When I ended my last post I was just about to start telling you about what I learned in my study of Matthew 18: 10-14. I now have a bit of time to share all of the really great insights I gained by studying this passage. So if you are one of the two inquiring minds that want to know than lets unpack this baby..........
Lets start with reading the verses again:
Matthew 18:10-14 (ESV)
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. 11 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.
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. 11 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.
I am going to start with what the passage spoke to me before I ever started this study. I will include the things that I gleened from the other sources that I listed in the previous post in my own words. I added three additional sources to the previous list. A commentary on these specific verses from John MacArthur and one from bible gateway as well as one by Dr. Knox Chamblin. This will basically be the book of Matthew as interpreted by Matthew (thats me) then we will go on to the specifics that I learned and the greater minds that helped in that process.
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 have any ill will towards another brother or sister in Christ. Do not do anything that will hurt them in any way. This is not speaking of new Christians but all Christians as we are referred to as the children of God and how would we be able to determine the depth or breadth of an individuals walk with Christ or understanding. This means not talking bad about them, creating road blocks for their growth, withholding something from them that they need, whether it be information, wisdom, or physical things that they may need. If we have the means to fulfill the need we should do it. Looking down on them because we know more or have been a "Christian Longer". Not allowing them to fellowship with us (join our click) until they meet certain criteria. Allowing them to sin with out going to them in love. Not helping them find ways to serve others and the Lord or developing their gifts to serve. Taking advantage of them, looking down on them because they are younger or older and many other things that I am sure you can come up with. People all around us treat others this way the last thing a Christian should do to another Christian is to treat each other the way we expect the world to treat us. Because if you mistreat another believer we all have angles that are in the direct presence of God and will intervene on our behalf. They will respond to what ever the Father tells them in ministering to those that have been mistreated it certainly implies that there will be a cost to pay for the mistreatment and that it will not go unnoticed. This means that regardless of what we do to other believers God is going to ensure that they are taken care of and since he is a God of justice as well. There is going to be consequence for the offending brother or sister.
verse 11 is not in the ESV translation and many others it is not there for a reason. I don't want to take up space explaining why some translations include it and others don't. It doesn't change the remaining context of the scripture either way.
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?
This verse seems to be a quote from the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15: 1-7 but we have to take a moment to look at the context it was given. This is Jesus speaking to the disciples, this is the first instruction to the church of that time. This was even before the instruction of the great commission. This is Jesus speaking personally to them about the standards in which Christians should operate in. While the example is the same as in Luke.... Shepard and sheep...... there is no reason to tie the two together as the audience in which he was speaking to are totally different. Knowing that these are instructions for the church or to the church Jesus is speaking to give an example of how the disciples as leaders should tend to the believers in the church. If one should stray they should go after him. Shepherding was a common task back then. People could relate to that example because it was a way of life and they knew the value that was placed on the flock. They also knew the actions and effort that would be put forth by a shepherd in the care of his sheep. We are talking about an existing group of 100 sheep that one was already a part of that group and has now left the fold. Mind you these are instruction to the disciples for the church. In Luke he is speaking of the flock of sheep as all of restored humanity and that the lost sheep is the sinner separated from God. They are the same example so to speak but the point being made is not exactly the same. In addition the audience it totally different. This example is used to emphasis that they would go search for them, it doesn't even imply that they will be successful in bringing them back only that a shepherd worth his salt would give it a shot and go after them. One other thing to note it does not give merit to why the sheep left. It doesn't say that it left because of willful rebellion, or because of some other reason or specifically that the sheep was sinning in the process or that it was sin that caused it to leave. (when I use sheep here I am now transferring that metaphorically to mean believers just in case you were thinking..... sheep can't sin they are sheep) It states that a shepherd would go after a sheep that once was there and now no longer was there. Now this not only means the leaders of the church, but it should mean all believers if you were in fellowship with a believer and they left for reasons other than a call to serve God in another location, such as the reasons listed earlier in my previous post. The sheep now in there separation for reasons that have to be determined as anything other than positive are now open to all of the pitfalls of the world...... they are vulnerable and more suspect to backsliding, sinning and falling pray to the wolves of the world. A shepherd would never have that, he would risk going after them because of the great loss of the sheep. How much greater is the loss of a believer from the fellowship, I am not implying that they would loose there salvation but they would be subject to more perils of the world as we are to come together as believers.
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.
And if he finds it.... it doesn't say that he will find it, that his efforts will be successful that him going will even make a difference...... what it does say is GO because the result of finding them is such a big issue that it will be even more joyous than the existence or the presence of the 99 that were left behind. It is one thing to have but to recover what is lost is glorious. Did I mention that these instructions were given to the disciples and that the entire chapter is instruction for the church. This is not talking about seeking lost souls for Christ this is talking about maintaining the believers. The Church that Christ is establishing as his bride and the members of that body that make up His bride. If you cannot take care of what has been entrusted to you how do you ever expect to be entrusted with more?
14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
this verse could imply that you could lose your salvation, as perish is used many times to indicate those that are sinners and separated from God. John 3:16 comes to mind as a good example of the way the word perish is used. I am not going to debate that one way or another. It is far to deep to get into here at this time and will be of no avail to anyone. Even if it is speaking of the physical death and not the (spiritual death) of the sheep (believers) do to the increased difficulty of navigating the perils of the world alone. It is sufficiant to say that God does not want us to be in those circumstances. If God does not want us to be in those circumstances than why would we knowing fail to act when one of our brothers or sisters, in Christ, is in peril.... is in a dangerous position and is no longer in fellowship with other believers.
So that is what I have learned from this study. Surprisingly enough it is pretty much what I got from the scripture before the study. There were a lot of little details that were brought to the for front that helped to solidify my understanding of what was intended. In addition it is edifying to read what other brothers in Christ are getting from this scripture. Especially those that have the so called credentials to be honored by man. I am sure there are some out there that may disagree, because of that very reason, my next post will be the specific points that stood out from each of the resources that helped me along the way in this study.
Until next time. What do you think is missing from learnings from this. Is there something that I may have overlooked or that is a significant detail that is special that I might be missing?
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?
This verse seems to be a quote from the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15: 1-7 but we have to take a moment to look at the context it was given. This is Jesus speaking to the disciples, this is the first instruction to the church of that time. This was even before the instruction of the great commission. This is Jesus speaking personally to them about the standards in which Christians should operate in. While the example is the same as in Luke.... Shepard and sheep...... there is no reason to tie the two together as the audience in which he was speaking to are totally different. Knowing that these are instructions for the church or to the church Jesus is speaking to give an example of how the disciples as leaders should tend to the believers in the church. If one should stray they should go after him. Shepherding was a common task back then. People could relate to that example because it was a way of life and they knew the value that was placed on the flock. They also knew the actions and effort that would be put forth by a shepherd in the care of his sheep. We are talking about an existing group of 100 sheep that one was already a part of that group and has now left the fold. Mind you these are instruction to the disciples for the church. In Luke he is speaking of the flock of sheep as all of restored humanity and that the lost sheep is the sinner separated from God. They are the same example so to speak but the point being made is not exactly the same. In addition the audience it totally different. This example is used to emphasis that they would go search for them, it doesn't even imply that they will be successful in bringing them back only that a shepherd worth his salt would give it a shot and go after them. One other thing to note it does not give merit to why the sheep left. It doesn't say that it left because of willful rebellion, or because of some other reason or specifically that the sheep was sinning in the process or that it was sin that caused it to leave. (when I use sheep here I am now transferring that metaphorically to mean believers just in case you were thinking..... sheep can't sin they are sheep) It states that a shepherd would go after a sheep that once was there and now no longer was there. Now this not only means the leaders of the church, but it should mean all believers if you were in fellowship with a believer and they left for reasons other than a call to serve God in another location, such as the reasons listed earlier in my previous post. The sheep now in there separation for reasons that have to be determined as anything other than positive are now open to all of the pitfalls of the world...... they are vulnerable and more suspect to backsliding, sinning and falling pray to the wolves of the world. A shepherd would never have that, he would risk going after them because of the great loss of the sheep. How much greater is the loss of a believer from the fellowship, I am not implying that they would loose there salvation but they would be subject to more perils of the world as we are to come together as believers.
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.
And if he finds it.... it doesn't say that he will find it, that his efforts will be successful that him going will even make a difference...... what it does say is GO because the result of finding them is such a big issue that it will be even more joyous than the existence or the presence of the 99 that were left behind. It is one thing to have but to recover what is lost is glorious. Did I mention that these instructions were given to the disciples and that the entire chapter is instruction for the church. This is not talking about seeking lost souls for Christ this is talking about maintaining the believers. The Church that Christ is establishing as his bride and the members of that body that make up His bride. If you cannot take care of what has been entrusted to you how do you ever expect to be entrusted with more?
14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
this verse could imply that you could lose your salvation, as perish is used many times to indicate those that are sinners and separated from God. John 3:16 comes to mind as a good example of the way the word perish is used. I am not going to debate that one way or another. It is far to deep to get into here at this time and will be of no avail to anyone. Even if it is speaking of the physical death and not the (spiritual death) of the sheep (believers) do to the increased difficulty of navigating the perils of the world alone. It is sufficiant to say that God does not want us to be in those circumstances. If God does not want us to be in those circumstances than why would we knowing fail to act when one of our brothers or sisters, in Christ, is in peril.... is in a dangerous position and is no longer in fellowship with other believers.
So that is what I have learned from this study. Surprisingly enough it is pretty much what I got from the scripture before the study. There were a lot of little details that were brought to the for front that helped to solidify my understanding of what was intended. In addition it is edifying to read what other brothers in Christ are getting from this scripture. Especially those that have the so called credentials to be honored by man. I am sure there are some out there that may disagree, because of that very reason, my next post will be the specific points that stood out from each of the resources that helped me along the way in this study.
Until next time. What do you think is missing from learnings from this. Is there something that I may have overlooked or that is a significant detail that is special that I might be missing?
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