The major sub-theme of this discourse is offenses (Gr. skandalon, stumbling blocks). The humble disciple will be careful not to put a stumbling block in the path of another disciple as that one proceeds toward the kingdom.
18:5-6 The child in view in these verses is not a literal child but the disciple who has humbled himself or herself and in so doing has become childlike (vv. 3-4). Jesus was speaking of receiving a humble disciple of His in verse 5.686Whoever does this "in Jesus' name"welcomes the disciple because he or she is one of Jesus' disciples, not because that one is personally superior, influential, or prominent. The person who welcomes one of Jesus' humble disciples simply for Jesus' sake virtually welcomes Jesus Himself (cf. 10:42). In this context, as well as in chapter 10, Jesus was speaking of welcoming in the sense of extending hospitality with its attendant encouragement and support. "To receive"(Gr. dekomai) means to receive into fellowship.687
The antithesis in verse 6 involves not welcoming a disciple but rejecting or ignoring him. Withholding supportive encouragement would cause a disciple to stumble in the sense that it would make it harder for him to do his work. Jesus was not speaking of causing the disciple to stumble by leading him or her into apostasy. The contrast makes this clear. To discourage the disciple amounts to rejecting the Master. Consequently drowning at sea would be better for the offender than having to face Jesus' condemnation in hell for rejecting Him (vv. 8-9).
Drowning was a Greek and Roman method of execution but not a Jewish one.688The type of millstone in view was a large one that a donkey would rotate, not the small hand millstone that every Palestinian woman used to prepare her flour. Drowning in this way would be horrible, but it would be better than perishing in the lake of fire (v. 8).
18:7 Jesus pronounced woe on the world because it is the source of opposition to Him and His disciples, the source of all stumbling. The NIV translation may be a little misleading here. "Woe"announces judgment (cf. 11:21; 23:13-32). It is inevitable that the world will reject Jesus' disciples, but God will hold those who do reject them responsible (cf. Isa. 10:5-12; Acts 4:27-28).
18:8-9 Jesus next warned His disciples about the possibility of their doing what the world does, namely making it difficult for another disciple to fulfill his or her mission for Jesus. In the context, one's competitive pride of position might cause another disciple to stumble (v. 1). The illustrations Jesus used recall 5:29-30, where He also urged His disciples to discipline their thoughts and motives.
The point of this section was the seriousness of rejecting or opposing Jesus' disciples in their work of carrying out His will. It is as serious as child abuse.
18:10-11 Jesus warned His disciples not to look down on His followers who were very humbly following Him. The Twelve were in danger of using worldly standards to measure and give value to their fellow disciples, as we are today (cf. 5:3). Judas Iscariot was one disciple who failed to heed this warning.
Many interpreters believe that the last part of verse 10 teaches that God has guardian angels who take special care of small children. However the context of verse 10 is not talking about small children but disciples who need to be as humble as small children. Furthermore the angels in this passage are continually beholding God's face in heaven, not watching the movements of small children on earth. Evidently the angels in view are the supernatural messengers (the normal meaning of "angels") who assist God's people (Heb. 1:14). This seems to me to be more likely than that they are the spirits of believers after death who constantly behold God's face (cf. Acts 12:15).689Another view is that they are the spirits of children who have died.690Are there guardian angels for children? I like to think there are because of God's concern for children (e.g., 19:14-15), but I cannot point to a verse that teaches this explicitly.
Verse 11 does not appear in the earliest ancient copies of Matthew's Gospel. Probably scribes influenced by Luke 19:10 included it here in later versions of the text.
18:12-13 Having taught the importance of humility, Jesus now illustrated it with a parable. Jesus taught the same parable on a different occasion to teach a slightly different lesson (Luke 15:4-7). The shepherd in the story is God (v. 14). The sheep are those who follow Him, namely Jesus' disciples (cf. 10:6; 15:24). God has concern for every one of His sheep and seeks to restore those of them that wander away from Him. He has such great concern for the wayward that when they return to Him He rejoices more than over those who did not wander away. This does not mean that God loves His wayward sheep more than He loves His faithful sheep. It means that when wayward sheep return to Him it gives Him special joy.
Since God has such great concern for His disciples who go astray, His disciples should be very careful not to do anything that would cause one of His sheep to go astray.
"If God takes so much trouble to recover a little one that has strayed, how grievous it must be to cause it to stray."691
Notice again Jesus' identification of Himself and God in this parable. Jesus' disciples are God's sheep. Therefore Jesus and God are one.
18:14 This verse concludes the argument of the discourse thus far. The heavenly Father does not want one of Jesus' humble disciples to wander away from his calling in life as a disciple because someone has discouraged, rejected, or opposed him. Moreover He does not want His disciples, of all people, to be responsible for this. Perishing in this context does not mean loss of salvation but the ultimate result of failing to achieve God's goal for him or her as a disciple, namely a wasted life.
