Matthew 18:14 (WEB)

Passage

Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:12 “What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?

Matthew 18:13 If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.

Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.

Matthew 18:16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.Deuteronomy 19:15

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "even", "father", "heaven", "little", "ones", "should", and "perish". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "even" and "father", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "If he finds it most certainly I..." into verse 15's "If your brother sins against you go...", so "even" and "father" 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 "even" and "father" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.