This study is part of our series of verse by verse studies of Matthew, the 40th book in the Bible. Taught by our pastor, Simeon Forder, at our Sunday morning service on the 4th May 2025.

About this book

The gospel of Matthew was aimed primarily at the Jew who was familiar with the Old Testament, quoting it more than any other of the gospels. And in its 28 chapters it presents Jesus as the Messiah, the King of the Jews, with Matthew wasting no time, starting with Jesus’ royal lineage back to king David of Israel in the opening chapter. But as well as looking back, it looks forward too, being the only gospel to mention the church by name. And so make no mistake, this is a very necessary book for us to read too.

About this passage

In the opening 4 verses of this chapter (that we began last time) we saw the disciples asked Jesus who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, supposing it might be one of them, or at least one of the heroes of the faith. But Jesus’ answer wasn’t any of them, but rather He pointed to the simple faith of children; the point being that they should forget about their ambitions to be the greatest. Why? Because they were never going to enter into heaven by their works, but by faith — that is, they would need to repent and put their faith in Jesus for their salvation, just as a little child fully trusts that God is able to do all things.

Then, from verses 5-7, Jesus spoke of our responsibility toward children, that no-one lead them astray, that no-one cause them to sin — before, in verses 8-9, Jesus explained just how seriously we should take the issue of sin in our own lives. That we would deal with it urgently and decisively. In verse 10 onwards, we got to the well known parable of the lost sheep, that reveals the heart of God, that shows of His love for you and I (and for all we know, children included), that He doesn’t want even one of them to wander from the truth of His Word.

From verse 15 on, we read how Jesus spoke about how we should deal with sin toward us… first going to that person alone, second (if necessary) going to that person with a few other Godly people that might talk through the matter with them from a Biblical standpoint, and then, third, as a last resort, going to the whole church family, not as a matter of gossip, and not for the humiliation of the other person, but with reconciliation in mind. That the matter might not fester any more, but that the two individuals would find unity and love in Christ.

Finally, in verses 21-35 (which we look at in this study), we will read the parable of the unforgiving servant, which should cause all of us to sit up and pay attention as to how we forgive others.

Application questions

• Is there anyone you need to forgive today?
• Are you determined, even now, to forgive those who will wrong you in the future?
• Have you lost sight of all Christ has forgiven you?