Let’s start here
Your assignment
Read Matthew 18:1-14 in the KJB. Inspect the ESV footnote at verse 11, then read Luke 19:1-10 in both editions.
Clue 1
The KJB reading
Matthew 18:11 in the KJB says that the Son of man came to save what was lost. The surrounding passage concerns little ones, care for them and the shepherd seeking a straying sheep. The sentence fits the subject; fitting the context is supporting internal evidence, not proof of originality by itself.
Read the received passage →Clue 2
The edition’s stated reason
The ESV includes the verse’s wording in a footnote that identifies a manuscript difference. Its main text goes from verse 10 to verse 12. Preserving the numbering allows readers to see and investigate the difference.
Inspect the Matthew 18 footnote →Clue 3
Test the doctrinal accusation
Luke 19:10 states Christ’s mission to seek and save the lost in the ESV as well as in the KJB. Therefore the missing main-text verse in Matthew does not establish that this edition removed that doctrine. It remains legitimate to argue that Matthew 18:11 belongs in Matthew; use evidence for that narrower claim.
Compare Luke 19:10 →Hear the objection
Could the saying have entered Matthew from a parallel Gospel? That is a proposed explanation. Its agreement with biblical teaching is not enough to prove where it originally occurred; otherwise any true saying could be inserted anywhere.
Conclusion of this investigation
We retain the KJB reading. The broader accusation that the omission erases Christ’s saving mission fails this comparison, because the teaching remains in Luke. The precise textual question should be argued on its own evidence.
The argument above reaches a stated conclusion. The notebook below is for your own response.
Take the Test Now
What does the evidence establish?
A knowledge check, not a score for your faith. Read the evidence, then answer all three questions.
Choose an answer to each question to check your work.
Your investigator’s notebook
What convinced you—and what remains unanswered?
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