10 Let it not seem to you that one of these little ones is of no value; for I say to you that in heaven their angels see at all times the face of my Father in heaven.
Are they not all helping spirits, who are sent out as servants to those whose heritage will be salvation?
For he will give you into the care of his angels to keep you wherever you go.
But you, why do you make yourself your brother's judge? or again, why have you no respect for your brother? because we will all have to take our place before God as our judge.
And the angel, answering, said, I am Gabriel, whose place is before God; I have been sent to say these words to you and to give you this good news.
For two full years Absalom was living in Jerusalem without ever seeing the face of the king.
And he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, with all the army of heaven in their places round him at his right hand and at his left.
And he said in answer, Have no fear; those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha made a prayer to the Lord, saying, Lord, let his eyes be open so that he may see. And the Lord made the young man's eyes open; and he saw that all the mountain was full of horses and carriages of fire round Elisha.
Who gives honour to those who have the fear of the Lord, turning away from him who has not the Lord's approval. He who takes an oath against himself, and makes no change.
As for me, I will see your face in righteousness: when I am awake it will be joy enough for me to see your form.
And a great light was seen shining in the room, and an angel of the Lord came to Peter and, touching him on his side so that he came out of his sleep, said, Get up quickly. And his chains came off his hands. Then the angel said, Put on your shoes and get ready to go. And he did so. And he said, Put your coat round you and come with me. And he went out after him; and he was not certain if what was done by the angel was a fact, for it seemed to him that he was seeing a vision. And when they had gone past the first and second watchmen they came to the iron door into the town, which came open by itself: and they went out and down one street; and then the angel went away. And when Peter came to his senses he said, Now, truly, I am certain that the Lord has sent his angel and taken me out of the hands of Herod, against all the hopes of the Jews.
And straight away the angel of the Lord sent a disease on him, because he did not give the glory to God: and his flesh was wasted away by worms, and so he came to his end.
Do not put on one side him who is feeble in faith, and do not put him in doubt by your reasonings. One man has faith to take all things as food: another who is feeble in faith takes only green food. Let not him who takes food have a low opinion of him who does not: and let not him who does not take food be a judge of him who does; for he has God's approval.
It is better not to take meat or wine or to do anything which might be a cause of trouble to your brother.
Whoever, then, goes against this word, goes against not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
Let no one make little of you because you are young, but be an example to the church in word, in behaviour, in love, in faith, in holy living.
What? have you not houses to take your meals in? or have you no respect for the church of God, putting the poor to shame? What am I to say to you? am I to give you praise? certainly not.
And they said to her, You are off your head. But still she said, with decision, that it was so. And they said, It is his angel.
And in time the poor man came to his end, and angels took him to Abraham's breast. And the man of wealth came to his end, and was put in the earth.
But whoever is a cause of trouble to one of these little ones who have faith in me, it would be better for him to have a great stone fixed to his neck, and to come to his end in the deep sea.
The crushed stem will not be broken by him; and the feebly burning light will he not put out, till he has made righteousness overcome all.
And when they had gone, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream, saying, Get up and take the young child and his mother, and go into Egypt, and do not go from there till I give you word; for Herod will be searching for the young child to put him to death.
But when he was giving thought to these things, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, have no fear of taking Mary as your wife; because that which is in her body is of the Holy Spirit.
For who has had a poor opinion of the day of small things? for they will be glad when they see the weighted measuring-line in the hand of Zerubbabel. Then he said in answer to me, These seven lights are the eyes of the Lord which go quickly up and down through all the earth.
And second only to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven rulers of Persia and Media, who were friends of the king, and had the first places in the kingdom:)
And he will send out his angels with a great sound of a horn, and they will get his saints together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Whoever gives ear to you, gives ear to me; and whoever is against you, is against me; and whoever is against me, is against him who sent me.
Then let us not be judges of one another any longer: but keep this in mind, that no man is to make it hard for his brother, or give him cause for doubting. I am conscious of this, and am certain in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself; but for the man in whose opinion it is unclean, for him it is unclean. And if because of food your brother is troubled, then you are no longer going on in the way of love. Do not let your food be destruction to him for whom Christ went into death.
We who are strong have to be a support to the feeble, and not give pleasure to ourselves.
But God's approval of us is not based on the food we take: if we do not take it we are no worse for it; and if we take it we are no better. But take care that this power of yours does not give cause for trouble to the feeble. For if a man sees you, who have knowledge, taking food as a guest in the house of an image, will it not give him, if he is feeble, the idea that he may take food offered to images? And so, through your knowledge, you are the cause of destruction to your brother, for whom Christ underwent death. And in this way, doing evil to the brothers, and causing trouble to those whose faith is feeble, you are sinning against Christ. For this reason, if food is a cause of trouble to my brother, I will give up taking meat for ever, so that I may not be a cause of trouble to my brother.
See then that he has the honour which is right. But send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me: for I am looking for him with the brothers.
Now I, Paul, myself make request to you by the quiet and gentle behaviour of Christ, I who am poor in spirit when with you, but who say what is in my mind to you without fear when I am away from you:
But you have knowledge that with a feeble body I was preaching the good news to you the first time; And you did not have a poor opinion of me because of the trouble in my flesh, or put shame on it; but you took me to your hearts as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
And I saw the seven angels who had their place before God; and seven horns were given to them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Matthew 18
Commentary on Matthew 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
The gospels are, in short, a record of what Jesus began both to do and to teach. In the foregoing chapter, we had an account of his doings, in this, of his teachings; probably, not all at the same time, in a continued discourse, but at several times, upon divers occasions, here put together, as near akin. We have here,
See how practical Christ's preaching was; he could have revealed mysteries, but he pressed plain duties, especially those that are most displeasing to flesh and blood.
Mat 18:1-6
As there never was a greater pattern of humility, so there never was a greater preacher of it, than Christ; he took all occasions to command it, to commend it, to his disciples and followers.
Christ here teacheth them to be humble,
Those that thus humble themselves will be afraid,
Observe,
Mat 18:7-14
Our Savior here speaks of offences, or scandals,
Here is,
Observe, Christ called God, v. 19, my Father which is in heaven; he calls him, v. 14, your Father which is in heaven; intimating that he is not ashamed to call his poor disciples brethren; for have not he and they one Father? I ascend to my Father and your Father (Jn. 20:17); therefore ours because his. This intimates likewise the ground of the safety of his little ones; that God is their Father, and is therefore inclined to succour them. A father takes care of all his children, but is particularly tender of the little ones, Gen. 33:13. He is their Father in heaven, a place of prospect, and therefore he sees all the indignities offered them; and a place of power, therefore he is able to avenge them. This comforts offended little ones, that their Witness is in heaven (Job 16:19), their Judge is there, Ps. 68:5.
Mat 18:15-20
Christ, having cautioned his disciples not to give offence, comes next to direct them what they must do in case of offences given them; which may be understood either of personal injuries, and then these directions are intended for the preserving of the peace of the church; or of public scandals, and then they are intended for the preserving of the purity and beauty of the church. Let us consider it both ways.
"Tell him his fault, elenxon auton-argue the case with him' (so the word signifies); "and do it with reason and argument, not with passion.' Where the fault is plain and great, the person proper for us to deal with, and we have an opportunity for it, and there is no apparent danger of doing more hurt than good, we must with meekness and faithfulness tell people of what is amiss in them. Christian reproof is an ordinance of Christ for the bringing of sinners to repentance, and must be managed as an ordinance. "Let the reproof be private, between thee and him alone; that it may appear you seek not his reproach, but his repentance.' Note, It is a good rule, which should ordinarily be observed among Christians, not to speak of our brethren's faults to others, till we have first spoken of them to themselves, this would make less reproaching and more reproving; that is, less sin committed, and more duty done. It will be likely to work upon an offender, when he sees his reprover concerned not only for his salvation, in telling him his fault, but for his reputation in telling him of it privately.
"If he shall hear thee'-that is, "heed thee-if he be wrought upon by the reproof, it is well, thou hast gained thy brother; thou hast helped to save him from sin and ruin, and it will be thy credit and comfort,' James 5:19, 20. Note, The converting of a soul is the winning of that soul (Prov. 11:30); and we should covet it, and labour after it, as gain to us; and, if the loss of a soul be a great loss, the gain of a soul is sure no small gain.
"Take with thee one or two more;
Now it is a great honour which Christ here puts upon the church, that he will condescend not only to take cognizance of their sentences, but to confirm them; and in the following verses we have two things laid down as ground of this.
Though but two or three are met together, Christ is among them; this is an encouragement to the meeting of a few, when it is either,
Mat 18:21-35
This part of the discourse concerning offences is certainly to be understood of personal wrongs, which is in our power to forgive. Now observe,
There are three things in the parable.
But,
See here,