Sermon Tone Analysis

10 Ὁρᾶτε μὴ καταφρονήσητε ἑνὸς τῶν μικρῶν τούτων, λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς διὰ παντὸς βλέπουσι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς.

12 τί ὑμῖν δοκεῖ; ἐὰν γένηταί τινι ἀνθρώπῳ ἑκατὸν πρόβατα καὶ πλανηθῇ ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν, οὐχὶ ἀφήσει τὰ ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη καὶ πορευθεὶς ζητεῖ τὸ πλανώμενον; 13 καὶ ἐὰν γένηται εὑρεῖν αὐτό, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι χαίρει ἐπʼ αὐτῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα τοῖς μὴ πεπλανημένοις.

14 οὕτως οὐκ ἔστιν θέλημα ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἵνα ἀπόληται ἓν τῶν μικρῶν τούτων.

(10) Reiteration of the value of a disciple

0 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

11 [For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]

- The background from the previous section (18:5-9).

The child being mentioned is the disciple whom has become like a child.

The admonition is to treat a disciple of humble and quite possibly lowly status with the kind of respect that would be afforded Jesus.

Here, this is helpful to consider that this disciple is not at a deeper level spiritually and could be easily led into the trap of sin.

The phrase “little ones” doesn’t merely refer to stature or age but it also speaks of importance.

The teaching is not designed to say throw wicked people into the sea or cut off hands that offend; rather, it is designed to say that people should not sin against others, especially the believers, and cause them to sin.

The church has not taken this to heart, for its history is filled with acts of wickedness against other believers, often by those with the power to do so,

- The admonition to not look down at other believers is the role of angels.

- Verse 11 is not in the original manuscripts and thus not included but added as a parenthesis.

- This is not teaching the theology of guardian angels

The book of Daniel refers to angels whom are tasked with guarding over nations.

The book of revelation talks about angels that are representing seven specific churches at the time of John’s revelation.

In this particular case, I believe that the task of angels is related to the church as a whole not one angel per one believer as a personal attendant.

In fact, the individual believer already has a personal paraclete, whom is the Holy Spirit.

- This is speaking of the importance of the least important in the church.

We can be confident that each church has a representative that is accountable to God (before His face) for the tasks of the church.

Those whom are part of the task for an angel isn’t just the Elder, pastor or deacon but the least of these.

The mistreatment of even the “lowly Christian” would not be ignored by God because they are part of the accountability given as a task for each angel.

Therefore, don’t take lightly the responsibility to welcome these insignificant Christians of the church and be sure to protect all in the church.

(12) The lost sheep

“What do you think?

If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?

- Jesus illustrates the importance of individual disciples by talking about sheep.

- A parable about a man, who owns one hundred sheep.

The phrase “what do you think?” is a call to reflect and think through the implications of an illustration.

ποιμήν

ποιμὴν

* ποιμὴν is the Greek word for shepherd, but in the verse it is ἄνθρωπος (the word for man).

The importance of this word is that he is the one who owns the sheep (something not always true for shepherds)

To own a hundred sheep would be a mark of some wealth.

But at whatever economic level one operates, one percent of one’s wealth is normally treated as significant.

- One of the sheep has wandered away.

The problem in question is that it has gone astray or wandered away.

In tying this parable to the previous section, consider that the tense of the verb for gone astray is passive meaning “be led astray”.

In verse 6-7, the call was to not cause the “little one” to stumble (passive tense).

Also in verses 8-10, the call is to handle whatever (hand, foot, eye) causes one to stumble (passive tense).

Who knows what the stumbling block was for the sheep, it could have been the sight of possible grass or a pool of water.

- The rhetorical question to ponder is if the lost sheep is sought out.

The rhetorical answer is in the affirmative.

Consider that there would have been more than one shepherd looking out over the flock.

William Barclay astutely observes that “In the time of Jesus, the flocks were often communal flocks; they belonged not to an individual but to a village.

There were, therefore, usually two or three shepherds with them.

That is why the shepherd could leave the ninety-nine.

If he had left them with no guardian, he would have come back to find still more of them gone; but he could leave them in the care of his fellow shepherds while he sought the wanderer.”

The amount of energy and concern has focused to the lost sheep in comparison to the 99 sheep that are together.

Barclay, W. (2001).

The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 215).

Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

(13) the joy of finding

If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.

- In reality, a lost sheep wouldn’t always be found.

The importance of using this parable is that a lost sheep was not automatically presumed safe, this is why the language is conditional “if it turns out that he finds it”.

as Leon Morris notes:

Palestinian shepherds did not always find lost sheep; a sheep might be killed by wild animals or fall over a precipice or wander too far away to be found.

The potential is important to understand the joy of finding the lost sheep.

- There is incredible joy over finding the sheep.

We must be careful to not say that the owner of the sheep is gives greater value to the lost sheep than the other 99.

The reason for the joy is that the lost one is now back in the fold following the shepherd as should always be the case.

The sad thing is that we live in a culture where the parable has a lesser effect on us than it should.

When the human life is undervalued then everything else around us has lesser value to us as well.

Again I would turn to William Barclay for his description of the joy contained by the lost sheep that is found: “We can imagine how the other shepherds would return with their flocks to the village fold at evening time, and how they would tell that one shepherd was still out on the mountainside seeking a wanderer.

We can imagine how the eyes of the people would turn again and again to the hillside watching for the shepherd who had not come home; and we can imagine the shout of joy when they saw him striding along the pathway with the weary wanderer slung across his shoulder, safe at last; and we can imagine how the whole village would welcome him, and gather round with gladness to hear the story of the sheep which was lost and found.”

(14) The application of this parable

(14) thus, it is not the desire before your father whom is in heaven that one of these be led astray.

So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

- The lost sheep is a disciple

The phrase “little ones” was used earlier in verse 10 and is used here again to keep the continuity of this section.

Keep in mind “ And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

The little one is a believer in Jesus and the picture is that treatment of Jesus’ disciple is treatment of Jesus Christ Himself.

What this means is that the lost sheep is a disciple of Jesus and that Jesus is the owner of all the sheep.

- Just as it is in the parable so it is in regards to the Father’s view of Jesus’ disciples.

The word “perish” is often associated with eternal punishment.

However, this word is speaking of the spiritual ruin of a disciple’s life rather than eternal destruction.

The phrase “will of your father” is literally it is not the desire before your Father for spiritual wandering.

In other words, the disciple that sins and wanders away from the safety of the fold (i.e.

following Jesus) is not a desire found in the presence of God.

The implication is that the will of God would be to seek after those that wander astray because they are not with the fold.

- Making the general application of this passage:

1st I believe this gives us further understanding why it is important to not lead a lowly disciple into a stumbling block of sin because the will of God is to seek out that one who has wandered from the truth!

2nd It gives the challenge to those in the position of leadership in the church to go after those whom have wandered from the truth!

This reminds me of God’s chastisement of the leaders in Israel for being poor shepherds .

(I also think it is a warning for churches about the goal of growing people rather than reproducing disciples)

3rd The shepherd that goes to look for the wandering sheep is the Lord Jesus in the analogy.

However, in God’s design of the local church, Jesus’ work is carried out by members of His body.

Jesus seeks after the lost sheep through a believer.

15 Ἐὰν δὲ ἁμαρτήσῃ εἰς σὲ ὁ ἀδελφός σου, ὕπαγε ἔλεγξον αὐτὸν μεταξὺ σοῦ καὶ αὐτοῦ μόνου.

ἐάν σου ἀκούσῃ, ἐκέρδησας τὸν ἀδελφόν σου· 16 ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀκούσῃ, παράλαβε μετὰ σοῦ ἔτι ἕνα ἢ δύο, ἵνα ἐπὶ στόματος δύο μαρτύρων ἢ τριῶν σταθῇ πᾶν ῥῆμα· 17 ἐὰν δὲ παρακούσῃ αὐτῶν, εἰπὸν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ· ἐὰν δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας παρακούσῃ, ἔστω σοι ὥσπερ ὁ ἐθνικὸς καὶ ὁ τελώνης.

18 ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅσα ἐὰν δήσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται δεδεμένα ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ὅσα ἐὰν λύσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται λελυμένα ἐν οὐρανῷ.

19 Πάλιν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐὰν δύο συμφωνήσωσιν ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς περὶ παντὸς πράγματος οὗ ἐὰν αἰτήσωνται, γενήσεται αὐτοῖς παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς.

20 οὗ γάρ εἰσιν δύο ἢ τρεῖς συνηγμένοι εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν.

(15) if your brother might sin against you, you go to correct him between you and him only, if he might listen to you to gain your brother.

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

- Dealing with sin with a brother in Christ.

17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

If you have the ESV or King James translation, it reads “sins against you”.

If you have the NASB or NIV translation it just reads “brother sins”.

The point in question is that the phrase “against you” isn’t in some of the manuscripts so there is equal evidence to include/not include it.

The context is about dealing with other disciples and not making them stumble and going after those whom are drifting away from the shepherd by sinning.

Thus, it would appear that the sin in some capacity is between fellow believers.

18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

Dr. Tom Constable says “Contextually the sin in view is probably despising a brother or sister.

However, Jesus did not specify what it was, but He implied that it was any sin that takes the disciple away from the Shepherd.”

- The exhortation is to go to that person whom has sinned against you to make things right.

This is done in private between two believers.