Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

UPDATE

What a wonderful journey we’ve just completed through chapter eighteen of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus had just been confronted by the local temple tax collectors and sent Peter to catch a fish in Lake Galilee to pay them. Not only for Himself but Peter as well, since it appears that Jesus was staying at Peter’s house in Capernaum. But the irony was, that Jesus had disputed the need to pay taxes since He and His disciples were royalty, and royalty did not pay taxes.

When the other disciples heard that they were considered royalty because they were children of the King of Heaven, they came to Jesus and wanted to know who were the most outstanding citizens of God’s Kingdom. To their amazement, Jesus motioned to a little child standing nearby and called the child to Him. Then looking at the disciples Jesus told them that it was people, who like little children, with their trust and willingness to learn that symbolized members of the kingdom of God.

Furthermore, Jesus told them that if anyone causes such a young innocent believer to go astray it would be better for them to be taken out to sea and dropped overboard with a large stone around their necks than for them to continue misleading others. Jesus made it clear that neither He nor His heavenly Father liked people who cause other people to sin.

Jesus even suggested that if a person knows they have a weakness that leads them to sin, get rid of it even it may be painful and limit them in some way, like a person who has their leg amputated because of gangrene. It is better for a person to go through life with one leg than to put their whole body at risk because they don’t want to lose it. While it would be easy to see this as representative of bad habits and addictions, Jesus was not talking about the body but the soul. The body will one day decay, but the soul lives on.

So our Lord decided to tell some parables to help His disciples understand the point He was trying to make. He started with the story of a sheep that wandered away from the flock. When the shepherd noticed that one of his 100 sheep was gone, he left the 99 in the care of one of his helpers and went off in search of that lost sheep. He did not stop until he found the sheep and brought it back to the fold. Then Jesus told them that God was that shepherd. And if any of His children are lead astray, for some reason, He will not give up until that sheep if brought back.

But Jesus wasn’t through, He then went on to tell how His children should deal with those in the congregation who go astray; that it is to be a matter of counseling, not condemnation. And if that person cannot be persuaded to repent, then take along others to help in getting them to turn around. Don’t stop until you have done all you can possibly do to get them to come back. If they do decide to return and become obedient again to the way of a believer, then those who went in search of them can tell them all is forgiven. Jesus said, even His Father in heaven will agree to such forgiveness. But, if they are stubborn and refuse to repent, then if they are told they can no longer be part of the congregation, God will also sanction that decision.

This prompted Peter to approach Jesus and ask Him how many times can someone like that be forgiven. Can it be up to seven times? Jesus told him, it can be up to seventy-seven  times. As long as there is genuine repentance, there is forgiveness. Forgiveness is like soothing, healing medication. It has already been paid for and is always available in sufficient quantity to meet any need. But repentance is opening the lid in order to use it.

Apparently Jesus was not satisfied with the look on Peter’s face, so He told another parable about a king who was collecting the taxes owed him. One of his subjects was so far behind in his taxes that the amount owed was insurmountable. Based on the laws of those days, if the man could not pay, then the king could have the man’s land, houses, barns, sheep, cattle, wife, children, and servants sold in order to pay the tax bill. The man fell on his knees and begged the king to give him some tax relief. The king was so moved that he canceled the whole debt.

The man went away rejoicing until he met a neighbor who owed him a small amount of money. But instead of doing the same thing for his neighbor that the king had just done for him, he grabbed the man by the neck and demanded that he pay what he owed immediately. His neighbor fell on his knees and begged for more time in order to pay, but the man had no mercy on him and called the authorities to have him thrown in jail.

When others living around heard what this ungrateful man had done to his neighbor, they went and told the king. The king immediately had this despicable man brought back in and harshly condemned him for his actions. Then he had him thrown in jail where he was to be tortured until he agreed to sell whatever he needed in order to pay the king what he owed. Jesus told Peter and the others that this was how God would deal with those to whom He offered forgiveness but who have not forgiven others. What a tremendous lesson for all of us to learn.

We will begin in chapter nineteen tomorrow. I hope you will continue the journey with me as we go down what may be to many of you an unfamiliar road. I’m sure there will be surprises and many nuggets of wisdom along the way. God bless you for your dedication to His Word.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Part X

Verses 32-33: Then the king called his subject in and said, “You evil servant. You begged me to forgive your debt, and I said you did not have to pay anything! So you should have given that other man who serves with you the same mercy I gave you.”

We must take note of one factor here that makes what this act of greed even more unacceptable. While the first man was subordinate to the king, the second man was a fellow citizen. Chrysostom shares his thoughts with us on this portion of Jesus’ parable. He writes: “Do you see the mercy of the king? Do you see contrasted the lack of mercy of the servant? Listen, all you who do such things for money: one should not act like this because it is a sin. But it is much worse to act like this for money. How then does he plead? ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ But he did not even respect the very words through which he had himself been saved. With these words, he himself had been freed from a debt of ten thousand silver coins! He did not even recognize the harbor by means of which he had escaped shipwreck. Even the man’s pleading did not remind him of his master’s kindness.”¹ It is hard to imagine someone so coldhearted and unforgiving. But there must have been such a mindset among the Jews or our Lord would not have taken the time to teach on the value of forgiveness and the torment of unforgiveness.

Chrysostom continues: “Casting all these out of his mind in his greed, cruelty and bitterness, he was more brutal than any wild beast in seizing his fellow servant by the throat. What are you doing, O my beloved? Do you not see that you are making such a demand upon yourself? You are deceiving yourself. You are thrusting a sword into yourself! You are revoking both the sentence and the gift. But he considered none of this, nor did he remember his own case, nor did he yield at all. Yet the requests were not on the same level. Compare them. One was for ten thousand coins, the other for a pittance: a hundred denarii. One was merely dealing with his fellow servant. But the other was dealing with his lord. The one received entire forgiveness; the other asked for delay, and not so much as this did he give him, for ‘he cast him into prison.’”²

Verse 34: “The master was very angry, so he put the servant in jail to be punished. And he had to stay in jail until he could pay everything he owed.”

The bishop of Laodicea feels that this punishment was intended more to teach a lesson on how unforgiveness can change a reprimand into permanent punishment. He writes: “When they do not tolerate our wrongdoing, our fellow servants are angels who accuse us before God. They do not accuse to God as to one who does not know of our sins but because of their anger at those who break the laws of human love. By ‘jailers’ He means the angels entrusted with our punishment. ‘Till he should pay all his debts’ means in effect that he has handed him over to be punished for all time. For he could never pay it back. For when he corrects a person in the present life, God hands him over to bonds, sickness, and tortures, but in the future, He hands him over to anguish without remission for all time. He did not say, ‘So also will your Father do to you,’ but ‘my Father.’ For such people are unworthy to be called sons of God. So the parable describes, in summary, the indescribable love of God. Anyone who does not imitate this love as far as he can will suffer severe punishment from the just Judge. Even though it has been said, ‘Not to be regretted are God’s blessings,’ yet wickedness is so strong that it blocks out these words. So the story demands two things of us: to remember our own faults and not to bear a grudge on one who stumbles.”³

Verse 35: “This king did the same as my heavenly Father will do to you. You must forgive your brother or sister with all your heart.”

The principle that Jesus expounds on here was also expressed by Solomon, “People think that whatever they do is right, but the Lord judges the reasons for everything they do. Do what is right and fair. The Lord loves that more than sacrifices.”⁴ And there may have also been an effort on our Lord’s part to invoke the message given by Zechariah about anyone who might refuse this message He brought to them: “They were very stubborn and would not obey the law. The LORD All-Powerful used His Spirit and sent messages to His people through the prophets. But the people would not listen, so the LORD All-Powerful became very upset.”⁵

Forgiving each other of wrongs that we or the other has committed is just as much a part of our salvation working in us as singing, praying, reading the Bible, and going to church. As a matter of fact, unless we do forgive our fellow believer, our worship will be in vain. Not all the recipients of God’s wrath will be liars, adulterers, etc. I’m afraid there will be many “brother-haters” among them. Christ here lays down the final strata upon the doctrine of forgiveness. It should not be the pressure of public opinion, nor the fear of retaliation that prompts us to forgive as we have been forgiven. But rather, the forgiveness should come from the heart.

Those who bow to pressure or acquiesce to threats only to make themselves look good, do not stand acquitted of violating this commandment in the eyes of God. For He looks on the heart and the decision of forgiveness must be made there in order for it to have any heavenly value or approval. In other words, forgiveness is not an emotion or a ritual, it is a decision; an act of the will. Some advocate forgiving and forgetting, but there is no such thing. God does not cast our sins into the “Sea of Forgetfulness” because that sea does not exist. Even God does not forget our sins. Rather, He chooses not to bring them up and use them against us.⁶

Chrysostom comes to this conclusion in his sermon: “In anger, his king delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. This means forever since he will never repay it. For since you did not become better by receiving blessings, it remains for you to be corrected by punishment. For since you have not become better by the kindness shown to you, it remains that you will be corrected only by vengeance. Although it is said that the blessings and gifts of God are irrevocable,⁷ our stubbornness may frustrate even this intention of God. For what, then, can be a more grievous thing than to be vengeful, especially when it appears to overthrow so great a gift of God. The text does not simply say they ‘delivered him’ but ‘in anger delivered him.’ For when he had earlier commanded him to be sold, his were not the words of wrath but, rightly understood a moment of great mercy. He did not in fact show wrath at that point. But in this case, it is a sentence of great anger, punishment, and vengeance. So what does the parable mean? ‘So also my heavenly Father will do to you,’ He says, ‘if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.’ Note that he did not say ‘your Father’ but ‘my Father.’ For it is not proper for God to be called the Father of one who is so wicked and malicious.”⁸

How much more genuine and sweet is someone’s forgiveness when they choose to love us in spite of our wrong doing and the pain we caused them, than someone who simply foregoes any punishment but keeps the hurt and disappointment we caused them as a grievance to bring up when they feel it may make us feel bad or embarrass us? It can all be summed up in what the apostle Paul said so succinctly: “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinning, Christ died for us.” That certainly demonstrates the power of love that we all possess, but only if we use it.

Keep this in mind: An unforgiving spirit is a worthless commodity. It buys you nothing but anger and resentment and causes nothing but grief and sorrow. Throw it away as trash. Otherwise, it will become an heirloom that you hold onto for no reason since its value is less than a cheap trinket used only as a grudge. Replace it with the gold of forgiveness. Forgiveness has the power of turning an enemy into a friend, of transforming an opponent into a proponent of your values and ethics. God knew that from the beginning. That’s why John was so excited to tell us: “For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him would not be lost forever but have everlasting life.”⁹ It also caused the apostle Paul to exclaim with amazement: “But God showed His love to us this way: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”¹⁰ How much more impact these words about forgiveness will have when we add the words of our Savior: “I give you a new Law. You are to love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. If you love each other, all men will know you are My followers.”¹¹

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Part IX

Verses 26-27: But the subject fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’ His master, the king, felt sorry for him. So he told the subject he did not have to pay. He let him go free.”

Certainly, those listening to Jesus must have caught by now the subliminal thought here linking debt to sin, and the king to God. As we’ve already mentioned, when examining what is called “The Lord’s Prayer,”¹ this was part of what the Rabbi’s taught about debts are God’s record of sins committed. As far as equating God as King, this came only after Israel was given a king, and king David addressed God as: “my King, and my God;”² “the LORD is King forever and ever;”³ and one of the more famous rendering: “O gates, proudly lift your heads! O ancient doors, open wide, so the glorious King may come in.”⁴

We read in Jewish literature that Rabbi Isaac once said: “When anyone commits a transgression in secret, it is as though he thrust aside the feet of the Divine Presence, for it is said: Thus saith the Lord: The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.⁵”⁶ One only speaks of a throne in reference to a king. So we can see how Jesus used a parable that contained metaphors which the Jews could easily decipher and understand that He was talking about forgiveness of wrong doing and God’s grace. If there are any two hallmarks in the message Christ brought to the people of Israel in His ministry, they were love and forgiveness.

Early church preacher Chrysostom in one of his messages states: “Do you see again how generous the king was? The servant asked only for an extension of time, but he gave him more than he asked for, remission and forgiveness of the entire debt. He wanted to give him this from the start, but he did not want the giving to be on his side only. He wanted the servant to learn from it and to ask for mercy, in order than he not be under an illusion of innocence. For the Lord’s way, as a whole – even if the servant fell on his knees and implored – was demonstrated as a motive for remission, for it says, ‘Out of pity the lord released him.’ In this way, he also wanted the servant to take some responsibility, to prevent him being too embarrassed so that he might learn from his own case and be lenient to his fellow servant, and be schooled by his own mistake.”⁷

Verse 28: Later, that same subject found another subject who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him around the neck and yelled, “Pay me the money you owe me!”

Whether Jesus was telling a satirical version of some known event or projecting a scenario from His own mind, the ingratitude and selfishness of this forgiven subject in his ill treatment of a fellow citizen is despicable, to say the least. But our Lord knowing provided such an illustration because He knew that this tendency to be forgiven but not to forgive was prevalent among the people, especially the religious leadership. So the best way to get His listeners to pay attention was to make it worse than it really was.

Early church apologist Cyril had this to say: “The God of all releases us from the difficulties of our faults, according to the parable. This is what is meant by the ten thousand talents. But this happens on the condition that we ourselves release our fellow servants from the hundred denarii, that is, from the few minor faults they have committed against us. The angels who stand over us, and are under the same yoke of service as we are, make accusations before God. They do not speak to God as if God does not know—for God knows everything. Rather, in the interest of justice, they demand the proper punishment for those who choose to despise and dishonor the command that we love one another. When we get what we deserve, we either receive punishment in our present life, such as being visited with some pain or trouble or infirmity or if not, we will certainly be punished in the future life. God punishes the obstinate, stubborn person with a view to improving and changing him for the better. This is easy to see. Holy Scripture is pertinent here, in these wisely spoken words: ‘the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son,’⁸ and again: ‘Follow instruction.’⁹”¹⁰

Verse 29: The other subject fell on his knees and begged him, “Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.”

Chrysostom has a lot to say about this in his sermon, so here’s an excerpt of what he preached: “In speaking of our sins, I will distinguish between those we commit against God and against other persons. I will set forth not each person’s own but what are common. But then I will ask individuals to add their own sins according to an examination of their conscience. I will do this, having first set forth the good deeds of God to us. What then are God’s good deeds? He created us from nothing; He made the whole visible world for us, the heaven, the sea, the earth, animals, plants, and seeds. I must be brief because of the infinite number of His works. Into us alone of all that are on earth he breathed a living soul. He planted a garden for us. He gave us a helpmate and set us over all the brute species, and He crowned us with glory and honor. And yet after all this, when humanity turned out ungrateful toward its benefactor, He thought us worthy of an even greater gift—forgiveness.”¹¹

Verse 30: But the first subject refused to be patient. He told the judge that the other subject owed him money, and that subject was put in jail until he could pay everything he owed.

Chromatius puts what happens here in this verse in perspective. He says: “When Peter asked this, the Lord commanded that the sinning brother should be forgiven not seven times but seventy-seven times. He then added a parable, making the comparison of a king and his servant. The servant, though unworthy, had received such mercy from his master that even an immense debt was forgiven him. But he himself refused to show mercy to a fellow servant for his small debt. So, quite rightly, he was handed over to the torturers and received the just punishment of condemnation. For what would such a wicked servant not deserve to suffer? Though he had experienced such pity from his master, he was himself unjust and cruel to his fellow servant. By this example, we are clearly instructed and advised that if we do not forgive our fellow servants – that is, the brothers who sin against us – the debt of their sins, we will be condemned with similar punishment. And though the comparison may seem to have been introduced for the present occasion, yet the parable itself has within it an integral logic and manifest truth.”¹²

Verse 31: All the other subjects saw what happened. They felt very sorry for the man. So they went and told their master the king everything that happened.

There is an intrinsic moral to this story. It appears from the narrative that one need not first be forgiven of his debt before he is under any obligation to forgive the debt of others against himself. Thus, to forgive others while you yourself have not been forgiven is an option, but to forgive others after you yourself have been forgiven is an obligation.

Here’s a simple way to look at it: A store owner owes $2,000 to a manufacturer for products delivered for sale. An employee of that same store owner owes him $1,500 for advanced wages so that he would pay for automobile repairs. Meanwhile, this employee is owed $1,000 by a relative who borrowed it from him to pay medical expenses. So, the manufacturer decides to write off this $2,000 as a gesture of kindness because they know this store owner’s business is not going well. In gratitude, the store owner then cancels his employee’s debt, who in turn cancels his relative’s indebtedness. The end result is that there are three now debt free for the price of one gift! This would make everyone a winner. But how greedy and avaricious would that store owner be if he still insisted on the employee to pay up because they would give him an unearned profit? Under such circumstances, it would make everyone a loser.

When we think that by one death on the cross that paid the full price for the forgiveness of our sins, we should be glad to let that one payment have the same forgiving domino effect through our life into the lives of others. But that was not the case here, and this was the central point in Jesus’ teaching. We can see that this was already part of what Moses taught the children of Israel, “At the end of every seven years, you must cancel debts. This is the way you must do this: Everyone who has lent money to another Israelite must cancel the debt. He should not ask a fellow Israelite to repay the debt because the LORD said to cancel debts during that year.”¹³

But apparently this man did not get the message that he should show the same leniency and compassion to his debtor as the king showed to him. I would be willing to propose that this servant caused the man who couldn’t pay him to be put into the same prison where he would have been incarcerated had the king not forgiven him. So his spiteful and ungrateful act was doubled in its maliciousness. Little did he know, that when his malicious conduct was reported to the king, that the hangman’s noose that had been put away would be figuratively restrung just for him. This parable reminds me so much of the story about Haman and Mordecai in the Book of Esther. We do not know, but this may have been the inspiration for the parable on retribution Jesus used here.

Listen, all you saints! Give unending praise to our unchanging God for His unfailing love and His unceasing grace and His unlimited mercy! – Dr. Robert R Seyda

LIKE A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

A number of years ago I was privileged to be in Jerusalem to join Youth Directors from various States in the USA, as well as from Europe, for tours and fellowship. On New Year’s Eve, after a day of touring and visiting historic sites, we all met at the hotel for a watch-night service to bring in the New Year. I was so humbled in being asked to address this august body of youth leaders and church officials right before midnight. In preparation for this once-in-a-lifetime event, the Holy Spirit inspired me to read Isaiah 5:30 as my text. Since we were in Israel, I chose to read from the New Jerusalem Bible Translation. “Only look at the country: darkness and distress, and the light turned to darkness by the clouds.”

By tradition, the Hebrew text illustrates the idea of seamen on a ship out at sea looking toward the coastline trying to spot a lighthouse to guide them to shore and safety, only to have the fog and darkness obscure their view, so they end up getting lost. Isaiah was making the spiritual point of the importance of direction from God’s Word. The Holy Spirit helped me develop a message on the need for spiritual guidance, especially for people who have drifted away from what they believe and need a light to find their way back to the solid ground of truth.

This convocation occurred during a period in our history when a major magazine published an issue with the words, “God is Dead” on the cover; it was a time when the clear lines between right and wrong were blurred by the proposition of “Situation Ethics”; and a book titled “Secular City” proposed giving up the sacred vision of life beyond and accepting the secular reality of life here and now. The Holy Spirit inspired me to point out the three “R’s” available as options in providing that needed light to those who were drifting away. They are Revolution, Reformation, and Revival. When choosing the flash of Revolution, it requires tearing everything down and starting all over again, while with flame of Reformation long held beliefs are taken and corrected to make them more authentic, whereas with the fire of Revival beliefs that always worked before as a powerful source of light are reinvigorated by God’s Spirit and roar back to life full of fire and vigor.

In that same line of thought, I pointed to Ezekiel 37:3-6 where God spoke to the prophet in a valley full of dry bones and asked him if he thought those bones could ever live again. When Ezekiel confessed that only God knew the answer, the LORD told him to say these words to those bones, “Dry bones, hear the Word of the LORD!” If you do that, God told him, I will breathe and they will come to life. We know that God’s breath is likened to His Spirit. Therefore, His Spirit will come when the Word of God is preached and Revival will result. So Ezekiel followed God’s instructions, accepting His promise that if he did so the LORD would react by saying to those dry bones, “I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”
Little did I know that many years later God’s people would be facing an even greater dilemma, both in society and in their churches. But I am persuaded that the words spoken by God to Isaiah and Ezekiel thousands of years in the past, and the word that he gave me some 45 years ago are just as relevant to us today as they were back then. This experience has enforced and strengthened what I always believed: that God’s Word never grows old; it never becomes irrelevant; immaterial; unrelated; inappropriate; extraneous; unconnected; inapt; unimportant; unsuitable; insignificant or trivial, but it always serves as God’s light for people in a world which grows ever darker and foggier with deception, falsehoods, and insincerity every day.

The flash of Revolution requires finding new sources of illumination to guide the people to a different place; the flame of Reformation seeks to add insight for darkened minds to see the light and find the haven in the darkness; but the fire of Revival is fueled by the oil of the Holy Spirit that never runs dry, and provides a steady glow for people to see and guide them into the harbor of God’s blessed assurance, where they can anchor their souls until the day of resurrection. – Dr. Robert R. Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Part VIII

Verse 22: Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times.”

Here we see that regardless of what Peter had been taught through verbal laws, Jesus gives him a new commandment that supersedes anything said or written before on how often forgiveness is to be offered. This is in line with what Isaiah said on the subject about God’s forgiveness: “Let the wicked person abandon his way and the evil person his thoughts; let him return to Adonai, and He will have mercy on him; let him return to our God, for He will freely forgive. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,’ says Adonai.’”¹

It also appears that our Lord may be recalling the words of Lamech, a fourth generation descendant of Enoch, after he admitted to killing a man who wounded him. Lamech tells his two wives: “For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me; If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”² This verse in the King James Version reads: “seventy times seven,” but the earliest Hebrew version of Matthew renders it: “seventy-seven.” The New International Version also has seventy-seven. The Greek however, actually reads: “seventy times seven times seven.” Many scholars believe that rather than an actual number, Jesus was indicating that forgiveness should be offered over and over and over.

Again we must see the figurative lesson here. Jesus’s words were a metaphor for endless forgiveness no matter how often, how many individuals, or for how many instances. Why is this important? Because, if God is willing to continue forgiving us each time we err and commit misdeeds that are contrary to His will and against His word, then how much more should we be willing to do the same for our fellow believer. In the Lord’s Prayer,³ we are told to do this, and John instructed the community of believers on this as well.⁴ We must always keep in mind that forgiveness does not erase the wrong-doing, but it does allow for the punishment that should be applied to expire. It’s God’s version of the statue of limitations. Recompense can certainly be sought, and should be if possible. But forgiveness takes the sting out of grudges, resentment, bitterness, enmity, ill will, and revenge. But Jesus has more to say on this subject, so He chooses an illustration that is quite effective.

Verses 23-24: God’s kingdom is like a king who decided to collect the money his subjects owed him. So the king began to collect his money. One subject owed him several thousand pounds of silver.

This teaching on forgiveness was so important that Jesus refuses to let it go. So He continues with another parable to emphasize the point of shared forgiveness. It was not known, even in Jesus’ day, that kings made loans to his subjects. In most cases, the money owed represented taxes on property, on harvests, general taxes, etc. This is why the king would be able to forgive the debt so easily. But that wasn’t the main point in Jesus’ parable.

Immediately we must note that Jesus is not saying that the Kingdom of God “is”, but “is like.” This illustrates the power of a parable. It’s like putting an ornate frame around a beautiful painting so that when it is hung on the wall it draws the eyes to its luster and depth. Jesus’ intention here is not to portray a king who loans money and if not paid back in full, the debtor will be thrown in jail. But it is like a kingdom where when forgiven what a person owes to others they in turn forgive those who owe to them. This same principle is found in the Lord’s Prayer. And since Peter had just been talking about forgiveness in light of how forgiveness here on earth is recognized in heaven, Jesus wants him and the other disciples to learn one cardinal truth: forgiveness cannot be earned, it must be given in order to be genuine.

Origen feels that by Jesus using how a king dealt with his subjects and how those subjects then respond in turn to fellow subjects, that He is comparing how our Heavenly Father who is willing to forgive us our debts if we earnestly pray for mercy, but even before such forgiveness is received we must be willing to pass it on to those who come to us for such mercy.⁵

Chrysostom draws a comparison between sins against humanity and sins against God. This is reasoned by the great debt owed the king and the small debt owed the servant. He also sees that man’s sins against God are much greater in number and more frequent than man’s wrongdoings against his neighbor. Therefore, since God is so willing to forgive a prevailing large debt, should we not be just as willing to forgive a lesser infrequent debt.

I’m sure Jesus was less interested in the exact monetary value of the debt than He was in choosing this amount to contrast the smaller debt in His parable. As a matter of fact, the Arabic version renders it as “sum of talents” without specifying the number. But this collection was not arbitrary, it appears that the king sent out word for the money to be brought in because it was pay up time. We usually see that at the end of the grace period or terms of the loan.

Origen has this to say on the subject: “The moment of beginning the reckoning starts with the household of God, as is it written in Ezekiel: ‘Begin at my sanctuary.’⁶ This judgment begins as quickly as the twinkling of an eye.⁷ In thinking of the demanding of accounts, let us not forget what we have said before, that these accounts are spiritually conceived. And the moment of demand begins understandably with those who owe the most. This is why the passage does not begin generally with a reckoning of all accounts but a specific one: one was brought to him. Here is the moment. He is beginning to demand an account of one who owed him ten thousand talents! It reminds us of the prophet Zechariah.’⁸”⁹

Verse 25: He was not able to pay the money to his master, the king. So the master ordered that he and everything he owned be sold, even his wife and children. The money would be used to pay the king what the subject owed.

The idea that wives and children could be sold to raise money, was often the case to settle a debt. We read in Nehemiah: “We have to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. But we cannot afford to pay, so we are borrowing money to pay the tax. We are as good as the others. Our sons are as good as their sons. But we will have to sell our sons and daughters as servants. Some of us have already had to sell our daughters as servants. There is nothing we can do. We have already lost our fields and vineyards. Other people now own them.”¹⁰ This demand for payment was more than this man could bear. Perhaps it was because he did not have a good harvest, or bad weather ruined his crops.

Whatever the case, he decided to plead his case. So he gains an audience with the king and implores him to be merciful. His pleas touched the king’s heart and his tax bill was canceled. I’m sure that at this point in Jesus’ story, everyone was impressed by the king’s compassion. It should also provide a lesson for us. Just count up how much the Lord has forgiven you, then compare it to the small lien you may have on your spiritual brother or sister for things they’ve done to hurt you, then the forgiveness they ask for should flow freely and without hesitation from your heart. We see a similar incident was brought to the prophet Elijah.¹¹ We also see a similarity between what Jesus was describing and the event that occurred among the Judeans during a famine.¹²

Chrysostom has an interesting exposition on this text in a sermon. He says: “His king ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children. Why? Not out of cruelty or inhumanity, for the punishment concerned the steward – his wife was already trapped like a slave to his folly. Rather, this discipline occurred in order to effect his transformation. His purpose is to frighten him by this threat so that he may come to supplication, and not merely that they all be sold. For if the lord had done this with unmitigated punishment in mind, he would not have granted his request, nor would he have bestowed upon him a special favor. He did not dismiss the debt, and he called for an accounting. Why? His teaching purpose was to show him with all justice precisely how much debt he was going to free him from! In this way at least he might in due time become more gentle toward his fellow servant. Yet, even having learned of the weight of his debt and the greatness of the forgiveness, he continued to take his fellow servant by the throat. If the master had not disciplined him beforehand with such attempted medicines, how much worse might his cruelty have been than the shocking extent that it actually turned out to be?”¹³

We see from this, that oft times there may be problems that develop in our lives that overwhelm us and leave us stunned as to how we are going to cope. This is God’s way of motivating us to come to Him for help in dealing with such dilemmas. The Lord is generous and most often will help us. But it is incumbent upon us then to be of assistance to our fellow believers and neighbors. Many times, God’s children do not get what they want or ask for because God already knows they are selfish and would be unwilling to share with others what He granted them.

This may be illustrated by a certain type of coffeemaker where a cup of cold water is poured into the holding tank and instantly a cup of hot water is dispensed through the coffee grounds to fill the now empty cup with hot coffee. Likewise, whatever we expect from God, even it if is a cup of cold water, we must predisposed to pour it into the lives of others. That way, whatever God puts into our lives as His favor will then flow out of our lives into the lives of others as an unexpected blessing.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Part VII

Verses 19-20: “To say it another way, if two of you on earth agree on anything you’ve prayed over, my Father in heaven will accept your decision. Yes, if two or three people are unified in their belief in what I’ve taught them, I will join them in their approval.”

According to Jewish tradition, the study of God’s Word for guidance, especially when rendering a decision, was often done in groups. Rabbi Chalafta the son of Dosa of the village of Chanania taught: “Ten who sit together and occupy themselves with Torah, the Divine Presence rests amongst them, as is stated: ‘Elohim stands in the divine assembly.¹ And from where do we know that such is also the case with five? From the verse, ‘He established His storeroom on earth.”² And three? From the verse, ‘He renders judgment in the midst of the tribunal.’³ And two? From the verse, ‘Then the God-fearing conversed with one another, and the LORD listened and heard.‘⁴ And from where do we know that such is the case even with a single individual? From the verse, ‘In every place where I have My name mentioned, I will come to you and bless you.’⁵”⁶

Early church scholar Origen gives us his interpretation of what he feels is the harmony between earth and heaven in the matters of church discipline. He writes: “Harmony occurs in two kinds: first, in agreement of thought, when two minds think the same ideas (as the apostle called it) and have the same thoughts. Second, in agreement of wills, in living similar lives. But since He says ‘If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask,’ it is clear that the two here on earth are not in harmony. The reason why we do not achieve our desires and prayers is our own fault: we do not agree either in our thoughts or in our way of life. Besides, if we are the body of Christ and ‘God arranged the members in the body, each one of them … so that the members may have the care for one another, and if one member suffers all suffer together; if one member is honored all rejoice together,’⁷ then we must practice the harmony that comes from God’s music, so that when we are gathered in Christ’s name, Christ may be in our midst, who is God’s word and wisdom and power.”⁸

It could be that Jesus was using this to let His followers know that when people meet to discuss matters related to the congregation of believers and offer prayers for guidance, even two or three are enough for Him to join and help guide them to a decision. However, these words have no doubt become some of the most misused and misunderstood that the church still struggles with since its beginning. Only God can forgive sins against Him, no man has that authority. What He is talking about here are mistakes and misdeeds done against the teachings of Jesus, or the community of believers, which is the body of Christ, for which the individual has repented and received forgiveness from God. He made this statement before He died on the cross, and He was speaking to His disciples so that they could pass it on. It was no doubt instructions for future cooperation among the leaders as the number of believers grew and grew.

Early church scholar Chromatius gives us His thinking: “How important a place the unanimity and harmony of brothers hold with God! We can know from this very fact that the Lord has clearly said that when two or three pray in unanimity, the Father affirms everything from heaven. For with God nothing is more pleasing than brotherly peace, nothing better than unanimity and harmony, according to what is written: ‘Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.’⁹ And again: ‘There is great peace among those who love your name, and there is no stumbling block for them.’¹⁰ And in another place: ‘The God who makes us live in harmony in the house.’¹¹ So Isaiah also testified: ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘our God, give us peace. For you have given us everything.’¹² That this harmony of brothers is pleasing to God, the Holy Spirit declared through Solomon, saying, ‘There are three things which are pleasing to God and men: harmony of brothers, love of one’s neighbors and the union of man and woman.’¹³ So quite rightly the Lord in this passage testifies that when two or three come together on earth, whatever they ask for, all is granted by the Father.”¹⁴

This gives a clearer picture of how we should approach what is said next in reply to Peter’s inquiry, especially since he did not ask about how to handle wrongdoings or transgressions against God, but against himself. That’s why believers must stay focused on the fact that this authority does not involve making demands of God for things that only satisfy oneself. Rather, these are requests for guidance and understanding in maintaining harmony and cooperation among the community of believers.

Another early church father sees a difference between private prayer for such things and concert prayer involving the whole body of believers. He says: “There are those who presume that the congregation of the church can be disregarded. They assert that private prayers should be preferred to those of an honorable assembly. But if Jesus denies nothing to so small a group as two or three, will he refuse those who ask for it in the assemblies and congregation of the church? This is what the prophet believed and what he exults over having obtained when he states, ‘I will confess to you, O Lord, with my whole heart, in the council and congregation of the righteous.’¹⁵ A man ‘confesses with his whole heart’ when in the council of the saints he hears that everything which he has asked will be granted him.”¹⁶

Chrysologus then goes on: “Some, however, endeavor to excuse under an appearance of faith the idleness that prompts their contempt for assemblies. They omit participation in the fervor of the assembled congregation and pretend that they have devoted to prayer the time they have expended upon their household cares. While they give themselves up to their own desires, they scorn and despise the divine service. These are the people who destroy the body of Christ. They scatter its members. They do not permit the full form of its Christ-like appearance to develop to its abundant beauty—that form which the prophet saw and then sang about: ‘You are beautiful in form above the sons of men.’¹⁷”¹⁸

He then concludes: “Individual members do indeed have their own duty of personal prayer, but they will not be able to fulfill it if they come to the beauty of that perfect body wrapped up in themselves. There is this difference between the glorious fullness of the congregation and the vanity of separation that springs out of ignorance or negligence: in salvation and honor the beauty of the whole body is found in the unity of the members.”¹⁹ It is important that these words of Jesus granting authority to His followers, once He is gone away to the Father, be understood in context.

Verse 21: Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when someone won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?”

Peter did not pick this question out of the air. He just heard Jesus talking about how to counsel an errant member of the body of believers and bring about reconciliation. This involved being willing to offer forgiveness to a repentant fellow believer and not hold grudges. Peter must have also known what the teachings of the scribes were on this subject. According to one Rabbi: “If a man commits a transgression, the first, second and third time he is forgiven, the fourth time he is not forgiven, as it is said: Here is what Adonai says: ‘For Israel’s three crimes, no, four – I will not reverse it;¹ and furthermore it says: ‘God will accomplish all these things twice, even three times, with a man.’²”³ So in Peter’s mind, since Jesus taught to go beyond the limits of the law, and since the law said forgiveness was to stop after three times, did Jesus mean to keep forgiving until the matter was finally resolved and your enemy becomes your friend. That’s what the number seven meant, completion.

Another Jewish writer says that a highly respected Rabbi passed on the same teaching to his generation by saying: “If one sins and repents and continues uprightly, he is forgiven before he stirs from the spot. But if one says, ‘I will sin and then repent,” he is forgiven up to three times, but no more.”⁴ To clarify this more, another noted Rabbi adds this commentary: “If a man transgressed a positive commandment and repented, he is forgiven on the spot before he has so much as stirred from his place. Of such it is said, ‘Return, you backsliding children.’⁵ If a man transgressed a negative commandment and repented, repentance suspends the sentence and the Day of Atonement atones. Of such it is said, ‘For on this day atonement will be made for you.’⁶”⁷

However, another venerable Rabbi commented: “When a person’s sins are being weighed against his merits, God does not count a sin that was committed only once or twice. A sin is only counted if it was committed three times or more… If his merits are equal to or greater than the amount of his sins committed which were committed more than three times, God forgives his sins one after the other, i.e., the third sin is forgiven because it is considered as a first sin, for the two previous sins were already forgiven. Similarly, after the third sin is forgiven, the fourth sin is considered as a ‘first’ sin and is forgiven according to the same principle. The same pattern is continued until all his sins are concluded.”⁸

So we can see why Peter may have been confused about what Jesus was teaching because of what he learned from the village Rabbi about forgiving another person for things they did wrong against him up until three times. So his desire to get a more specific answer from Jesus was certainly a wise move on Peter’s part. So it should be with every believer. When there is confusion among members of a congregation over a teaching they are expected to follow, go to someone who has studied God’s Word and to whom the Holy Spirit has granted the gift of discernment and see if what they share can lead to better understanding.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Part VI

Verse 16: “But if they refuse to listen, go to them again and take one or two people with you. Then there will be two or three people who will be able to tell all that happened.”

We must remind ourselves at this point, that Jesus has been conversing about how young believers, like an innocent child, can so easily be led astray by people with ulterior motives and lack of character. But like an errant sheep, don’t dismiss them as being hopelessly lost. Go in search of them, find them, and persuade them to return to the fold. However, if they resist don’t walk away and count them as unworthy of your time. Go and get some help.

Here our Lord repeats a ruling that everyone in the crowd no doubt knew about.¹ According to Jewish tradition, Rabbis taught: “When do we know that if a man sees something indecent in his neighbor, he is obliged to admonish him? Because it is said: You are obligated to rebuke.² If he rebuked him and he did not accept it, when do we know that he must rebuke him again? The text states: ‘surely rebuke’ all ways. One might assume this to be obligatory even though his face turned pale, therefore, the text states: ‘You should not tolerate sin because of him’.”³

We find this same admonition in the writings of a venerable Rabbi who said: “A person who rebukes a colleague – whether because of a wrong committed against him or because of a matter between his colleague and God – should rebuke him privately. He should speak to him patiently and gently, informing him that he is only making these statements for his colleague’s own welfare, to allow him to merit the life of the world to come. If he accepts the rebuke, it is good; if not, he should rebuke him a second and third time. Indeed, one is obligated to rebuke a colleague who does wrong until the latter strikes him and tells him: ‘I will not listen.’ Whoever has the possibility of rebuking [sinners] and fails to do so is considered responsible for that sin, for he had the opportunity to rebuke the [sinners].”⁴

British theologian John Gill⁵ shares that Johannes Buxtorf (1564-1629), Jewish professor of Hebrew at the university in Basel, Switzerland, found this passage among many of the Jewish manuscripts he examined: “The wise man says, if your friend injures you, admonish him privately: if he listens, you have already gained; if he does not listen, speak to him in the presence of one or two, who may hear the matter, and if he still will not listen consider him a ‘friend not worth keeping’.’”⁶ The point here is that Jesus was not teaching some new radical theology, but reinforcing what the Law and prophets already said. This certainly indicates that when God spoke to Abraham, Moses, and the others in the past, He did not misspeak and now would have to correct Himself through His Son. Whatever God said the first time will be exactly what He says again.

These guidelines from the Master were as much for the protection of the errant individual as it was for the mentor. After taking these extra steps, there cannot be this alibi of why it didn’t work: “I said, he said.” Think about this: Everything you say to God is heard by both the Son and Holy Spirit. That way, when the Holy Spirit convicts you of some wrong doing and you go to God for forgiveness and His Son nods in approval, it’s because all three know what happened and what action needs to be taken. So what works in heaven should work here on earth. Jesus was talking about reconciliation with the whole flock, not just the shepherd.

Verse 17: “If they refuse to listen to them, tell the congregation. And if they refuse to listen to the congregation, treat them as you would an unrepentant sinner or someone who is openly dishonest.”

This would constitute a third attempt at offering the errant individual forgiveness if they will only repent and return to the fold. If they still refused, then as friends you and the other elders have done your best, and there would be no further obligation on your part. Again, our Lord reinforces what was already taught by the Rabbis. In their writings, we read: “If his colleague does not desire to forgive him, he should bring a group of three of his friends and approach him with them and request forgiveness. If the wronged party is not appeased, he should repeat the process a second and third time. If he still does not want to forgive him, he may let him alone and need not pursue the matter further. On the contrary, the person who refuses to grant forgiveness is the one considered as the sinner.”⁷

This is good advice for every Pastor to pass on to his elders and church council. This way, it won’t be just your story that the individual was unwilling to participate in reconciliation, but also that of the witnesses. Then Jesus echoes what God the Father told Ezekiel about such unrepentant backsliders, “Then you will know that I am the LORD. It was my law that you broke. You did not obey my commands. You decided to live like the nations around you.”⁸ It is important that we take what Jesus is about to say in context with what He just said, otherwise it can easily be misinterpreted.

On the subject of excommunication, Augustine has this to add: “Don’t consider him now in the number of your brothers. However, should his salvation be neglected? For even the heathen, that is, the Gentiles and pagans, we do not consider in the number of our brothers, yet we constantly pray for their salvation.”⁹ In other words, we have the right to remove them as an influence from the congregation, but we have no right to remove them from being potential recipients of God’s grace and mercy.

Verse 18: “I can assure you that whatever you determine to be wrong here on earth, it will be wrong with God. And whatever you determine to be right here on earth, it will be right with God.”

First, we must recall what Jesus is talking about before He makes this critical statement. He has been talking about those disobedient members of the congregation who refuse to repent for things that they have done wrong, especially if it involved in leading a weaker member of the community into sin and disobedience. Even after they have been given several opportunities to make things right with God and with the congregation. This is to insure that the Body of Christ is kept holy and reverent before the Lord. Therefore, any decision that the leaders, elders, and community of believers make concerning such people will be honored by God.

Early church fathers give us their understanding of what Jesus was teaching here. For instance, Origen states: “Therefore when a person like this has been constrained and condemned by someone, they remain constrained insofar as none of those in heaven rescinds the judgment of the man by whom he was constrained. So too the man who has once been warned and does things worthy of being won back is released through the warning of the one who wins him back. He is no longer bound by the bonds of his errors for which he was warned and constrained; he will be judged by those in heaven as having been set free.”¹⁰ In other words, God through the Holy Spirit will not overrule the decision made concerning an errant and disobedient member by those in leadership after much prayer and consultation.

Then Augustine has this to say: “So the very moment you begin to hold your brother as an outsider to the covenant community, ‘you bind him on earth.’ But see to it that you bind him justly. For unjust bonds will by justice soon be burst apart.… When you have admonished him and have been ‘reconciled to your brother,’ you have thereby ‘loosed him on earth.’ And when ‘you shall have loosed him on earth, he shall be loosed in heaven’ also. So this is a weighty matter. You do this not for yourself but for him. For the harm he has done is not primarily to you but to himself.”¹¹

This is followed by early church scholar Theodore of Mopsuestia who opines: “Since Jesus shows that if they loose those who repent, their action has power since the church in heaven and on earth is one. Anyone who does not want to be loosed from the bond of his sin but draws it to himself by the alienation of the saints is alienated also from the church in heaven and accordingly is also bound by it. Hence, if one is earnest about being loosed and receives the loosing of the saints when they ‘ratify their love for him,’ as Paul teaches, he will belong in the heavenly church and be loosed from the bondage of the judgment.”¹²

Early church preacher Chrysostom then adds his insight to this discussion: “Jesus did not say to the leader of the church, ‘bind him’ but ‘if you bind him,’ leaving the whole entire decision to the one aggrieved. Only after a due process do the bonds remain unbreakable, and so he will suffer the worst fate. It is not the one who has called for accountability that is to blame but the one who had not been willing to be persuaded. Do you see how Christ has bound him with a twofold constraint, both by the chastisement here and by the punishment hereafter? He threatens the one punishment to prevent the other from happening. Thus, by fearing both rejection from the church and the threat of being bound in heaven, he may become better behaved. And knowing these things, if not at the beginning, at any rate through so many judgments he will put off his anger. For this reason, Jesus set up a first and a second and a third judging. He does not immediately cut him down, so that if he does not obey the first, he may still yield to the second. But if he rejects that too, he may still respect the third. But if he takes no account of this third danger, let him be terrified of future punishment, of God’s sentence and vengeance.”¹³

We have seen where the terms “loose and loosen” as well as “bind and bound” are synonyms for the decision by the authorities to either remove the need for punishment of an individual who has repented, or maintain the need for punishment for one who refuses to listen, after they were confronted with the evidence, counseled, and offered the opportunity to repent of errors made against the body of believers. It must be kept in that context. However, it must also be inclusive of those who repent of their errors to God and receive His forgiveness. This means, that the rules by which the body of Christ operate here on earth must not conflict with the rules by which the body of Christ is operated from heaven. Those rules have been clearly outlined in the message brought by God’s Son, to be delivered personally to all who believe in Him as their Messiah, their Savior, and their Redeemer.

Therefore, any rules of conduct made by various communities of believers here on earth that cannot be confirmed by what Jesus taught, may determine the eligibility of members of such groups, but will not be binding on their fellowship with God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. These are the things that have divided believers in the Christian faith over the centuries. But in the end, God will be the final judge.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Part V

Verse 13a: “And if he finds the lost sheep, he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 sheep that were never lost.”

Then, to show how seriously His heavenly Father considers the safety of His children, Jesus proposes a question that every one of those listening to Him could answer, some from personal experience. It is obvious that since our Lord was talking about believers being led astray, the lost sheep became a symbol of a lost believer. Even the Psalmist says of himself, “I have wandered away like a lost sheep”.¹

The prophet Isaiah uses the same language, “We had all wandered away like sheep. We had gone our own way.”² To the prophet Jeremiah, God says, “My people have been like lost sheep.”³ And to the prophet Ezekiel the LORD promises, “I will search for the lost sheep. I will bring back the sheep that were scattered and put bandages on the sheep that were hurt.”⁴ This was because the heart of God was troubled because He had said, “My flock wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My flock was scattered over all the face of the earth. There was no one to search or to look for them.”⁵

Epiphanius gives us an interesting commentary on this verse: “No one is more truly a shepherd than Christ our God. One of His sheep has strayed. It is not the fault of the shepherd but of the sheep that had strayed from its flock. This one sheep is the man Adam, whom in the beginning the Lord had created in His image and likeness. This one strayed from the company of the angels by sinning, and through him, the entire human race strayed from God. Our Lord seeks to recall all humanity from death to life. For it was for us that He went to death so that He might make us alive, these who had died. For He rejoiced even more over the hundredth sheep that was lost than over the ninety and nine. The patriarch of a hundred years, Abraham, had faith in God, and from his faith was held righteous. He received back his one and only son Isaac. Thus, Abraham was called, because of his faith, father of the nations.”⁶

Verses 13b-14: “I can assure you, in the same way, your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost.”

Again, our Lord refers to the young believer in the flock. This certainly offers an explanation for what Jesus has to say next about the rejoicing that takes place when the lost sheep is found. The point that seems to confuse most believers is that the shepherd rejoices more over the one errant sheep that either wandered away or was lead away, than over the 99 faithful ones who remained obedient. This is caused by misunderstanding the reason for the rejoicing. Let’s put it in context by using a different illustration.

Imagine a beach where children are playing in the water while the parents or guardians watch from the shore. All of the kids had been warned not to wade out beyond a certain point because the waves are bigger and there is a sudden drop-off. Suddenly there are screams and lifeguards are seen running toward the water with their equipment. Everyone looks and sees a child who aimlessly followed others out into deep water and is now unable to swim back to shore on its own. Once the child is secured and returned safely to the beach, the rejoicing by the mother or father over this rescue does not mean they were unhappy with those kids who did as they were told. As a matter of fact, the other children will join in greeting their sibling back to shore. The same with this errant sheep. Not only God the Father and the angels but the other 99 believers also rejoice over their wandering comrade being brought to safety.

Zephaniah saw this when he said, “The Lord your God is with you. He is like a powerful soldier. He will save you. He will show how much He loves you and how happy He is with you. He will laugh and be happy about you.”⁷ But that does not mean He doesn’t rejoice over the faithful who have remained obedient. Christ by no means made this statement to belittle the faithful. He merely expressed the idea that when a lost sinner is recovered it brings rejoicing in heaven. The emphasis here is on the recovered sheep’s change of status and the faithful sheep’s constant state. This rejoicing by no means enhances the glow of the one who proved vagrant and aimless, nor does it diminish the luster of ones trustworthy and true.

Jesus is pointing out the joy of the moment. The faithful sheep will be rewarded by heaven’s rejoicing one day which will be shone to them in full measure. Everyone has at one time or another experienced the euphoria of finding something that was lost. Can you imagine anyone not being able to see the difference between the exuberant joy of a person who found their lost wallet in a parking lot and why they did not show the same ecstatic emotion over finding their car in the spot where they originally parked it? Or can you not discern the significance of a mother’s joy and excitement in having their child returned after getting lost on the way home from school, and her contentment with the other children who made it okay and are safe at home? With this parable Jesus in no way disparages those sheep who were obedient and faith to the shepherd’s call that led them home. He is trying to express the joy of the moment when the one who was lost was recovered and returned to the fold.

Chrysostom preaches on this subject and says: “Do you see in how many ways He leads us to care for our less esteemed brothers? Don’t, therefore, say, ‘That fellow is only a blacksmith, a shoemaker, a farmer; he’s uneducated,’ so that you despise him. In case you suffer the same, see in how many ways the Lord urges you to be moderate and enjoins you to care for these little ones. He placed a little child in the midst and said, ‘Become like children,’ and, ‘Whoever receives one such child, receives me.’ But ‘whoever causes one of these to sin’ will suffer the worst fate. And He was not even satisfied with the example of the millstone, but He also added His curse and told us to cut off such people, even though they are like a hand or eye to us. And again, through the angels to whom these small brothers are handed over, He urges that we value them, as He has valued them through His own will and passion. When Jesus says, ‘The Son of man came to save the lost,’⁸ He points to the cross, just as Paul also says, writing about his brother for whom Christ died.⁹ It does not please the Father that anyone is lost. The shepherd leaves the ones that have been saved and seeks the one lost. And when he finds the one that has gone astray, he rejoices greatly at its discovery and at its safety.”¹⁰

Verses 15: “If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, go and tell them what they did wrong. Do this when you are alone with them. If they listen to you, then you have helped them to be your brother or sister again.”

Now our Lord takes this same theme and applies it to how the ninety-nine believers should treat the one misguided sheep. After all, their Rabbis taught: “He who publicly puts his neighbor to shame has no portion in the world to come.”¹¹ When God spoke to Moses about how to deal with wrongdoers, He gave him these rules: “You are guilty of sin against the LORD when you do any of these things: when you lie about what happened to something you were taking care of for someone else; when you lie about a deposit you received; when you steal something; when you cheat someone; when you find something that was lost and lie about having it; when you fail to keep a promise; or when you do any other bad things like these. If you do any of these things, you are guilty of doing wrong. You must give back whatever you stole or whatever you took by cheating. You must return whatever you took that another person asked you to hold, or whatever you found and lied about having, or whatever you made a false promise about. You must pay the full price and then add one-fifth of that amount as a fine and give it all to the true owner”.¹²

Verse 2 here in the Jewish Text of Leviticus, is actually verse 9 in the Christian Text. It talks about the law of the burnt-offering for these kinds of sins. It states: “The burnt offering must stay in the fireplace of the altar all night until morning. The altar’s fire must be kept burning.”¹³ One Jewish commentator states: “God is thus understood as spending the entire night with the children of Israel.”¹⁴ From a Christian perspective, it would permissible to believe that this could be a call for everyone to stay near the altar of repentance lest something may cause them to go astray, so they can have quick access to the power in the blood of the Lamb of God to purge such temptation before it can take root.

Later on, He gives Moses some more instructions: “Don’t secretly hate any of your neighbors. But tell them openly what they have done wrong so that you will not be just as guilty of sin as they are. Forget about the wrong things people do to you. Don’t try to get even. Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD”.¹⁵ King David had the right attitude when it came to being counseled, “If good people correct me, I will consider it a good thing. If they criticize what I’ve done, I will accept it like a warm welcome.”¹⁶ But there was the other side of the counseling. That was the responsibility of the counselor. Solomon gave this advice, “If you want to tell your friends about your own problems, tell them. But don’t discuss what someone told you in private. Whoever hears it will lose their respect for you and will never trust you again.”¹⁷

This is the basic rule of confidentiality. This led Solomon to conclude, “Those who dispense wisdom, help give others a new start.”¹⁸ The prophesy that God would send another prophet just like Moses¹⁹ is borne out here by Jesus’ advice. When this happens, it is best to take a positive restorative view of those who may have erred rather than a negative punitive view. Don’t allow your inquiry to become an interrogation instead of an interview. For instance, rather than asking the individual: “Why did you do this? How could you do something like that, when you knew it was wrong? What have you got to say for yourself?” say to them: “I’m here for you? I want to help you carry your burden? Give me the privilege and joy of walking with you so we can get back on the right road again.”

If you are a pastor or church elder, you must first inform them why you are at their side. You can begin by saying: I’ve heard that you may be involved in something that is contrary to your faith. But I will not believe it unless I know more about it and hear you explain it to me. I don’t want to try and handle this based on second-hand information because you are much too valuable a person to me and our church. Whatever you confess to me is between us and God. We can pray for whatever guidance we need from the Lord right here. But I must also tell you, that if it does affect the reputation of the church, then the leaders will need to be informed in a confidential way of your confession and forgiveness from God. This would no doubt fit the model that Moses was given. But then our Lord adds a New Testament perspective for believers to follow.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Part IV

Verse 9: “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better for you to have only one eye and have eternal life than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of Hades.”

At this point, let us remind ourselves that the term being used by Jesus for the fiery place of torment was called in Aramaic “Gehenna,”¹ and translated into Greek as “géenna.” This was a reference to a valley SE of Jerusalem owned by the son of Hinnom. Here, an idol to the god Moloch was built in the form of a bull. Sacrifices were made there to Moloch, including little children. Later, it became such an abhorred place that King Josiah abolished it and ordered that it become a trash dump and place for the dead bodies of animals, as well as, the dead bodies of unburied criminals who had been executed.² In Jewish teachings, this name Gehenna was then transferred to a special place in Hades where the wicked would go after they died to suffer punishment for their godless and unrighteous life.³ Remember, Jesus is talking to Jews and understood their perception of what Gehenna in Hades stood for.⁴

Now, not only did Chrysostom see these physical attributes mentioned by Jesus as being part of God’s family as a body, but so did another early church father. Theologian Origen had this to say about the function of these members being part of the church body. He writes: “If somebody, in the whole body of the congregations of the church, is industrious and handy for practical action and he changes and his hand causes him to sin, the eye should say to this hand, ‘I have no need of you.’ And after it has said it, let him cut it off and throw it from him. All will still be well if his head is still blessed and his feet worthy of his blessed head, so that the head, doing its duty, may not be able to say to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ But if some foot is found which is a temptation to sin for the whole body, the head should say to this foot, ‘I have no need of you,’ and should cut it off and throw it away from him.”⁵

Origen then continues: “It is far better for the rest of the body to go on into life lacking the foot or hand that offers temptation to sin than for the whole body to be exposed to temptation and to be sent into eternal fire with two whole feet or hands. Likewise it is good if what could be the eye of the whole body shows itself worthy of Christ and of the whole body. But if at some time it happens that this eye so changes that it becomes a temptation to sin for the whole body, it will be better for it to be ripped out and thrown from the whole body … than for the whole body together with the soul to be condemned.”⁶

 Over one hundred years later, another church scholar echoes these same thoughts: “This sentence of the Lord can faithfully be understood about any one of us. Yet in cutting off a hand or foot or in plucking out an eye, it is clear that family relations or unbelieving ministers and leaders of the church are signified. And so by ‘hand’ we understand that priests are signified; like a hand their work in every area is necessary to the body of the church, about whom we find it written in the Song of Solomon: ‘his arms’—that is, the body of the church—’are rounded gold set with jewels.’¹ By ‘foot’ we recognize that deacons are signified. In busying themselves with the sacred mysteries of the church they serve the body like feet, about which it is written in the same Song of Solomon: ‘His legs are alabaster columns, set upon bases of gold.’² And so, if hands or feet of this sort, that is, any priest or deacon, either through heretical faith or through depraved living, has become a stumbling block to the church, the Lord orders that such a man be plucked from the body of the church and thrown out. The example of his life and heretical doctrine endangers all the body of the church, that is, the whole people when it follows or imitates such doctrine.”³

But let us put this teaching in context for a better understanding. It all started out in verse one with the question from His disciples as to who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus used a little child to illustrate that no matter how young or vulnerable a believer may be, they are just as important as anyone else in God’s kingdom. Furthermore, in verse six Jesus says that anyone who contributes to a young believer falling into temptation will be treated with the greatest of punishment. For such people, it would be better if they were carried out into the sea and dropped overboard with a stone around their necks. Then in verse seven, He warns that everyone will suffer because of the actions of such people. Therefore, it will be very bad for these people in the end. Then Jesus begins talking about how anything that leads a person into temptation and sin should be gotten rid of. First the hands and feet, now the eyes. As Chromatius applies this to the body of Christ, he believes that these hands, feet, and eyes are metaphors for errant members of the church that are the cause for such temptation. Now our Lord gets back to the importance of young believers.

Verse 10: “Be careful. Don’t think these little children are not important. I tell you that these children have angels in heaven. And those angels are always with my Father in heaven.”

This certainly would not sound strange to the Jesus’ Jewish audience, especially if they read what David had to say about angels.¹⁰ In other places, Rabbis talked about “Ministering angels;”¹¹ “rescuing angels;”¹² “blessing angels;”¹³ angels that “level the way for them;”¹⁴ “punishing angels;”¹⁵ Also, in their own apocalyptic writings we read: “And the third voice I heard pray and intercede for those who dwell on the earth and supplicate in the name of the Lord of Spirits.”¹⁶ It goes on to say that the one, “who is set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men, is Raphael.”¹⁷ Later on, Enoch wrote: “I swear unto you, that in heaven the angels remember you for good before the glory of the Great One.”¹⁸

And in an apocryphal scripture, written either during or shortly after our Lord’s ascension, we read: “Next to this are the angels that serve in God’s presence, and seek His favor for the lack of knowledge among the righteous; by offering to the Lord the sweet savor of a reasonable service, a sacrifice without blood.”¹⁹ But, say the Rabbis, “One angel does not perform two missions, nor do two angels together perform one mission.”²⁰ As much as we use the phrase “guardian angel” today, no one knows how close we are to the reality of such beings assigned by God to His children. I know from personal experience there have been several times when my survival could only be accounted for by such a heavenly servant.

Again, Chromatius gives us his thoughts on this verse. He writes: “For just as the Lord commands that unbelieving and treacherous persons who are a stumbling block to the body of the church should be cut off or plucked out, so He also warns us not to despise any of the little children, that is, humble people in the laity who simply and faithfully believe in the Son of God. For it is not right to despise anyone who believes in Christ. A believer is called not only a servant of God but also a son through the grace of adoption, to whom the kingdom of heaven and the company of the angels is promised. How much grace the Lord has toward each one believing in Him He himself declares when He shows their angels always beholding the face of the Father who is in heaven. Great is the grace of the angels toward all who believe in Christ. Finally, the angels carry their prayers to heaven. Around them there is also the strong guard of the angels; they help each of us to be free from the traps of the enemy. For a human in his weakness could not be safe amid so many forceful attacks of that enemy if he were not strengthened by the help of the angels.”²¹

Here we have a very enlightening teaching by Jesus on the role of angels in the life of the believer. Luke records where Jesus remarks how there is great rejoicing by angels in heaven over such a lost one being found.²² This echoes what the Psalmist said: “He will command His angels to protect you wherever you go.”²³ So, not only do believers have their heavenly Father watching over them; their heavenly intercessor, God’s Son, looking out for them; God’s Holy Spirit comforting them as their guide; but also angels assigned to watch out for any stumbling blocks in their path. So why do so many get lost? It’s because, while God is watching out for them they are not watching out for God. Thus, Jesus continues His teaching on how important every believer is to the Father.

Verse 11: (The Son of Man came to save what was lost.)

This verse is missing in many of the newer English translations since the KJV was published in 1611. The reason given by translators is that it is missing in many of the best Greek manuscripts. Several reasons for this is given. One of them involves the flow of the narrative. In verse 10, Jesus is the speaker and He is talking about how even the youngest of believers are guarded by the angels in heaven. In verse 12, Jesus is the speaker and He begins to tell the parable of the lost sheep. But in verse 11, the speaker is talking about Jesus as the one who came to seek the lost. Many commentators and translators see this as either a comment made by Matthew, or by the one who was putting his Hebrew manuscript into Greek, or by a person who was copying this manuscript that may have written it in the margin that later found its way into the text.

We find these same words in Luke 19:10 that were spoken by Jesus, while He was visiting in the house of Zacchaeus the chief tax collector after this Publican pledged to give up to half of his possessions should it be proven that he had cheated anyone. This has led some commentators to argue for the inclusion of this verse in the text here in Matthew. The main point in this issue is that by leaving it out or including it in the narrative should not be seen by anyone as manipulative on the part of the translators. They looked for the oldest and most dependable ancient manuscripts to translate and made their decision on that basis. The fact that it is found elsewhere in Scripture certainly helps to emphasize the point Jesus was making here.

Verse 12: “Let me ask you this. If a man has 100 sheep, but one of the sheep is missing, will he not leave the other 99 sheep on the hill and go out looking for the missing sheep?”

This form of questioning was common among Jewish teachers.²⁴ They often sought the opinion of others for two reasons. First, to see if they concur with what they are teaching. And second, if they do not agree, then correct them. But in this case, I believe our Lord was only asking if what He was saying did not meet the criteria of common sense. Also, our Lord’s choice of one hundred sheep was not an arbitrary number.

This was a designation for a flock in Jewish writings, as we can see from the story of the man from Meron in Galilee, who decided to give away his property near Jerusalem as a gift. In his instructions he specified: “Its northern side [shall be given] to X, and [together] with it a hundred sheep and a hundred barrels; and its southern side [shall be given] to Y, and together with it a hundred sheep and a hundred barrels.”²⁵

Jerome had this to say about God’s care for even the smallest of His sheep: “This, some say, is the shepherd ‘who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.’²⁶ For that reason, He descended to earth: to save the one sheep that had perished, that is, the human race. Others think that by the ninety-nine sheep should be understood the number of the righteous and by the one sheep the number of the sinners, according to what He said in another place: ‘I have come not to call the righteous but the sinners; for it is not the healthy who have need of the physician but those who are ill.’²⁷”²⁸

It is clear that Jesus was using an illustration right out of everyday life for people in Israel. At that time, the hills were dotted with sheep being herded together for grazing and watched over by shepherds, most of whom were hired hands or the children of the owner. The point is, no matter how small or large the flock each sheep is counted worthy of being rescued at all cost. In other words, when one sheep gets lost or goes astray, the shepherd doesn’t console himself by saying, “Oh well, I still have 99 sheep left, so I guess I can afford to lose one.” In God’s eyes, not even one is worth losing.

So putting all this into context, Jesus was talking about how important believers are to their Father in heaven, especially those who are just beginning their lives as a new creation. They should be protected and cared for as they mature. And God help anyone who either through recklessness or purposefully causes even one of them to backslide into their previous sinful lifestyle. He was so insistent, that what He said can be applied to the whole body of Christ, if any member of your body, be they an eye, arm, hand, etc., in their service to the congregation, are found out to be the cause of any other member falling away into doubt and unbelief, get rid of them. Furthermore, even if it is only one out of a hundred, do not wait to go looking for them because each one counts.