<p>18:14&nbsp;<i>So it is not the wish</i>- It is not the Father&rsquo;s&nbsp;<i>will</i>&nbsp;that little ones should &ldquo;perish&rdquo; (see too Jn. 6:39 s.w.), but :13 has made it clear that the finding of the lost is conditional: &ldquo;<i>If so be</i>&nbsp;that he find it&rdquo;. Such is the huge power delegated to us, the extent of human freewill- that it can even stop the will of God being fulfilled. Because we have a choice as to whether we do His will or not.&nbsp;</p>
<p><i>Of your Father who is in heaven-&nbsp;</i>RVmg.: &ldquo;It is not a thing willed before your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish&rdquo; seems to refer to the guardian Angels who represent the &ldquo;little ones&rdquo; before the court of Heaven. Every situation in which we reject the little ones is played out in the court of Heaven. This section began with the disciples thinking that their internal politics could somehow be hidden from the Lord (see on :1 and :2). They cannot be. The situations, discussions, rejections, formulations of policies, inward thoughts&hellip; are all played out before the throne of God in Heaven.</p>
<p><i>That one of these little ones</i>- This serves to show that the lost sheep are the same as the little ones.</p>
<p><i>Should perish-</i>&nbsp;The Son of God came to &ldquo;save that which is&nbsp;<i>lost</i>&rdquo; (:11- s.w. &ldquo;perish&rdquo;). His mission was indeed the doing of God&rsquo;s will- that little ones should not &ldquo;perish&rdquo; or be &ldquo;lost&rdquo;. But it&rsquo;s possible that they will be- because we can make them stumble, make them perish, even though it is the will of the Father and Son that they do not perish. The Lord gave His life so that they would not be lost / perish (Jn. 3:15,16 s.w.). But we can fight against the intention of the cross by making them stumble and thereby perish. The same word is used for how we can make a believer stumble and they thereby &ldquo;perish&rdquo;: &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t destroy [s.w. &ldquo;perish&rdquo;] with your [attitude to] food him for whom Christ died&rdquo; (Rom. 14:15). By doing so we are making the cross of Christ of no power for that person. Exactly the same is said in 1 Cor. 8:11, and I think 2 Jn. 8 has the same idea: &ldquo;Look to yourselves, that we don&rsquo;t make to perish [s.w.] those things we worked for&rdquo;- and those things were surely the converts which John&rsquo;s community had converted and built up.</p>