Matthew 18

Matthew phrases the question more generically than Mark or Luke do. Matthew puts the question this way: “Which one of us is most important in the kingdom of heaven?” But Mark and Luke both report that the question came about because the disciples were arguing over which disciple was most important (Mark 9:34; Luke 9:46).

Heads up. Not heads off. Jesus does not encourage us to cut our heads off if our heads make us sin. Ditto for hands, feet, and eyes. Bible scholars agree Jesus is using hyperbole. His statement is an exaggerated way of talking about self-discipline and the strategies we need to use to distance ourselves from temptation. Some people in ancient times, as well as modern times, have taken these words of Jesus literally. They have cut off important body parts. That action is missing the point Jesus is trying to make, scholars say. Temptation doesn’t start with those body parts. It comes from deep within and has to be dealt with there, long before the body parts get involved.

More literally, “life,” referring to eternal life.

Jesus uses the phrase eternal fire, which he often associates with a word usually translated as “hell.” But the word for hell is literally “Gehenna,” Aramaic for “Valley of Hinnom,” on the south side of Jerusalem. It was, for a time, the constantly smoldering city dump. But in Old Testament times, some Jews sacrificed to idols there. King Manasseh (reigned 696-642 BC), Hezekiah’s son, “sacrificed his own son and burned the body on an altar” in the valley of Ben-Hinnom (2 Chronicles 33:6). Later, in 586 BC, Babylonian invaders arrived from what is now Iraq. They leveled the Jewish cities, including Jerusalem, and erased the Jewish nation from the world map. Some Jews considered that action as God’s judgment on their nation’s lingering idolatry. For the Jews, Hinnom Valley became a synonym for God’s judgment, much like 9/11, for Americans, refers to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York City. So 9/11 means “terrorist attack,” and Gehenna means “God’s judgment.”

Some copies of the Gospel don’t include this verse, which appears in Luke 19:10.

The Greek word is ekklesia, which can mean “community” or “church.” Followers of Jesus did not start meeting in church groups for regular worship services until after Jesus’s resurrection.

Literally, “brother,” sometimes translated as a fellow believer.

10,000 talents

The currency was 100 denarii. One silver denarius was a day’s salary for a common worker. This amount would have been about four months of wages.

“Your brother.”