Matthew 18:15-20, the sinning brother, in context

See my earlier post weighing the textual options for Matthew 18:15.

"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 gathered in my name, there am I among them." (Matthew 18:15-20)

So what are these verses saying in their context?

Assuming France is right in saying that the phrase “against you” should be omitted, then we have a section here on how to deal with sin in general, not just offence against you. This means that the main point of the passage is that, should you be aware of a brother or sister’s sin, you need to take every step to win them over. The first thing that means is going to see them. This means that the opposite of doing what Jesus says here is to leave him / her to it.

That makes verses 15-20 the application of verses 10-14. 10-14, the parable of the lost sheep, establishes the Father’s concern for his sheep when they go astray. He never wants even one of them to perish, so he pursues it. I think, then, that verse 14 (“it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little one should perish”) is quite precise. “These little ones” is not a description of every child but is a shorthand for “one of these little ones who believe in me” (verse 6). The parable of the lost sheep in Luke addresses God’s (non-decretive) will that everyone should be saved; in Matthew it addresses God’s (non-decretive?) will that no member of God’s people should wander off and get lost forever.

10-14 thus builds on the rest of the chapter. If this is how God regards each of his sheep (including these little ones), how serious a business it must be to be the stumbling block for one of them. To be the cause of their sin, and of their wandering off, is serious. Jesus replies to the disciples’ discussion on who is the greatest by saying that we need to become as little children. He then elaborates by showing how even these tiniest ones are precious to God as members of his people. He’s not saying that the children are the greatest ones; rather, if the youngest members of God’s people are as valued by God as this, the debate as to which of us is the greatest is muted. Our problem is not that we are not treated as highly as we ought to be, but that we don’t treat others in God’s family as highly as they ought to be.

So the main point of 15-20 is that, if we become aware of a brother / sister’s sin, we pursue them to win them back. We don’t just leave them to their fate. This is how God acts when some of his people wander off, and it’s how we should act. God doesn’t want even one of these little ones to perish, and neither should we.

This means that the motivation for going to see a brother / sister who is in sin then becomes the gospel. Read on their own, 15-20 leave open the possibility that someone could go in a superior or smug spirit. Equally, read on their own, 15-20 leave open the possibility that the normal, humble Christian feels inadequate and meddling as they put Jesus’ teaching into practice. However, read in the context of 1-20, and especially of 10-14, we see God’s kindness to us – we were all sheep going astray that God searched for until he found us and brought us home. And Jesus asks us to offer that same kindness to others.

Thoughts, anyone?