Matthew 18:1-20 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; ⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

⁷ “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

⁸ “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. ⁹ If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ¹¹ For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

¹² “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? ¹³ If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

¹⁵ “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

In today’s text Jesus says:   “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”     The world, that is the world systems not the physical earth, has stumbling blocks. These are not physical rocks and stones which cause people to trip and fall, but rather they are human philosophies and false doctrines. While they are not physical rocks or blocks, they do come in various forms and sizes. For the most part though for something to be a stumbling block, it is not a huge obvious lie. A person cannot stumble over a boulder. Stumbling blocks are not found by those who are far off the right path. Rather they are things hidden along the right way, little, seemingly harmless inaccuracies and deceptions which as Jesus says cause:   “these little ones who believe in Me to stumble”     It is important to note that Jesus is speaking about causing believers to stumble. Obviously there are stumbling blocks in the world, but Jesus warning here is to those who would cause believers to stumble. This warning then should be of particular interest to all who are leaders, teachers, mentors and even to all who are parents. The extremes of stumbling blocks may range from legalism, which adds human regulations and religious tradition to God’s ways; to the other extreme which would be lawlessness, ignoring, condoning, tolerating even encouraging sin in the lives of believers. Jesus says:   “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” Considering the warning Jesus gives, perhaps that’s why James says:  Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. (James 3:1-2)    Still we cannot avoid who and what we are and what we are called to be. Each one of us will have some in our lives who we are teachers and mentors to. We influence them by what we say and what we don’t say, by what we do and what we don’t do. We can only guide others on the right path if we ourselves are watching out for stumbling blocks.

Jesus says:  “See that you do not despise one of these little ones…For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”  Jesus then gives this illustration:    “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”    The way many today project that Jesus would prefer the world rather than the church, they must read into the story that the man did not return the lost sheep to the fold, but rather allowed that sheep to remain lost. Jesus came to save what was lost. The rejoicing is over the lost being found and returned to the fold. It is not the will of the Father who is in heaven that any should perish. It does no good for those who have gone astray if believers are unwilling to show them the right path. We are not to hold them while they die, but rather to carry them to the loving arms of the Father where in Christ they can live.

Jesus shares another teaching which many today would eliminate from their version of His teaching. He says:   “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”      The Gentiles, tax collectors and sinners are the very ones Jesus was criticized for associating with, yet here He says, they have no place among believers. Again the world has its stumbling blocks, but we should not have them in the church. Jesus came to seek and save, to take us from the things which harm us. It is important though that we also recognize that Jesus says: “If your brother sins…” not if your brother offends or annoys you, not if your brother does something you don’t like, sings or prays differently, but if he sins. He also does not say if he sinned. It is also not the previous sin of our brother that we should continue to confront. Ephesians 4:32 says:  Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.    If God has redeemed, reconciled and restored someone, who are we to question what God has forgiven?   

Today’s text ends with Jesus teaching us about the power of agreement. He says:  “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.  “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”   Jesus will come and join us when and where we gather in His name, but He will not remain where there is legalism or lawlessness. Our agreement with each other cannot override the agreement of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, thank You for guiding me on the straight path. Your  word, Your example and Your indwelling presence show me the way. May I too lead others on the right path, clear of stumbling blocks, the path which leads to the cross, where there is forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation and restoration.   Amen.