Matthew 18:15-20
Chapter 18
15
If your brother has sinned against you, go and confront him privately, and if he listens to you, you have restored your brother.
On Forgiveness
16
If he doesn’t listen to you, bring one or two others with you, so that the matter can be decided based on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
17
And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the gathered Church. But if he does not listen to the Church, then consider him a pagan or a tax collector.
18
I say to you: whatever you bind on earth, heaven will also bind; and whatever you unbind on earth, heaven will also unbind.
19
Similarly, I tell you, if two of you agree on anything you ask for, it will be granted to you by my heavenly Father.
20
For where two or three gather in my name, I am there among them.
Commentaries
On Forgiveness.
Peace must prevail in the community, either because there are no offenses or because reconciliation is pursued (14). If a community member refuses reconciliation, they will be like a stranger, and those in charge have the right to exclude them as long as they maintain that attitude (cf. 1 Cor 5:5f). The message about forgiveness and reconciliation is reinforced with an instruction on community prayer. The praying community is a special place of the Lord’s presence (cf. 28:20) as long as the conditions and attitudes that Jesus highlighted in the Lord’s Prayer are present.