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 .