We hear it said at just about every prayer meeting with a low turnout or when the crowd may be sparse for the Bible study or ministry event. Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” What a great encouragement to the faithful few who showed up! The only problem is that this is not referring to a general prayer meeting or Bible study at all. It is another instance of an “Inigo Montoya passage.” “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.” What the verse is talking about may come as a surprise because so few churches actually practice what it refers to.
Of course, it certainly is true that Jesus is there in the gathering of the two or three present for the prayer meeting and Bible study. He is in our midst no matter where we may be or what we may be doing. That is just as much the case of every private prayer meeting or Bible study we may have when it is only ourselves as well as a public one whether it would be in a crowd of 10 or 1,000. We don’t have to quickly find a few other people to get together with for Him to show up among us so to speak. David recognized this in his ponderings of Psalm 139. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get away from God’s presence. He would be everywhere the king was. If he went to the highest of highs or the lowest of lows, he would still find God present. He writes, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I lift up the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me” (vv. 7-10). Jesus’ parting words to His church were a promise to be with us always even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). This is indeed the case with Jesus’ Holy Spirit living inside every believer (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16). So, there is never a case where Jesus cannot be said to be in the midst of a believer alone or believers who have gathered together.
As always, context is the key for the right understanding of this verse. We must see how it fits with what is said both before and after the statement. And when we do that here, we discover the context to be that of church discipline. How the congregation is to lovingly confront and correct any major sin in its members. Jesus begins this section with instructions on what to do “if your brother sins” (Matthew 18:15). (You will notice some older translations have “against you” afterwards. The reason why newer ones do not is because we have discovered earlier copies of the Greek New Testament since then that do not have the “against you” in them, leading many scholars to believe that those two words were not originally a part of the text. Regardless though, Galatians 6:1 speaks of the need to restore a brother or sister who is caught in any type of sin generally. Probably both sin in general and specific sins against an individual are included here.) Following His telling the parable of the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine of His flock of a hundred to pursue the one which is lost (vv. 12-14), we are to understand this as Jesus teaching the church to go after any wandering or straying sheep in its own flock who needs to be brought back to the fold. More likely, this is speaking of noticeable habitual ongoing sins the person is clearly unrepentant of that you don’t have to go searching for to see. And Jesus lays out four steps to this process. The first step is a one on one confrontation with the individual to point out their sin and call them to repent of it (v. 15). The hope of this private meeting is repentance and restoration. The winning back of the brother. However, if the man or woman refuses to listen and turn from whatever the sin is, the next step has one or two more people involved to serve as witnesses of the matter (v. 16). If the person continues to walk in the direction of the sin after that meeting, the third step is to bring the issue to the church (v. 17). The goal here being for the entire congregation to reach out to this one and plead for their repentance. I like how one commentator has put it, “God loves us so much that if we are caught in sin, He will send an entire army of believers to us as a demonstration of His love and mercy.” And, if after that, he or she still stubbornly persists in the sin, the most drastic of the steps is to “let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax collector,” two groups who were at that time excluded from the fellowship. Basically, this is speaking of excommunication; no longer recognizing the individual as belonging to the congregation. Instead, he or she is to be seen as an unbeliever needing to be evangelized rather than a brother or sister a part of the family.
This brings us now to the verse under discussion. In light of that process, Jesus provides the church with confidence when such a decision has to be reached. The confidence is that they are carrying out the will of heaven in following the steps Jesus has just laid out for them (v. 18). The actions they have taken regarding the person is what God has already determined to be done about them in these instructions. The church is simply confirming Jesus’ wishes we could say. The two or three agreeing about anything they ask on earth with the expectation that God who is in heaven will do it for them probably refers to this action of discipline as well (v. 19). It speaks of His support of their decision, assuming that they have done everything He has said in this passage. And v. 20 then serves as that reminder of Jesus’ presence in such.
You see, rather than being intended to serve as an encouragement to the small tiny group gathered to pray or study the Bible, this verse is designed for the whole church to assure them that they have Jesus’ approval whenever carrying out the unfortunate task of disciplining a wayward member who continues to refuse to repent for his or her sin. We really hope not to have too many situations where this verse would actually apply to us. But should we ever do, we know that if we faithfully follow the blueprint Jesus gives us here for how to lovingly confront and correct the sin of one of our members, we do not go at it alone. Jesus is right there with us in every step of the process, including that last one if necessary. So, there should be no fear in any church practicing this discipline when needed. It is helpful to know that Jesus is with us when there are only a small group who have gathered. It is even more important to know that He is with us in this difficult responsibility and work of holding each other accountable for our walk with Him. Praise God that we can know He is our midst in the process of such!
Love in Christ,
Pastor Lee
