1736 | Matthew 18:17
or two oth ers along, so that‘ ev ery mat ter may be es tab lished by the tes ti mony of two or three witnesses.’ a k 17 If they still refuse to lis ten, tell it to the church; l and if they refuse to
lis ten even to the church, treat them as you would a pa gan or a tax col lec tor. m 18“ Truly I tell you, what ever you bind on earth will be b bound in heaven, and what ever you loose on earth will be b loosed in heaven. n
19“ Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about any thing they ask for, it will be done for them o by my Fa ther in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Pe ter came to Jesus and asked,“ Lord, how many times shall I for give my brother or sis ter who sins against me? p Up to seven times?” q 22 Jesus an swered,“ I tell you, not seven times, but sev enty-seven times. c r 23“ There fore, the king dom of heaven is like s a king who wanted to set tle ac counts t with his ser vants. 24 As he be gan the set tle ment, a man who owed him ten thou sand bags of gold d was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, u the mas ter or dered that he and his wife and his chil dren and all that he had be sold v to re pay the debt.
26“ At this the ser vant fell on his knees be fore him. w‘ Be pa tient with me,’ he begged,‘ and I will pay back ev ery thing.’ 27 The ser vant’ s mas ter took pity on him, can celed the debt and let him go.
28“ But when that ser vant went out, he found one of his fel low ser vants who owed him a hundred silver coins. e
He grabbed him and be gan to choke him.‘ Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29“ His fel low ser vant fell to his knees and begged him,‘ Be pa tient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30“ But he re fused. In stead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison un til he could pay the debt. 31 When the other ser vants saw what had hap pened, they were out raged and went and told their mas ter ev ery thing that had hap pened.
32“ Then the mas ter called the ser vant in.‘ You wicked ser vant,’ he said,‘ I can celed all that debt of yours be cause you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’ t you have had mercy on your fellow ser vant just as I had on you?’ 34 In an ger his mas ter handed him over to the jail ers to be tor tured, un til he should pay back all he owed.
35“ This is how my heav enly Fa ther will treat each of you un less you for give your brother or sis ter from your heart.” x
18:16 k Nu 35:30; Dt 17:6; 19:15; Jn 8:17; 2Co 13:1; 1Ti 5:19; Heb 10:28
18:17 l 1Co 6:1-6 m Ro 16:17; 2Th 3:6, 14
18:18 n Mt 16:19; Jn 20:23
18:19 o Mt 7:7
18:21 p Mt 6:14 q Lk 17:4
18:22 r Ge 4:24
18:23 s Mt 13:24 t Mt 25:19
18:25 u Lk 7:42 v Lev 25:39; 2Ki 4:1;
Ne 5:5, 8 18:26 w Mt 8:2
18:35 x Mt 6:14; Jas 2:13 a 16 Deut. 19:15 b 18 Or will have been c 22 Or seventy times seven d 24 Greek ten thousand talents; a talent was
worth about 20 years of a day laborer’ s wages. e 28 Greek a hundred denarii; a denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer( see 20:2).
lavish forgiveness, limited only by human unwillingness to forgive. Tucked between these two sections, Jesus’ commands about unlimited forgiveness( vv. 21 – 22) must refer to situations when there is genuine repentance( cf. Luke 17:3 – 4). 18:15 – 20 As throughout the NT, the goal of all Christian discipline is restoration and rehabilitation, not retribution. 18:15 The best manuscripts omit“ against you” after“ if your brother or sister sins”; however, this inclusion clarifies the text’ s meaning( cf. v. 21; see the second NIV text note on v. 15). 18:16 This procedure comes from Deut 19:15. Taking“ one or two” people with you adds up to“ two or three.” witnesses. Not eyewitnesses of the sin, but those who can testify as to how the attempt at reconciliation goes. 18:17 pagan... tax collector. Jesus regularly treats them with remarkable compassion. But he does not treat them as disciples until they repent. The removal of fellowship depicted here does not mean having no further contact with a person; rather it means not allowing them to retain positions reserved for Christians until they repent. 18:18 – 19 See note on 16:19. Here the application seems restricted to church discipline( cf. John 20:23). Note that the promise given to Peter in 16:19 is here given to the Twelve.
18:20 where two or three gather. While Christ is present in even the smallest gathering of his people, his point in this context is that heaven is in accord( v. 19) with believers who follow his instructions regarding church discipline. two or three. Corresponds to the two or three witnesses of v. 16. 18:21 – 35 The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. In light of the teaching on church discipline immediately preceding in vv. 15 – 20, Peter asks Jesus about the extent of forgiveness( vv. 21 – 22). In the follow-up parable( vv. 23 – 35), Jesus’ central point is that forgiven people forgive. Those who refuse to forgive comparatively paltry offenses show that they have never truly appropriated God’ s far more lavish forgiveness. 18:22 seventy-seven times. Seems to be a more likely translation than“ seventy times seven.” Either way, the point is not to withhold forgiveness on the 78th( or 491st) offense. The numbers 77 and 490 are multiples of 7, the Jewish number of completeness. But Luke 17:3 – 4 shows that this kind of forgiveness requires repentance, which in turn refers to a change of behavior and not just attitude. Of course, even when there is no repentance, believers must not harbor grudges, plot retaliation, or remain embittered. But without another party’ s repentance, there can be no full reconciliation.
18:24 ten thousand. Greek myrios(“ myriad”), the largest numeral. A talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’ s wages. The figures are therefore astronomical, as is the king’ s forgiveness. bags of gold. Greek talanton(“ talent”), in the ancient sense of a form of money. A talent was the largest unit of currency in the Greco-Roman world. 18:28 a hundred. About four months’ earnings, no pittance, except in comparison with 10,000 bags of gold in v. 24. The contrast between the behavior of the king( the“ master,” v. 32) and that of his“ servant”( v. 32) could scarcely be more striking. silver coins. Lit.“ denarii.” A denarius was a day laborer’ s minimum daily wage. 18:32 – 34 Now the king discloses his justice, not merely his mercy. A servant so incapable of forgiving another’ s slight debt after the amazing forgiveness he himself has received merits the very imprisonment he has meted out to his fellow servant. 18:34 until he should pay back all he owed. Amounts to“ never” because ancient jails did not allow inmates to earn money and because this debt was virtually unrepayable even had the man been free. 18:35 See note on 6:12.