Seeking to Know God
We seek to understand our lives through His Word, not define the Word by our lives.
An Online Bible Study
Matthew 18:18-20
A. Read Matthew 18:18:20 (below)
B. Make your lists of repetitive words, questions, etc.
C. What seems to be the author's primary message based on your lists?
D. Make Application
A.
Read
Matthew 18:18-20
“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Cultural Context
Jesus' ministry lasted three years and was characterized by his teaching. Crowds followed him, often seeking signs and wonders; however, Jesus had one primary message: "proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom" (Mat. 4:23). Though the audiences and his method of delivering this message differ, Christ's core message was the gospel of God's Kingdom, that in Jesus Christ God's sovereign reign and rule have come near. God's promise to establish his kingdom is being fulfilled through the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and all things are becoming new (2 Cor. 5:17).
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Question: How does this passage fit within Jesus' Gospel of the Kingdom message?
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Matthew 18:18-20 is a part of a discussion that actually begins at Matthew 18:15-20, so we need to interpret the entire passage, not merely a portion of it.
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A.
Read
Matthew 18:15-20: If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
B.
Grammatical Context
Matthew 18:15-20
(We cannot interpret only 18:18-20 when our context is Matthew 18:15-20)
Two (5x)
Listen (4x)
preceded by verbal commands:
go and show,
take,
tell
let him go
on earth (3x)
in heaven (3x)
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C. Primary Message
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Primary message
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If your brother sins, go and show him (if he doesn't listen), then take one or two (if he doesn't listen), then tell the church (if he doesn't listen), then let him go; this process finds authority in Heaven, and Christ will be with us when we follow heaven's plan.
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1. Jesus is teaching how we handle a brother who is sinning - some translations explicitly say if a brother has sinned "against you" - under Kingdom principles.
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2. Jesus is giving us the authority to handle the situation in the manner he laid out in vs. 15-17.
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If we know our brother (sister) is sinning, it is our responsibility to go speak to them privately. Only If they don't listen, should we then take one or two others with you to talk again. Only if they still don't listen, should we tell the church about it. Only if they still continue sinning, should they be considered no longer a part of the church.
Jesus confirms that heaven agrees with this process - he is there with us when we handle sin in the way he has commanded.
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This passage of Scripture is about church discipline.
D.
Application
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Interpretation: Matthew18:15-20
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1. Jesus is teaching how we handle a brother who is sinning - some translations explicitly say if a brother has sinned "against you" - under Kingdom principles.
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2. Jesus is giving us the authority to handle the situation in the manner he laid out in vs. 15-17.
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If we know our brother (sister) is sinning, it is our responsibility to go speak to them privately. Only If they don't listen, take one or two others with you to talk again. Only if they still don't listen, tell the church about it. Only if they still continue sinning, should they be considered no longer a part of the church. Jesus confirms that heaven agrees with this process - he is there with us when we handle sin in the way he has commanded.
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Application: Jesus is there with us when we approach our brother/sister in the manner in which he instructed. He does not promise to be with us when we handle the issue in any way other because this is the manner in which Heaven approves. of church discipline.
That is a significant fact to remember when we see sin in a fellow believer's life, especially if we are the one sinned against. It's not Christ's will that we gossip; it is his will that we go and talk and take and tell - in that order only.
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Continued below...
Jesus cares about His church, and He has entrusted us to take care of one another in the way that Heaven does. That's how Kingdom living is making all things new.
Matthew arranged his book around five discourses or sermons Jesus delivered. The most famous is Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (5-7). Matthew also documented Jesus' instructions to his disciples in chapter 10, his parables about the Kingdom of God (13), and his teaching on the end of days in chapters 24-25. Matthew 18 is Jesus' discourse on relationships within the Kingdom of God. He is making a clear point to the crowds and us: members of God's Kingdom don't live merely by earthly standards, but by God's design in Heaven. It is essential to read Matthew 18:18-20 in the context of the entire chapter to fully understand the message of this passage. This is particularly critical given this message was not a compilation of different sermons but is a message Jesus taught in one sitting [see 18:1 and 19:1).
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In this particular discourse, Jesus taught his followers about willingly taking the position of humility (18:1-6) and, in verses 7-11, he explained about being careful not to cause a brother to sin - presumably because of not taking the attitude of humility. He then spoke to them (12-14) about the concern the Father has for a lost sheep and we also should have for members of the body [little ones]. He taught how to address a brother who has sinned against us (15-19), and finally, he taught his followers that the forgiveness we offer one another is (basically) limitless (21-35). This particular passage (15-20) is part of a larger conversation Jesus had with his followers about relationships within the Kingdom of God. Godly Relationships don't generally follow the patterns of the world, primarily because we place the needs of others before our own.
Therefore, when we read Matthew 18:15-20 in light of the entire chapter, we can see that Jesus, while teaching us how to handle a brother or sister who has sinned against us, has taught a fundamental principle we need to apply to that situation as well - humility.
It is not necessary, and not even Christ-like, to go to our brother Every. Single. Time. we feel offended. Humility submits itself to others; we offer mercy and move on, not allowing bitterness to take root. This verse is teaching us - IF we have to go to a brother, this is the way to handle the confrontation. However, above that, remember, "whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea" (18:6). We don't want to selfishly and carelessly handle our brother/sister who is sinning.
It is not necessary nor Christ-like to go to our brother or sister in Christ every single time we feel offended. Humility submits itself to others.
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However... what do our original verses about binding and loosing have to do with this conversation?
To answer that question, it is vital that we look at how Jesus used this same phrase earlier in the book of Matthew.
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." 16:19
Jesus is talking about Peter's declaration of him as the true Messiah. Peter, whom Jesus was speaking to, was not given authority to do as he pleased - Peter had the authority, in light of his knowledge of the Christ given to him from heaven, to speak with authority concerning Christ on earth. Anything God declared in Heaven, Peter and the disciples could assert on Earth. Peter was not permitted to bind and loose ("forbid, prohibit, declare to be illicit") whatever he thought; Christ gave Peter the authority to share only the message declared in heaven.​
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Shortly after Peter spoke with authority concerning the Messiah, he then spoke from selfish interests after Jesus told them he would suffer, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!” Christ responded, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's" (16:23). He had no authority to express what heaven had not declared, and when he did, Christ referred to him as Satan. Ouch!
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Therefore, now that we have interpreted our original passage Matthew 18:18-20 in the context of all of Matthew 18, we can determine Jesus' original message.
Jesus has taught us that we have authority from Heaven to handle a situation concerning a brother's sin. Our authority, however, is ONLY given to us if we handle the situation in the manner Christ spells out here - we don't have any authority to express what Heaven has not declared! If our brother has fallen to the temptation of sin and it is in their best interests for us to talk to them, [not our best interests, but theirs!] we do it only in the manner he teaches. When we do, Christ is with us giving us the authority to speak. If they reject the rebuke, they show themselves to be counted with those outside the community of faith.
NONETHELESS, Christ primary message in this discourse is the importance and value of humility regarding relationships: ALWAYS approach your brother/sister from a position of unselfishness and humble submission. ​If we have been sinned against by a fellow believer (we shouldn't expect anything else from those outside the community of faith), Christ's first message is to take the position of humility. Don't demand your rights. People are important to our Lord AND people should be important to those who participate in Kingdom living. We submit our feelings to the authority of God and the care of our brother.
Submit to Christ's care for your brother or sister, and by your submission, you will not become a stumbling block to their redemption.
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Properly interpreting this passage (18:18-20) ensures we do not take it out of context. Have you ever used these verses to justify not attending church -- because wherever two or three gather in Jesus' name is the church, right? Indeed, we don't need to be in a church building to be in the Father's presence. There are other verses of Scripture, however, that speak directly to the need for church attendance. We don't need to take this one out of context to address that concern.
How about using it to claim that if two or three agree, whatever they ask, God will do? First of all, we don't need anyone to pray with us for God to hear us. The Holy Spirit lives in each of us, so that can't be the point of this passage. Secondly, no matter if we gather two or three with us when we pray, God is under no obligation to answer our prayers no matter what we verbally "bind." This Scripture is not promising us otherwise. If you take these verses out of context, you can propagate a belief that God is under obligation to answer our prayers when we gather others around us. We only have authority inasmuch as Heaven has authorized it.
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The most crucial factor to consider when failing to accurately interpret Scripture is incomplete interpretations don't reveal the pure heart of our Father. That's why we interpret Scripture: to see what God's book is saying about Him. Christ didn't merely tell us how to address a sinning brother; he first made it clear that God cares about people's hearts and wants us to be the kind of people who care more about protecting someone than we do about correcting someone.
That's how God's Kingdom changes relationships. Through proper interpretation, the Holy Spirit reveals to us a richer Scripture than one that merely tells us how powerful our prayers can be; it tells us how meaningful relationships are to God. When we apply it properly, we don't make claims about how powerful our prayers ought to be. We display the heart of God to others. He cares about His church, and He has entrusted us to take care of one another in the way that Heaven does. That's how Kingdom living is making all things new.
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