Matthew 18: Others First (2)
Pray Psalm 96.1-4.
Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!
Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
Sing Psalm 96.1-4.
Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God, Who Reigns Above
Sing to the LORD! O, bless His Name! All nations tell His glory!
Salvation’s tidings loud proclaim; let earth rehearse His story!
For God is greatly to be praised; His throne above all gods is raised!
Fear Him, and sing His glory!
Read Matthew 18.1-9; meditate on verses 6-9.
Prepare.
1. What seems to be Jesus’ main point in these verses?
2. How does He make that point?
Meditate.
Among Jesus’ followers, sin has no place, either in our lives, or in the lives of those who share our communion in Christ. Believers are to hate sin (Ps. 97.10). They must not tolerate it in their own lives (vv. 8, 9); and they must be careful not to be the cause of it in others (vv. 6, 7).
Believers must not to give offense to “these little ones”—new or young believers, presumably. We may consider that we are free in the Lord to do all kinds of things, but not if any of what we freely do causes a brother or sister in the Lord to fall into sin. Paul argues this point extensively in 1 Corinthians 8. We must be careful that our behavior is always nudging and leading our neighbor to higher heights of glory in the Lord. To do otherwise is a serious fault. To emphasize just how terrible this is, Jesus introduced the image of the millstone around the neck of the one who makes others stumble. That would be a hard image to forget.
Closer to home, we need to be brutal with ourselves when it comes to harboring sin. Harboring sin in our lives defeats our prayers (Ps. 66.18). It leads us down the path of deception and the lie, deprives us of the grace of forgiveness, and even runs the risk of calling God a liar, if we say we have no sin (1 Jn. 1.8-10). So if there is lingering sin in your life, get it out. I don’t believe Jesus intended us to literally maim ourselves—He was speaking in hyperbole, for the shock effect, to make a point. But standing guard against sin is the most important thing any of us can do each day. Sin offends not only our neighbors, but God Himself. If we can deal with the sin in our own lives, we’ll be much less likely to cause our neighbors to sin.
And let’s remember, all hyperbole aside: It took the battered, torn, nail-scarred body of the sinless Savior to take away the sin of the world. Why would we ever want to bring it back?
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Little children” in the Lord (Matt. 18.3) can be construed as new believers, old believers, and actual children.
All three, a classification of persons, that everyone fits into. All deserving of tender loving care.
As Victor Hugo wrote in Les Misérables, “To love another person is to see the face of God.”
Not actually seeing, but knowing His pleasure in, through, and by, our obedience.
Conversely, To not love another person—not putting them first, before the love we have for worldly possessions, or sinful behavior—we can be sure that “the love of the Father is not in” us (1 Jn. 2.15).
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice
righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 Jn. 3.1, 10, 11).
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin…
Woe to that person by whom the offense comes!” (Matt. 18.6, 7).
Let us now take Jesus’ words literally, and dwell on the notion of children.
The young, the vulnerable, the all-trusting children.
Jesus said—not euphemistically but blatantly—anyone who harms one of these little ones
is in danger of being cast “into the everlasting fire” (Matt. 18.8).
The world is full of people who hurt children: abortion, molestation, rape, trafficking, pornography, abusive speech, abusive beating, drugging, starvation, war, neglect, and a myriad other ways.
But what about at the hands of the church? Does the church also hurt children? Indeed, it does.
What child doesn’t trust their pastor or priest? Their youth group leader and choir director?
Those creepy “uncles” who pass out candy with randy hands?
At least children are warned against “stranger danger” but what about church danger?
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin,
it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck,
and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18.6). Agreed.
The Church must do all it can to protect children.
We must righteously take a stand against all the world leaders
who turn a blind eye to what is happening to the children.
We must righteously take a stand against church leaders
who merely get moved to a new position when found to be guilty of abuse.
They must be taken out of their positions of authority. Permanently.
We must be kind to children and love them.
As Christ loves them, and us.
Graciously God offers forgiveness to everyone who seeks it from Him (1 Jn. 1.9).
Graciously God tells us to turn from our sin—to repent—and learn to love children correctly.
Graciously God wants all people to come to Him for forgiveness and new life (2 Cor. 5.17-19).
Graciously God tells us to love and care for children and to never be an offense to them.
“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD…” (Ps. 127.3).
Come on Church, we must do better for them.
Reflect.
1. What can you do to encourage the children of your church to follow Jesus?
2. Jonathan Edwards wrote that a mark of the work of the Holy Spirit is hatred of sin. What does hatred of sin look like?
3. How can you keep from harboring sin in your life?
To impart the greater vehemence to the threatening, He adds, that neither a right eye nor a right hand ought to be spared, if they occasion offense to us; for I explain these words as added for the purpose of amplification. Their meaning is, that we ought to be so constant and so zealous in opposing offenses, that we would rather choose to pluck out our eyes, or cut off our hands, than give encouragement to offenses; for if any man hesitate to incur the loss of his limbs, he spares them at the risk of throwing himself into eternal perdition. John Calvin (1506-1564), Commentary on Matthew 18.8, 9
Pray Psalm 96.5-13.
What opportunities for bringing renewing grace to the world are available to you today? Ask the Lord to cleanse you of any sin, and to prepare you for edifying your neighbors, rather than causing them to stumble.
Sing Psalm 96.5-13.
Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God, Who Reigns Above
All other gods are idols vain; the LORD created heaven.
Splendor and strength with Him obtain; to Him be glory given!
All fam’lies, praise this mighty LORD! Give strength and glory to His Word;
exalt the LORD of heaven!
Bring off’rings sweet to Him, our LORD, in holy garments praise Him!
Tremble before Him, all the earth; among the nations raise Him!
The earth is fixed, it will not move; the peoples will His justice prove.
Exalt the LORD and praise Him!
Let heaven sing with lusty voice; let earth and sea sing sweetly!
Let fields and trees in Him rejoice, for He is coming swiftly
to judge the world in righteousness, the peoples in His faithfulness.
He comes; exalt Him greatly!
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: This week: Our Read Moore podcast continues our readings from the book, The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart. Our Crosfigell teaching letter is pursuing a series on the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column is working through a study of the role of reason in the life of faith. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
