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15 Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. ~ Matthew 18:15-17
Today, we continue our study of Matthew 18 where the Lord Jesus described for His disciples what greatness looks like. This chapter is all in response to their earlier question about greatness. The Lord Jesus in this chapter highlighted characteristics like humility, dependency upon the Lord, encouraging the weak, and a heart for the struggling. Today, the Lord Jesus highlights the skill and beauty of reconciliation. The rooted of reconciliation is forgiveness. These principles given to us by God are a part of the overall fabric of the judicial system that we Americans have enjoyed since our founding. Greatness is granted to those who are most defined by the truth.
In v.15 of today's passage we read, "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother."
Again, the Lord Jesus is painting a portrait of what it looks like to be great in His kingdom. He underscores the fact that when a rift has been created between two brothers, the Lord Jesus tells the one offended to go to his brother and have a conversation with him. Notice that the Lord Jesus said, "sins against you," not merely "annoys you" or "does something which you don’t like" or "has a political view different than yours." At the heart of the culture of the Lord Jesus Christ is love and being loved. This gets us to the heart of reconciliation. At the heart of reconciliation is forgiveness.
In addition, the Lord Jesus said no one other than you and your brother is to know about the offense. And, if our brother hears us or owns his error, then we have reconciled with our brother. The Lord Jesus did not say if we win the argument we have won the fight. No, He said we have won our brother. Since we as believers in Christ have received forgiveness from God, He expects us to extend this forgiveness to others who have offended us. Believers in the Lord Jesus have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to forgive even the most horrible of offenses.
In v.16 of today's passage we read, "But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established."
We must not lose sight of the main idea here which is reconciliation, for if we do, we will find ourselves on the slippery slope of being defined by hatred. So, if our brother does not hear us, we are to take one or two other brothers in the Lord and establish a witness of three. In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, Moses outlined God’s plan for Israel’s spiritual and community life. That chapter focuses in on the judicial process that upholds the truth. It teaches us that we do well to put certain steps in place to deal fairly and respectfully with those accused of crimes. It underscores the goal in any society, the endurance of the truth because the truth sets us free. One such procedure was to require two or three witnesses for a criminal conviction. Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 19:15, "You must not convict any one of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." Being witnesses, we are able to establish the truth and the charge by verifying the facts of the plaintiff’s accusation. And, if we endure in the truth which endures, we will endure.
In v.17 of today's passage we read, "And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector."
There are two common misunderstandings related to this verse. When the Lord Jesus said, "tell it to the church," He did not give us permission to share our brother’s sin with every member of the family of God. The right understanding is that we seek reconciliation and that peace is restored in every possible way. Peace is the goal and peace is only realized through the Prince of Peace. It is only through God's peace that we dwell together as believers in the Lord Jesus as brothers. When the peace of the Lord Jesus grips us in the midst of the most distressing circumstances, we will experience Him directly as He undergirds, sustains and strengthens us. It is then that we discover the peace of God that keeps us, guards our hearts from breaking free into thinking that stomps all over the truth. It is through His peace and truth that our hearts and minds are thus fortified against anxiety and inaccurate and potentially destructive ways of living.
A second misunderstanding of this verse pertains to the words "let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector." The Lord Jesus isn't telling us to wrongly treat believers as heathens and tax-collectors. He was telling us that if our brother takes the posture of the heathen and the tax-collector, we are let him. Many wrongly believe that since many Jews despised the Gentiles and the tax-collectors, believers in the Lord Jesus should also despise the brother who sinned against us. This is not the admonition of the Lord here. Matthew, a tax-collector, was chosen by the Lord to be His disciple and the writer of this gospel account. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus died on the cross for both Jews and Gentiles including tax-collectors. Practically speaking, to treat the brother who sinned against us as a Gentile or a tax collector would be inconsistent with the gospel. The goal will always be reconciliation, if we are to be great in the kingdom of God. But, greatness is not the goal. No, the goal is the Lord Jesus. The goal is His kingdom, His rule over our yielded lives. And, as this happens, His peace and truth endures.
