Matthew 18 - Summary

Jesus teaches on greatness in the kingdom by setting a child in the disciples' midst, requiring childlike humility and warning severely against causing little ones to stumble. The parables of the lost sheep and the unforgiving servant bracket instructions on church discipline - private confrontation, witnesses, church involvement, and excommunication - with the promise of Christ's presence where two or three gather in His name. Peter's question about forgiveness limits prompts Jesus' command to forgive seventy times seven and the parable of the servant forgiven an enormous debt who refuses to forgive a fellow servant's small debt, illustrating that those who receive divine mercy must extend mercy to others.