15 “If your fellow believer sins against you, go and tell him in private what he did wrong. If he listens to you, you have helped that person to be your brother or sister again. 16 But if he refuses to listen, go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ‘Every case may be proved by two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him like a person who does not believe in God or like a tax collector.
18 “I tell you the truth, the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. And the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.
19 “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.
23 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24 When the king began to collect his money, a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him. 25 But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.
26 “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27 The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. Then he let the servant go free.
28 “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’
29 “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’
30 “But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.
32 “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything. 33 You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.’ 34 The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed.
35 “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Read Matthew 18:15-35 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
While teaching the disciples about conflict resolution, forgiveness, and the power of prayer, Jesus shares a profound verse that many people may simply skip over for no other reason than it is hard to understand or believe. In Matthew’s gospel, during this teaching, he records Jesus telling the disciples: “I tell you the truth, the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. And the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.” (v. 18)
On the surface, it appears as though God takes a back seat and simply lets us on earth decide what is allowable and what is not. But this seems a little too subjective of a thing for God to do. If God doesn’t change, and His law doesn’t change, then it would be odd to think He would simply swipe away part of His law if enough of humanity wanted to get rid of it.
Imagine if enough people said the command to not murder was dated and determined to remove it. Would God simply comply and ignore the command to not murder that is includes in His law?
On the surface, this appears to be the case, but what if this is a challenge for all of God’s followers regarding something different. What if, instead of God taking a back seat to humanity with regard to any regulation that has been given, this promise was given to those in the church who are closest to God, those who are most humble, and those who are quick to defer to God and His way? If God promises to allow and prohibit based on what those who are actively leaning on Him decide in cases where there is uncertainty about a specific rule, then this promise begins to make sense.
For example, there are no laws or regulations in God’s word regarding the using of electricity, automobiles, or even the Internet. In cases such as these, is the best approach to permit anything that God has not clearly prohibited, or is it better to prohibit anything that God has not specifically allowed?
Most people would conclude that it depends on a case-by-case scenario, but then we must also ask the question about who decides each case – and in situations like these, it makes the most sense for God to leave the deciding up to those who are closest to Him to determine what things to permit and what things to prohibit.
So while some people might see this as God deferring His law to humanity’s ever-changing whims, perhaps this is simply God/Jesus telling His followers that if something hasn’t been clearly directed one way or another, that God will let us decide for ourselves – and He will support whichever way we decide.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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