Beginning
Humility and danger
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus.
“So, then,” they said, “who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 Jesus called a child and stood her in the middle of them.
3 “I’m telling you the truth,” he said. “Unless you turn inside out and become like children, you will never, ever, get into the kingdom of heaven. 4 So if any of you make yourselves humble like this child, you will be great in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And if anyone welcomes one such child in my name, they welcome me.
6 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to trip up,” he went on, “it would be better for them to have a huge millstone hung around their neck and be drowned far out in the deep sea. 7 It’s a terrible thing for the world that people will be made to stumble. Obstacles are bound to appear and trip people up, but it will be terrible for the person who makes them come.”
More about the “little ones”
8 “But if your hand or your foot causes you to trip up,” Jesus continued, “cut it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter into life crippled or lame than to go into eternal fire with both hands and both feet! 9 And if your eye causes you to trip up, pull it out and throw it away. Going into life with one eye is better than going into hell with two!
10 “Take care not to despise one of these little ones. I tell you this: in heaven, their angels are always gazing on the face of my father who lives there.
12 “How does it seem to you? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off and goes missing, what will he do? He’ll leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go off after the one that’s missing, won’t he? 13 And when, eventually, he finds it, I’ll tell you the truth: he will celebrate over that one more than over the ninety-nine who didn’t go missing! 14 It’s the same with your father in heaven. The last thing he wants is for a single one of these little ones to be lost.”
Reconciliation and prayer in the community
15 “If another disciple sins against you,” Jesus continued, “go and have it out, just between the two of you alone. If they listen to you, you’ve won back a brother or sister. 16 But if they won’t listen, you should take with you one or two others, so that ‘everything may be established from the mouth of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they won’t listen to them, tell it to the assembly. And if they won’t listen to the assembly, you should treat such a person like you would a Gentile or a tax-collector. 18 I’m telling you the truth: whatever you tie up on earth will have been tied up in heaven; and whatever you untie on earth will have been untied in heaven.
19 “Again, let me tell you the truth: if two of you come to an agreement on earth about any matter that you want to ask, it will be done for you by my father in heaven. 20 Yes: where two or three come together in my name, I’ll be there amongst them.”
The challenge of forgiveness
21 Then Peter came to Jesus.
“Master,” he said, “how many times must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? As many as seven times?”
22 “I wouldn’t say seven times,” replied Jesus. “Why not—seventy times seven?
23 “So, you see,” he went on, “the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle up accounts with his servants. 24 As he was beginning to sort it all out, one man was brought before him who owed ten thousand talents. 25 He had no means of paying it back, so the master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and everything he possessed, and payment to be made.
26 “So the servant fell down and prostrated himself before the master.
“ ‘Be patient with me,’ he said, ‘and I’ll pay you everything!’
27 “The master was very sorry for the servant, and let him off. He forgave him the loan.
28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred dinars. He seized him and began to throttle him. ‘Pay me back what you owe me!’ he said.
29 “The colleague fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you!’
30 “But he refused, and went and threw him into prison until he could pay the debt.
31 “So when his fellow-servants saw what had happened, they were very upset. They went and informed their master about the whole affair. 32 Then his master summoned him.
“ ‘You’re a scoundrel of a servant!’ he said to him. ‘I let you off the whole debt, because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have taken pity on your colleague, like I took pity on you?’
34 “His master was angry, and handed him over to the torturers, until he had paid the whole debt. 35 And that’s what my heavenly father will do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother or sister from your heart.”
The question about divorce
19 So this is what happened next. When Jesus had finished saying all this, he went away from Galilee and came to the region of Judaea across the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees approached him with a trick question.
“Is it lawful,” they asked, “for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that the creator from the beginning ‘made them male and female’? 5 And this is what he said: ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ 6 As a result, they are no longer two, but one flesh. So humans shouldn’t split up what God has joined together.”
7 “So then,” they asked, “why did Moses lay it down that one should give the woman a certificate of divorce and make the separation legal?”
8 “Moses gave you this instruction about how to divorce your wives,” replied Jesus, “because your hearts were hard. But that’s not how it was at the beginning. 9 Let me tell you this: anyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery.”
Marriage, celibacy and children
10 The disciples said to Jesus, “If that’s the situation of a man with his wife, it would be better not to marry!”
11 “Not everyone can accept this word,” replied Jesus; “only the people it’s given to. 12 You see, there are some eunuchs who are that way from birth. There are some who have been made eunuchs by others. And there are some who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. If anyone can receive this, let them do so.”
13 Then children were brought to Jesus for him to lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me! Don’t stop them! They are the sort the kingdom of heaven belongs to!” 15 And he laid his hands on them.
Then he moved on elsewhere.
The rich young man
16 Suddenly a man came up to Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what good thing must I do if I’m to possess the life of the age to come?”
17 “Why come to me with questions about what’s good?” retorted Jesus. “There is One who is good! If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” he asked.
“These ones,” Jesus answered: “ ‘don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t tell lies under oath, 19 respect your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
20 “I’ve kept the lot,” said the young man. “What am I still short of?”
21 “If you want to complete the set,” Jesus replied, “go and sell everything you own and give it to the poor. That way you’ll have treasure in heaven! Then come and follow me.”
22 When the young man heard him say that, he went away very sad. He had many possessions.
The first and the last
23 Jesus said to his disciples, “I’m telling you the truth: it’s very hard for a rich person to get into the kingdom of heaven. 24 Let me say it again: it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”
25 The disciples were completely flabbergasted when they heard that. “So who then can be saved?” they asked.
26 Jesus looked round at them. “Humanly speaking,” he replied, “it’s impossible. But everything’s possible with God.”
27 Then Peter spoke up. “Look here,” he said, “we’ve left everything behind and followed you. What can we expect?”
28 “I’m telling you the truth,” Jesus replied. “In God’s great new world, when the son of man sits on his glorious throne, those of you who have followed me will sit on twelve thrones—yes, you!—and rule over the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And anyone who’s left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or estates because of my name will get back a hundred times over, and will inherit the life of that new age. 30 But many at the front will find themselves at the back, and the back ones at the front.”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.