Matthew 18:11 (ASV)

Passage

[For the Son of man came to save that which was lost.]

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:9 And if thine eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is good for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.

Matthew 18:10 See 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 who is in heaven.

Matthew 18:11 [For the Son of man came to save that which was lost.]

Matthew 18:12 How think ye? if any man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and go unto the mountains, and seek that which goeth astray?

Matthew 18:13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth over it more than over the ninety and nine which have not gone astray.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "came", "save", and "lost". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "came" and "save", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "See that ye despise not one of..." into verse 12's "How think ye if any man have...", so "came" and "save" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "came" and "save" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.