7 “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10 “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
The beginning of today's passage is a continuation of yesterday's thought - and that is the Christian's duty to be protective of other Christians.
Today's passage adds that we do expect the world to cause us to stumble. We expect that, it's inevitable. But it's unacceptable for believers to cause each other to stumble, and we should take drastic measures to deal with sin in our own life, in order to not lead another Christian into sin. The imagery here is incredibly serious - this is not a minor issue!
We are also never to look down on other Christians.
MacArthur says...
The psalmist in that monumental Psalm 15, which talks about the heart of the true worshipper says, "The true worshipper...I love this...honors those who fear the Lord." And so should we honor all those who fear the Lord, no matter where they are on the social strata. Never be guilty of looking down at God's children no matter who they are.
One way we can look down on other believers is by flaunting our Christian liberty. The Bible is clear that it is not a sin to drink alcohol, but it is a sin to get drunk. However, if we flaunt our liberty to drink alcohol by drinking it in front of someone when that could cause them to stumble, we are proving that our desires are more important than their spiritual well being. When you do that you are despising that person, and basically saying "I'm going to do what I want to do, because I want to do it, and I'm more important to me than you are". We may not say it, we may not even think it through that way, but that is the reality of what we're doing when we flaunt our liberty.
Another way we can look down on other believers is by thinking of some people as better than others - because of their wealth, social status, power, beauty, education, youth, etc. That's not an acceptable way to treat fellow believers.
Another way is by being selfish about our materialism and withholding help to those in need, or even using other believers for our own selfish gain.
Another way is by being indifferent to a Christian who has fallen, instead of restoring them in meekness and humility.
And, it's opposite, would be to despise those who dare to confront our sinfulness.
V10-14 give us the reason why we're not to despise our fellow Christians.
First because we would be despising the very people that the angels are sent to care for. Angels are so holy they can look upon the very face of God. And there are angels whose job it is to care for believers (this doesn't necessarily mean there's one angel per individual, but that collectively their job is to care for believers). When you despise a fellow believer you do so against the angels and against Jesus Christ Himself.
I like MacArthur's explanation of v12-14....
I think the implication here is a...is a Christian who wanders off into sin, moral sin, spiritual sin, false doctrine, whatever kind. Here is the drifting Christian who wanders away from the flock, and he's missed by the Father. This wasn't true of the spiritual leaders in Israel. They could've cared less. They devoured the sheep. They never brought them back. They never bound up their broken wounds, but the true shepherd did. He always has. Peter said it, "Casting all your care on Him, for He...what?...careth for you," 1 Peter 5:7, "He careth for you." And He cares for every single one of them. The Bible says repeatedly, "There is no respect of persons with God." He doesn't play any favorites. He doesn't say anything about the sheep. He doesn't say His fattest sheep, His best sheep, His most valuable sheep, His pet sheep. Didn't matter. It was just one of the sheep; but every one of them was equally important to the Lord; because there's no specific valuation given to one over another....
Now, what do we see about the love of the shepherd here? First, it is an individual love. One sheep gone out of a hundred, yet the shepherd wouldn't rest till he brought it home; and that's the Shepherd Father's love. It is an infinite love. He sees not flocks, but individual sheep; and every one has a special, intimate relationship with Him...So He knows the sheep; and with perfect knowledge, He misses one who strays.
So it is an individual care. Secondly, it's a patient care. He has more patience for His foolish children than we do, I think. The sheep may be foolish, but the shepherd still brings 'em back...
Thirdly, a seeking care. God is out there seeking. I love this. It pursues. It doesn't say, "Well, I'm here. When you get ready to come back, let Me know." No, it's not a sheep crawling back and flopping over on its back and putting its feet up in the air and saying, "Please take me back." And some kind of reluctant forgiveness is offered. No. Seeking care. Forgiving care. There's restoration here, brought back into the fold....
And then it's a rejoicing. There's no contempt. There's no grudge. "Well, listen, this is once. Three times, you're gone." None of that. Forgiving, and He rejoices more over the one that came back than the one that stayed. ..
It's not the will of your Father who's in Heaven that one of these little ones should be spiritual marred...spiritually wounded...spiritually ruined.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Matthew 18:15-20
1 comment:
I love how well the sheep/shepherd analogy represents how God cares for us and what we are or can be like as followers.
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