Matthew 18, Part 2
Notes
Transcript
Remember last week, the disciples had their priorities completely messed up. They were arguing about who would be the greatest among them in heaven. Jesus reminds them it is simple faith like the heart of a child that enters heaven, not someone who boasts of what they have done for the kingdom. In essence, a young child or a new believer is still humble and has not been tainted by pride, jealousy, and position. Jesus then goes on to speak of temptations to sin, and encourages all of us to remove the source of that temptation.
Removing Temptation
Removing Temptation
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!
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.
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.
Jesus continues His illustration of a little child and includes His second point focusing on the temptation to sin - to become a stumbling block. Woe indicates God’s judgment on this situation. Woe is a cry of horror, and exclamation of grief - I think this shows just how repulsive sin is to God! At any time…God could send Jesus to end this world, to end humanity, and to end sin. Jesus is warning those in whom He is speaking of the judgment that is facing this world for the things that cause people to sin.
What type of things can cause us to sin today?
List off possibilities:
I would answer it this way - the same things that have caused us to sin from the beginning - our own selfish desire.
James 1:13–15 (ESV)
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
We know that without the blood of Jesus Christ washing away our sins we would be in trouble. I continue to use this as an illustration - if Satan can lure Adam and Eve to sin while living in God’s perfect Garden of Eden…we are a lost cause living in a sinful world and can become a stumbling block if we are not careful. THIS is what Jesus is addressing.
Jesus is not focused on the overall sin in the world, but speaks directly to the individual who has become a stumbling block (like the disciples fretting over who was greatest). If a hand or foot causes you to sin…cut it off and throw it away. If you eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. Now, this is one of those places we can say this is an ILLUSTRATION and NOT an actual command to do self harm and mutilation.
What Jesus IS saying is, there is a way to handle sin - and that is to remove the source! Sin is like a cancer…it will continue to grow and spread unless it is dealt with!
Jesus impresses this warning to sinners: Every man is personally responsible for his sin. The fact of a sinful world does not lessen a man’s personal responsibility. He cannot blame the world, society, or others; for man …
• has free will
• has the knowledge of much good
• has the pull to do good (at least initially)
• usually has examples of goodness
• can choose to do good
• can work to overcome and strengthen his weakness
As a matter of fact, God has even provided a way to escape temptation.
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
How do we grow in our spiritual strength to escape sin? We must grow closer to God. God desires that no one should perish but that ALL would come to repentance.
This is the first time the words “everlasting or eternal” fire is used. It points to an awful fate, a terrible and horrible eternity. Everlasting means for the duration, on and on without end. The fact that the unforgiven sinner is to suffer so great a punishment should cause all sinners to cease being stumbling blocks.
There is a way of escaping of the punishment, which is worth any price. The most horrible death imaginable is death by fire. Just imagine burning and burning in everlasting fire. There is no more terrible punishment than that described by Christ. How horrible eternity apart from God must be. The severity of hell again stresses the severity of the sin in God’s eyes.
Do Not Despise
Do Not Despise
Jesus continues in His explanation of what He means by giving a third warning.
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.
Do not despise one of these little ones (child or new in faith). One commentary gave three ways that a child or believer could be despised. One is by considering the child unimportant. He is not considered as competent as others; therefore, he is neglected, ignored, or pushed aside. As a result, his growth and potential for life and service are untapped, or stifled and stunted. The second is by doing things that are not Christ-like in the child’s presence; by disregarding the child’s presence and going ahead with one’s off-color language and jokes, little white lies, and socially acceptable but sinful habits. The third was by twisting the child’s mind or body into evil behavior and sin. This can range all the way from sinful ambition and self-seeking to full blown child abuse.
Children have a most favored position before God. The fact that their guardian angels “do always behold” God’s face shows this. There could be no greater privilege than to be before God always “beholding His face.” Children are very, very precious to God. For this reason alone, we should do all we can to rid ourselves and the world of evil.
Lost Sheep Parable
Lost Sheep Parable
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?
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.
14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
A parable is a short moral story often expressed with imagery and metaphors. This parable is undoubtedly one of the most famous shared by Jesus. The words “these little ones” refer to genuine Christian believers, and the word “perish” refers to the lost. On this particular occasion, Jesus was speaking to His disciples. In Luke Jesus shared the same parable with a different audience and directed it more toward the lost.
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable:
4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’
7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Some believers are weak, never having grown in the Lord; others cool off and wander away; still others backslide into sin and shame. Some are stubborn toward the Lord, and some become self-centered because of hurt and neglect. Others allow the hurt and neglect to develop into bitterness and hostility against a person, and go out and sin in anger. There are innumerable reasons for sinning, but believers do sin, and some sin rather seriously.
Isaiah 53:6 tells us:
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The one who strays and the one who is lost are always with us. But we should always remember
14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Jesus came to save the lost. This is the Messiah’s great statement of purpose; this is why He came to earth. He came to save the lost. There is a world of meaning in this great statement.
Christ willingly and deliberately left the glory of heaven and His equality with God and “emptied Himself” of that glory and equality.
Both the world as a whole and man as an individual have gone astray. Each person has strayed away from God, is lost, and is wandering about in a wilderness of sin; and each person is doomed to be destroyed by that wilderness unless he is reached and saved by Christ. Everyone needs to be saved.
It means that God lost man. God lost man’s worship and service and life. Not only has man gone astray, not only is man not seeking after God and gone out of the way—but he has become unprofitable, lost to God. While man remains lost in the wilderness, God has no hope of fellowship with man. Man’s worship, service, and life are lost to God as long as man remains lost. The words that which was lost should be noted. They are in the Greek neuter participle. This means that the person lost is not only man (masculine) but woman (feminine) as well. “That [neuter] which was lost” and sought after is both man and woman. The point is to show the span of Jesus’ love: He loves all who are lost, both man and woman. No one is outside the scope of His love and seeking. He loves and seeks after all.
Listen very closely - Jesus seeks every single sheep that is lost.
a. The sheep went astray (see Deeper Study # 1—Mt. 18:12).
b. The sheep was sought by the shepherd. Note several facts.
1) The Shepherd takes care of the whole flock, the ninety-nine, in a very special way. While seeking the lost sheep, He leads the flock into the mountains or hills where the pasture is thick with grass and safe and secure. He makes sure that they are secure (Jn. 10:27–29).
2) The Shepherd’s concern is for the individual, no matter how large the flock. He loves the individual. He is unwilling to lose a single one.
3) The Shepherd is the One who does the seeking. He does not hire or send another person after the lost sheep. Neither does He wait for the sheep to return, and most interesting, He does not even allow the care of the ninety-nine to keep Him from going after the one lost sheep. The fact that the sheep is lost is so important a matter to Him that He personally goes after the sheep—no matter the cost.
4) The Shepherd is patient and enduring. He seeks and seeks after the sheep until He has either found it or else He knows there is no hope of the sheep’s being alive.
5) The Shepherd seeks every path, ridge, and crevice; He uses every means at His disposal to find the lost sheep.
⇒ The Shepherd depends upon the hardness, danger, trials, and sufferings of the wilderness and the heart, conscience, and memory of the sheep to turn it around and begin seeking a way out.
⇒ The Shepherd depends upon his own knowledge of the sheep and wilderness to search for the sheep. The Shepherd knows every ridge and crevice of the wilderness. It is just a question of finding the sheep soon enough. Has the lost sheep gone too far out on a ridge, too far down into a crevice to be found? Has the lost sheep already been killed by enemies or the roughness of the wilderness?
⇒ The Shepherd depends rather heavily upon His voice to reach the ears and the heart of the lost sheep. By calling and calling, He hopes the lost sheep will hear Him. Whether He hears or not depends upon two things. (1) How far out into the wilderness the lost sheep has wandered? Can the sheep hear the voice of the Shepherd? (2) Does the sheep still have strength enough to answer (respond) even if he hears the voice of the Shepherd? Is the sheep so drained and sapped by the wilderness that he cannot answer? Or is the sheep injured or dying, unable to answer the call of the Shepherd?
c. The sheep was sought in the mountains (see note 3—Lu. 15:4 for the reasons a sheep goes astray. The reasons are simply stated here.)
⇒ The sheep is attracted by something “out in the wilderness” away from the flock and shepherd.
⇒ The sheep is aimless, not paying attention to what is going on.
⇒ The sheep refuses to heed the shepherd’s warnings and the other sheep’s example.
⇒ The sheep is not attached enough to the shepherd or to the other sheep.
The Shepherd knew “the lost sheep.” He had a large flock to tend, but He knew every single one. When “the lost sheep” got lost, the Shepherd knew it. He missed the sheep, and He went after it. In the same way, when God knows one of His created children is lost, He seeks out that lost child.
Jesus may or may not find the lost sheep. Finding the sheep is not a sure thing. It depends on so much …
• How far astray has the lost sheep wandered? Can the lost sheep hear the voice of the Shepherd? Or is it too far off?
• Is the lost sheep willing to respond when it hears the Shepherd’s voice?
• Is the lost sheep going on and on, farther and farther into the wilderness?
• Has the lost sheep been so careless and unconcerned that it has been injured by falling into a deep crevice?
• Is the mind of the lost sheep so numb that it is unconscious of the Shepherd’s presence and voice?
• Is the lost sheep aware that it is lost? If so, how concerned is it over being lost?
• Is the lost sheep concerned enough to begin searching for a way out of the wilderness?
• Has the patience of the Shepherd ended? Has he given up? Has so much time passed that He knows there is no longer any hope?
A person may resist the spirit of God so long and wander so far into the wilderness of the world that he can never be found. But there is JOY when the lost sheep is found. It’s a special moment of celebration because his lost sheep was almost lost FOREVER, and the lost sheep cost the Shepherd something. But the lost sheep was worth what the Shepherd had to pay.
God wills that not a single sheep should perish. In verse ten Jesus had said “My Father,” but here He switched to “your Father.” This is significant: when the Savior finds each of us, we become a member of our Father’s family. As a member, He expects our help in reaching the lost sheep and in caring for the flock. Being a member of the family carries with it the responsibilities of reaching the lost and of helping to care for the other members of the family.