizing my brothers on ostensible biblical grounds when I myself was not following the Bible’s mandate to observe a certain procedure nicely laid out in Matt 18:15–17. Doubtless this sort of charge is becoming more common. It is regularly linked to the “Gotcha!” mentality that many bloggers and their respondents seem to foster. Person A writes a book criticizing some element or other of historic Christian confessionalism. A few bloggers respond with more heat than light. Person B writes a blog with some substance, responding to Person A. The blogosphere lights up with attacks on Person B, many of them asking Person B rather accusingly, “Did you communicate with Person A in private first? If not, aren’t you guilty of violating what Jesus taught us in Matthew 18?” This pattern of counter-attack, with minor variations, is flourishing. To which at least three things must be said: (1) The sin described in the context of Matt 18:15–17 takes place on the small scale of what transpires in a local church (which is certainly what is envisaged in the words “tell it to the church”). It is not talking about a widely circulated publication designed to turn large numbers of people in many parts of the world away from historic confessionalism. This latter sort of sin is very public and is already doing damage; it needs to be confronted and its damage undone in an equally public way. This is quite different from, say, the situation where a believer discovers that a brother has been breaking his marriage vows by sleeping with someone other than his wife, and goes to him privately, then with one other, in the hope of bringing about genuine repentance and contrition, and only then brings the matter to the church. To put the matter differently, the impression one derives from reading Matt 18 is that the sin in question is not, at first, publicly noticed (unlike the publication of a foolish but influential book). It is relatively private, noticed by one or two believers, yet serious enough to be brought to the attention of the church if the offender refuses to turn away from it. By contrast, when NT writers have to deal with false teaching, another note is struck: the godly elder “must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9 NIV). Doubtless one can think up some contemporary situations that initially might make one scratch one’s head and wonder what the wise course should be—or, to frame the problem in the context of the biblical passages just cited, whether one should respond in the light of Matt 18 or of Titus 1. For example, a local church pastor may hear that a lecturer in his denominational seminary or theological college is teaching something he judges to be outside the confessional camp of that denomination and possibly frankly heretical. Let us make the situation more challenging by postulating that the pastor has a handful of students in his church who attend that seminary and are being influenced by the lecturer in question. Is the pastor bound by Matt 18 to talk with the lecturer before challenging him in public? This situation is tricky in that the putative false teaching is public in one sense and private in another. It is public in that it is not a merely private opinion, for it is certainly being promulgated; it is private in the sense that the material is not published in the public arena, but is being disseminated in a closed lecture hall. It seems to me that the pastor would be wise to go to the lecturer first, but not out of obedience to Matt 18, which really does not pertain, but to determine just what the views of the lecturer really are. He may come to the conclusion that the lecturer is kosher after all; alternatively, that the lecturer has been misunderstood (and any lecturer with integrity will want to take pains not to be similarly misunderstood in the future); or again, that the lecturer is dissimulating. He may feel he has to go to the lecturer’s superior, or even higher. My point, however, is that this course of action is really not tracing out Jesus’ instruction in Matt 18. The pastor is going to the lecturer, in the first instance, not to reprove him, but to find out if there really is a problem when the teaching falls in this ambiguous category of not-quite-private and not-quite-public. (2) In Matt 18, the sin in question is, by the authority of the church, excommunicable—in at least two senses. First, the offense may be so serious that the only responsible decision that the church can make is to thrust the offender out of the church and view him or her as an unconverted person (18:17). In other words, the offense is excommunicable because of its seriousness. In the NT as a whole, there are three categories of sins that reach this level of seriousness: major doctrinal error (e.g., 1 Tim 1:20), major moral failure (e.g., 1 Cor 5), and persistent and schismatic divisiveness (e.g., Titus 3:10). These constitute the negative flipside of the three positive “tests” of 1 John: the truth test, the obedience test, and the love test. In any case, though we do not know what it is, the offense in Matt 18 is excommunicable because of its seriousness. Second, the situation is such that the offender can actually be excommunicated from the assembly. In other words, the offense is excommunicable because organizationally it is possible to excommunicate the offender. By contrast, suppose someone in, say, Philadelphia were to claim to be a devout Christian while writing a book that was in certain ways deeply anti-Christian. Suppose a church in, say, Toronto, Canada decided the book is heretical. Such a church might, I suppose, declare the book misguided or even heretical, but they certainly could not excommunicate the writer. Doubtless they could declare the offender persona non grata in their own assembly, but this would be a futile gesture and probably counter-productive to boot. After all, the offender might be perfectly acceptable in his own assembly.2 In other words, this sort of offense might be excommunicable in the first sense—i.e., the false teaching might be judged so severe that the offender deserves to be excommunicated—but is not excommunicable in the second sense, for the organizational reality is such that excommunication is not practicable. The point to observe is that whatever the offense in Matthew 18, it is excommunicable in both senses: the sin must be serious enough to warrant excommunication, and the organizational situation is such that the local church can take decisive action that actually means something. Where one or the other of these two senses does not apply, neither does Matthew 18. One might of course argue that it is the part of prudential wisdom to write to authors before you criticize them in your own publication. I can think of situations where that may or may not be a good idea. But such reasoning forms no part of the argument of Matthew 18. (3) There is a flavor of play-acting righteousness, of disproportionate indignation, behind the current round of “Gotcha!” games. If Person B charges Person A, who has written a book arguing for a revisionist understanding of the Bible, with serious error and possibly with heresy, it is no part of wisdom to “Tut-tut” the narrow-mindedness of Person B and smile condescendingly and dismissively over such judgmentalism. That may play well among those who think the greatest virtue in the world is tolerance, but surely it cannot be the honorable path for a Christian. Genuine heresy is a damnable thing, a horrible thing. It dishonors God and leads people astray. It misrepresents the gospel and entices people to believe untrue things and to act in reprehensible ways. Of course, Person B may be entirely mistaken. Perhaps the charge Person B is making is entirely misguided, even perverse. In that case, one should demonstrate the fact, not hide behind a procedural matter. And where Person B is advancing serious biblical argumentation, it should be evaluated, not dismissed with a procedural sleight-of-hand and a wrong-headed appeal to Matthew 18.
Mateus 18
Guzik notes that "Children are not threatening; we aren’t afraid of meeting a five-year-old in a dark alley. When we have a tough, intimidating presence, we aren’t like Jesus. Children are not good at deceiving; they are pretty miserable failures at fooling their parents. When we are good at hiding ourselves and deceiving others, we aren’t like Jesus." C H Spurgeon Commentary - He did not answer them with words alone, but made his teaching more impressive by an act. He “called a little child unto him. ” The child came at once, and Jesus “set him in the midst of them. ” That the child came at his call, and was willingly placed where Jesus wished, a evidence of a sweetness of manner on the part of our Lord. Surely there was a smile on his face when he bade the little one come unto him; and there must have been a charming gentleness in the manner in which he placed the child in the center of the twelve, as his little model. Let us see Jesus and the little child, and the twelve apostles grouped around the two central figures. Thus may the whole church gather to study Jesus, and the childlike character. Child (3813) paidion diminutive of pais = child) is a little child of either sex, ranging from an infant (Mt 19:13, 14; Mk 10:13-15; Lk 18:16, 17, etc) to children who are older (Mt 11:16; Mt 14:21; 15:38; 18:2-5, etc) Paidion is used repeatedly of the infant Jesus in Matthew (Mt 2:8-9, 11, 13-14, 20-21) Paidion is used as a term of comparison, Jesus making the point that we are to become like a little child (Mk 10:15 Lk 18:17), the implication of course being that this is not an infant but a child old enough to express saving faith in the Messiah!. Paidion stresses the need for moral training and guidance. As a term of address, paidion occurs in the NT only in 1John 2:14, 18 and John 21:5.
Mateus 18
Guzik points out that "Woe to the world because of offenses! The first woe is a cry of pity for a world in danger of offenses. The second woe is a warning to the one who brings or introduces evil to others." For (explains the first "woe") it is inevitable (anagke) that stumbling blocks (skandalon) come (erchomai) - What Jesus is saying in essence is "It is impossible for the stumbling blocks not to come." In other words, stumbling blocks are guaranteed to come in the life of the disciples. They could count on it! And we can too, because stumbling blocks will continually come to trip up the follower of Christ, for we have three persistent, powerful enemies - the world, the flesh and the devil. Why is it inevitable? Because the world is broken, godless and filled with sin and constantly seeks to ensnare its hapless victims! Beware of doing anything that would cause others to fall into sin. You might be saying “But I have this liberty!” The response is that they might not! But woe (ouai) to that man through whom the stumbling block (skandalon) comes (erchomai - present tense - continually comes!) - Now Jesus shifts from the godless world to the specific godless man with the same warning of woe to the one who perpetrates evil in the lives of believers. They will experience payday, some day! David Guzik applies this truth writing that "This teaches us that we can let go of the anger and the bitterness for what people have done against us. God promised to deal with those by whom the offense comes." As one writer says "The harsh word, the thoughtless deed, the frivolous remark-these injurious facets of human relations are inevitable. But that does not lessen the seriousness of the deed nor the responsibility of the offender." C H Spurgeon Commentary - It is a sad world because of stumbling-block. This is the great misery of every age. Occasions for falling into sin are terribly many; and from the formation of society it seems as if it must be so. “It must needs be that offenses come. ” While man is man, his surroundings will be trying, and his fellow-men will too often become occasions of evil to him. This brings woe unto the world; but the center of that woe will be with the guilty cause of the stumbling, be that stumbling what it may. Those who try to be the greatest are great causers of offenses: the humble are the least likely to make others stumble. Woe, therefore, is the sure heritage of the proud; for he is that man by whom the offense cometh. Matthew Henry Concise - Mt 18:7-14. Considering the cunning and malice of Satan, and the weakness and depravity of men's hearts, it is not possible but that there should be offences. God permits them for wise and holy ends, that those who are sincere, and those who are not, may be made known. Being told before, that there will be seducers, tempters, persecutors, and bad examples, let us stand on our guard. We must, as far as lawfully we may, part with what we cannot keep without being entangled by it in sin. The outward occasions of sin must be avoided. If we live after the flesh, we must die. If we, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body, we shall live. Christ came into the world to save souls, and he will reckon severely with those who hinder the progress of others who are setting their faces heavenward. And shall any of us refuse attention to those whom the Son of God came to seek and to save? A father takes care of all his children, but is particularly tender of the little ones. Stumbling (4625) skandalon rom a root meaning jump up, snap shut) was originally the piece of wood that kept open a trap for animals. Outside the Bible it is not used metaphorically, though its derivative skandalethron (e.g. a trap set through questions) is so used. The English word scandal is derived from the noun via the Lat. scandalum. Thus skandalon was literally, that movable part of a trap on which the bait was laid, and when touched caused the trap to close on its prey. Skandalon thus came to mean any entanglement of the foot. Figuratively, as used most often in Scripture, skandalon refers to any person or thing by which one is drawn into error or sin. (but see more detailed notes below) Skandalon is used 15 times: KJV (15) - occasion of stumbling, 1; occasion to fall, 1; offence, 9; stumbling block, 3; thing that offends, 1; NAS (15) - cause for stumbling, 1; hindrances, 1; offense, 2; stumbling block, 7; stumbling blocks, 4 Matt. 13:41; 16:23; 18:7; Lk. 17:1; Rom. 9:33; 11:9; 14:13; 16:17; 1 Co. 1:23; Gal. 5:11; 1 Pet. 2:8; 1 Jn. 2:10; Rev. 2:14 Woe (How dreadful!) (3759 - click and select "Phonetics" to hear "ouai" pronounced) is pronounced "oo-ah'ee," an eerie, ominous foreboding sound some say is like the cry of an eagle) is an onomatopoeic word (an imitation of the sound) which serves as an interjection or lamentation (e.g., at funerals 1Ki 13:30) expressing an outburst of emotion, a cry of intense distress, displeasure, pain, sorrow or horror. An exclamation denoting pain or displeasure. It is a strong expression of regret, usually for the punishment that sinners are inevitably drawing down on themselves. Sometime woe was used to attract attention (Isa. 55:1). Less frequently, it occurs as a noun denoting a disaster or calamity. The OT prophets would often open their prophetic utterances of coming divine judgment with the word "Woe!" (Isa. 5:8-10; Mic 2:1-5) An interjection expressing great distress or sorrow; or a noun signifying a condition of deep suffering due to a calamity that has befallen or will befall a person or community. It may convey a warning of impending disaster to the hearers. BDAG - ① interjection denoting pain or displeasure, woe, alas ② a state of intense hardship or distress, woe OUAI - 47X/36V - Matt. 11:21; Matt. 18:7; Matt. 23:13; Matt. 23:14; Matt. 23:15; Matt. 23:16; Matt. 23:23; Matt. 23:25; Matt. 23:27; Matt. 23:29; Matt. 24:19; Matt. 26:24; Mk. 13:17; Mk. 14:21; Lk. 6:24; Lk. 6:25; Lk. 6:26; Lk. 10:13; Lk. 11:42; Lk. 11:43; Lk. 11:44; Lk. 11:46; Lk. 11:47; Lk. 11:52; Lk. 17:1; Lk. 21:23; Lk. 22:22; 1 Co. 9:16; Jude 1:11; Rev. 8:13; Rev. 9:12; Rev. 11:14; Rev. 12:12; Rev. 18:10; Rev. 18:16; Rev. 18:19 QUESTION - What does it mean to be a stumbling block to someone else? ANSWER - In the midst of a series of laws regulating the treatment of others, we find “Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:14). Obviously, putting a rock or brick in front of a blind person is cruel, but the New Testament takes the practical adage and turns it into a spiritual metaphor. After Peter rebuked Jesus, denying the crucifixion would take place, Jesus said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s” (Matthew 16:23). Peter, under the influence of Satan, tried to distract Jesus from what He had come to do. He tried to make Jesus “stumble” in His path to the crucifixion. Paul reiterates the idea: “…but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). The idea that the Messiah would be crucified was a stumbling block to the Jews—something that tripped up their beliefs of what the Messiah would be like. But most of the time, a “stumbling block” refers to something or someone who keeps another from a relationship with God. In Matthew 18:5-7, Jesus says, “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!” Just as it would be better to chop off one’s hand than to sin (Matthew 18:8), in the Kingdom perspective, it would be better to drown than lead a child into sin. Similarly, in Romans 14:13, Paul points out that God alone judges; we are not to judge others but be concerned that we are not the ones leading them into the sin we’re so concerned about. Stumbling blocks also arise when the path is a little more ambiguous. The mature Christian life allows some freedoms that seem contrary to an obedient, disciplined faith. The Corinthians were concerned about eating meat sacrificed to idols. Modern issues include drinking alcohol in moderation or dancing. “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Corinthians 8:9). Our liberty is not worth another’s walk with God. If something God allows would lead another to sin, we need to avoid it. We are given great freedom as Christians, but the greatest is the freedom to consider others’ welfare over our own. Refraining from being a stumbling block means not leading another into sin. How we accomplish this depends on the situation and the hearts of those around us. The security we have in God’s love and provision, both now and eternally, allows us to show concern to those who are weaker—those who need specific encouragement to understand who God is. In some situations, that means living in those freedoms to exemplify that God is a God of grace. In others, it means disciplining ourselves to building up weaker believers and not pushing them into a liberty they’re not ready for. But, always, it means not encouraging another to act in a way the Bible specifically identifies as sin. The Woe of the World (Inspired by Matthew 18:7) Woe to the world where temptations rise, A shadow cast beneath the skies. For stumbling blocks, though sure they be, Bring grief to hearts that long for Thee. The world is broken, a fragile thread, Where traps are laid, and tears are shed. Yet greater the sorrow, the weight, the blame, For those who set the snare of shame. Temptations come, as the Savior said, A trial that walks where all have tread. But woe to the one whose hand designs, The hurtful path, the wicked signs. A heart that leads another astray, Will face the judgment on that day. So tread with care, and let love be, The guide that keeps our spirits free. For though the world is fraught with woe, Through grace, God’s mercy still will flow. Resist the snares, hold fast, be true, And let His light shine bright in you. ILLUSTRATION - According to the Associated Press, on the evening of February 6, 1996, several teenagers drove the rural roads east of Tampa, Florida, with the intent of playing pranks. Tragically, their game was anything but funny. They pulled some twenty street signs out of the ground, including the stop sign at one fateful intersection. The next day, three of their buddies, who had just finished bowling, breezed through that intersection without stopping. Their car sailed into the path of an eight-ton truck, and they were all killed. One year later, the three perpetrators of the deadly prank were convicted of manslaughter. In June of 1997, they stood in orange jail jump-suits and handcuffs before a judge in a Tampa courtroom, weeping and wiping their eyes, and were sentenced to fifteen years in prison. It is a dangerous thing with tragic consequences for anyone to take down a signpost on the highway. It is no less dangerous for anyone to vandalize the signposts that God puts on the highway of life. When we honor God's commandments, we point people in the right direction. If we dishonor God's commandments, if the example or testimony of our life stinks, we become a stumbling block and can unwittingly lead others to destruction. Jesus addresses this problem here. (Mattoon Treasures from the Scriptures) “Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes.” —Matthew 18:7 As a high school senior, it gets harder and harder to stay on your walk with Christ. Sin is thrown at you constantly, and you find yourself having nobody to share your struggles with. Thankfully, there are those good friends that hold me accountable for what I do. I can go to my two best friends about any temptation or problem I have. As their friend, I also have to try to give them the best advice I can. When I give them advice, I go to Scripture first to make sure it’s God’s advice. As a brother in Christ, you want to lead your friends in the best direction possible. There is a group of guys that would do whatever they can to lead me and other peers astray, but they call themselves Christians. Jesus says in Mark 9:42, “But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound too exciting. I don’t want to be a stumbling block to anyone. We need each other, so always remember to keep your brothers in Christ accountable. They will be thankful for your concern and care for them in the future. Christopher Coleman Bailey: 17, Albany, GA Greater Second Mt. Olive Baptist Church and Sherwood Christian Academy, Albany, GA Abraham Kuyper - NEEDFUL THAT STUMBLING COMES Woe to the world because of the stumbling it causes. It is needful that stumbling comes, but woe to the person by whom it comes. Matthew 18:7 The terrible battle for God’s children is how to navigate between the two reefs of despising the world on one side, and of getting completely tangled up in it on the other side. The Lord’s people are not permitted to leave the world. They have to live in it. Their calling is to be the salt that prevents rotting. A light in the darkness! A city set on a hill! But …, and herein lies the difficulty, to be able to prevent the rotting, the salt has to be in close contact with what’s spoiling. And that’s precisely what nips and clips our faith! We’re talking about faith that has to walk the walk full of courage, thinking: “I will not falter!” But two steps down the road it encounters an unexpected stumbling block, and a person trips and falls. A little farther along, a ditch has been dug; the person didn’t anticipate it and falls into it. Still farther, a spiritual bandit sneaks up unnoticed and assaults them. They fall to the ground, knocked down by his heavy blows. So the soul becomes worn out and almost gives up as a result. It develops misgivings about trusting its faith. It sinks into despair and finally asks itself: “What good is my faith to me, anyway? It doesn’t get me where I need to be!” If only that battle were waged confidently in a believer’s soul, they would ultimately get where we need to be. But, moving forward, a person actually seems to be moving backward without even noticing it. That’s when the Lord God steps in and brings us there. To him be all the glory! Meanwhile, the soul lives in fear, especially because in addition to all these dangers and obstacles a person also meets stumbling blocks. Stumbling blocks are all those words, circumstances, and other things that are met by a child of God and that tempt them into sin. That’s because they give evil a beautiful and pious appearance. Or it’s because a person plays around mentally with some indwelling sin. Our lives are full of these kinds of stumbling blocks. It can’t be otherwise. In the depths of its being, the world hates Christ. It feels that the Christ of God is its death. It succeeded in putting Christ to death on the cross. But that didn’t help. He rose again. He ascended into heaven. And now from heaven he’s a threat to the world once again. He lingers. He bides his time. He waits. But the world knows very well that his lingering, tarrying, and waiting are strictly for the purpose of gathering in his elect. When they are finally gathered into his kingdom, nothing will then restrain him. It knows that then its hour will have struck and all its glory will be finished. Then it will taste death at the hands of the Son of God. This is why the world is motivated to oppose God’s Son in its deep malice and bitterness. It’s also why it’s afraid of him and tries to drive him off, lest he destroy it with his outstretched arm. The world is like a snake being trampled by the Lion. So it hisses and spits poison and curls up to strike him. It’s compelled to do this. But it won’t pull it off. This describes its hellish struggle against Christ. And however often it has attempted to bring its battle with Christ to a successful conclusion, it hasn’t worked and hasn’t helped the world’s cause. Christ gives it no peace. New streams of its bitter, old enmity keep on welling up and flowing from the depths of its wickedness. And God’s children are caught between the snake and the Lion. That’s where the snake promises them that it won’t bite them as long as they don’t acknowledge the Lion. This, then, is the deep offense that is the cause of all stumbling blocks. Christ says that the world is ungodly. And if the stumbling blocks looked ungodly, they wouldn’t divert you from your course. But pay attention; they don’t look ungodly, at least not when they present themselves to you. In your home! When they seek your approval at the gateway of your heart. Then they even look religious, sensitive, and vibrantly pious. But from the other side, Christ sounds a warning: “My redeemed are pure!” But then the world approaches. It creeps into your heart. It mocks you and whispers so devilishly deep within you: “What a pretty, pure heart!” Having said that, it hauls up one by one all the miserable content of your inner life and causes that filthy pool of unrighteousness to bubble over from the depths. And that’s discouraging, for then our poor soul concludes that “the world is so much better and we are so much worse than we ever thought.” Then we’re offended. In a very real sense, we’re offended in our heart! Offended by ourselves! Offended by the people of God! But above all, offended by the words of Christ that always turn out differently than he promised us! At times like that, our heart does a double take. We become despondent. Watching, Satan sees this and in all sorts of ways sends some ungodly message in our weaker moments that trips us up. For anyone who has lived on a deeper level and experienced more frightening struggles, those times are a living hell. They’re times when you wouldn’t make it but for the words: “I tell you that the angels in heaven continually see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” That’s the reason why the words of this text come to you at such times. They prophesy that times of stumbling will come. They prophesy that they must come. Finally, they prophesy a “woe to you,” but not about God’s children. It’s about what will be experienced by the world! The one who causes the stumbling will experience it most deeply. That’s comforting! It’s comforting because I simply know that it has to be that way. It’s comforting that Jesus knew that this is what will happen. So then, what I experience is nothing strange. Nothing against which Jesus has not made provision! In the hour of fear, therefore, I lean undismayed on the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is powerful and will protect my poor soul from the striking snake. The greatest danger for God’s children is not that they will suffer offense. The greatest danger is that you will let Satan use you as a stumbling block to your brother. May the Lord protect you from that in your going out and your coming in. This is why the Lord adds the serious warning: “Woe to the person who causes them to stumble.” Now look around you in the world. Look at those who profess their faith in religious circles and ask yourself whether it’s not often true that they cause “these little ones” to stumble. No, I tell you, look into your own heart rather than at the circles of others around you. Study what’s in your own heart. What do you think? Is there as much as one Christian who has not at one time, perhaps many times over, caused their brother or sister to stumble? John Henry Jowett - THE VALUE OF ONE SOUL Matthew 18:7-14. WHAT an infinite value the Lord attaches to one soul! “And one of them be gone astray!” I thought He might never have missed the one! And yet the Eastern shepherd says that out of his great flock he can miss the individual face. A face is missing, as though a child were absent from the family circle. When a soul is wandering in the far country there is an awful gap in the Father’s house! Is thy place empty? Is mine? And mark the pangs of the Shepherd’s quest. He “goeth into the mountain and seeketh!” The Eastern shepherd goes out in tempest, and in rocky ravine, or in thorny scrub that tears the hands and feet, he seeks and finds his sheep. And my Lord sought me, in stony and thorny places, in the darkness of Gethsemane, and in the awful desolations of The Hill. And the Shepherd found His sheep, and He returns across the hills singing the song of the triumph of grace— “And up from the mountains, thunder-riven, And up from the rocky steep, A cry arose to the gates of heaven, ‘Rejoice! I have found My sheep!’ And the angels echo around the throne, ‘Rejoice! for the Lord brings back His own!’” Mouse Trap – (invented by Sir Hiram Stephen Maxim) - A very simple device made up of a flat wooden platform; A wire acting as a hammer; a spring that gives the hammer the quickness it needs; a metal bar that holds the hammer back; & a sensitive little catch; that when you touch it with the slightest pressure it releases the metal bar, and the hammer comes slamming down on its victim. There are many things in this world that trap not mice but men! There are traps of unforgiveness…which “sever” relationships. And thus imprison countless Christians in its jaws! MORE ILLUSTRATIONS OF CAUSING OTHERS TO STUMBLE: The Domino Effect: Imagine a row of dominoes carefully set up in a line. If someone knocks over one domino, it causes a chain reaction, toppling all the others. When we lead others into sin, even unintentionally, it can have a ripple effect, influencing not only the individual but those around them as well. A Blind Guide: A blind person leading another blind person across a busy street may inadvertently lead them into danger. Jesus referred to the Pharisees as "blind guides" (Matthew 15:14), highlighting how their spiritual blindness caused others to stumble. Misleading others through poor teaching or bad examples has serious consequences. A Tripping Hazard: Leaving an obstacle in a walkway causes someone to trip and fall. The person who placed the obstacle might think it’s minor, but the one who trips could be seriously injured. When we act carelessly or selfishly, we may create spiritual "tripping hazards" for others, causing them to stumble in their faith. Poisoned Food: If someone prepares food but neglects to check if it’s safe to eat, they could unintentionally poison the person consuming it. Offering others "poisoned" spiritual food—through bad advice, hypocrisy, or an ungodly example—can harm their spiritual health. A Distracting Road Sign: Imagine a road sign pointing in the wrong direction (OR NO ROAD SIGN AS IN THE EXAMPLE ABOVE), leading drivers off course and into danger. Our words and actions act as "signs" for others. If they mislead or confuse, they can cause others to stray from the path God intends for them. A Bad Role Model: A child learns by imitating their parents or older siblings. If the role model exhibits harmful or sinful behaviors, the child adopts those same behaviors, believing them to be acceptable. As Christians, others watch us, especially younger or weaker believers. If our example leads them into sin, we’ve caused them to stumble. How's your walk beloved (not just in the light but in the dark for even what is in the dark will be revealed!) QUESTION -What does it mean that we are not to cause others to stumble? ANSWER - The concept of not causing others to stumble is found in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8. In these chapters, Paul talks about personal convictions and our responsibility to our fellow believers in Christ. He highlights several topics over which believers have disagreements—food, drink, and sacred days. In Paul’s time, the disagreements were mostly concerning Jewish law versus the new freedom found in Christ. We experience much the same type of disagreements today, even over the same topics, to which we could add things like body piercings, tattoos, clothing style, movies, video games, books, and alcohol/tobacco. These are all areas for which the Bible does not provide specific instruction and yet are areas in which many feel conviction. Some of these things can lead to worldliness, sin, impurity or even just become an obsession/idol. But, on the flip side, legalism and avoidance of anything the world has to offer can also become an idol. Paul tells the Romans, “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way . . . So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:12-13, 22-23). Paul is telling us to enjoy our freedom in Christ, but along with that freedom comes the responsibility to protect those around us who have doubts about that freedom. The example of alcohol is relevant here. Alcohol is not inherently evil, and the biblical prohibitions are not against drinking but against drunkenness. But someone who tends toward alcoholism very often knows he must not drink at all and believes others shouldn’t drink, either, even in moderation. If a Christian has a friend who is convinced drinking is wrong, then drinking around that person may cause him/her to “stumble” or trip up. The Greek word for “stumble” gives the sense of stubbing one’s toe. As Christians, we are forbidden to do anything that may cause our brothers and sisters in Christ to stub their toe, spiritually speaking. Stubbing the toe can cause a person to fall in the spiritual sense, or to damage or weaken his faith. In all things, the important lesson is to “make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans 14:19). In this way, God is glorified, believers are edified, and the world sees in us “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Related Resources: Why is Jesus called the stumbling stone in Matthew 21:43-44? How can I avoid enabling someone else’s sin? Matthew 18:8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. BGT Matthew 18:8 Εἰ δὲ ἡ χείρ σου ἢ ὁ πούς σου σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔκκοψον αὐτὸν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ· καλόν σοί ἐστιν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν κυλλὸν ἢ χωλὸν ἢ δύο χεῖρας ἢ δύο πόδας ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον. NET Matthew 18:8 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. CSB Matthew 18:8 If your hand or your foot causes your downfall, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. ESV Matthew 18:8 And 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 with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. NIV Matthew 18:8 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 maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. NLT Matthew 18:8 So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It's better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet. NRS Matthew 18:8 "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 lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. NJB Matthew 18:8 'If your hand or your foot should be your downfall, cut it off and throw it away: it is better for you to enter into life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. NAB Matthew 18:8 If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire. YLT Matthew 18:8 'And if thy hand or thy foot doth cause thee to stumble, cut them off and cast from thee; it is good for thee to enter into the life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast to the fire the age-during. MIT Matthew 18:8 If your hand or your foot has a scandalous influence on you, chop it off and throw it away from you. Better it is to live your life handicapped or disabled than to have two hands or two feet that will be thrown into inextinguishable fire. GWN Matthew 18:8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to lose your faith, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life disabled or injured than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into everlasting fire. if: Mt 5:29,30 14:3,4 De 13:6-8 Mk 9:43-48 Lu 14:26,27,33 18:22,23 and cast: Isa 2:20,21 30:22 Eze 18:31 Ro 13:12 Php 3:8,9 maimed: Mt 15:30,31 everlasting: Mt 25:41,46 Isa 33:14 Mk 9:48,49 Lu 16:24 2Th 1:8,9 Rev 14:10 Rev 20:15 21:8 Related Passages: Matthew 5:29-30+ (THE DANGER OF SIN) “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30“If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. Mark 9:43-48+ “And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44 [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] 45 “And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than having your two feet, to be cast into hell, 46 [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] 47 “And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell, 48 where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. (Note: Brackets and italics indicate text not in best manuscripts) Depiction of the Snare JESUS' SOBERING WARNING ABOUT STUMBLING If the previous warning dealt with the dread consequences of ensnaring others, this passage deals with the consequences of ensnaring one's self! The previous passage warned of a horrible death in time, but the present (and subsequent passages) warns of a indescribable death in eternity! If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble (skandalizo), cut it off (ekkopto) and throw (ballo) it from you -Jesus shifts from the previous passages speaking to "whoever" and now personalizes His warning. As easy as it may be to seduce immature and weak believers into sin, it is easier to allow one's self to fall into sin. Your hand deals with what you handle and your foot with where you, and they work together to ensnare you and trap you into committing sin which is orchestrated by your will, which includes your desire. Cut off and throw are both in the aorist imperative which means "Do this now!" "Do not delay!" "The need is urgent!" Sometimes unsparing radical spiritual surgery must be done to spare the soul and must be done immediately and decisively with no halfway measures! And ultimately the accomplishment of this task requires us to to depend on the Holy Spirit in order to obey. We must still make a decision of our will to follow through, but we need the Spirit to give us "the desire and the effort" (Phil 2:13NET+) or "desire and power" (Phil 2:13NLT+). In short, as sinful creatures (even saved sinful creatures) we are 100% Dependent on God and 100% Responsible" to do whatever it takes in order to prevent stumbling (See this Paradoxical Principle) if we are to accomplish this vital task! As John Owen said "Be killing sin, lest it kill you!" This is a lifelong command because our sinful flesh will never give up trying to cause us to stumble! Jesus' command here and in the next verse reminds me of Paul's similar command in Colossians 3:5+ "Therefore (based on the truth in Col 3:1-4+!) consider (nekroo also in aorist imperative and needing the Spirit to carry out) the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry." Take a moment to play and pray the words of this hymn "I Love the Lord" (especially the words in bold font).... … I love the Lord, He is filled with compassion. He turned to me On the day that I called. From the snares of the dark, O, Lord, save my life, Be my Strength. It is better (kalos) for you to enter (eiserchomai) life (zoe) crippled or lame (cholos), than to have two hands or two feet and be cast (ballo) into the eternal (aionios) fire (pur) - Jesus now explains why He issued this radical, urgent command! His sobering warning means we must deal drastically with with sin! Take no prisoners! No compromise! Yes, Jesus uses hyperbole but it is to emphasize the importance of these commands He gives. And remember He was not calling for mutilation of our members, because we would still have the problem in our heart! The heart of our problem is always our heart! He is not saying believers will lose their salvation. Jesus' description is radical in order that it GETS OUR ATTENTION!!! To reiterate Jesus is warning us not to procrastinate or delay! The need to accomplish this cutting off is urgent! Jesus' point is that anything or anyone that morally traps us (by our senses, visual, touch, and by expansion not excluding the other senses such as hearing), and causes us to fall into sin should be eliminated, radically and quickly. If we do not make every necessary effort to control our surroundings, what we watch, read and hear, who we keep company with and speak with, etc, then those things will control us. If you cannot control something, it needs to be "jettisoned" to keep the boat afloat so to speak. The Old Testament account of Samuel hacking Agag to pieces (1 Sa 15:33+) is a good analogy for the need for Christians to take drastic steps to defeat the sin that remains in their lives. And what was the price to King Saul for not obeying? He lost his life and his reign! The "Agag's" in our life that cause us to stumble must be hacked to pieces so to speak. It is well when at the close of a man’s ministry he can preach the same sermon as at the beginning. Gilbrant - As easy as it may be to seduce immature and weak believers into sin, it is easier to allow one's self to fall into sin. Temptations can come from without, but they also come from within our members. And as it is better to submit through surgery to the loss of a body part than to lose the whole body to disease and death, so also in the spiritual realm radical surgery may be necessary in the light of eternity. Three valued body parts—the hand, the foot, and the eye—are mentioned. These body parts can be used for evil or for good, but they do not act independently of the will. The hand symbolizes what is done, the foot where one goes, and the eye what is seen. (Complete Biblical Library) And be cast (ballo) into the eternal (aionios) fire (pur) - The main idea is that the cost to the soul in hell is so utterly devastating that if anything interferes with a man's right standing before God, causing him to stumble, that item should be eliminated regardless of cost. Nothing is valuable enough to cause us to miss the future consummation of God's kingdom. The only alternative is hell (gehenna). Surely, the actualization of hell is even worse than the visualization of it. Jesus often spoke warnings of hell, with the entire passage (Mk 9:42-50) being a prime example. The undying worm indicates never-ending disintegration and the unquenchable fire indicates eternal suffering, however they may be implemented. The contemplation of such a future ought to drive men to "flee from the wrath to come" (Mt 3:7+) and believers to ceaseless praise and thanksgiving (1Th 1:10+ 2Th 1:9,10+) Instead this truth often impels skeptics to even more adamant unbelief and believers to an indifference and to an antinomian or "cheap grace" attitude toward their costly "so great a salvation" (Heb 2:3). Genuine believers will not lose their salvation, but they will be disciplined in this life and will reduce their reward in the future life. The loving Creator is issuing this solemn warning because time is short and eternity is long and one needs to be certain of their eternity in Heaven (cf 2 Cor 13:5+). C H Spurgeon Commentary - 8,9 - And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Here our Lord repeats a passage from the Sermon on the Mount. (Mt 5:29, 30.) Why should he not? Great lessons need to be often taught; especially lessons which involve painful self-denial. It is well when at the close of a man’s ministry he can preach the same sermon as at the beginning. Some in these days change continually; Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and for ever. Temptations and incitements to sin are so dangerous that, if we find them in ourselves, we must at any cost be rid of the causes of them. If escape from these temptations should cause us to be like men who are halt or maimed, or have only one eye, the loss will be of small consequence so long as we enter into life. Better to miss culture through a rigid Puritanism, than to gain all the polish and accomplishments of the age at the expense of our spiritual health. Though at our entrance into the divine life we should seem to have been largely losers by renouncing habits or possessions which we felt bound to quit, yet we shall be real gainers. Our main concern should be to enter into life; and if this should cost us skill of hand, nimbleness of foot, and refinement of vision, as it may, we must cheerfully deny ourselves that we may possess eternal life. To remain in sin and retain all our advantages and capacities will be an awful loss when we are cast into hell fire, which is the sure portion of all who persevere in sinning. (ED: HE IS NOT SAYING A BELIEVER WILL LOSE HIS SALVATION, BUT IS SAYING THAT A PERSON WHO PROFESSES BELIEF AND PERSEVERES IN PERSISTENT SIN AS THEIR LIFESTYLE WILL BE LOST FOREVER REGARDLESS OF THEIR PROFESSION BECAUSE THEY WERE NEVER SAVED IN THE FIRST PLACE!) A lame, maimed, half-blinded saint is, even on earth, better than a sinner with every faculty fully developed. It is not necessary that hand, or foot, or eye should make us stumble; but if they do, the surgical process is short, sharp, decisive — Cut them off; and cast them from thee, or, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. The half-educated, timid, simple minded believer, who, to escape the snares of false science, worldly cunning, and courtly pride, has cut himself off from what men call “advantages”, will, in the end, prove to have been far wiser than those who risk their souls for the sake of what worldlings imagine to be necessary to human perfecting. The man who believes God, and so is set down as losing his critical eye, is a wiser person than he who by double acumen doubts himself into hell. Two hands, two feet, and two eyes will be of small advantage if cast into everlasting fire. Let the reader note that the terrible terms here employed are not the creation of the dark dreams of mediaeval times, but are the words of the loving Jesus. NET NOTE - In Greek there is a wordplay that is difficult to reproduce in English here. The verb translated “causes … to sin” (σκανδαλίζω, skandalizō) comes from the same root as the word translated “stumbling blocks” (σκάνδαλον, skandalon) in the previous verse. Adrian Rogers (see sermon on Hebrews 4:12 page 106) - Mt 18:8 - Do you think He was speaking literally? Do you think if you cut off your hand it would make you any more spiritual? No, what our Lord is saying here is this: You let the Word of God cut out of your life those things that offend. What He is saying is that if there is something cancerous in you, some work of your hand, some place that you attend, let the Holy Spirit of God remove it, so that healing and health may begin. Thank God for the sharpness, the sharpness of His Word. Stay out of Temptation - On the TV show Hee Haw, Doc Campbell is confronted by a patient who says he broke his arm in two places. The doc replies, “Well then, stay out of them places!” He may have something there. We cannot regularly put ourselves in the face of temptation and not be affected. When faced with the problem of temptation, we need to take the good doctor’s advice and “stay out of them places.” JOHN OF THE CROSS - However small an attachment may be, do not be too confident that you can cut it off at any time, but cut it off at once: for if you do not have the courage to destroy it when it is but beginning, how can you presume upon success when it has taken root and grown? J I Packer - MATTHEW 18:8 Mortifying sin, however painful, is a necessity for life in Christ. While surrendering sins into which you drifted casually is not so hard, mortifying what the Puritans called besetting sins—dispositional sins to which your temperament inclines you, and habitual sins that have become addictive and defiant—is regularly a long-drawn-out, bruising struggle. No one who is a spiritual realist will ever pretend otherwise. It is a matter of negating, wishing dead, and laboring to thwart inclinations, cravings, and habits that have been in you for a long time. Pain and grief, moans and groans, will certainly be involved, for your sin does not want to die, nor will it enjoy the killing process. Jesus told us, very vividly, that mortifying a sin could well feel like plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand or foot, in other words, self-mutilation. You will feel you are saying good-bye to something that is so much part of you that without it you cannot live. Knowing God's Purpose For Your Life Fleeing Temptation Celebrate Recovery Daily Devotional: 366 Devotionals “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.” MATTHEW 18:8 I had a conversation with a friend over coffee about how he just can’t seem to get any victory over sexual addiction when he goes online. Another time, I met with a woman who couldn’t seem to stop spending money when she went to the mall. Still another man told me that he couldn’t say no to sweets if they were in the house. Then there was the woman who didn’t think sobriety was possible for her because she worked at a bar. These people, and many more, including me, are stumbling because of an area of their lives they’d be better off without, at least for a while. If going online causes us to stumble, we can install accountability software or take a break from the Internet. If we’re spending too much money, we can stay away from the mall. If food offers temporary comfort but causes long-term ill effects, we shouldn’t bring it into the house. If we work in a place that makes sobriety difficult, we can remove ourselves from that environment. Some of these can be temporary changes, while others need to be permanent. If we know what is making us sin, we can distance ourselves from the temptation. That just makes sense. Once we’ve done that, God can help us find wholeness. PRAYER Father, thank you for showing me that I sometimes sabotage my own recovery. I know that with your help and my common sense, I can find my way to wholeness. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Martyn Lloyd-Jones - OUTSPOKEN ABOUT SIN MATTHEW 18:8 Walking with God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotional Selections All talk about sin, say the self-expressionists, is utterly foolish, leading to self-repression, which is, they aver, the only sin. What used to be called sin is just expression of self, the greatest and the most vital possession that man has, they say. Not to sin, according to the old meaning of the term, is to do violence to the greatest gift he possesses. They plead, therefore, for the abolition of the word sin in its earlier associations. They deplore what they term the tragic spectacle of mankind shackled against its highest good by adherence to the warnings of the Bible, the Church, and the saints. We can best consider this human view of life, and show its complete fallacy, by contrasting it with God’s view as stated in the Bible. The teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, are outspoken against sin. He said, “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire” (Matthew 18:8-9). Now there we are reminded of the way in which every conceivable view of life and of men is invariably dealt with somewhere or another in the Scriptures. Modern man is constantly flattering himself and suggesting to himself that certain of his ideas are quite new. But here again we find an illustration of a view that prides itself on its modernity dealt with completely and exhaustively in the Bible. The teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, are outspoken against sin Walter Kaiser - Pluck Out Your Eye? - Hard Sayings of the Bible This saying is not so hard in the NIV form as it is in some older versions. The KJV says, “If thy right eye offend thee … ,” which is generally meaningless to readers today; the verb offend no longer means “trip up” or anything like that, which in literary usage it still did in 1611. Less excusable is the ERV rendering, “If thy right eye causeth thee to stumble … ,” because this introduced an archaism which in 1881 was long since obsolete. The NIV rendering, however, is more intelligible. It means, in effect: “Don’t let your eye lead you into sin.” How could it do that? By resting too long on an object of temptation. Matthew places this saying immediately after Jesus’ words about adultery in the heart, and that is probably the original context, for it provides a ready example of how a man’s eye could lead him into sin. In the most notable case of adultery in the Old Testament—King David’s adultery with the wife of Uriah the Hittite—the trouble began when, late one afternoon, David from his palace roof saw the woman bathing (2 Sam 11:2). Jesus says, “Better pluck out your eye—even your right eye (as being presumably the more precious of the two)—than allow it to lead you into sin; it is better to enter into eternal life with one eye than to be thrown into Gehenna (as a result of that sin) with two.” Matthew follows up this saying about the right eye with a similar one about the right hand. This strong assertion seems to have stayed with the hearers; it is repeated in Matthew 18:8–9 (in dependence on Mk 9:43–48), where the foot is mentioned in addition to the eye and the hand. Shortly after the publication of William Tyndale’s English New Testament, the attempt to restrict its circulation was defended on the ground that the simple reader might mistakenly take such language literally and “pluck out his eyes, and so the whole realm will be full of blind men, to the great decay of the nation and the manifest loss of the King’s grace; and thus by reading of the Holy Scriptures will the whole realm come into confusion.” So a preaching friar is said to have declared in a Cambridge sermon; but he met his match in Hugh Latimer, who, in a sermon preached the following Sunday, said that simple people were well able to distinguish between literal and figurative terms. “For example,” Latimer went on, “if we paint a fox preaching in a friar’s hood, nobody imagines that a fox is meant, but that craft and hypocrisy are described, which so often are found disguised in that garb.” (Hugh Latimer, Sermon preached in St. Edward’s Church, Cambridge, in 1529, quoted in J. P. Smyth, How We Got Our Bible (1885; London: Religious Tract Society, 1938), p. 102.) In fact, it is not recorded that anyone ever mutilated himself because of these words in the Gospels. There is indeed the case of Origen, but if the story is true that he made himself a eunuch “for the kingdom of heaven’s sake,” that was in response to another saying, at which we shall look later. DEALING WITH SIN - On several occasions when visiting men in jail, I have seen them shake their heads mournfully and say, "I never thought it would come to this." When they began to break minor laws, they fully intended to change their ways before getting into serious trouble. But instead, one thing led to another, and they became more and more involved in a life of crime. Now they languish in jail, facing a long imprisonment. These men failed to realize that sin always progresses. When we flout God's laws in one facet of life, a kind of mathematical law of addition and multiplication goes into effect. Soon sin affects other areas of our lives. It's foolish to think we can keep just one pet sin. That single sin will grow and spread unless we deal radically with it. That's why Jesus spoke of cutting off the offending hand and plucking out the offending eye (Matt. 18:8-9). By using such a strong figure of speech, He was saying, do whatever is necessary to stop. No one becomes wicked all at once. The Cost of the Kingdom (Inspired by Matthew 18:8-9) If your hand should lead you to sin, Cut it off, let new life begin. Better to walk with one hand whole, Than to lose forever your precious soul. If your foot should tread the path of wrong, Turn away, where you don’t belong. Better to limp to heaven’s gate, Than to dance to hell and seal your fate. And if your eye should tempt your heart, Pluck it out; let sin depart. For it’s better to enter the kingdom blind, Than to see and leave eternal life behind. These words are harsh, yet truth they bear, The cost of sin is beyond compare. No earthly limb or fleeting sight, Can outweigh the gift of heaven’s light. So guard your steps, your hands, your gaze, Let holiness guide all your days. For the path is narrow, the journey steep, But eternal joy is yours to keep. Matthew 18:9 “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. to enter: Mt 19:17,23,24 Ac 14:22 Heb 4:11 Rev 21:27 than to: Mt 16:26 Lu 9:24,25 Related Passages: 2 Samuel 11:1-5+ (DAVID'S EYE PROBLEM) Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. 2 Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he SAW a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 4 And David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house.5 And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, "I am pregnant." Psalm 119:37+ Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Thy ways. Proverbs 4:25+ Let your eyes look directly ahead, and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Proverbs 6:25+ Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her catch you with her eyelids. James 1:14+ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Psalm 101:3+ I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me. JESUS WARNS ABOUT WANDERING EYES! If - "“If … if” These are both FIRST CLASS CONDITIONAL SENTENCES which are assumed to be true from the author’s perspective or for his literary purposes. These shocking hypothetical statements stress the seriousness of sin." (Utley) Your eye causes you to stumble (skandalizo) - Your eye indicates the problem is not that you live is a sex crazed society. You have a choice over what your eye can look at or not look at. When the football game pans to the sideline (at you know what), you can consciously choose to look away. Don't delay. Don't underestimate the power of your God given imagination. D. L. Moody, certainly one of the more godly men of the modern era wisely recognized the source of the problem, admitting that… "I have more trouble with D. L. Moody than with any man I know." The man I see in the mirror each morning is my greatest impediment to holiness and godliness. Stop saying "The devil made me do it!" When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror to shave, you are looking at your worst problem, because blood bought, heaven bound men still contend daily with the old Sin nature inherited from Adam. Granted, Sin no longer has the right to reign as our master, because of our co-crucifixion and co-resurrection (cf Ro 6:11, 12, 13+), but it can still rear its ugly head! My heart follows where my eyes lead, Planting the harvest of every seed. (How does your garden grow?) D A Carson - Imagination is a God-given gift; but if it is fed dirt by the eye, it will be dirty. All sin, not least sexual sin, begins with the imagination. Therefore what feeds the imagination is of maximum importance in the pursuit of kingdom righteousness (Php 4:8+). Not everyone reacts the same way to all objects. But if your eye is causing you to sin, gouge it out; or at very least, don't look! The alternative is sin and hell, sin's reward. The point is so fundamental that Jesus doubtless repeated it on numerous occasions. (See Matthew) Our eyes, when gazing on sinful objects, are out of their calling and God's keeping. --Thomas Fuller Pluck it out (exaireo) and throw (ballo) it from you. It is better (kalos) for you to enter (eiserchomai) life (zoe) with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast (ballo) into the fiery (pur) hell (geenna) (lit = "Gehenna of fire") - See the discussion of cut it off. Our eyes are like the gate guarding the castle from enemy invasion which can result in defeat! The right way to put out the fire of lust is to withdraw the fuel of excess. -- William Jenkyn Job understood the danger his eyes and so he made a covenant with them writing " How then could I gaze at a virgin?" (Job 31:1+) Comment: "Gaze" in Hebrew = consider carefully, diligently consider, discern, get understanding, look carefully, observe, paid close attention, pay heed. Do you get the picture that Job is trying to convey? He's not talking about a casual glance or an accidental viewing of an attractive woman (that would be virtually impossible to avoid in "non-blushing" America… but it is possible to make certain provisions -- all under grace of course -- and they include not going to PG-13 movies or even PG ratings… they have all become too sensual because the moral compass of Americans, especially the media moguls is going "due south" toward the abyss. We can chose not to watch talk shows that bring up "lusty" subjects so commonly these days. So Job is saying don't stare at her because if you do, Jesus says you've already committed adultery in your heart Mt 5:28… pluck your eye out before you do this! That's how enslaving this sin can be… so it requires radical surgery and complete extirpation! Don't just biopsy it! Cut it out completely! So guard your steps, your hands, your gaze, Let holiness guide all your days. For the path is narrow, the journey steep, But eternal joy is yours to keep. Hell (Gehenna) (1067) geenna from Hebrew gay = valley + Hinnom) is literally the valley of Hinnom, the ravine or valley south of Jerusalem where the refuse and filth, bodies of dead animals, and bodies of criminals were cast and burned. These fires were continually kept burning, all a fit symbol of the future home of all unrepentant, unregenerate wicked men and women. It was a foul, forbidding place where the fire, smoke, and stench never ceased. It is thus fitting that geenna is where sin and unrepentant sinners will one day find it's "resting place". Gilbrant - Originally geenna, or gehenna, was the name of a valley south of Jerusalem. Gê Hinnōm (Hebrew) equals Hinnom Valley (cf. Joshua 15:8; 18:16). Thus the Greek word has its origin in this Hebrew expression (cf. Aramaic gê Hinnām). The valley itself was the site of child sacrifice during the time of King Ahab and Manasseh. There children were sacrificed to Molech. King Josiah declared the place unclean, and later it was referred to as the place of the dead. The form Gaienna is found in the Septuagint of Joshua 18:16, but it is not found in secular Greek writings. In the Old Testament the Valley of Hinnom was, to some extent, viewed as a symbol of Israel’s apostasy from or rejection of God. As stated above, it was a site where offerings and sacrifices were made to Molech (2 Chr 33:6; Jer 32:35). As a result of this association with apostasy both the place and the word became associated with God’s punishment and judgment (Jeremiah 7:32; 19:6). Later Judaism associated God’s judgment of His people with the Valley of Hinnom. Several times the Old Testament explicitly associates the valley with God’s judgment. Isaiah especially reflects such an understanding. In a picture of final things Isaiah envisioned salvation (a new heaven and a new earth, Isa 66:22,23ff.; cf. Revelation 21:1ff.) as well as judgment (the worm does not die and the fire will not be quenched, Isaiah 66:24; cf. Mark 9:48). In these cases gehenna is not a literal reference to a valley south of Jerusalem; instead it symbolizes the future judgment and punishment. (Complete Biblical Library) QUESTION - Did Jesus mean we should literally pluck out our eyes? ANSWER - In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says something that must certainly have seized His hearers’ attention: “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell” (Matthew 5:29–30). Jesus repeats the admonition in Matthew 18:8–9, except there He adds the need to dispense with a foot as well as a hand and an eye. The graphic word pictures of Matthew 5 and 18 still grab attention today, and they raise the question of how literally we should take Jesus’ commands in these passages. Does Jesus actually mean to say that we should pluck out our eyes or sever a hand if we are prone to sin? It may be of comfort to know that Jesus’ instructions in these particular verses are not meant to be taken literally. We need not mutilate our bodies as a punishment for our sin. Rather, Jesus means that we should be prepared to make exceptional sacrifices if we want to follow Him (see Matthew 16:24). Jesus had just warned His audience against using their eyes for lustful purposes (Matthew 5:28), so His prescribed remedy for lust—to pluck out an eye—makes sense, in a radical sort of way. But it is the radical nature of His statement that makes it so memorable. When Jesus advises us to pluck out a sinful eye or cut off an unruly hand, He is employing a figure of speech known as hyperbole. Hyperbole is an obvious exaggeration or an intentional overstatement. Examples of hyperbole in modern speech would include statements like “This bag of groceries weighs a ton,” “I’ve been waiting forever,” and “Everyone knows that.” The apostle Paul uses hyperbolic language in Galatians 4:15. Hyperbole, like other figures of speech, is not meant to be taken literally. Jesus’ purpose in saying, hyperbolically, that sinners should pluck out their eyes or cut off their hands is to magnify in His hearers’ minds the heinous nature of sin. Sin is any action or thought that is contrary to the character of God. The result of sin is death, from which Jesus wants to preserve us (see Hebrews 2:9). Jesus warns of hell because He doesn’t want people to go there (Matthew 5:29–30). Sin takes people to hell (see Revelation 21:8), and that makes sin something to avoid at all costs. Jesus says that, whatever is causing you to sin, take drastic measures to get that thing out of your life. “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. . . . It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell” (Matthew 18:8–9). Nothing is worth missing heaven for. Nothing is worth going to hell for. Nothing. God takes sin seriously—seriously enough to sacrifice His only begotten Son to destroy it. We must take sin seriously as well. A lack of repentance is a crime punishable by eternal death. It is better to deny our flesh—to pluck out an eye or cut off a hand, as it were—than to risk sinning against God. God demands holiness (1 Peter 1:15), but we naturally tend to pamper ourselves and excuse our sin. That is why we need Jesus’ shocking, radical hyperbole to wake us from our spiritual complacency. John Bunyan in The Holy War knew that the senses are the gateways to Mansoul. The eyegate and the eargate must be guarded. But mere resistance is not enough. It lacks dynamic unless it is offensive and issues from a positive faith. Soldiers in battle must have a rationale for the campaign. Without the knowledge that life’s battles are part of the holy warfare, morale and the determination to resist the enemy would soon collapse. HUGH OF ST. VICTOR - The eye must not fix its gaze on anything that the soul may not desire without sin. The hearing must be pure and governed by discretion, deaf to all things vain and useless, ready to take in with delight the knowledge that is of God. Our speech must be seasoned with the salt of wisdom—to condemn all that is unprofitable or evil, to give utterance only to what is good and useful. The Eyegate - The eyegate opens onto a broad avenue that leads directly to the soul. Through it flow images that can kindle lust, stir up envy, and incite sinful pleasures. In The Confessions of St. Augustine, the author told of his friend Alypius who, though not a Christian, hated the bloody entertainment of the Roman circus. One day some students forced Alypius into the amphitheater to watch the gladiators. “Though you hale my body to that place,” he said, “can you force me also to turn my mind or my eyes to these shows?” So there he sat, eyes closed, mind fixed on nobler things. Just then a frenzied cry arose as a gladiator fell victim to a sword. Alypius opened his eyes for a brief moment. “So soon as he saw the blood,” Augustine recorded, “he therewith drank down savageness; nor turned away, but fixed his eye, drinking in frenzy, unawares, and was delighted with that guilty fight, and intoxicated with the bloody pastime.” Our Lord, in a bold figure of speech, said, “if your eye caused you to sin, pluck it out.” He didn’t mean this to be taken literally. Rather He was saying, in effect, “Take the most drastic action necessary to keep your inner life pure.” You may not be able to help the first look, but you can refuse the second Jerry Bridges writes that…Our minds are mental greenhouses where unlawful thoughts, once planted, are nurtured and watered before being transplanted into the real world of unlawful actions. People seldom fall suddenly into gluttony or immorality. These actions are savored in the mind long before they are enjoyed in reality. The thought life, then, is our first line of defense in the battle of self-control. The gates to our thought lives are primarily our eyes and our ears. What we see or read or hear largely determines what we think. Memory, of course, also plays a big part in what we think, but our memories only store and feed back what originally comes into our minds through our eyes and ears. Guarding our hearts begins with guarding our eyes and ears. We must not allow that which panders to sexual lust, greed (called materialism in our present society), envy, and selfish ambition to enter our minds. We should avoid television programs, magazine or newspaper articles, advertisements, and conversations that arouse such thoughts. We should not only avoid them, but, to use Paul’s words to Timothy, “flee from all this.” (Borrow The Practice of Godliness page 138) Single Heart, Pure Heart - two songs by Craig Smith Take a moment to listen to these songs, some of my favorites from Craig Smith, Single Heart He had only one aim In placing us here This is His domain And His message is clear. Single heart, Single mind. My eyes forward all the time. Single heart, purified. Undivided, unified. Single heart, Single mind. May You find in us, Solitary trust May you find a single heart! Here is another song Pure Heart -- take a moment to ponder your life in light the words sung by Craig Smith and make it your prayer to the Father today: Over and over I hear it again That the Father desires pure heart Not to seek earthly treasure or the favor of man But to be found with pureness of heart Chorus Pure heart is what the Father desires Holy heart purified by God's holy fire Broken heart, proven to be faithful and true Fashion in me a heart that's thirsting for You Search ever chamber, expose them to me Create motives of honor and simplicity May you find faithfulness, integrity A heart which is worthy for Your eyes to see Chorus My only ambition is to stand before You And find I was pleasing in Your sight An obedient child of God, faithful and true Found with pureness of heart Chorus MAKE A DECISION OF YOUR WILL ABOUT WHAT YOU WATCH: You need to make a conscious decision of what you are going to allow into your life. David gave us a practical example when he declared: I will set no worthless (belial [01100] = good for nothing, also used as another name for Satan! cp use of the Hebrew transliteration by Paul in 2Co 6:15) thing before (Hebrew means directly in front of) my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not fasten (dabaq [01692] = stick like glue, used in Ge 2:24 for man cleaving to his wife) its grip on me. (Ps 101:3) Comment: What are those worthless things? Some are obvious such as R-rated movies, pornography, sensual novels, etc. But what about PG-13 rated movies? You be the judge but are the images and thoughts that are allowed entry into your heart edifying to you as a believer and God glorifying? What about most sitcoms on television today? It's almost impossible to find one that is not filled with sexual innuendo, curse words, off color jokes, etc. What do these things do to the heart? Will the "springs" be clean and unpolluted after exposure to such fare? George Hakewill comments in regard to the phrase it shall not fasten its grip on me… A bird may light upon a man's house; but he may choose whether she shall nestle or breed there, or not: and the devil or his instruments (the fallen world system) may represent a wicked object to a man's sight; but he may choose whether he will entertain or embrace it or not. For a man to set wicked things before his eyes is nothing else but to sin of set purpose, to set himself to sin, or to sell himself to sin, as Ahab did, 1 Kings 21:1-29. Albert
Mateus 18
Guzik - “Binding” and “loosing” were administrative terms in daily Jewish life; whenever a Jew came up against the Law of Moses, that Jewish person was either “bound” or “loosed” in regard to that law. To loose was to permit; to bind was to prohibit. To loose was to free from the law, to bind was to put under the law. “Their regular sense, which any Jew would recognize was to allow and to forbid. To bind something was to declare it forbidden; to loose was to declare it allowed. These were the regular phrases for taking decisions in regard to the law.” (Barclay) John MacArthur helps understand what Jesus is saying - Then He said it to the whole duly constituted assembly of redeemed people. You mean we (BELIEVERS TODAY) can go into the world and say your sins are bound on you, your sins are loosed from you, your sins are forgiven, your sins are not forgiven, you can do that, you can’t do that? What authority. That’s right. You say, “Well, now wait a minute. Where did we get that authority? How in the world can we have that authority?” I’ll tell you how. Very simple. Where is all of the truth needed to apply to every situation? It’s in the Word of God, isn’t it? It says what you’re doing shall have already been done, where? In heaven. You want to know how we can know what heaven is approving and disapproving? It’s right here (IN THE BIBLE), isn’t it? I have the authority, if a person comes up to me, I can say to that person, “Have you received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” If he says yes, I say then your sins are forgiven, your sins are loosed. If someone says to me, “I have never received Jesus Christ,” I have the authority based on the Word of God to say to that individual your sins are retained, your sins are not forgiven. And I have the authority to know that what I said to that individual, heaven has already said because heaven has revealed it right here (IN THE BIBLE). That’s the authority. It is not some authority isolated from the Word of God. (Sermon) Donald Hagner - Here the binding and loosing have to do directly with matters of church discipline, whereas in 16:19 they concern matters of conduct more generally. However, in both instances the ultimate issue concerns membership in the community. In the present instance, which addresses the case of one who has “sinned” (Mt 18:15), the connection with John 20:23 (“If you forgive [ἀφῆτε] the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain [κρατῆτε] the sins of any, they are retained”) becomes more apparent. Loosing is the equivalent of forgiving, binding of retaining. The leadership thus has the ability to make decisions concerning unrepentant sinners in the community—decisions that carry authority such that they are said to be likewise fixed in heaven. At stake is nothing less than the ultimate welfare of the offending individual. (Borrow Word Biblical Commentary page 532) C H Spurgeon Commentary - Our Lord had inaugurated the church by handing its keys to Peter as representing the whole brotherhood; and now he distinctly recognizes those keys as being in the hands of the whole church. Verily I say unto you, “Whatsoever ye shall bind. ” Those who bind are all the disciples, or the whole of the church which had been called in to make peace between the two brethren Each church has the keys of its own door. When those keys are rightly turned by the assembly below, the act is ratified above: that which they bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. If, by God’s grace, erring brethren repent, and are freed from the censure of the assembly, the Lord on high sanctions the deed, according to his word — Whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. This is to be understood with the limitation that it is really a church of Christ which acts, that it acts in his name, and rightly administers his laws. A deep solemnity surrounds the binding and loosing of true Christian assemblies. It is no light thing to act as a church, and no little thing to be put forth from it, or to be restored again to its fellowship. Our Lord made this clear by commencing with his authoritative preface — Verily I say unto you. Summary - The church is entrusted with authority to make decisions regarding matters of sin, forgiveness, and discipline, reflecting heaven’s will. This authority is not arbitrary but aligns with God’s sovereignty and the guidance of His Word and Spirit. The phrase “shall have been bound in heaven” indicates that the church’s decisions must reflect what is already established in heaven. Binding reflects accountability for wrongdoing, while loosing involves forgiveness and restoration when repentance occurs. Approach issues of sin with love, fairness, and a focus on restoration and reconciliation rather than on punishment. The authority to bind and loose is not given to individuals alone but to the community of believers (the church) acting together under God’s direction. It is incumbent on the church to involve spiritually mature men in the decision-making processes regarding matters of discipline in order to ensure just and fair handling of these often delicate matters. John