10 See that ye do not despise one of these little ones; for I say unto you that their angels in [the] heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in [the] heavens.
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation?
For he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways:
But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? or again, thou, why dost thou make little of thy brother? for we shall all be placed before the judgment-seat of God.
And the angel answering, said to him, *I* am Gabriel, who stand before God, and I have been sent to speak to thee, and to bring these glad tidings to thee;
So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and did not see the king's face.
And he said, Hear therefore the word of Jehovah: I saw Jehovah sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him, on his right hand and on his left;
And he said, Fear not, for they that are with us are more than they that are with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Jehovah, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
In whose eyes the depraved person is contemned, and who honoureth them that fear Jehovah; who, if he have sworn to his own hurt, changeth it not;
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
And lo, an angel of [the] Lord came there, and a light shone in the prison: and having smitten the side of Peter, he roused him up, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And he did so. And he says to him, Cast thine upper garment about thee and follow me. And going forth he followed [him] and did not know that what was happening by means of the angel was real, but supposed he saw a vision. And having passed through a first and second guard, they came to the iron gate which leads into the city, which opened to them of itself; and going forth they went down one street, and immediately the angel left him. And Peter, being come to himself, said, Now I know certainly that [the] Lord has sent forth his angel and has taken me out of the hand of Herod and all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
And immediately an angel of [the] Lord smote him, because he did not give the glory to God, and he expired, eaten of worms.
Now him that is weak in the faith receive, not to [the] determining of questions of reasoning. One man is assured that he may eat all things; but the weak eats herbs. Let not him that eats make little of him that eats not; and let not him that eats not judge him that eats: for God has received him.
[It is] right not to eat meat, nor drink wine, nor [do anything] in which thy brother stumbles, or is offended, or is weak.
He therefore that [in this] disregards [his brother], disregards, not man, but God, who has given also his Holy Spirit to you.
Let no one despise thy youth, but be a model of the believers, in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
Have ye not then houses for eating and drinking? or do ye despise the assembly of God, and put to shame them who have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you? In this [point] I do not praise.
And they said to her, Thou art mad. But she maintained that it was so. And they said, It is his angel.
And it came to pass that the poor man died, and that he was carried away by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. And the rich man also died and was buried.
But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were profitable for him that a great millstone had been hanged upon his neck and he be sunk in the depths of the sea.
a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, until he bring forth judgment unto victory;
Now, they having departed, behold, an angel of [the] Lord appears in a dream to Joseph, saying, Arise, take to [thee] the little child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be there until I shall tell thee; for Herod will seek the little child to destroy it.
but while he pondered on these things, behold, an angel of [the] Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, fear not to take to [thee] Mary, thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of [the] Holy Spirit.
For who hath despised the day of small things? Yea, they shall rejoice [even] those seven -- and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel: these are the eyes of Jehovah, which run to and fro in the whole earth.
and the next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, [and] Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and who sat first in the kingdom),
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from [the one] extremity of [the] heavens to [the other] extremity of them.
He that hears you hears me; and he that rejects you rejects me; and he that rejects me rejects him that sent me.
Let us no longer therefore judge one another; but judge ye this rather, not to put a stumbling-block or a fall-trap before his brother. I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except to him who reckons anything to be unclean, to that man [it is] unclean. For if on account of meat thy brother is grieved, thou walkest no longer according to love. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ has died.
But *we* ought, we that are strong, to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
But meat does not commend us to God; neither if we should not eat do we come short; nor if we should eat have we an advantage. But see lest anywise this your right [to eat] itself be a stumbling-block to the weak. For if any one see thee, who hast knowledge, sitting at table in an idol-house, shall not his conscience, he being weak, be emboldened to eat the things sacrificed to the idol? and the weak [one], the brother for whose sake Christ died, will perish through thy knowledge. Now, thus sinning against the brethren, and wounding their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore if meat be a fall-trap to my brother, I will eat no flesh for ever, that I may not be a fall-trap to my brother.
Let not therefore any one despise him; but set him forward in peace, that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brethren.
But I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ, who, as to appearance, [when present] [am] mean among you, but absent am bold towards you;
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets 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,