Humility and Forgiveness: We come now to the fourth major discourse of Matthew. It ends with the usual formula in 19:1–2 (cf. 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 26:1). Chapter 18 reads very much like an early church manual and deals with subjects such as humility (vv. 1–4), responsibility (vv. 5–7), self-renunciation (vv. 8–10), individual care (vv. 11–14), discipline (vv. 15–20), fellowship (vv. 19–20), and forgiveness (vv. 23–35; cf. Barclay, vol. 2, pp. 173–74).

18:1–5 With the opening phrase, at that time, Matthew ties the teaching of chapter 18 to the preceding material. Mark locates the event in Capernaum (Mark 9:33) and, along with Luke, mentions the argument among the disciples about who was the greatest (Luke 9:46). Matthew does not mention the argument but simply puts the disciples’ questions to …