This week, I am going to take one of my well-known 'pyramid' looks at our passage- a passage triggered and finished by two 'bad' questions by the Disciples, and centered on one good question by Our Lord:
What do you think?
So the whole thing starts with question #1- a question which Jesus surely had to be annoyed with at this point:
Mat 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
Jesus starts this with a "but that's not the point" answer, but it really morphs into a 'ground rules for the churchman' monologue, hinging on that question- What do you think? First, He answers with not one, but TWO points:
Mat 18:3 and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:5 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me...
He has told them they need to TURN from this attitude of self-glorification, but so you don't miss it, He also adds they need to RECEIVE the humble- they need to be the people you ARE and the people you associate with. Humility before God has to become something you admire, you emulate, and you value.
The next section, He talks about the three prices you pay in not doing both:
Mat 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Mat 18:7 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!
Mat 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.
Mat 18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
Mat 18:10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
So first, He warns of the results of unrepentant sin. Second, He explains the lengths you should be willing to go to reject sin. And third, He reminds you that you cannot HIDE sin. A few things on this: Why would the millstone be better for the evil man? What do YOU think? In this situation, the evil one's life would not last long under this punishment- but after death, the punishment is FOREVER. That's a long time to drown...
And should you be chopping parts off to prevent sin? As much as you might like such a simple solution, it didn't work for the monks who cloistered themselves from the world, and it won't help you. The sin isn't in the part, but in the nature- the sin nature. And that is what you need to cut off.
The third part, though, is self-explanatory, and should be chilling to those on the wrong side.
Next, we hit the top of the pyramid- the reason and the attitude the Church should have:
Mat 18:12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?
Mat 18:13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.
Mat 18:14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Once again, the priority isn't MYSELF in the sheepfold, but the lost sheep outside it. And the attitude needs to be rejoicing for the FOUND person. If joy isn't the other's salvation rather than my involvement in it, then I'm doing it wrong.
Now, Jesus kind of launches onto a new tack because He knows what's going to be asked next. You see, the human-minded Disciples are STILL putting priority on themselves. Even if they no longer seek to be the greatest, they want to be the good-est. Does their goodness put them on a higher plane? Jesus is about to emphasize His point to them, so He starts by laying the groundwork:
Mat 18:15 "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
Mat 18:17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Many times, they have been warned about settling matters between themselves NOT in secular courts but between brothers. To follow this instruction eliminates gossip, he said-she said, and a host of other interpersonal problems. And it ends with an important lesson. You don't "play to win", or get revenge. If the other doesn't relent, YOU walk away. Just cut ties. That way you keep all manner of cancers out of the church.
But now, as Jesus knew He would, Peter one last time tries to make it about himself:
Mat 18:21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"
Just before this, Jesus had tried to get them to put the emphasis on HIM, not themselves...
Mat 18:19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."
But it just wasn't taking. Part of the humility is forgiving. How many stories do you know about children having a fight about some imagined wrong, and 5 minutes later playing together as if nothing happened? Because it isn't important enough to hang on to- they aren't corrupted by the pride that says, I need this redressed. And that's what Jesus wants for His church. In fact, He now goes into the long parable about the unforgiving servant in order to stress that this is bedrock important. And that story has another handful of items about their attitudes:
1- Mat 18:28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.'
First, the attitude that my relationship with God works one way, and my relationship with men another, just doesn't fly. "What do you think?" Isn't this making yourself more important than God?
2- Mat 18:32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
Mat 18:33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'
Mat 18:34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.
Many commentators and sermons have been preached about how this guy would have NEVER been able to pay that debt. And we can't pay OUR debt either- we depend on that mercy from God.
Mat 18:35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
That 'if I gotta' attitude don't cut it. Following Jesus requires putting your attitude on a different level.
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
ReplyDelete2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Change - from whatever it is you are right now. It doesn't matter what you are.
Become like little children. There are few people who are more selfish or self-centered than a child. They know and understand very little beyond what their parents have taught them. Their world consists of me-me-me, and how the world relates to me. They also think in very simple, single thoughts. A child can't over-think something; they don't have that capacity.
The Pharisees were infamous for over-thinking everything. They added concepts and rewards that had nothing to do with Judaism, or with Jesus. But a child won't think in these terms. To the child the concept is simple. Hence, become like a child. Think in simple terms, single acts.
Nice post, by the way. Thanks!
Exactly! Plus, the children aren't necessarily selfish out of malice, but of innocence.
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