The Offenders - A Reflection on Matthew 18:15-20

 


“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

“Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them (Matthew 18:19-20). How many times have you heard somebody quoting these two verses? Hundreds of times, I am sure, and although they are true, even independently of anything else, this offers an ideal example of why we should look at context whenever we read something in Scripture. 

These verses, along with the ones that precede it, are sandwiched between two very important parables. One of them, as we saw yesterday, is the Parable of the Lost Sheep, which speaks about how it “is not the will of our Father in heaven that even one of his sheep be lost” (see Matthew 18:14). The other, as we will see tomorrow, is the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, which speaks about how important it is that we forgive each other constantly. “How often should I forgive? As many as seven times?”, Peter asked. Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:21).

Now, this passage is titled as “Reproving Another Who Sins” (NRSV), or Dealing with a Sinning Brother (NKJV), or something similar in different Bibles. This leads one to believe, especially if one looks at it without context, as instructions on how to deal with sinners in the church. But placed in correct context, we see this passage is actually about the church exhausting all possible options to make sure not one of its members is lost! And, although correction in the form of tough love might be needed, if Jesus is made part of the process, the offender can be saved! 

“Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,” Jesus says, “and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). Where have we heard these words before? We have heard Jesus saying these words to Peter a little while back when he said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). The unstated instruction in these words is to loose, that is, to forgive, and not to bind, because to repeat what Jesus said, “it is not the will of our Father in heaven that even one of the sheep should be lost”.

The church — that’s us — need to be cautious about how it goes about reconciliation. Our unforgiveness can cause people to be lost and that is not the desire of God. People hurt us, sometimes repeatedly, and in our desire for “justice” — although in truth, it is vengeance — we say or do terrible things. Let us do what Jesus instructs us first in today’s passage: “if another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone” (Matthew 18:15). Do it gently, with a lot of love, and see what happens. 

If you bring Jesus into the equation, and seek reconciliation in his name, wonderful things are gonna happen.

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:  https://youtu.be/FLo6S5ByFMA


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