Matthew 18

Whoever Becomes Simple Again

1 At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, "Who gets the highest rank in God's kingdom?"

2 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room,3 and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in.4 Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom.5 What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me.

6 "But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.7 Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don't have to make it worse-and it's doomsday to you if you do.

8 "If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire.9 And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You're better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

10 "Watch that you don't treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don't you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?

Work It Out Between You

12 "Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one?13 And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put?14 Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.

15 "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him-work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend.16 If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again.17 If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.

18 "Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this.19 When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action.20 And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

A Story About Forgiveness

21 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"

22 Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

23 "The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants.24 As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars.25 He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

26 "The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.'27 Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

28 "The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'

29 "The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.'30 But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid.31 When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

32 "The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy.33 Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?'34 The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt.35 And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy."

Matthew 19

Divorce

1 When Jesus had completed these teachings, he left Galilee and crossed the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan.2 Great crowds followed him there, and he healed them.

3 One day the Pharisees were badgering him: "Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?"

4 He answered, "Haven't you read in your Bible that the Creator originally made man and woman for each other, male and female?5 And because of this, a man leaves father and mother and is firmly bonded to his wife, becoming one flesh-no longer two bodies but one.6 Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart."

7 They shot back in rebuttal, "If that's so, why did Moses give instructions for divorce papers and divorce procedures?"

8 Jesus said, "Moses provided for divorce as a concession to your hardheartedness, but it is not part of God's original plan.9 I'm holding you to the original plan, and holding you liable for adultery if you divorce your faithful wife and then marry someone else. I make an exception in cases where the spouse has committed adultery."

10 Jesus' disciples objected, "If those are the terms of marriage, we're stuck. Why get married?"

11 But Jesus said, "Not everyone is mature enough to live a married life. It requires a certain aptitude and grace. Marriage isn't for everyone.12 Some, from birth seemingly, never give marriage a thought. Others never get asked-or accepted. And some decide not to get married for kingdom reasons. But if you're capable of growing into the largeness of marriage, do it."

To Enter God's Kingdom

13 One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off.14 But Jesus intervened: "Let the children alone, don't prevent them from coming to me. God's kingdom is made up of people like these."15 After laying hands on them, he left.

16 Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"

17 Jesus said, "Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you."

18 The man asked, "What in particular?" Jesus said, "Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie,19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself."

20 The young man said, "I've done all that. What's left?"

21 "If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me."

22 That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go.

23 As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God's kingdom?24 Let me tell you, it's easier to gallop a camel through a needle's eye than for the rich to enter God's kingdom."

25 The disciples were staggered. "Then who has any chance at all?"

26 Jesus looked hard at them and said, "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."

27 Then Peter chimed in, "We left everything and followed you. What do we get out of it?"

28 Jesus replied, "Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel.29 And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields-whatever-because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life.30 This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.

Matthew 20

A Story About Workers

1 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.2 They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.

3 "Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed.4 He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage.

5 They went.6 At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?

7 ' "They said, 'Because no one hired us.' "He told them to go to work in his vineyard.

8 "When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.'

9 "Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar.10 When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar.11 Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager,12 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.'

13 "He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we?14 So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you.15 Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?'

16 "Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

To Drink from the Cup

17 Jesus, now well on the way up to Jerusalem, took the Twelve off to the side of the road and said,18 "Listen to me carefully. We are on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death.19 They will then hand him over to the Romans for mockery and torture and crucifixion. On the third day he will be raised up alive."

20 It was about that time that the mother of the Zebedee brothers came with her two sons and knelt before Jesus with a request.

21 "What do you want?" Jesus asked. She said, "Give your word that these two sons of mine will be awarded the highest places of honor in your kingdom, one at your right hand, one at your left hand."

22 Jesus responded, "You have no idea what you're asking." And he said to James and John, "Are you capable of drinking the cup that I'm about to drink?" They said, "Sure, why not?"

23 Jesus said, "Come to think of it, you are going to drink my cup. But as to awarding places of honor, that's not my business. My Father is taking care of that."

24 When the ten others heard about this, they lost their tempers, thoroughly disgusted with the two brothers.25 So Jesus got them together to settle things down. He said, "You've observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads.26 It's not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.27 Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave.28 That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served-and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage."

29 As they were leaving Jericho, a huge crowd followed.30 Suddenly they came upon two blind men sitting alongside the road. When they heard it was Jesus passing, they cried out, "Master, have mercy on us! Mercy, Son of David!"31 The crowd tried to hush them up, but they got all the louder, crying, "Master, have mercy on us! Mercy, Son of David!"

32 Jesus stopped and called over, "What do you want from me?"

33 They said, "Master, we want our eyes opened. We want to see!"

34 Deeply moved, Jesus touched their eyes. They had their sight back that very instant, and joined the procession.