Practising the Way of Jesus - Sermons on Matthew's Gospel.

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 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 be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are wgathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:15-20).

Jesus and Sin - A brother who sins against you!

Remember the context of this passage is a consideration of who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven and we know from Mark that this discussion had the potential to cause serious disgruntlement among the disciples.

Furthermore, Jesus has raised the prospect of causing “little ones” to sin and actually despising a brother or sister in Christ - this would be a serious sin against a brother and could cause a person to stumble which would have serious consequences for the one who causes such stumbling.

Our attitude to an erring brother or sister who wanders away and becomes “lost” is to go an seek and find them!

What though of a “brother” who “sins against you”? What then should you do? How should you treat them? How should the church deal with such an eventuality? This is the subject of the next part of our journey through Matthew’s Gospel! This portion of Scripture provides the model for church discipline, including its motive, spirit, and basic procedures.

I. Maintaining a Right Atttitude to our Sinning Brother:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 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. “

A little boy was sitting on a park bench in obvious pain. A man walking by asked him what was wrong. The young boy said, "I'm sitting on a bumble bee." The man urgently asked, "Then why don't you get up?" The boy replied, "Because I figure I'm hurting him more than he is hurting me!"

I wonder how many of many of us have hung on to pain because someone else has hurt us?

We have made ourself hard and unyielding to the overtures of forgiveness because we seek the satisfaction of desiring to get our own back upon someone who has hurt or offedned us.

Jesus calls us to another way! To a different approach which will free others but will also free us! An approach to forgiveness which is given for the sake of others not for ourselves!

(i). It should be initially carried out privately by the one “sinned against”

It is to be noted that, Jesus placed the responsibility for reconciliation upon the one sinned against, not because the offender is without responsibility (cf. Matt 5:23 f.) but because sin damages the sinner!

That the private approach is enjoined is seen in the use of the singular ‘you’, the individual disciple, and their concern is not with the punishment of an offence but with the attempt to rescue a ‘brother’ whose sin has put him in danger. The intention in all of this is to “gain” your brother and so this is a practical guide to how a disciple can imitate his Father’s concern for the wandering sheep (Matt 18:10-14).

It is also to be noted that Jesus was concerned that reconciliation be achieved without unnecessary public exposure of the wrongdoer. Forgiveness is offered and repentance is secured without a person being publicly humiliated or needlessly embarassed or harshly punished!

“Tell him his fault” (Grk verb, elenchō) found also in Luke 3:19, ‘reproved’; John 3:20, ‘exposed’; John 8:46, ‘convicts’. It rerfers to anything which is clearly exposed to public scrutiny; that which is obvious, convicts and is reprovable!

The challenge here is the disciple is not to ignore a fault he sees in his fellow-disciple, but to confront him with it, with the hope that he will repent, and so will be gained and rescued from spiritual ruin (cf. 1 Cor. 9:19–22; 1 Pet. 3:1).

Now, its never easy to do this, just as it is not easy to accept discipline from others, and yet rather than resent this, the Bible encourages us to accept it, as from the Lord, as a means to grow in holiness - see Heb 12:3-16

The book of Proverbs says, “do not reject the discipline of the Lord, or loathe His reproof, for whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father, the son in whom he delights” (Prov. 3:11–12).

Now, we all know the value of fatherly discipline of children. Sometimes we have to be clear about what is not good and demanding about what we require as well as the consequences of disobedience. No loving parent likes this, but we must be led to do what is right, by correction, rebuke, and even punishment. “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently” (Prov. 13:24).

It is not love but indifference that causes parents to allow their children’s misbehavior to go uncorrected. “Discipline your son while there is hope, do not set your heart on putting him to death”(Prov 19:18; cf. Prov 22:15; 23:13).

We know that indisciplined children generally grow up into indiciplined adults and it does them or anyone else whom they relate to any good! We also know that indisciplined children will generally be judged harshly within a community and bring dishour upon parents.

The same is true in the Church, a failure to discipline those who publicly sin and cause scandal in the community will bring dishonour on the Church and ultimately will bring dishonour upon God - Rom 2:24: “For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

However, the equally important challenge here is that the attitude to be maintaned is one of concern for our brother’s spiritual wellbeing not any desire on our part to punish or to feel vindicated because we have been sinned against!

Pastoral concern easily degenerates into a destructively critical spirit in which we spend all of our time looking for the “speck” in a brother’s eye rather than dealing with outr own faults - Matthew 7:1–5 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

It is important for us to recognise this to avoid a censorious and nit-picking approach to sin - Theologically and experientially we know that “there is no one who does not sin”(Rom 3:10)

The Greek word, hamartanō, which has the literal meaning of “missing the mark” and is the basic New Testament verb for sin, missing the mark of God’s standards and we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”(see Rom 3:20)

Because we all sin, we all can justly be reproved for sin by “a brother” but the word “brother” is a needed qualifier about the attitude in which we reprove another. We are not to be engaging in an overly zealous scrutiny of one another in which we are looking for the faults of others, but rather when a sin is obvious, persistent and causing someone to stumble in their faith, then it is our duty as a loving brother or sister in Christ to get alongside someone and seed to help them up and out! - “When people are right with God, they are apt to be hard on themselves and easy on other people. But when they are not right with God, they are easy on themselves and hard on others.” (John Newton).

Gal 6:1-4: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.”

There is only a need to escalate an issue if the sinner does not repent and refuses the reproof!The next recourse must be to involve “one or two others”. Their function is to add force to the persuasion so if he will not listen to one, he may be convinced by “two or three witnesses” (Deut. 19:15).

“My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19–20).

Keeping “watch on yourself” is also an important consideration because if the sin is “against you” it would be very easy to become bitter and resentful and desire to retaliate in kind but there are unforgiving and destructive emotions and need to be av oided at all cost! Instead, God calls His children always to “be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven” them (Eph. 4:32).

The pastoral concern here expressed in one in which it is exercised, if possible, between you and him alone.

When Peter was intimidated by the Judaizers in Antioch and began to separate himself from Gentile believers, Paul “opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned” (Gal. 2:11). Peter admitted his sin and repented, and years later he wrote of his “beloved brother Paul” (2 Pet. 3:15). Their deepened friendship no doubt was due in no small measure to Paul’s caring enough to rebuke his fellow apostle and turn him back to the purity of the gospel of grace.

As loving brotehrs in Christ, we neither condemn nor justify a sinning brother, our concern is for the holiness and blessing of the offending brother, the purity and integrity of the church, and the honor and glory of God - Lev. 19:16–17 “You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord. “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbour, lest you incur sin because of him.”

There is a blance to be struck which is not easy. Avoud censoriousness and nit-picking but equally avoid the, “Oh I’m too kind and too loving to challenge your bad behaviour” attitude which is equally harmful and unloving! The loving Christian, like the loving heavenly Father and loving earthly fathers, desires the proper discipline of those he loves (see Heb. 12:5–11). Discipline given in the right way expresses the deepest kind of love.

We all need it! - Speaking to believers, James wrote, “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:8–10).

It is God’s will that His people be holy, and the purpose of discipline is to promote holiness by purging and purifying the church. The Word, the Spirit, and God’s people join in working for the purity of the church. Believers act in Christ’s behalf when, with humility and according to scriptural guidelines, they discipline fellow members who persist in sin.

But care is needed here to distinguish between the setting of the law in Deuteronomy which is concerning judicial trials as the believer is not on trial here but is being reproved for a private offence and the ‘one or two others’ would not have been witnesses of the original offence in any case.

The mention of “two or three witnesses” is a quotation from Deuteronomy which sets the burden of proof needed to convict an accused of guilt in a judicial trial. However, it is to be noted here that no formal trial is taking place here but rather the principle being established here is that a believer who has offended another is being corrected, and it is important that this believer who is refusing to correct their behaviour is being held accountable but always, this is with a view to reconciliation and the bringing of others is to help with this process. (see also 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 Tim. 5:19).

The “church” is the congregation of disciples (see on Matt 16:18).

Again note that this telling to the Church is not intended as an opportunity to take disciplinary action, but in the hope that the offender should finally listen with the encouragment to repentance being reinforced by the whole church.

To treat someone as a Gentile and a tax collector” is proverbially of people, that a good Jew kept their distance from! It is the equivalent of sending someone ‘to Coventry’ without necessarily having any personal dislike of Coventry as a city!(France)

In other words, we are not seeking to be cruel or distant but rather, to recognise that though we love the brother, at the moment there is no basis for real heartfelt fellowship based on truth!

So, although Jesus was always kind and open to the Gentiles and tax collectors, the point here is that here is a person who refuses to listen to the church and he is therfore behaving as an outsiderm refusing the hospitality of the family home! The door is always open for him, if he is willing to accept the conditions of hospitality!

“The paragraph teaches that each disciple is responsible for his brother, that the whole church is responsible for each member, and that each member is answerable to the church” (J. Clifton Allen).

However, we are seeking to avoid a situation where a coninuing relationship with an impenitent friend could prove to be a stumbling block or even corrupting - “bad company corrupts god character. Come back to your senses and stop sinning”(1 Cor 15:33,34).

After all persuasion has failed, a cold shoulder may still bring him to his senses; at any rate there can be no real fellowship with someone who has so blatantly set himself against the united judgment of his fellow-disciples in the church!

Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

“Truly I say to you” is an introductory formula used here in Matt 18:18-20 and again and again by Jesus to prepare you for a really importnat principle

Jesus here uses terms borrowed from the Jewish legal system regarding the power of the synagogue to exercise discipline. Alfred Edersheim writes, “no other terms were in more constant use in Rabbinic canon law than those of binding and loosing.” These cover two acts of discipline in the synagogue. To bind someone meant to forbid or prohibit the person, while to loose someone meant to permit or forgive them. Binding also referred to the imposition of a ban on someone, or, in other words, to excommunicate the person from fellowship in the community. Loosing, in the same context, meant to restore the person to the community.

Jesus is saying that the church has the God-given authority to admit or expel members if they follow the disciplinary procedures that He outlines in these verses.

whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. - the “you” here is not now in the singular, but the plural - you the Church! - whatever the church binds on earth! That is, whatever the Church decides to do in either disciplining or forgiving one another here on earth, is “bound” or “loosed in Heaven” (Note this is different from Matt 16:19, where Peter’s legislative authority is in view as representing the Apostles whereas this same authority if now invested in the Church as a whole).

The point here is that the church’s appeal for repentance to the sinner who “sins against his brother” in v17 was unheeded and the brother who sinned turned his back on the Church’s loving appeal for repentance and reconciliation and so, in turning his back on the church’s loving appeal, he is to be treated as if an outsider and Heaven will approve such a judgment BUT likewise, once the brother sees sence and repents, then the Church will “loose” the discipline and receive the penitent sinner, without further recrimination, into the church! This, of course, presupposes that in undertaking the discipline of a brother, the discipline was carried out in the manner and with the motive and spirit prescribed by Jesus!

There is an example of this binding and lossing in in 2 Corinthians 2:1-10 “For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.  For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.”

Notice that, “Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive.” - Whatever you loose, I will loose!

But notice also, Paul’s generousity of spirit - the eagerness in which he was willing to lay aside his own hurts to restore an erring brother. This is the model we follow!

The promise is not confined to ‘the church’ as a whole, but extends to the agreed request of two of you, because if their gathering is in my name then Jesus himself is part of that gathering.

And don’t miss how momentous this claim of Jesus is! He is the invisible presence of every conversation; the unseen guest at the table!

This gives rise to endless possibilities !

because wherever we gather, Jesus is here and is, in context, “if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. The word translated, “agree” is sumphoneo (literally, symphony! A “sounding out together”), meaning to “harmonize.” Anything you ask for in this context, for support of the witnesses’ actions to restore the sinning brother or to exclude him, will be given!

Dear Shepherd of Thy chosen few,

Thy former mercies here renew;

Here, to our waiting hearts, proclaim