Matthew 18 Commentary
What you see is what you get, so goes a computer adage. Not so with the word of God. “Seventy-seven times” for the number of times you must forgive your brother doesn’t exactly mean you have a counter – you start counting down before you can happily ‘sort them out’.
The parable of the unforgiving servant tells us more. Yes, it is about the count-down watch but also about the amount of the debt. Ten thousand talents of gold worth of debt is forgiven. Cancelled. The volume of this debt is infinitely larger than a hundred coins of silver worth of debt. What God has forgiven in you is infinitely larger than the small offense against you by your brother.
Ever itching to share information about a scandal? If a brother or sister sins in church, how do you keep it between the two of you? Never mind the process of restoration!
Tell your wife who in turn shares it with her best friend. Before you know it, the entire church is aware. And you haven’t even made an appointment to meet up! Can Christianity be any simpler!
Who wouldn’t understand that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for you to go to heaven! Keep information about a sister who has sinned to yourself, what a huge ask! Impossible task!
Do you still want to find out who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Are you still in the queue?
They shout at each other, fight, and a minute later are seen laughing and playing together like nothing happened! All is fine until one intelligent parent shows up with a holier instruction: “Don’t play with that boy again!” And she is a believer! The natural man is unforgiving. We mistake it for protection. We want to punish mistakes by exclusion, isolation, or even hate. Children are not like that. They model the expected posture of the humble saint.
These teachings fall hard on the reader! We are however comforted that what is impossible with man is possible with God. The more we yield the better we become! The impossible becomes possible! We can actually love. We can forgive. We can be humble.
The definition, and probably the description of the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is shocking. No titles or offices here. Forget the achievements, great or otherwise small with little impact; the greatest has the shape of a child. The requirements for this qualification aren’t impossible at all! Affordable by all. It is what the Holy Spirit freely gives!
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