Matthew 18 - Introduction

INTRODUCTION: THE UNITY OF CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

No chapter is better connected nor better reveals the mind of the Lord back of every paragraph, uniting its every concept from beginning to end, than chapter 18. The most remarkable characteristic of this section is not merely its wholeness, but the amazing number of threads per verse that connect and interweave ideas throughout the entire chapter.
Perhaps the best way to experience this unity at first hand is to pick out an idea as if it were a thread of one color, and then trace it through the chapter to see its various applications. Then, pass to another colored thread of thought and follow it through the Lord's message, The ever-pleasing result will be a growing appreciation for our Lord's ability to deal with His disciples-' initial dispute and the deeper spiritual problem that caused it, as well as a sense of amazement at the long-term, final answers Jesus gave to our most complex modern problems.
Here are some of the themes you might wish to trace throughout this chapter:

1.

Right and wrong ambition in the Kingdom of God.

2.

Relative rank: one's relationships to those who are his inferiors and superiors.

a.

Definition and illustrations of inferiors;

b.

Redefinition of superiors.

3.

Responsibility for others-' spiritual growth, needs and failures.

4.

Responsibility for one's own spiritual interests and needs.

5.

Standards of judgment and a concept of mercy.

6.

Greatness in the Kingdom, or, relative importance to God and the Kingdom.

7.

The perils of pride, despising others and unmercifulness.

8.

The various faces of humility.

9.

Jesus-' love for the least, the last and the lost.

10.

Christian discipline as this reveals itself in personal self-discipline and in congregational discipline.

11.

The picture of the Church that Jesus paints: the Kingdom of God is not a community of plaster saints typical of an ideal purity impossible to realize. Rather, it is a congregation of people who continue to make mistakes, to sin, to cause occasions of stumbling and refuse to forgive, and who always need forgiving. And it is an assembly that lives in the awareness that God loves and cares for each single member without exception and is conscious that Christ is in its midst, and so acts with full authority and confidence.

12.

True and false concepts of structures of authority.

Additional proof of the chapter's unity is the fact that each of these themes is so important to the texture of the final result that one outline of the chapter will just not exhaust its meaning, since to outline means to summarize, but to summarize means to omit some of the chapter's thematic developments. The outline we will be following is an attempt to represent as many of these themes as possible.
This chapter is an interesting study of human motivation to action. It shows how holy and unholy ambition are related, yet contrary. As you go through the chapter, ask yourself, what are the various sound psychological devices used by the Lord to help disciples to aspire to true greatness as He defines it?
The more one works with each paragraph in this study, the more he becomes convinced that one can take almost any motif anywhere in the chapter and see its connections with almost any other which precedes or follows it! Even the scholar who begins with the presupposition that some unknown editor arranged these otherwise unconnected materials into one discourse, if he permits himself to entertain the not improbable possibility that that unknown editor was a gifted, intelligent Christian, hence knew exactly what he was about, must be smitten with the surprising cohesion with which every single idea in this chapter is intertwined with every other. Judged merely from a literary standpoint, this speech is an unexcelled masterpiece on human relations. Its lucidity and incisiveness, its simplicity and far-reaching applications, its tenderness and its terrible power to strike terror in the conscientious, all present us with a wisdom so high as to be worthy only of Him who identified Himself as the Son of God. Only eternity can bring to light the brilliance of character produced in His disciples and all the lasting good done in the world and all the problems resolved in the Church by this single lesson by our Lord!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN OUTLINE AND SUMMARY

Section 46. Jesus Trains the Twelve in Personal Relations (Matthew 18:1-35)

SITUATION:

DISCIPLES DREAMING OF DISTINCTIONS: Argument among the disciples about relative status in the Messianic Kingdom (Matthew 18:1; Mark 9:33 f; Luke 9:46 f)

RESPONSE:

JESUS-' SERMON ON THE IMPORTANCE OF OTHERS

TEXT:

The secret of true greatness is humble service to others. (Mark 9:35)

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

The little child in the midst. (Matthew 18:2; Mark 9:36; Luke 9:47)

DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMILITY THEME:

I.

Your position in, and relative importance to the Kingdom of God is measured by your humility. (Matthew 18:3 f)

A.

Entering the Kingdom depends on humility: only the humble need apply! (Matthew 18:3)

B.

Relative rank in the Kingdom depends on humility: The humblest is the greatest: the most important is he who admits his deep spiritual need! (Matthew 18:4)

II.

Your humility is measured by your openness and sensitivity to so-called inferiors in the Kingdom: There are NO UNIMPORTANT PEOPLE in the Kingdom! (Matthew 18:5; Mark 9:36 b, Mark 9:37; Luke 9:48-50)

A.

Receiving the least important means receiving the King! (Matthew 18:5; Mark 9:37; Luke 9:48)

B.

John's question about the unaffiliated miracle worker the rebuke of whom implied a sectarian rejection of all but themselves. (Mark 9:38; Luke 9:49)

C.

Jesus-' answer: a lesson on exclusiveness and bigotry versus tolerance (Mark 9:39-41; Luke 9:50)

1.

Do not forbid him: I am in control here.

2.

Whoever helps me will not soon turn against me.

3.

Whoever is not actively opposed to you, permits you to work.

4.

Whoever helps you in the smallest way will be rewarded.

III.

Your humility is measured by your concern about your own sins and liability to sin and what this does to others. (Matthew 18:6-9; Mark 9:42-50)

A.

The one who causes stumbling is better off dead! (Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42)

B.

The world is bad enough off without YOUR contribution to its stock of stumbling blocks! (Matthew 18:7)

C.

Your own most important and justifiable bodily members can cause you to stumble, so are better dispensed with than permit them to cause the loss of your soul! No sacrifice is too great! (Matthew 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-48)

D.

How do you want it: saved by the fire or saved for the fire? (Mark 9:49-50)

IV.

Your humility and sensitivity to the weak is measured against Heaven's concern for them. (Matthew 18:10-14) The problems of inferiors immediately and actively involve the sympathetic concern of Heaven.

A.

Ministering angels have God's immediate audience. (Matthew 18:10)

B.

The Good Shepherd came to seek the lost little ones. (Matthew 18:11-13)

C.

God Himself has no desire to lose any we might designate inferiors. (Matthew 18:14)

V.

Your humility and sensitivity to others is measured by your concern about others-' sins. (Matthew 18:15-20) Does it really matter to you about the gain or loss to the Kingdom of a brother? If your brother sins.

A.

Make a personal effort to regain him. (Matthew 18:15)

B.

Get other helpers as witnesses. (Matthew 18:16)

C.

Enlist the strength of the congregation (Matthew 18:17-20)

1.

The special weight of the common judgment of common believers: God will recognize Church decisions rightly taken! (Matthew 18:18)

2.

The special power of the common prayer of common believers: God will answer their prayers! (Matthew 18:19)

3.

The special honor of the common meeting of common believers: Jesus Himself is present and personally interested!

VI.

Your humility and sensitivity to others is judged by your readiness to forgive or show mercy. (Matthew 18:21-35)

A.

Peter's question: How many times forgive? (Matthew 18:21)

B.

Jesus answers: No limit: mercifulness is the rule in God's Kingdom! (Matthew 18:22-35)

1.

Consider the greatness of God's mercy to you. (Matthew 18:23-27)

2.

Consider the smallness of your brother's sins against you. (Matthew 18:28-30)

3.

Consider the consequences of indulging an unforgiving spirit. (Matthew 18:31-34)

CONCLUSION: You endanger your own position in the Kingdom by unmercifulness and reckless superiority! (Matthew 18:35)

DO YOU HAVE THE WORD IN YOUR HEART?

Matthew 16-18

Who said the following? What is the context? Are there parallel passages? Give the variant manuscript readings, translations, and other possible interpretations (if any). What do you think is the true meaning?

1.

There shall no sign be given. but the sign of Jonah.

2.

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

3.

... upon this rock I will build my church.

4.

There are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

5.

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

6.

Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would.

7.

... nothing shall be impossible unto you.

8.

... the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

9.

for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh!

10.

See that ye despise not one of these little ones.

11.

Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall never be unto thee.

12.

Therefore the sons are free.

13.

Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

14.

So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.

15.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

16.

Who do men say that the Son of man is? Who say ye that l am?

17.

Thou art a stumbling block unto me.

18.

Whosoever would save his life shall lose it.