Matthew 18

Matthew 18 starts out with the disciples being interested in greatness. They asked Jesus who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus flipped the whole idea on its head and said that you can't even see the kingdom of heaven unless you are like a little child. He said humility is how greatness is measured in the kingdom of heaven. In other words, those who are the least concerned with greatness are the greatest.

Then Jesus turns the conversation toward something the disciples should actually be concerned about - sin. Sin is what we need to be on guard for, not greatness. Jesus makes the point that you should cut sin out of your life no matter what the cost, because if you don't then sin will cost you everything.

Verse 10 has an interesting phrase that some say is evidence that we do have guardian angels. Jesus says not to look down on those with childlike faith because "their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven."

Then He says that every person who comes to faith is like a lost sheep that was found by its shepherd and celebrated joyously.

Then He talks about the proper way to handle sin between brothers.

First, we should confront each other privately - if we are brothers we should be able to speak directly to each other, and we should be able to be completely honest with each other. If not, then are we really brothers?

Second, if speaking directly to each other does not resolve the situation then we should speak to each other in the presence of witnesses. Ideally these witnesses would be able to bring some unbiased wisdom and discernment to the situation and not just be there to take sides.

Third, if the situation is still not resolved then we are to take the situation to the church. That doesn't mean to the building, that means to our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we have a grievance against someone, and it is serious enough that it can't be resolved by wise counsel, then our brothers and sisters in Christ should be made aware of it. One - because maybe some of them could help resolve it. And two - because maybe some of them need to be protected from the sinful person.

Finally - after the sinner has been confronted by the offended brother, by wise counsel, and by the whole body, if they are still unrepentent then they should not be regarded as a brother any longer. They are then to be regarded as a person in need of salvation - the same as everyone else on the street who has not surrendered their life to Jesus. The decision has consequences in heaven and on earth.

Jesus then said that if two or more of us agree on anything in His name it will be done by God, because He is with us when we gather in His name.

And Jesus gives a parable to drive home the point of treating people the way we would want to be treated. If we are unwilling to forgive then we risk not being forgiven. Peter asks how many times we should forgive and Jesus answers not 7 times but 77. In other places He says 70 times 7. There's some allusion to how many times God forgave Israel before sending them into exile, but the point is that we are supposed to be willing to forgive as many times as we would want to be forgiven, and we are to realize that our own debt to God far outweighs our brother's debt to us. To be clear, forgiveness is not the same as trust, but forgiveness is a sign of humility.