A closing thought on Matthew 18:15-20

So then the last step becomes often the most difficult for us: "... if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector" (Matthew 18:17).

It may appear that Jesus is sahying to give up and treat the person as hopeless and abandon him or her as a waste of one's time. However, Jesus never set limits to human forgiveness. In fact, he was known to have great compassion for the Gentiles and made a tax collector one of his apostles.

William Barclay reminds us in his commentary that when Jesus spoke of Gentiles and tax collectors, he always did so with sympathy and gentleness with an appreciation of their good qualities. "It may be that Jesus was saying something like this: ‘When you have done all this, when you have given the sinner every chance, and when he remains stubborn, you may think he is no better than a tax collector and Gentile. Well, you may be right. But I have not found tax collectors and Gentiles hopeless. My experience of them is that they, too, have a heart that can be touched, and there are many of them like Matthew and Zacchaeus, who have become my best friends. Even if the person is like a tax collector and Gentile you can still win him, as I have done.’ "

Words to stay humble by...