The "Matthew 18" Principle: A Quick Look

Probably the most cited passage in resolving disputes is Matthew 18:15-20. At a congregation that we attended in the past this passage was known simply as the Matthew 18 Principle. The principle went something like this:

If someone in your congregation sins against you:

1. Talk to him alone and explain to him how he has offended you.
2. If he listens to you and apologizes to you, then you've been reconciled.
3. However, if he does not admit his fault then bring a witness or two with you and confront him again.
4. If he still doesn't apologize in the presence of the witnesses, then go and tell the Church Leadership.
5. If he still doesn't admit his fault and apologize in the presence of the Church Leadership, excommunicate him.

I remember hearing exhortations from the 'pulpit' to apply the Matthew 18 Principle when trying to reconcile with another member of the congregation. However, I don't remember this principle being taught from the 'pulpit' by looking at the passage in context. This principle was not taught, really, but rather passed along from member to member.

So let's take a quick look at this passage in context in order to define the principle. First, a quick background: Chapter 18 begins a section in Matthew that is a collection of Yeshua's teachings. You can study the chapter as a whole or study the shorter passages that are stand alone teachings. We will only be looking at a portion of this chapter. If you have a Red Letter Bible, you will notice that the majority of this chapter is Red that's because Yeshua is doing most of the talking. Anyway...

Let's read our text:

Matthew 18:15-20 (NAS)
15 If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.
17 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.
18 Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.

Right away we see in verse 15 an if / then scenario:

IF you know that a brother is in sin;
THEN go confront him in private.

Some translations say "If your brother sins against you" (ESV) specifically. However, I believe that this is talking about more than just a personal offense. That's why I used the NAS translation; but we'll address that later.

Let's clarify a couple of things:

• "your brother" - this is a reference to a fellow believer, someone who is part of the Ekklesia, the remnant of Israel who believe that Yeshua is Messiah. It's not talking about a sibling although a sibling could be a believer. You get the idea.
• What is sin? - "Whoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." - 1 John 3:4 (AKJV) Law = Torah. Torah means instructions or teachings. These 'instructions' are for the Children of God and can be found in the first five books of the Bible.

Okay, the first thing we have learned about this passage is: if a fellow member of the Ekklesia is transgressing the Torah and you know about it, it is your duty to talk to him in private and show him his fault. This isn't a choice, it is actually a command. Turning a blind eye to a fellow believer's sin is not LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF, it is not being YOUR BROTHERS KEEPER. Let's continue...

Another clarification:

• "listen" - this is the Greek word pronounced akouo (ak-oo'-o); if Yeshua was speaking Hebrew, the word used would have been sh'ma. This word sh'ma means listen but it implies action. So a more accurate definition for sh'ma is 'listen in order to do.'

If your brother 'listens to you', it doesn't mean that he just heard you out and continued sinning. No. It means he was moved to repentance. He heard your words, saw his error, and changed his ways. You've won him over, you've helped him make t'shuvah; a return to the Torah and Adonai.

Now, if he did not listen to you (v 16) and continued sinning, this is a problem. He is a member of the Ekklesia. He knows Hashem. He knows Torah. He knows Yeshuah. He knows what sin is. He is backslidden and is now in a bad place. He is unrepentant. At this point you take two or three witnesses with you to see his sinfulness. Witnesses witness, they report what they have seen. When the witnesses see the sinful actions of this brother, they too will call him to repentance. Maybe he didn't understand your plea. Maybe he thought he was right and you were wrong. Now with more believers present to dialogue with, hopefully he will see his fault and change his ways.

But if he still does not repent (v 17) then you, along with the witnesses, are to tell the 'church' or Ekklesia. But what does this look like? Do you run into congregation on Shabbat, grab the mic from the cantor, and start giving the report? Probably not. At this point in the Book of Matthew, Yeshua was in the process of building His Ekklesia. His ministry was still active. There were no believing communities in the diaspora or in Jerusalem for that matter. So how do we know how to handle this and what it means to 'tell it to the Ekklesia'? I have a suggestion: we can look in the Book of Acts and see, as an example, how disputes were handled in the early Ekklesia of Yeshua. For instance, in Acts 15 when the men came down from Judea and began teaching circumcision (conversion) to the Gentiles, what did Paul and Barnabas do? They went to the leaders, the Elders, of the Ekklesia in Judea, in Jerusalem, and let the them handle it. Consider your community today. Wouldn't you bring a matter like this to the Elders of your community and allow them to communicate it to the local body? Isn't that their job? Yes! It is the Elders, the appointed leaders, who can make a judgement to excommunicate someone from the Ekklesia. When someone is excommunicated from the Ekklesia they are then treated like a non-believer because the Ekklesia is a place for believers only. Also, when Elders come together in order to make a judgement (v 18) they bind and loose, they forbid or permit. In other words, they make the hard, governmental decisions here on the earth in their communities. They seek the Wisdom of Adonai in prayer and apply their understanding of the Torah to form their decisions. They do this as a group in order to hold each other accountable and compliment each other. Whatever their decision is, Adonai is in agreement with them (v19). Not only is He in agreement; He is also there with them (v 20) in their meeting!

Now, notice that all of these actions are one way - from you to your sinful brother. It doesn't say anything about the brother apologizing; although an apology is implied when talking about repentance. However, the point is this, the goal is to win the brother and ultimately protect the community. He's got three chances to change his ways or he's out. If one person can't help him then three or four might be able to. If these three or four can't help him then they bring in the big guns, the Elders. If the Elders can't help him, then he is out of the community. Again, the Ekklesia is a place for believers only; a little leaven will leaven the whole dough. We must purge the sin from our midst in order to protect the community, the Ekklesia of Messiah Yeshua.

So, are the steps of the Matthew 18 Principle given for personal offenses? Since the goal is to win a brother from sin, I do not think that this passage is addressing 'personal offenses'. Keep in mind that a personal offense can come about because of someone's sinful behavior so then, what are we to do about personal offenses? If we continue reading in Chapter 18 we find out...

Matthew 18:21-22 (NAS)
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"
22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."

In the verses following this passage Yeshua tells a parable about a servant who was in debt to his master. The master extended mercy to the servant but the servant did not extend the same mercy to a person who was indebted to him. If you are harboring an offense, if someone has 'done you wrong', and you want justice; I encourage you to read this parable: Matthew 18:21-35. This parable helps us understand what we are expected to do when we have a personal offense, when someone has sinned against us.

Okay, so let's redefine the Matthew 18 Principle based on what we found:

1. If you find a believing brother in sin, address him alone in order to win him from that sin.
2. If he will not listen to you, bring two or three more brothers to witness the sin and then address the sinful brother. Hopefully they can win him.
3. If he will not listen to you and the witnesses, take the matter to the community leadership, the Elders, and allow them to address the wayward brother. Hopefully they can win him.
4. If he will not listen to the Elders, as a group they are to decide a judgement for the sinning believer, even excommunication.
5. The goal is to win the brother from the sin and ultimately to protect the community.

After reviewing this passage more closely it is my understanding that Yeshua taught this principle for cases in which the sin is obviously punishable by excommunication. Of course this principle can be used in addressing lighter sins; but more importantly, it shows us how to deal with the unrepentant brother and it reassures the Elders that He will be present in their Beit Din (House of Judgement).

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