Matthew 18:15-20
A. INTRODUCTION
Over the years we’ve all seen and heard of incidents where people have found themselves in trouble and have needed to be rescued.
We’ve heard stories of people being adrift at sea. We’ve heard stories of skiing incidents and people being covered in metres of snow. We’ve heard stories of buildings which have collapsed for one reason or another, with the desperate need to find survivors. We’ve also heard stories of people being caught up in hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods.
Now, of course these days, we have a mindset on preventing or limiting the effects of such disasters. As a consequence, sailors and bushwalkers are encouraged to carry a variety of equipment, including tracking and signalling devices. And early warning systems and improved building standards are two elements that are being implemented around the world. And at the same time the skills of professional rescuers are being honed. And the keenness of eager volunteers to join in and do their part has become a feature of modern life.
As a consequence, what we see is that, in the world at large, a variety of steps have been put in place, or have been considered, to prevent or limit different kinds of disaster. And rescuing skills are being constantly reviewed and updated.
But that’s OK for people who need physical help. But what do we do when someone needs spiritual help? When a fellow Christian falls away from the fold? How do we rescue them then?
B. THREE STEPS TO RESCUE A BROTHER (15-17)
1. Introduction
Well, what we should do is the topic of discussion between Jesus and the disciples, in this passage from Mathew’s gospel. Because the discussion is about: what we should do when a fellow believer offends by their behaviour—behaviour that is far from Christian—but where the person is putting their eternal life at risk by the things that they are choosing to do. And there perhaps can be no greater disaster than that.
Because contrary to suggestions in some circles that this story is about the appropriate punishment for an offence by a fellow Christian, the emphasis is rather on providing opportunities for them to face up to the issues concerned, with a view for them to return to the fold.
In other words, the passage is a practical guide on how someone who has been offended can imitate God’s concern for a lost sheep. And Jesus provides a number of steps that should be taken.
2. The First Step (15)
And, the first step, Jesus suggests, is that the person who is offended should confront the person who has caused the offence.
In other words, the believer is not to ignore the fault he sees in his fellow believer, but to confront him or her with it. And, of course, the hope is that following that, the matter need go no further. Ideally the offender would repent, and as a consequence be rescued from spiritual ruin. All very simple and straightforward—in theory at least. But there are a couple of issues of special note.
Firstly, the onus on taking the initiative is on the person who has been offended. They are not to wait for the sinner to come to them to say that they are sorry. The brotherly relationship has been disrupted and it needs to be resolved and resolved quickly.
And secondly, there is a pastoral concern that the situation could easily degenerate further. And therefore, it is far better for the issue to be resolved between the two people and God, than the issue being brought out into the open. If it can be resolved quickly and easily, and if the sinner can be persuaded to repent and seek forgiveness, then the whole affair can be considered to be over, and no one else need know.
3. The Second Step (16)
However, Jesus was not naïve and, as a consequence, he continued on with his advice.
So, he continued, if the offender doesn’t listen, then there is a second step that should be taken. And that is for the person who has been offended against to gather together two or three others and for them then to confront the person who has caused the offence.
Now, again, the onus is on the person offended to make the move, because the question of someone’s spiritual wellbeing is at stake. And again, the emphasis is still not to advertise the situation abroad, so that everyone knows what is going on. However, having failed in their lone attempt to make things right, a second attempt is to be made, with the support of one or two others.
Now, the idea behind this is not to beat the offender into submission. But that while he or she may not have been convinced of their error by one person, that maybe the multiple testimonies of a couple of people may be enough to turn them back to the Christian way.
4. The Third Step (17a)
So far so good. However, Jesus recognised that even that might not be enough.
And so, he suggested a third stage. And remember we’re not talking about the resolving of petty disputes here. We’re talking about a person’s spiritual welfare, and the danger of them missing out on eternal life.
And the third stage that Jesus suggested? Well, only if the first two stages failed, he suggested, there may be a need to take the matter further and inform the church.
But again, the object is not to bring disciplinary action. Rather the meeting of the church is for the purposes of pastoral appeal. And the idea is that if the offender sees the whole community is against his or her behaviour, then surely he or she will repent.
In this third step, the initiative is again placed at the feet of the person who has been offended. But the response regarding privacy and keeping things as quiet as possible has now disappeared. That approached has failed, and now it’s all stops open to do anything to get the person to repent.
5. And If All Fails? (17b)
But Jesus, ever the realist, noted that even this, his third stage, might not work.
And if it doesn’t? Well Jesus suggested that the offender has effectively cut themselves off from the community, and there is nothing left that can be done. The offender has made their choice to live outside of the community of faith, and there is absolutely nothing that can be done to persuade the person to live otherwise.
Of course, in one sense this final scenario seems rather heartless. It even seems to put Jesus in a bad light. But there are a couple of extra issues with this that need to be considered:
Because firstly, how can there be any real fellowship with someone who has so blatantly set themselves against the united judgement of his fellow believers? Secondly, the church needs to protect its other members from being contaminated by similar sinful beliefs and actions. And, thirdly, as one commentator has suggested, whereas attempts at persuasion had failed, maybe a cold shoulder might bring the offender to their senses.
6. Summary
There are three steps then, that Jesus taught all of his disciples to take. Steps that relate to situations where they find themselves at odds with a fellow believer, and where that fellow believer’s spiritual wellbeing is seriously at risk.
C. BY WHAT AUTHORITY? (18-20)
Of course, the obvious question that follows on from Jesus’s teaching is ‘Who decides what is right and what is wrong? Who has the authority to say whether my view is right and yours is wrong or vice versa?’
Good question! And that is why Jesus continued immediately on with some instruction regarding the authority of the church.
1. A United Conviction (18)
And Jesus said, that where the whole church was drawn into the appeal towards a sinner, it is to be based on a united conviction of the church of what is right and wrong.
Divine authority to make pronouncements of what was binding in heaven and on earth has been given to the church. It has been given so that Jesus’s work can continue on, even in his physical absence. And it is given—as the remainder of the New Testament attests—with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
2. A Personal Conviction (19-20)
And in the case of where there are only two or three people, he continued, then the greater truth about the church will still apply. The same divine guidance is given, so that even in small groups the work of Jesus can continue in the here and now.
3. Comment
Now there are some important points that go with this authority that Jesus has given to decide what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.
And the first is: that the authority that has been given is not to condemn a sinner but to condemn sin.
The authority to pronounce what is or is not sin, therefore, does not give the church the right to condemn people. That is God’s role, and we are not to usurp his authority. The church’s role is, rather, to point out what is and isn’t sin, in order to show people the need for repentance, and to give them the opportunity to restore their relationship with God and to the members of his church.
The second is: that divine authority, which has been given to the church, must be used by the church with much care and compassion.
It was given, in the context of the passage, in the context of an individual sinner. The authority and power was not given so the church can laud it over others. But so that a person can be compassionately guided back to the ways of God. And we need to keep that in mind at all times.
However, the third is: there may be far reaching consequences of the authority that has been given, reaching well beyond that of an individual sinner.
Because if the church is to make pronouncements about what is sinful in a particular situation, then surely that pronouncement has a flow on effect to the rest of the community. Because if the church has been given the responsibility to decided what is right and wrong (with the guidance of the Holy Spirit), it is not something they can keep to themselves. The church has a responsibility that needs to be carried out, not just to the church but to the whole community. But, again, not to condemn but to show right from wrong, and in the hope that all people will turn from their wickedness and live.
D. CONCLUSION
In our society, then, we put in a lot of time, effort, and money into rescuing people from physical harm. Some, needing rescuing albeit, from their own making, while others are very much victims of circumstance. But in this gospel passage, we are challenged to think not just in terms of physical rescue but in terms of spiritual rescue too.
The emphasis, then, is on the steps that we can take to rescue our fellow believers—from going down the wrong track spiritually, so they end up alienating themselves from God.
And Jesus’s approach? Firstly, to use our initiative and confront the offender ourselves. Secondly, if that fails, to try again but with the support of one or two others. And if that fails, thirdly, to try again, but with the support of the whole church.
However, even then he acknowledged that all three steps might fail. And if that happens then the person who offended should be totally alienated from the church. And if that happens that may be something that we may have to learn to live with.
However, Jesus has urged us to use his method to try to avoid that situation. A method that is intended not of a means of punishing the person for their offence, but rather with the hope of allowing that person to repent, and for the relationship between that person and God, between that person and us, and between that person and the church, to be restored to what is should be.
Posted: 3rd January 2023
© 2022, Brian A Curtis
www.brianacurtis.com.au
