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MATTHEW 18:12 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 18:11Matt 18:13
“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?”
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? The lost-sheep parable in Matthew's Community Discourse (contrast Luke 15's version which addresses the Pharisees' complaint about Jesus eating with sinners): the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to seek the one strayed sheep is the image of the community's care for the brother who has gone astray.

Church Fathers on Matthew 18:12

The Lord had said, under the type of hand, foot, and eye, that all kin and connection which could afford scandal must be cut off. The harshness of this declaration He accordingly tempers with the following precept, saying, 'Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones;' i. e. As far as you may avoid despising them, but next to your own salvation seek also to heal them. But if ye see that they hold to their sins, it is better that ye be saved, than that ye perish in…

Jerome · 4th century

Or otherwise; As to shun the evil, so to honour the good, has great recompense. Above then He had bid them to cut off the friendships of those that gave offence, here He teaches them to shew honour and service to the saints.

Chrysostom · 4th century

Or otherwise; Because so great evils come of brethren being scandalized, 'Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones.'

Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation · ap. Anselm
Read all 26 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Matthew 18:12 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy