King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Chapters: Matthew 17-18
Message: Matthew: When Offenses Come
Hello My Friend,
As we continue in the reading of the Gospels, we learn that offenses come to all, but the one who receives the biggest fall from the offense is the one who started it. We, who are saved and born again were set free from the chains of sin that held us down the second that we received Christ as our Saviour. Therefore, we must never use our liberty to knowingly live in, promote, or condone sin as we represent Christ. Believe it or not, there are people watching our every move, they want to see what Christ has done for us so if we are living in sin they are going to wonder what the point is of following Christ if we are no different or even worse then them.
[1 Corinthians 8:9-13 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of your’s become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. 10 For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; 11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. 13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.]
Now, we are in a day and age where people get offended over everything, even pronouns, so it can be hard to distinguish how to approach everyone. I am not going to lie, if I have to fill out one more job application that asks me what gender, race, and color of skin that I identify as, I am going to scream. I should be offended because I have seen the bias. However, I am not because it is what it is, and if I spend twenty valuable minutes filling out an application only to get to those questions then I know where their priorities lie and that it is not the job for me. Yes, we are to be cordial with all because Jesus sends us out into the world so that we might be the light that brings others to Him, but we do not have to condone their behavior.
[Romans 12:17-21 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.]
Yesterday, I said that we had read about the transfiguration from Matthew’s account, but it was actually Luke’s. Matthew, also gives the account of the transfiguration of Jesus and gives us a little more detail and insight into this incredible event. This happened exactly six days after Jesus fed the four thousand.
[Matthew 17:1-6 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.]
Matthew, points out that there were not only scared, but fell to the ground. I do not care who you are or how long you have walked with Christ, if you are saved, you will hear God’s voice speaking out to you when you are headed in the wrong direction. And what does Jesus do? He touches them and tells them to get up.
[Matthew 17:7-12 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.]
The disciples were referring to this Scripture, [Malachi 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.]. Though the spirit of prophecy did cease for four hundred years, at the expiring of those years, someone will be sent as great as Elijah. That man would be none other than John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, [Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.]
Right here Jesus is telling them that the same people who killed John will also be responsible for His death. There is something here that we as saved, born again Christians need to be reminded of, Jesus, is always with us, and while we are going to face many hardships, we have nothing to fear. I said this before and I believe I will say it until I leave this earth, this is my get me through the day verse, [Psalms 56:3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.].
Again, we learn that Jesus tells Peter, James, and John not to say anything about what they saw until after He raised from the dead. Of course, they did not understand what He was talking about at the time, but they did not have time to talk to Him about it since the crowd gathered at the bottom of the mountain came running over to Him. Matthew, also gives the account of the man who came to Jesus for help with his son.
[Matthew 17:14-18 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.]
[Perverse; stubborn, ornery, and troublesome.] Now, we see from Matthew why Jesus called them a faithless and perverse generation. In other words, they not only had no faith in Him, they were set on trying to prove Him wrong. The first mistake here is that they were depending on the disciples to heal people, cure their diseases, and relinquish evil spirits instead of God, even the disciples were guilty of this. Matthew, goes into more detail about what Jesus said to the disciples when they asked Him why they could not cast the evil spirit out of the young man.
[Matthew 17:19-23 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. 22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.]
God, may use physicians and Godly men and women to assist people, but they are not the cure, they are merely the vessels that God uses to assist Him with the cure. We are to never lift up the ones who God uses higher than God Himself, if we do that then we are setting ourselves up for a great fall when we come to realize that they are human. Now, Jesus, and the disciples traveled through Galilee for the night, then went on to Capernaum where he often resided. As soon as they arrive they were greeted by a tax collector.
[Matthew 17:24-27 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. 27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.]
The collectors of the Temple-tax, were making their rounds. In the Old Testament, every Jew above twenty had been taxed a half shekel annually for the support of the Sanctuary, [Exodus 30:12-14 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. 14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD.]
The collectors did not approach Jesus directly, but, knowing Peter, they address their request to him. Jesus, of course, knew where the conversation was going also has a question. By law, Jesus is a Son in His Father’s house, in the Jewish Church and Temple, and therefore was free from the tax. However, in order to avoid confrontation Jesus paid the tax and even for Peter as well. In contrast, since God is King of the Temple and His Son is free that means that the children of God by their faith in Christ are free in the best sense of the word, [John 8:34-36 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.]
I am not going to lie, saved or not, when you are living in sin it holds you hostage and the more you try to get out of it the further down the hole you get. That is where Jesus comes in and you really do feel the great sense of freedom by confessing it and giving it all to Jesus. However, we need to be careful that we do not become so liberated that we think of ourselves as being untouchable. The devil messes with Christ’s faithful more than he does His unfaithful because he wants to ruin their testimony. So, here come the disciples with a question for Jesus. Matthew, accounts to the same conversation about who will be the greatest in heaven.
[Matthew 18:1-7 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!]
First of all, this is Jesus’ way of saying that you must be born again in order to even get into heaven. Second, what possessed them to even ask that question? And what made them think that one of them was going to get recognized in heaven over the other? This is why salvation has always been about grace and not of our works because we would ruin heaven boasting about all the things we did to get in there, [Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.]
[Offense; breach; crime; infraction; sin; transgression; wrongdoing.] In other words, Jesus, is saying that we are all sinners and have been accused of some transgression, some only have a few offenses against us, while others have many, but we are all in the same boat. However, those who have the mindset of kids, not only will be pardoned of every offense, they will have the protection of Jesus Himself. Watch how Jesus explains this.
[Matthew 18:10-14 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.]
Have you ever watched little children naturally doing the things they do? Playing, learning, getting into things? Even though they still have a sin nature, there is such trust and innocence about them that they do not see color, race, or gender for that matter, all they see is people, and they can sense bad people in a heartbeat. Of course, when they get older sin comes more natural to them as they become aware that they have done something wrong. This is how we must be in order to accept that we need Jesus and ask Him to save us.
[1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.]
The truth is, in regards to who we are as a person, God made us who we are, I am a naturally born take charge kind of person, love to teach, and I do not mince words. However, there are some things that are not from God, I have trust issues, am on constant guard with my heart, and tend to shut down when I cannot control things, and that is where I fail God. This is when God has to remind me that I need to forgive myself for my past failures and move forward. In fact, forgiveness is the key to everyone moving forward. Jesus, goes on to explain this.
[Matthew 18:15-20 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.]
In other words, whatever decisions we make, in how we handle our offenders, will be accounted for, and if we forgive them, our own sins will be forgiven and forgotten by God. We do not have to agree with them, or even talk to them ever again, but we do have to forgive them. This is not the type of forgiveness that we in our own human capability can have, this is the forgiveness that only Christ can forgive and when we do, there He is in the midst of us.
[Matthew 18:21-26 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.]
Poor Peter, he always had the responses, but kind of missed the point of what Jesus was saying. If it were even possible that we could only get by with committing only one sin, we are no different than the one who committed one hundred. While the one with one hundred certainly has more to be thankful for as Jesus paid it all, there ought to be the same amount of loyalty to Jesus by the one who was pardoned of one sin. Well, the king did forgive the debt, but watch what happened when the same man had a debt owed to him.
[Matthew 18:27-30 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.]
I am all for people doing time for their crimes, but what makes these thugs who mistreat people think that by bullying people they are going to get what is owed to them. Well, they are definitely going to get what is owed to them. Watch what happened to this fool when the king found out how badly this man was treated, [Matthew 18:32-35 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.]
So, why does God not forgive us if we do not forgive those whom offend us? A little something called grace. God’s grace is what brings Him to forgive us for our offending Him, and it is that same grace that we need to have to forgive those who offend us, [Matthew 5:43-45 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.]
Today’s Prayer: God, You are my witness that I not only believed in Your Son, but received Him as my Saviour, I am trusting only in Him to take me to heaven. Until that time comes I want to live the best life that I can live here on earth with You leading the way. Lord, Lead me and guide me, show me thy ways, and help me to continue walking the path You gave me without fear of stepping on any mine, but by faith knowing that Your Son guiding me. Let me not be deceived, easily offended, or afraid to tell those I know or come into contact with that Jesus lives in me and I am living my life the way He wants me to live. Also, when offenses come, let me be forgiving as You are forgiving to me when I offend You. I love You Lord, and ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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