Matthew 18:18-20

Matthew 18:18-20

Amen, I say to you all, whatever you all should prohibit upon the earth will be having been prohibited in heaven.  And whatever you all should permit upon the earth will be having been permitted in heaven.  Again I say to you all that whenever two out of you all upon the earth should come to an agreement regarding all things of which they should ask, it will become for them from my Father, the one who is in heaven.  For where two or three are having been gathered into my name, there I am in the midst of them!

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Matthew 18:18 is a hotly debated issue.  Some people argue that Jesus did not say it because it rings more of church hierarchy – which truthfully didn’t exist when Jesus was alive because He was just then setting up the church – than it does of Jesus.  There is a certain amount of truth and legitimacy to this point.  However, the verse is a part of God’s Word, so we need to honor and respect it.  What I believe we need to understand about the verse is to take a careful look at the number of the verbs.  The verbs “prohibit” and “permit” are second person plural.  What I believe Jesus is trying to get us to understand is that what we can and cannot do is often best done as a group decision.  We will get ourselves into trouble if we each make up our own mind about what we will accept in our life.  We can rationalize all sorts of sin!  But when Jesus says you all, what He is trying to do is to convince the people that groups of people are more likely to make sound rational decisions regarding behavior than individuals.

Do you agree with this?  Will a group of people usually make a more sound decision than a single individual?  Do you think that it is a guarantee that a group of people will always make the right decision?  What must be included as the authority in such group-think?

Second Thought:

 Matthew 18:19 is another grossly misunderstood verse.  It is often taken to mean that if a couple of Christians can come together and agree on something, then God will make it happen.  From experience, we know that such a thought is just not true in that stated form.  We cannot get a few people who love God to get together, ask something from God, and make Him bend to our will.  That’s not what this passage is about.  However, if we remember to put the genuine context of Christianity around this verse, then what we get as a result is absolutely true.  If two people who are genuinely submitted to God’s will come together seeking out God’s will through prayer and His Word and discerning conversation, then the result will be blessed by God.  It will be blessed by God because the people are focused on discerning God’s will, not getting what they want.  If we start humbly submitted by God and willing to listen to Him, then He will bless that which He says through the community!  Again, though, notice Jesus’ emphasis on the group.  The condition of this statement assumes more than one person is doing the thinking and decision making.

What does it look like for two submitted Christians to come together and make a rational Christian decision blessed by God?  What are the important elements of such a decision?

Third Thought:

Verse 20 is highly important for making sure we understand the context of the two prior verses.  What makes the context is the presence of Christ.  If Jesus is present and guiding the decision, why would it not be sound?  If the teachings of Jesus and His passion for the will of the Father are guiding the conversation, things should go well with respect to coming to a sound Christian decision.  However, what I think is truly good to realize in this passage is that it is a reminder to the disciples.  It is often hard to feel the presence of Christ on our own.  We often overlook Christ because we cannot physically see or touch Him.  But He is reminding His disciples that He is present when we genuinely gather in His name.

Do you ever overlook the presence of Jesus?  Why is this easy to do?  Why do you think Jesus reminds us that it is especially when two or more are gathered in Christ that He is present?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 18:21-27