Scripture:
Matthew 18.15-35; 1 Cor. 6.1-11
Translation: Matt. 18.15If
your brother or sister sins against you, go confront him—between you and him
alone. If he listens to you, you’ve gained your brother back. 16But
if he won’t listen, take one or two people with you again, so that on the basis
of two or three witnesses every statement can be established. 17And
if he ignores them, tell the church. And if he even ignores the church, [he had
better be to you] treat him just like the gentile and the tax collector. 18Amen,
I say to you, “whatever you restrain on the earth will be truly restrained
in/by heaven. And whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven. 19Again,
I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about every matter which you
ask, it will happen for you from My Father, Who is in Heaven, 20because
where two or three gather together in My Name, there I am in the middle of
them!
21Then Peter went up and said to Him,
“Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I will forgive him? Up
to seven times? 22Jesus was saying to him, “I’m not telling you up
to seven times, but rather up to 77 times. 23By this the kingdom of
the heavens is like a human king, who wanted to settle accounts with his
slaves. 24But when he began to settle accounts, a person who owed
zillions of dollars was brought to him. 25But when he didn’t have
enough to repay, the master commanded him to sell both his wife and his children
and all that he had in order to repay. 26So, falling down, the slave
bowed down to him saying, “Be patient with me, and I will repay you
everything!” 27And because he felt compassion, the master of that
slave completely released him and forgave the loan for him.
28And going out that slave found one of
his fellow slaves, who owed him a hundred days pay (~$13,700), and grabbing him
he was strangling him saying, “Pay back whatever you owe!” 29Then,
falling down, his fellow slave was urging him saying, “Be patient with me, and
I will pay you back!” 30But he didn’t want to. Instead, go out, he
threw him into prison until he paid back what was owed.
31Then when his fellow slaves saw the
things that happened, they were very upset
and went and told their master in detail all the things that happened. 32Then,
summoning him, his master was saying to him, “Wicked slave! I forgave you that
whole debt, because you urged me! 33Wasn’t it also necessary that
you have mercy on your fellow slave like I also had mercy on you?! 34And
becoming angry his master handed him over to the torturers until he paid back
all that was owed. 35In the same way also My Heavenly Father will do
to you, if each one of you forgive his brother from your hearts!
1 Cor.6.1Do any of you who has something
against the other person dare to be judged before unjust people and not before
holy people? 2Or don’t you know that the holy people will judge the
world? And if the world will be judged by you, you are unworthy of
insignificant law-courts? 3Don’t you know that we will judge angels,
but indeed not the things of everyday life? 4So if you might have
everyday law-courts, these people being disdained by the church, do you appoint
them? 5I’m telling you for shame. In this way is there not any wise person
among you, who is able to discerningly judge between his brother? 6Instead,
brother with brother is judged—and this before unbelievers! 7It is
already a total loss for you that you have lawsuits with yourselves! Why not
instead be treated unjustly? Why not rather be cheated? 8Instead you
act unjustly and cheat—and this you do to brothers! 9Or don’t you
know that unjust people will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don’t be deceived!
Neither sexual sinners nor idolaters nor adulterers nor passive-homosexual-partners
nor active-homosexual partners 10nor thieves nor greedy people! Not
dunks, not verbally abusive people, not muggers will inherit the kingdom of
God. 11And some of you were these things. But you were washed, but
you were made holy, but you were made righteous by the Name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the Spirit of our God!
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Matthew 18.15-35
i.
Confrontation and Church
Discipline (18.15-20)
ii.
Are there limits to forgiveness
(18.21-35)
1.
Intro:
a.
Question asked: How much do
I have to forgive (18.21)
b.
Answer summarized:
Infinitely (18.22)
2.
Parable
a.
King forgives a horribly
indebted slave (18.23-27)
b.
The person forgiven
zillions refuses to forgive a fellow slave thousands (18.28-30)
c.
King judges the unforgiving
slave by removing His forgiveness (18.31-35)
b.
1 Corinthians 6.1-11
i.
Problem: Christians suing
each other
ii.
Alternative Thinking and
Options Outlined
1.
Christians will judge the
world, why can’t they judge each other
2.
Christians will judge
angels, why can’t they judge each other
3.
Why do you want an ungodly,
disreputable judge, not Christians?
iii.
Transition: don’t you have
a Christian who can judge
iv.
Rebuke:
1.
You sue each other
2.
It is better to be
maltreated and cheated than to sue each other
3.
Moreover, you are the ones
doing the maltreating and cheating!
4.
Don’t you remember evil
people won’t be rewarded
5.
Don’t you remember what you
saved from
2.
Themes
a.
Matthew 18.15-35
i.
Confrontation
ii.
Gradual increase of
involved parties (small number to large)
iii.
Personal vs. corporate
dimensions
iv.
Forgiveness
v.
Releasing
vi.
Restraining
vii.
Two or three witnesses
(legality/wisdom)
viii.
Judgment
ix.
Church
x.
Debts/sins
xi.
Repayment
b.
1 Corinthians 6.1-11
i.
Lawsuits
ii.
Court
iii.
Judges
iv.
Judgment
v.
Future destiny
vi.
Sins/sinners classes
vii.
Redemption
3.
Doctrines
a.
Church discipline is
important
b.
Resolving personal issues
should stay personal if possible
c.
The responsibility is not
just to have your personal issue dealt with but to clean out the church body of
cancerous sin
d.
Official judgments and
forgiveness by believers on earth are ratified in heaven
e.
Christians shouldn’t sue
Christians
f.
Forgiveness should be
generously given and applied, to infinite degrees and times
g.
God hears and answers
prayers
Applications
1.
Outline
a.
When You Are Sinned Against
Use This Reconciliation/Confrontation Process
i.
Step 1: Confront them
One-on-One
1.
If it succeeds, great!
You’ve got your brother or sister back as a healthy member of the family,
you’re relationship is restored (although some things will take more time to
heal from, there doesn’t need to be unresolved issues between you)
2.
If it fails, proceed to
Step 2
ii.
Step 2: Confront them with
1-2 other healthy Christians
1.
General Advice
a.
While the Bible doesn’t
require the other witnesses and people helping to settle the conflict and issue
be mature Christians, that is the wise course of action. Immature Christians
are not likely to give you the best advice or be the most reconciling presence.
That said, perfect Christians don’t exist, so it might be wise to pray about who
to ask to go with you and see who the Holy Spirit lays on your heart
b.
practically speaking people
you know the sinner(s) will respect and trust to be impartial and loving and
humble would be best. You probably don’t want to bring that guy who just stole
his girlfriend or you gets on her nerves all the time. you want it to feel like
a group of people who care about them coming together to help them sort out the
issue, not a bunch of people ganging up on some poor hapless victim
2.
Theological Reasoning
a.
Matters of law, in the OT,
always required two-three witnesses that agreed for a conviction. Jesus draws
on this principle for the purpose of helping to have a clear picture of what
was said and done. moreover, this is a set up for the next steps, which will
move from the personal to the corporate level, those steps require honest and
clear testimony of more than just one persons so it doesn’t turn into a version
he-said-she-said.
b.
Practically this step is
necessary to protect both the accused and the accuser from being ganged up on
by the church or having a miscarriage of justice
3.
if it succeeds, great!
Reconciliation is taking place and the brother or sister or group can be at
peace and purpose with you and the rest of the community
4.
If it fails, proceed to
Step 3
iii.
Step 3: Tell the Church
1.
Explanation:
a.
Many times in church
discipline, telling the church is considered the final step, just prior to
excommunication, i.e. banishment from the church. However, it seems to me that
this is actually a step for corporate confrontation and appeal for the brother
or sister or group of fellow believers to reconcile, confess their sin, repent
and be forgiven
b.
I am not sure exactly how
this should look, Jesus doesn’t give a lot of detail here. It is possible Jesus
means tell the church, and make it open season for the church to try to
confront and convince the rebellious believers to admit their sin and repent.
c.
however, it might also mean
this is part of the service, and it is something of a corporate plea to
repentance (i.e. the pastors say, so and so has committed this sin, here are
the witnesses testimony, what do you say, congregation answers “please turn
from your sin and be restored and forgiven”; however, Jesus could mean for this
to become a public trial, where the church votes to convict or acquit)
d.
the point is however, the
church as whole needs an opportunity to appeal and adjudicate, and the person
needs one final chance to repent and be restored
2.
if it succeeds, great!
You’ve got your brother or sister back!
3.
If it fails, proceed to
Step 4
iv.
Step 4:
Excommunication/Banishment from the Church, Stripping the Person of their
Public Status as a Christian
1.
Historically this has meant
forbidding them to participate in communion. However, it has also meant
banishment from being at corporate functions and intension ostracism by the
whole believing community. It is the corporate equivalent not just of a time
out, but of derecognition as a Christian
2.
Jesus is telling us to stop
treating them like a Christian and start treating them like someone who is
under God’s judgment and needs to be saved
3.
It means publically saying,
“you’re not part of our family anymore”
4.
This corporate act is not
just a human act however, vv.18-20 make it very clear that it is an act
ratified, affirmed and backed by God. It is not merely a human proclamation,
when it gets to that point, assuming it is of the Holy Spirit and not human
politics and feuds, but one of the few times that God speaks a clear and firm
word audibly in this world
a.
Jesus’ statements may also
have some ramifications on prayer, but we will consider other things here
5.
Finally, it is not just
about you personally getting justice, by steps 3-4, by then it is about you
receiving justice and achieving reconciliation on a personal level, but it is
also about the community achieving reconciliation on a corporate level and
cleaning itself of a cancerous sin/sinner. Sin is NOT a private issue! For
Christians our sins, when they are unresolved and unrepented, affect the entire
body of Christ, which is why we must treat them so seriously
v.
Typifying the Process for
outside of the church
1.
The same general process
should be used for our interactions with non-Christians, only with some
modification.
a.
Perhaps those confronting
don’t have to be Christians
b.
Refusal to repent may
sometimes mean moving on to secular corporate authorities, such as the police
and law courts
c.
However, it is important to
try to settle things personally, then with a small intervention, then move to
corporate ways of getting justice
2.
However, Christians should
generally speaking not sue each other, because we have this process in the
church and much more Godly and trustworthy and wise people to settle our
problems than we would find in a human court
b.
Forgive
i.
All the steps are
predicated on forgiveness. If they repent, forgive them.
ii.
Peter like us wonders how
many times we have to go through this process before we just don’t forgive them
anymore
iii.
Jesus tell us as many times
as it happens, and then tells a parable to tell us not just as many times as
they sin, but no matter what they’ve done
iv.
Unforgiveness will put you
in the realm of unforgiveness
v.
Remember that God forgave
you when you owed much more and deserved far less, so when you are owed far less
and deserve as much as the other person, you should be willing to forgive.
vi.
Judgment will come against
anyone unwilling to forgive,
vii.
Forgive at every step, even
after excommunication has taken place
2.
Discussion Questions
a.
How have you handled
conflicts and times when someone had sinned against you in the past? did you
resolve it?
b.
Does kicking someone out of
the family seem loving or humble to you? whose eyes are you looking that the
situation through? How could it be humble and loving?
c.
Is it easy for you to
forgive? Why or why not?
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