ESV Study Bible | English Standard Version
Matthew 18:15-20
If Your Brother Sins Against You
15 m “If your brother sins against you, n go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have o gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established p by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, q tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, r let him be to you as s a Gentile and s a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, t whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed [1] in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you u agree on earth about anything they ask, v it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are w gathered in my name, x there am I among them.”
Translation Notes
- [1] 18:18 Or shall have been bound . . . shall have been loosed
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Matt. 18:1–20:34 The Community of the Messiah Revealed. This is the fourth of Jesus' five major discourses in Matthew's Gospel (see Introduction: Key Themes; Literary Features). As his earthly ministry draws to a close, Jesus has spent considerable time clarifying his identity and mission (chs. 14–17). He instructs his disciples on the nature of his covenant community, explaining the kingdom community's characteristics (18:1–35), its implications for the sanctity of marriage (19:1–12), and its value (19:13–20:34).
Matt. 18:1–35 Characteristics of Life in the Kingdom Community. Jesus instructs the disciples about the kind of community life that will characterize their relationships with one another and with the world at large.
Matt. 18:15 go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If a matter can be settled without getting others involved, that will keep rumors and misunderstandings from multiplying and will keep the conflict from spreading (cf. Prov. 25:9). gained. The ultimate objective is restoration of the offending brother or sister to the path of discipleship.
Matt. 18:16 Evidence of two or three witnesses follows the guideline in Deut. 19:15 and refers to witnesses of the subsequent confrontation described in this verse, not necessarily eyewitnesses to the original offense (Matt. 18:15).
Matt. 18:17 If the offending party of vv. 15–16 will not repent after the matter has been brought before the entire church, then he or she is to be excluded from the fellowship and thought of as an unbeliever. Gentile and tax collector describes those who are deliberately rebellious against God.
Matt. 18:18 whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Peter's foundational authority is extended to the entire community of disciples, giving them the authority to declare the terms under which God forgives or refuses to forgive the sin of wayward disciples (see note on 16:19).
Matt. 18:20 there am I among them. Jesus affirms that he will be divinely present among his disciples as they seek unity in rendering decisions, which is rightly understood also as an affirmation of omnipresence and therefore of deity.
