Matthew 18:01-10 – “The Poison of Pride”

Translation and Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 06 Jan 2013

Translation

18:1 During that time, the disciples approached Jesus saying,
“So which [of us] is greater in the kingdom of the heavens?”

18:2 Then Jesus summoned a child and stood it in the midst of them, 18:3 and He said,
“Really, I’m telling y’all, unless your [direction] happens to be turned
  and y’all become like the children,
        you shall never enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

18:4 Therefore, whichever one [of you] will humble himself like this child,
it is this man who is the greater one in the kingdom of the heavens,

18:5 and whoever shall receive this child on the basis of my name is receiving me myself!

18:6 But whoever shall scandalize one of these little ones who believe in me,
       it bears together for him that a donkey-millstone might be hanged about his neck
       and that he might be drowned in the deep part of the lake.
18:7 Woe to the world from its scandals, for it is a necessity for the scandals to come.
Woe moreover to that man through whom the scandal comes.”


18:8 But if your hand or your foot scandalizes you, cut it off and throw it away from you.

It is better for you to enter into The Life crippled or maimed
than to be thrown into the eternal fire while having two hands or two feet!

18:9 And if your eye scandalizes you, snatch it and throw it away from you;

it is better for you to enter into The Life one-eyed

than to be cast into the Hell of fire while having two eyes.

 

18:10 Keep seeing to it that y’all don’t start despising one of these little ones, for I’m telling you that their angels in heaven are always seeing the face of my Father in heaven.”

Introduction

Yesterday, while I was preparing this sermon, I wandered out of the study to fix myself a cup of tea. Upon reaching the tea shelf, I discovered loose tea leaves scattered all over the shelf… and the counter below it… and on the floor below that. That’s when it hit me: my four-year-old daughter had asked me an hour before if she could make herself a cup of tea. Oh, why didn’t I just tell her NO? What a mess! Why couldn’t she see what a mess she had made? Why didn’t she clean up after her clumsy self rather than leave me to waste precious time cleaning up after her? I have better things to do than to clean up a little kid’s mess – I have a sermon to write! An important sermon! A sermon on not despising little children. A… Oh dear. Applying this passage isn’t going to be so easy! Are you ready to tackle more of the flesh-challenging teachings of Jesus together with me?

Exposition

18:1 During that time, the disciples approached Jesus saying, “So which [of us] is greater in the kingdom of the heavens?”

εν εκεινη τη ωρα προσηλθον οι μαθηται τω ιησου λεγοντες τις αρα μειζων εστιν εν τη βασιλεια των ουρανων

 

18:2 Then Jesus summoned a child and stood it in the midst of them,

και προσκαλεσαμενος [‘ο Ιησους[2]] παιδιον εστησεν αυτο εν μεσω αυτων

 

18:3 and He said, “Really, I’m telling y’all, unless your [direction] happens to be turned and y’all become like the children, you shall never enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

και ειπεν αμην λεγω υμιν εαν μη στραφητε και γενησθε ως τα παιδια ου μη εισελθητε εις την βασιλειαν των ουρανων

 

18:4 “Therefore, whichever one [of you] will humble himself like this child, it is this man who is the greater one in the kingdom of the heavens,

οστις ουν ταπεινωσει[5] εαυτον ως το παιδιον τουτο ουτος εστιν ο μειζων εν τη βασιλεια των ουρανων

 

18:5 “and whoever[7] shall receive this child on the basis of my name is receiving me myself!

και ος εαν δεξηται παιδιον τοιουτο[ν] επι τω ονοματι μου εμε δεχεται

18:6 “But whoever shall scandalize one of these little ones who believe in me, it bears together for him that a donkey-millstone might be hanged about his neck and that he might be drowned in the deep part of the lake.

‘ος δ’ αν σκανδαλιση ‘ενα των μικρων τουτων των πιστευοντων εις εμε συμφερει[9] αυτω ‘ινα κρεμασθη μυλος ονικος εις[10] τον τραχηλον αυτου και καταποντισθη εν[11] τω πελαγει της θαλασσης

 

18:7 “Woe to the world from its scandals, for it is a necessity for the scandals to come.
Woe moreover to that man through whom the scandal comes.

ουαι τω κοσμω απο των σκανδαλων αναγκη γαρ εστιν[14] ελθειν τα σκανδαλα πλην[15] ουαι τω ανθρωπω εκεινω[16] δι ου το σκανδαλον ερχεται

 

18:8 “But if your hand or your foot scandalizes you, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into The Life crippled or maimed than to be thrown into the eternal fire while having two hands or two feet!

ει δε ‘η χειρ σου η ‘ο πους σου σκανδαλιζει σε εκκοψον αυτον[18] και βαλε απο σου, καλον σοι εστιν εισελθειν εις την ζωην χωλον η κυλλον η δυο χειρας η δυο ποδας εχοντα βληθηναι εις το πυρ το αιωνιον

18:9 And if your eye scandalizes you, snatch it and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter into The Life one-eyed than to be cast into the Hell of fire while having two eyes.

και ει ‘ο οφθαλμος σου σκανδαλιζει σε εξελε αυτον και βαλε απο σου, καλον σοι εστιν μονοφθαλμον εις την ζωην εισελθειν η δυο οφθαλμους εχοντα βληθηναι εις την γεενναν του πυρος

 

18:10 Keep seeing to it that y’all don’t start despising one of these little ones, for I’m telling you that their angels in heaven are always seeing the face of my Father in heaven.”

ορατε μη καταφρονησητε ‘ενος των μικρων τουτων λεγω γαρ υμιν οτι οι αγγελοι αυτων εν ουρανοις δια παντος βλεπουσιν το προσωπον του πατρος μου του εν ουρανοις

Conclusion

Let me conclude with the words of a poem translated from Dutch by William Hendriksen:

 

Make me, O Lord, a child again, So tender, frail, and small,

In self possessing nothing; In Thee possessing all.

 

O Savior, make me small once more, That downward I may grow,

And in this heart of mine restore The faith of long ago.

 

With Thee may I be crucified – No longer I that lives –

O Savior, crush my sinful pride By grace which pardon gives.

 

Make me, O Lord, a child again, Obedient to Thy call,

In self possessing nothing, In Thee possessing all.

 


[1] Mark 9:33-34 They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. (NASB) Jesus, of course, “knew what [His disciples] were thinking” (Luke 9:47, NASB)

[2] Included in T.R., and Byz. editions, as well as in the majority of manuscripts, including D, W, Θ, and f13, also included in the majority of Old Latin versions, and the Vulgate, Syriac, Sahidic, and Coptic.

[3] The Greek word here for “little child” is paidea – the same word from which we get “pediatrician.” My observation is that pediatricians don’t like to treat teenagers – their specialty is little children, and Jesus was talking about little children who believed in Him.

[4] The word for “become” in this verse is the same Greek word used for “regenerate” or “born again” – without the “re-/again.”

[5] The Textus Receptus diverges from the Byzantine and Majority texts by making this verb subjunctive (ταπεινωση), which could naturally be expected following an indefinite relative pronoun as it does, but doesn’t really change the meaning.

[6] This should be moderated by the fact that Greek scholar A.T. Robertson believed that this was a Koiné idiom where the comparative was displacing the superlative (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 667ff.).

[7] The Greek wording of the subject of this verse is different from the subject of the previous verse, although they get translated the same in most English versions. It seems to me that the hostis in v.4 has especially in view the specific occasion at hand “whichever one of you twelve” whereas the hos an of vs. 5 & 6 widen the scope more universally to “whoever,” although, of course, the principle of v.4 is also universally applicable.

[8] It is at this point that the parallel account has the following excursion: Mark 9:38-41 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”

[9] Cf. parallel phrase in Mark 9:42 = mellon kalos “rather better/good instead”

[10] This is the reading of the Byzantine edition, following the majority of manuscripts, including W, Θ, f1, and f13. This is admittedly an unexpected preposition, and it is surprising that the Critical editions do not use it for that very reason, however, they follow the Siniaticus and Vaticanus, which follow Mark’s parallel reading “peri/around.” Curiously, the Textus Receptus takes its own diversion, following D with the synonym epi/upon.

[11] Cf. parallel phrase in Mark 9:42=βεβληται εις “thrown into”.

[12] The Greek word for “depth” is only used in one other place in the Bible (Acts 27:5) to describe a deep sea channel off the Southwest corner of Asia Minor. Its root meaning is “splash,” perhaps referring to the waves of the high seas.

[13] The kind of language Jesus uses here to emphasize how deadly pride is, is the same language He used of lust and adultery back in chapter 5 – it scandalizes/ traps/ causes people to stumble into sin, and it would behoove anyone who suspects that they are getting caught in the clutches of pride to take radical measures to get free before it is too late: “if your right eye scandalizes you, snatch it and throw it away from you, for it bears together for you that [only] one of your members might be destroyed and not the whole of your body be thrown into hell.” (Matt. 5:29, NAW)

[14] Critical editions omit this word because, although it appears in the majority of manuscripts (including, D,W, and f13), it does not appear in B, L, N, Θ, or f1. This doesn’t change the meaning, because Greek often assumes the verb of being without writing it out explicitly.

[15] Cf. use of this word in 11:22-24.

[16] Whereas the Critical text sided at the beginning of the verse with manuscripts B and Θ against א in omitting the verb of being, now it sides with א against B and Θ in omitting the demonstrative pronoun. It is enough to make one suspect that the Critical edition’s paramount concern is to avoid following the majority! Regardless, the context allows the reader to discern which man Jesus is speaking about with or without the “that.”

[17] Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown follow a somewhat different interpretation for the first half: “There will be stumblings and falls and loss of souls enough from the world’s treatment of disciples, without any addition from you: dreadful will be its doom in consequence; see that ye share not in it.” Cf. Chrysostom: “when He said, ‘It must needs be,’ it is not as taking away the power of choosing for themselves, nor the freedom of the moral principle, nor as placing man’s life under any absolute constraint of circumstances, that He saith these things, but He foretells what would surely be… But what are the offenses? The hindrances on the right way.” And Calvin: “[N]o plague will be more destructive, or attended by more fearful calamities, than the alarm or desertion of many on account of offenses… in order to make his disciples more attentive and watchful in guarding against them… [On the other hand] it is the will of God to leave his people exposed to offense, in order to exercise their faith, and to separate believers, as the refuse and the chaff, from the pure wheat.”

[18] This singular considers the two subjects separately and is the reading of the Critical editions of the GNT, following manuscript א, Β, D, L, Θ, f1, and f13. The Byzantine majority, however, renders this objective pronoun in the plural, which also works, since there is a compound subject.

[19] Jesus was “not saying these things of limbs… but of friends, of relations, whom we regard in the rank of necessary members... For nothing is so hurtful as bad company. For what things compulsion cannot, friendship can often effect, both for hurt, and for profit. Wherefore with much earnestness He commands us to cut off them that hurt us, intimating these that bring the offenses.” ~ John Chrysostom

[20] Hendricksen argues against the idea of guardian angels, but Calvin argues from Psalm 34:7 that we don’t just have one guardian angel but many!