Why were the children being brought to Jesus? See Mat 19:13; cf. Mar 10:13. Why would people want Jesus to touch their children? See Mar 10:16. Throughout history god-fearing parents have sought the blessing of God upon their children through His righteous servants; what does the decreasing incidence of this today indicate about 1) the…
What did the master do after the report of the fellow slaves? See Mat 18:32. With what adjective does the master address the slave in this verse? From the circumstances surrounding this, should we understand that it is necessary to fall into what we consider blatant sins like drug abuse, immorality or murder in order…
How did the first slave respond to the fellow slave’s plea for mercy and patience? See Mat 18:30. Again, how is this answering Peter’s question in Mat 18:21? In what way does such unforgiveness act as a real prison for those whom we are unwilling to forgive? Think: when a husband or wife offends their…
After the Lord had forgiven the debt of the slave who owed him the vast sum of money and released him, what did the slave proceed to do? See Mat 18:28. In what way is that similar to some who encounter the Lord and find “religion”, but as if to demonstrate their newfound “devotion” to…
In light of the slave’s great debt and inability to pay, his master had ordered him and his wife and children and all that he had to be sold in order that satisfaction might be made for the debt; what was the slave’s response at this settling of accounts? What several indications do we see…
Recall from Mat 18:24 the vast sum of money the slave was in debt to his Master; what does Jesus state as obvious at the beginning of Mat 18:25 in regard to the slave accumulating such a mountain of debt? How is that like us in our relationship to God? Consider that the slave would…
For what “reason” (Mat 18:23) does Jesus tell this parable about the kingdom of heaven? See Mat 18:21-22 and the previous context of Mat 18:1-20. Who does the king represent in this parable? Observe that the KJV “certain” king is literally a “man”, a king, i.e., a human king; what does this teach us about…
Mat 18:19-20 Recall: who is the “you” in Mat 18:18-19? Do Jesus’ words apply to any gathering of people, just because they say they are Christians, call themselves a church, and are even registered as a 501c3 tax exempt religious organization? What do these verses teach us about how many people it takes to…
In the context of Mat 18:15-17, what does “bind” mean in verse 18? Cf. Mat 13:30, 22:13, Luk 13:16, Act 9:2,14, 20:22, 22:5. What does “loose” mean? See Joh 20:23. What does the inclusion of “loosing” here in the context of Mat 18:15-17 indicate about the purpose of church discipline: is it punitive or remedial? …
What are the key words in Mat 18:15 about the manner in which we are to go and reprove an errant brother? Why is it important to do so “in private” (lit. “between you and him alone”)? What does this teach us about the importance of speaking to our brother about his faults before speaking…