One of the most misused verses in all the Bible is found in Matthew 18:20 that says, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Some use it when only a handful of people show up for prayer or Bible study to insinuate that God honors us with His presence even though the numbers are few. Many of us are guilty of that one. The problem with this application of the passage is that God is omnipresent, so that He hears the prayers of His people whether we are few or praying alone.
I’ve also heard people combine it with verse 19 to claim some kind of extra spiritual authority, that if two or three agree together on anything that God will see to it that whatever we’ve agreed on will be done. The problem here is that it contradicts another passage of Scripture, I John 5:14-15, that says, “If we ask anything according to His will, …. whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (NKJV). The problem with interpreting this passage with either of these usages is incorrect, for it refers to neither. So what, you may ask, do these verses mean or refer to?
Paul told Timothy in II Timothy 2:15 to “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” The only way to rightly understand any verse of Scripture is to ensure we understand the context in which it is written. To do that here we must begin at Matthew 18:15. There, in the KJV, it says that “If thy brother shall trespass against thee” you are to approach him on the matter. But the words “against thee” are only found in the later Greek manuscripts, so that the proper understanding of this is “If thy brother sins.” So while the sin committed could be personally against you, it doesn’t have to be. It means that it has become known to you that a member of the church has sinned, and this provides the context for verses 15-20. In other words, it’s dealing with how church discipline should be handled. This is a very serious issue, both for the one committing the offense and for the church itself.
While we do not have space here to deal with the subject as thoroughly as is needed, let’s make sure we understand the basics of these verses. First, when it speaks of dealing with ‘a brother’ in verse 15, it refers to a spiritual brother, a brother (or sister) in Christ. So, let’s say someone in the church has been spreading lies about another person in the church and you know that it’s a lie. The first step is for you as an individual to go to that person and seek his repentance and request that he take steps to rectify what he has done. If he does, the matter is closed, but if not, verse 16 says we are to take one or two more members (preferably church leaders) to seek his repentance. Once again, if this brings about confession of sin, repentance, and an effort to make things right, that should be the end of the matter. But if not, there are now multiple witnesses to his willful transgression and it is to be brought before the church body (v. 17). If he refuses to repent even before the church, he is to be considered an unbeliever and removed from the membership.
In verse 18 Jesus is saying that if the church has acted properly (vs. 15-17) but has failed to induce the man to repent, then the decision to remove him as a member of the church will be ratified in heaven. So, when He says in verse 20 that “where two or three are gathered together in His name,” he is referring back to the required two or three witnesses back in verse 16 required to establish the guilt of the unrepentant individual in his sin against his brother, and therefore Christ’ church. While this is the proper interpretation and the proper procedure of these verses, this is something I pray we will never be forced to administer here at Airport Baptist Church.
For God’s glory and His alone,
Pastor Terry.