Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Matthew 18

Jesus defines greatness through humility and teaches his disciples to protect the vulnerable, confront sin, and forgive from the heart.

The disciples ask Jesus who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, and he places a little child among them. He teaches them about humility and warns against causing believers to stumble. A shepherd searching for one stray sheep shows the Father’s concern for the little ones. Jesus then explains how to address a brother’s sin within the assembly. Peter’s question about forgiveness leads to a parable that ends with judgment on a merciless servant.

forgiving someonechurch hurtleadership weight
Read
1In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
2Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them
3and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
4Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
5Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me,
6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a huge millstone were hung around his neck and that he were sunk in the depths of the sea.
7“Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes!
8If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire.
9If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire.
10See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
12“What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?
13If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.
14Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
15“If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.
16But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.
18Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
19Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.
20For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.”
22Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.
23Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
25But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’
27The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.
28“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29“So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’
30He would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay back that which was due.
31So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done.
32Then his lord called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’
34His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him.
35So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Matthew 18:10Jesus grounds his warning against despising little ones in their angels’ access to the Father in heaven.
Matthew 18:19The promise of the Father’s response to shared prayer comes within Jesus’ teaching about the assembly’s handling of sin.
Matthew 18:20Jesus promises his presence among those gathered in his name, supporting the small gathering’s weighty work of discernment.
Where this chapter reaches

Luke shares the image of a shepherd seeking a lost sheep, while Mark shares Jesus’ teaching about receiving children and the danger of causing believers to stumble. The instructions for addressing sin within the assembly connect with church discipline in 1 Corinthians; John also records promises concerning prayer in Jesus’ name.

Matthew 18's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does the child Jesus places among the disciples challenge your understanding of greatness?

Write on this

What stands out when you read the instructions about confronting sin alongside the parable about forgiving debt?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Matthew 18

Does Matthew 18:10 teach that everyone has a guardian angel?

Jesus says that the little ones’ angels see his Father’s face in heaven. This supports the seriousness of his warning against despising them. The verse does not explain how angels are assigned or establish that every person has one individual guardian angel. Its focus is the little ones’ standing before God.

What does Matthew 18:20 mean by two or three gathered in Jesus’ name?

Jesus promises his presence where two or three gather in his name. The surrounding verses concern confronting sin, witnesses, the assembly’s decisions, and shared prayer. That setting gives the promise particular weight for a small gathering facing hard decisions. It does not set a minimum attendance for God to hear prayer.

Does seventy times seven mean forgiving someone exactly 490 times?

Jesus answers Peter’s proposed limit of seven with seventy times seven, then tells a parable about an enormous forgiven debt. The story makes mercy received the measure for mercy shown, leaving no basis for keeping a forgiveness tally. The chapter also retains accountability for wrongdoing through witnesses and the assembly.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Matthew 18. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Matthew · 28 chapters
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728
What the Bible says about forgiveness →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).