Pearl:Harmelesse

Chapter summary Mt18

1 Christ warneth his Disciples to be humble and harmelesse: 7 To auoide offences, and not to despise the little ones: 15 Teacheth howe we are to deale with our brethren, when they offend vs: 21 And how oft to forgiue them: 23 Which hee setteth forth by a parable of the King, that tooke account of his seruants, 32 And punished him, who shewed no mercie to his fellowe.

King James Version (1769) with Strongs Numbers and Morphology: Matthew Chapter 18

[1] At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
[2] And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
[3] And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
[4] Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
[5] And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
[6] But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
[7] Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
[8] Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
[9] And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
[10] Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
[11] For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
[12] How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
[13] And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
[14] Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
[15] Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
[16] But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
[17] And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
[18] Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
[19] Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
[20] For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
[21] Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
[22] Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
[23] Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
[24] And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
[25] But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
[26] The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
[27] Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
[28] But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
[29] And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
[30] And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
[31] So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
[32] Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
[33] Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
[34] And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
[35] So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

My commentary

Often people wonder how to deal with the evil that come to them in this world as believers. Well Jesus gives us the advice to be harmless. Part of being harmless is humility.

Though I don't think that means you should enter churches.

Word study on harmless

(Genesis 31:51-52 [KJV])
 [51] And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee;
 [52] This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.

First occurance of harm shows that it means doing damage to someone.

(Matthew 10:16 [KJV]) Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

First occurance of harmless shows that it is liked to a dove.

(Romans 13:10 [KJV]) Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

A definition of harmless is also in Rom 13:10 where it says worketh no ill to your neighbour.

Swedish translation of harmless

Harmless is translated into swedish as:

• ofarlig
• intetsägande
• menlös
• inte farlig
• riskfri

This is a very dangerous way to translate harm.

The first word ofarlig means not dangerous but seriously any living creature on earth could bee seen as dangerous. Especially any human being. Because the people dont know for sure what they are up to and they might have some unknown infection that they are carrying for example.

The second word intetsägande means saying nothing and expressing nothing. So not just saying nothing with words but also saying nothing with body language etc. Its true that the fool is counted wise when he is silent. But intentsägande is more than what you say with words. It can be just what they perceive from your body language or even just how they evaluate you. But I think we can learn from this word still since being silent is a way to be wise as a fool.

The third word, menlös translates back into english innocent, harmless. I guess we should try to be that. But here again a false accuser could still accuse a person that is menlös if he spends enough time with him.

The fourth word, inte farlig, means just like ofarlig, not dangerous. So its the same as the first word.

The fifth word riskfri means without risk. Now every person that has any ability and any freedom, there is a risk with that person. Having a brain, making you able to make decisions by your own free will means that there is a risk. So basically nobody alive today is without risk or harmless in societies eyes. Because even someone in jail could have an infection that could spread.

So we see that really nobody is harmless today. This is how you can kill the true sheep. If you add some false accusation to it as well. The best way to deal with false accusers though is to stay away from them. Avoid them. Dont enter the same building as they are in. Don't answer their phone calls. If they come to your door, dont open the door.

Solution

So what is the solution when someone can always claim that you are not harmless and that you are dangerous as long as you are alive. Well I think, learn to avoid evil people and put on the Whole armour of God and its often better to be quiet when you dont know for sure and when dealing with authority put on the Armour of light. Also regarding public speaking today there are rules. Sometimes its illegal to say something publicly about someone even if what you say is true.

(Matthew 5:38-48 [KJV])
 [38] Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
 [39] But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
 [40] And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
 [41] And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
 [42] Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
 [43] Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
 [44] But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
 [45] That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
 [46] For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
 [47] And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
 [48] Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. 

We can listen to Jesus advice in Mt5:44 on how to deal with our enemies. But I think that we can also listen to Pauls advice regarding false accusers.