Zetemata

Matthew 18

The chapter in full, then what it says, what the Greek or Hebrew decides, and where readers have disagreed.

Matthew 18 WEB
  1. 1 In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"
  2. 2 Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them
  3. 3 and said, "Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
  4. 4 Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
  5. 5 Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me,
  6. 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a huge millstone were hung around his neck and that he were sunk in the depths of the sea.
  7. 7 "Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes!
  8. 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire.
  9. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire.
  10. 10 See that you don't despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
  11. 11 For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost.
  12. 12 "What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?
  13. 13 If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.
  14. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
  15. 15 "If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.
  16. 16 But if he doesn't listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
  17. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.
  18. 18 Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
  19. 19 Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.
  20. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them."
  21. 21 Then Peter came and said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times? Jesus said to him, I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.
  22. 23 Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
  23. 24 When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
  24. 25 But because he couldn't pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
  25. 26 The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!'
  26. 27 The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.
  27. 28 "But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'
  28. 29 "So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you!'
  29. 30 He would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay back that which was due.
  30. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done.
  31. 32 Then his lord called him in and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
  32. 33 Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?'
  33. 34 His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him.
  34. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds."

Matthew 18

What is happening

Matthew 18 is the fourth of five major discourses that structure his Gospel — often called the "discourse on the church," or, more pointedly, on how power and offense are to be handled among people who follow a crucified king. It comes right after Jesus has predicted his own death a second time (17:22-23) and paid the temple tax rather than cause offense (17:24-27). The disciples, apparently unmoved by any of that, open the chapter with a question about rank. Everything that follows answers it.

The audience throughout is "the disciples" (18:1) — this is internal instruction for the community that will become the church, not public preaching. The chapter has four movements: the child and the standard of greatness (1-14), church discipline (15-20), and the parable of the unforgiving servant, prompted by Peter's question about limits on forgiveness (21-35).

The passage, walked through

The disciples ask, "Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?" (18:1) — τίς μείζων, a comparative, the perennial human question of rank. Jesus does not answer with a person. He sets "a little child" (παιδίον) in the middle of them and says that unless they "turn and become as little children" they will not enter the kingdom at all (18:3) — the question of who is greatest is overtaken by the prior question of whether they're in the room at all. The point is not childlike innocence or wonder, sentiments modern readers often import; a παιδίον in the first century had no legal standing, no voice, no claim on anyone. To "humble himself as this little child" (18:4) is to accept that kind of status voluntarily. Greatness in this kingdom is redefined as the willingness to hold none.

From there Jesus turns from becoming a child to receiving one: "whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me" (18:5). The stakes escalate sharply — to cause such a one "to stumble" (σκανδαλίσῃ, from which "scandal" derives — literally to trip, to trap) invites judgment worse than drowning with a millstone around the neck (18:6). Verses 8-9, on cutting off hand or foot and plucking out the eye, use the same verb; this is hyperbole in the vein of the Sermon on the Mount, not a prescription for self-mutilation — the force is that no possession or habit is worth more than the life it costs. "Gehenna of fire" (18:9) names the valley outside Jerusalem associated with judgment; the translation "hell" is functionally right but the image is concrete, not abstract.

The parable of the lost sheep (18:12-14) answers the question the millstone raises: why does one small, straying life matter so much? The shepherd's search is not sentimentality but the Father's stated will — "it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish" (18:14).

Verses 15-20 shift from care for the vulnerable to conflict within the community. The procedure is deliberately narrow and slow: private confrontation first ("between you and him alone," 18:15), then witnesses, then the whole assembly, and only after all that refusal does the offender stand outside — "let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector" (18:17), i.e., someone no longer treated as within. The "binding and loosing" language of 18:18 echoes Jewish authority to declare things permitted or forbidden; here it's given to the gathered community, not to an individual. The promise that follows — "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them" (18:20) — is routinely lifted out and applied to any small prayer meeting. In context it is spoken specifically about this disciplinary process: Christ's presence authorizes and stands behind the church's difficult work of confronting sin, not merely small attendance at a service.

Peter then asks the natural question after such a procedure: how many times must forgiveness be extended? He offers seven, already generous by rabbinic standards of the day. Jesus answers "seventy times seven" (18:22) — not a ledger to be totaled but a number chosen to break the arithmetic of forgiveness altogether.

The parable that follows makes the reason explicit. A king forgives a servant a debt of "ten thousand talents" (18:24) — an absurd sum, decades beyond any servant's possible earnings, deliberately unpayable. That servant immediately refuses a debt of "a hundred denarii" (18:28) from a fellow servant — a real but comparatively trivial amount, perhaps a hundred days' wages. The disproportion is the entire argument. The king's judgment — "shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?" (18:33) — is not a threat that God rescinds forgiveness on a technicality, but a statement that a person who has genuinely grasped the size of what they were forgiven cannot, in the same breath, withhold a debt a thousandfold smaller. Jesus states the conclusion plainly: "So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts" (18:35) — the phrase "from your hearts" ruling out forgiveness as mere policy or performance.

Where readers have disagreed

The chapter's genuine cruxes cluster around 18:15-20. Interpreters differ on how far the "church" (ἐκκλησία, 18:17) procedure describes a formal institutional process versus an informal community practice in Matthew's small, still-forming assemblies — the passage predates any developed structure of bishops or councils. There's also long-standing disagreement over whether "binding and loosing" in 18:18 grants a distinct authority beyond ordinary teaching and discipline, or simply describes the church's declarative competence — recognizing what is already true rather than creating new reality. And readers have long debated whether "let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector" means excommunication in a formal sense or simply an honest naming of estrangement — notably, both categories are ones Jesus elsewhere pursues rather than abandons, which should temper any reading that treats 18:17 as a final word rather than a description of a painful, and possibly reversible, state.

What it asks of a reader

The chapter presses two things that resist easy separation. It asks whether a reader will accept the status of the child in the middle of the circle — no rank, no leverage, receivable and receiving — rather than the status the disciples wanted, which was comparative greatness. And it asks whether a reader who has been forgiven an unpayable debt will act like it. The parable does not offer forgiveness as a nice disposition available to people with an easy temperament; it makes forgiveness the only coherent response to having been forgiven first, and it states without hedging what happens to a heart that took the gift and kept the ledger.

The verses this turns on

Matthew 18:1 WEB
In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ προσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντες Τίς ἄρα μείζων ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν;

  • Ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • ἐκείνῃ ἐκεῖνος demonstrative pronoun · dative singular feminine G1565
  • τῇ ὁ article · dative singular feminine G3588
  • ὥρᾳ ὥρα noun · dative singular feminine G5610
  • προσῆλθον προσέρχομαι verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural G4334
  • οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
  • μαθηταὶ μαθητής noun · nominative plural masculine G3101
  • τῷ ὁ article · dative singular masculine G3588
  • Ἰησοῦ Ἰησοῦς noun · dative singular masculine G2424
  • λέγοντες λέγω verb · present active participle, nominative plural masculine G3004
  • Τίς τίς interrogative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G5101
  • ἄρα ἆρα particle G687

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Mark 9:33 He came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing among yourselves on the way?"
  2. Luke 9:46 An argument arose among them about which of them was the greatest.
  3. Matthew 20:20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.
  4. Philippians 2:3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;
  5. Luke 22:24 A dispute also arose among them, which of them was considered to be greatest.
Matthew 18:3 WEB
and said, "Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

καὶ εἶπεν Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ στραφῆτε καὶ γένησθε ὡς τὰ παιδία, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.

  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • εἶπεν λέγω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G3004
  • Ἀμὴν ἀμήν Hebrew transliteration G281
  • λέγω λέγω verb · present active indicative, 1st person singular G3004
  • ὑμῖν, σύ personal pronoun G4771
  • ἐὰν ἐάν conditional G1437
  • μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
  • στραφῆτε στρέφω verb · aorist passive subjunctive, 2nd person plural G4762
  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • γένησθε γίνομαι verb · aorist middle deponent subjunctive, 2nd person plural G1096
  • ὡς ὡς adverb G5613
  • τὰ ὁ article · nominative plural neuter G3588

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Mark 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation and said to them, "Allow the little children to come to me! Don't forbid them, for God's Kingdom belongs to such as these.
  2. 1 Peter 2:2 as newborn babies, long for the pure spiritual milk, that with it you may grow,
  3. Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, "Allow the little children, and don't forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these."
  4. 1 Corinthians 14:20 Brothers, don't be children in thoughts, yet in malice be babies, but in thoughts be mature.
  5. Luke 18:16 Jesus summoned them, saying, "Allow the little children to come to me, and don't hinder them, for God's Kingdom belongs to such as these.
Matthew 18:4 WEB
Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

ὅστις οὖν ταπεινώσει ἑαυτὸν ὡς τὸ παιδίον τοῦτο, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ μείζων ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν.

  • ὅστις ὅστις relative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G3748
  • οὖν οὖν conjunction G3767
  • ταπεινώσει ταπεινόω verb · future active indicative, 3rd person singular G5013
  • ἑαυτὸν ἑαυτοῦ reflexive pronoun G1438
  • ὡς ὡς adverb G5613
  • τὸ ὁ article · nominative singular neuter G3588
  • παιδίον παιδίον noun · nominative singular neuter G3813
  • τοῦτο, οὗτος demonstrative pronoun · nominative singular neuter G3778
  • οὗτός οὗτος demonstrative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G3778
  • ἐστιν εἰμί verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G1510
  • ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
  • μείζων μέγας adjective · nominative singular masculine G3173

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
  2. Mark 10:43 But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant.
  3. Luke 14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
  4. Luke 9:48 and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For whoever is least among you all, this one will be great."
  5. Matthew 23:11 But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.
Matthew 18:5 WEB
Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me,
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

καὶ ὃς ἐὰν δέξηται ἓν παιδίον τοιοῦτο ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐμὲ δέχεται·

  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • ὃς ὅς relative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G3739
  • ἐὰν ἐάν conditional G1437
  • δέξηται δέχομαι verb · aorist middle deponent subjunctive, 3rd person singular G1209
  • ἓν εἷς adjective · accusative singular neuter G1520
  • παιδίον παιδίον noun · accusative singular neuter G3813
  • τοιοῦτο τοιοῦτος demonstrative pronoun · accusative singular neuter G5108
  • ἐπὶ ἐπί preposition G1909
  • τῷ ὁ article · dative singular neuter G3588
  • ὀνόματί ὄνομα noun · dative singular neuter G3686
  • μου, ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
  • ἐμὲ ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Matthew 25:40 "The King will answer them, 'Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'
  2. John 13:20 Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me."
  3. Mark 9:37 "Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, doesn't receive me, but him who sent me."
  4. Galatians 4:14 That which was a temptation to you in my flesh, you didn't despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
  5. Matthew 10:40 "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.
Matthew 18:6 WEB
but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a huge millstone were hung around his neck and that he were sunk in the depths of the sea.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

ὃς δ’ ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ, συμφέρει αὐτῷ ἵνα κρεμασθῇ μύλος ὀνικὸς περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ καταποντισθῇ ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῆς θαλάσσης.

  • ὃς ὅς relative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G3739
  • δ’ δέ conjunction G1161
  • ἂν ἄν particle G302
  • σκανδαλίσῃ σκανδαλίζω verb · aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular G4624
  • ἕνα εἷς adjective · accusative singular masculine G1520
  • τῶν ὁ article · genitive plural masculine G3588
  • μικρῶν μικρός adjective · genitive plural masculine G3398
  • τούτων οὗτος demonstrative pronoun · genitive plural masculine G3778
  • τῶν ὁ article · genitive plural masculine G3588
  • πιστευόντων πιστεύω verb · present active participle, genitive plural masculine G4100
  • εἰς εἰς preposition G1519
  • ἐμέ, ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Mark 9:42 "Whoever will cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if he were thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around his neck.
  2. Luke 17:1 He said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come!
  3. Matthew 18:10 See that you don't despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
  4. 2 Thessalonians 1:6 For it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,
  5. Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Matthew 18:9 WEB
If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

καὶ εἰ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔξελε αὐτὸν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ· καλόν σοί ἐστιν μονόφθαλμον εἰς τὴν ζωὴν εἰσελθεῖν, ἢ δύο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρός.

  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • εἰ εἰ conditional G1487
  • ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
  • ὀφθαλμός ὀφθαλμός noun · nominative singular masculine G3788
  • σου σύ personal pronoun G4771
  • σκανδαλίζει σκανδαλίζω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G4624
  • σε, σύ personal pronoun G4771
  • ἔξελε ἐξαιρέω verb · aorist active imperative, 2nd person singular G1807
  • αὐτὸν αὐτός personal pronoun · accusative singular masculine G846
  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • βάλε βάλλω verb · aorist active imperative, 2nd person singular G906
  • ἀπὸ ἀπό preposition G575

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Matthew 18:8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire.
  2. Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into God's Kingdom.
  3. Revelation 21:27 There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
  4. Matthew 5:22 But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
  5. Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.
Matthew 18:12 WEB
"What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

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;

  • Τί τίς interrogative pronoun · nominative singular neuter G5101
  • ὑμῖν σύ personal pronoun G4771
  • δοκεῖ; δοκέω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G1380
  • ἐὰν ἐάν conditional G1437
  • γένηταί γίνομαι verb · aorist middle deponent subjunctive, 3rd person singular G1096
  • τινι τὶς indefinite pronoun · dative singular masculine G5100
  • ἀνθρώπῳ ἄνθρωπος noun · dative singular masculine G444
  • ἑκατὸν ἑκατόν numeral (indeclinable) G1540
  • πρόβατα πρόβατον noun · nominative plural neuter G4263
  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • πλανηθῇ πλανάω verb · aorist passive subjunctive, 3rd person singular G4105
  • ἓν εἷς adjective · nominative singular neuter G1520

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Ezekiel 34:12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
  2. Luke 15:4 "Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn't leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?
  3. Ezekiel 34:16 "I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice."'
  4. Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
  5. Ezekiel 34:28 They will no more be a prey to the nations, neither will the animals of the earth devour them; but they will dwell securely, and no one will make them afraid.
Matthew 18:14 WEB
Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

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

  • οὕτως οὕτω adverb G3779
  • οὐκ οὐ particle · nominative G3756
  • ἔστιν εἰμί verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G1510
  • θέλημα θέλημα noun · nominative singular neuter G2307
  • ἔμπροσθεν ἔμπροσθεν preposition G1715
  • τοῦ ὁ article · genitive singular masculine G3588
  • Πατρὸς πατήρ noun · genitive singular masculine G3962
  • ὑμῶν σύ personal pronoun G4771
  • τοῦ ὁ article · genitive singular masculine G3588
  • ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • οὐρανοῖς οὐρανός noun · dative plural masculine G3772
  • ἵνα ἵνα conjunction G2443

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. I have kept those whom you have given me. None of them is lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
  2. John 6:39 This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.
  3. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
  4. Isaiah 40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
  5. John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

From the interpretive tradition

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.
C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity apologist · anglican
The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked.
Basil the Great Homily VI.7 father · eastern public domain

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