Mt. 18:15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.”
Mt. 18:16 “But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’”
It must be remembered that the purpose here behind Yeshua’s words are not judgment or condemnation, but repentance and reconciliation. We are all members of God’s family. If someone falls into error, we should do everything possible to restore them. Writing to the Corinthian church concerning someone caught up in a sexual sin (I Cor. 5:5), that in extreme cases it may be necessary to “turn that person over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so the soul might be saved.” Even in this extreme case, restoration is the final goal.
Source: Deut. 17:6, 19:15; I Corin. 5:5
Mt. 18:17 “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax-collector.”
Mt. 18:18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.”
The Greek words rendered bind and loose are translated “prohibit” and “permit.” This reflects the first century Jewish application of these concepts to their leaders who were understood as having authority from God to decide what practice should be followed by the community, i.e., to determine halakhah (a term which dates from a later period). See segment #082 for a complete discussion on “binding and loosing.”
Mt. 18:19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in Heaven.”
Mt. 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
It is thought by some that Yeshua here is coming against a Jewish concept called minyan. This word translated into English is quorum. Minyan is the designation for the quorum of ten male adults, ages 13 and older, necessary for public synagogue service and certain other religious ceremonies. B:Berachoth 21b; B:Megillah 23b derives this number from the term edah (community), which in Scripture is applied to the ten spies (Numbers 14:27). Thus ten men constitute a congregation. B:Kethuboth 7b also mentions Ruth 4:2 and Psalms 68:27. Some relate the rule to Abraham’s pleas to God to save Sodom if at least ten righteous men were found there (Genesis 18:32). First of all, Yeshua requires only two or three to come together, instead of ten. Secondly, while minyan requires that ten men must come together, Yeshua makes no requirement for age or gender (Matt. 18:20).
Sources: BT:Berachoth 21b; BT:Megillah 23b; Numbers 14:27; BT:Kethuboth 7b; Ruth 4:2; Psalm 68:27; Genesis 18:32; Matt. 18:20
Mt. 18:21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Mt. 18:22 Yeshua said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
When Peter suggested that we should be willing to forgive the same person up to seven times, he was proposing a number more than double what the Pharisees had established as extreme forgiveness. The Pharisees had taught that a righteous man should be willing to forgive someone two times.
A very generous man could forgive a wrongdoer three times, but a third instance of forgiving transgressions by the same person was the limit the Pharisees would allow. M:Yoma 86:2says, “They should pardon a man once that sins against another. Secondly, they pardon him; thirdly they pardon him; fourthly they do not pardon him.” Yeshua’s response that we should be willing to forgive the same person seventy time seven indicates that there should be no limit to our forgiveness.
Source: M:Yoma 86:2
Mt. 18:23 “Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.”
Mt. 18:24 “And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.”
Mt. 18:25 “But as he was unable to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.”
Mt. 18:26 “The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.”
Mt. 18:27 “Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.”
Mt. 18:28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’”
Mt. 18:29 “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will repay you all.”
Mt. 18:30 “And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.”
Mt. 18:31 “So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were grieved and came and told the master all that had been done.”
Mt. 18:32 “Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.”
Mt. 18:33 “Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?”
Mt. 18:34 “And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due him.”
Mt. 18:35 “So My Heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his transgressions.”
When Yeshua wanted to give an easily understood illustration on the need for forgiveness He used the example of owing money. Being in debt for what we have bought or borrowed, extending credit, or loaning cash — procedures that seem to have become habitual in modern society — were common practice during the Biblical period, too. The Lord said that believers must be willing to lend to the poor so that their needs might be met. The Scriptural basis for this is found in Deut. 15:7,8.
This directive is included in a chapter that gives the rules for observing the Sabbatical Year and provides many principles that Israel was to follow regarding loaning money and goods. The Sabbatical Year can be described as a year of relief and release. The land was to lie untilled and unharvested, given a year of relief so that the soil could be replenished. Knowledge that the Sabbatical Year was at hand was not to influence the lender’s willingness to give. If the year of release was approaching, a creditor realized that there was little likelihood that the borrower would have time to repay his debt; but it was sinful not to make the load (Deut. 15:9). In the first century we know of several major contributions by Hillel that would have been known and used by Yeshua. The key contribution by Hillel is the Prosbul, a legal instrument assuring that the release of debts during the Sabbatical Year was done properly. Because of human nature, some tried to take advantage of the release of debts and cheat others and Hillel’s document was a declaration made in the Bet Din to guarantee fairness to all involved.
Extreme poverty often found a Jew becoming a slave. The principle of Sabbatical release specified that a person could own a Hebrew slave only for six years: “Then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you” (Deut. 15:12). His release was to be accompanied with relief, for he was to be given livestock and produce as he left (Deut. 15:13,14). The rabbis later expanded these laws and developed rules regarding charity. The distinction between loaning to the poor and giving outright charity became indistinct since God’s principles commanded mercy in either situation. A creditor is forbidden from putting on pressure for the repayment of a loan when he knows the borrower is not in a position to repay it. This rabbinic injunction is based on Exodus 22:25, which also says that if a Jew loans money to a fellow Jew, he is not to charge interest or usury. The next two verses state that if the borrower’s raiment is taken as collateral, it must be returned in the evening, even if the debt remains unpaid. It would be cruel to make a poor man suffer the night’s coldness.
Source: Deut; 15:7-9, 12-14; Exodus 22:25
In Jewish thought, loaning money to the poor is an even greater act of righteousness than giving charity to those who ask for it. The reasoning behind this is that one who asks for charity has already suffered the embarrassment of having to admit he will be unable to repay, while giving a loan to a poor man who asks for it is saving him the humiliation of becoming so poor that he has no hope of repaying.
When Yeshua taught regarding the extent of forgiveness, He was speaking to men who should have been familiar with the Scriptural teachings about forgiving debts. Such principles were intensely discussed among the religious leaders, and in turn, taught to the people. Yeshua was teaching a concept that the Lord had already revealed, but that men had too often ignored.
