Quote:
Originally Posted by mfblume
Oh oh. Something I noticed. . . I heard this same line many times but it's actually wrong.
Check it out. Jesus was not saying how many make a gathering. He was summarizing the explanation of two or three going to confront someone and judging them as repentant, or a heathen who is impenitent, being as good as himself judging the matter. He is personally represented adequately by the two or three who follow his directives in dealing with a spiritual dissident. That verse is one if the most commonly misapplied of them all. And wadr your explanation is the common mistake.  |
Mat 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Mat 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Mat 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Jesus was discussing disciplinary matters relating to the church. Specifically, the case of someone who had done wrong, but refused to listen to anyone about it. In that case, it should be taken 'unto the church'. And, if the person refuses to hear the church, he was to be put out. This decision of the church would be ratified in heaven. 'Binding and loosing' was a common rabbinical term, well known among Jews, referring to the decisions of rabbis in regard to halacha (rules). Jesus was saying the decisions of the ekklesia would be Divinely authorized, seeing as the church was to be a theocratic assembly led by the Spirit of God, functioning in the authority of Jesus Christ.
He repeated this in saying that if 'two of you agree as touching anything' it would be done by the Father. That is, if two believers in the church come to an agreement, in regards to a petition to God (the context here is in reference to disciplinary matters, apparently, having to do with tresspasses that may be either forgiven or decided to be brought before the church), God would respect and ratify that decision. (This of course assumes the believers are operating in the Spirit and are not in the flesh, in rebellion against God.)
He then closes by saying 'for wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst.'
The reason why the decisions of the church are validated by God (when done in accordance with the Divine will) is because 'wherever two or three are gathered together' Christ is in the midst, as King and Head of the Body.
This is a plain statement that wherever two or three believers are gathered together in the name (authority) of Christ, He is present. Not merely as an observer, but as a participant. We see this in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, where he says the following:
1Co 5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
1Co 5:4
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
If the power (authority) of the church is present wherever two or three are gathered together in the name (authority) of Christ, then it follows that two or three is the minimum number of believers necessary to constitute an ekklesia. An ekklesia that cannot carry out the functions of an ekklesia is not an ekklesia. An ekklesia that CAN carry out the functions of an ekklesia is an ekklesia.
The Jews had a rule that a minyan (ten adult males) was required to constitute a synagogue. They got this from statements in the Law regarding 'captains over tens', ten being the smallest number mentioned of a grouping of Israelites for official military purposes. However, the requirement for a minyan to constitute a synagogue was not Divinely specified. It was a later rabbinical development. The church nowhere and in no place adopted that rule of the synagogue. In fact, to do so would go counter to the church's doctrine. The church was an ekklesia, a called out gathering. The members were called out of society by God Himself, therefore the numbers necessary to constitute an ekklesia would be determined by God and not man.
Man cannot know exactly how many people in a given locality were to be called into the ekklesia. Therefore, the only rational approach would be that two would be the absolute bare minimum. One would not suffice, for one person is a member of a larger Body, and not the Body itself. The Body requires more than one member. Two is the minimum that is more than one.
Furthermore, Jesus Himself, in the passage we are examining, specified two or three as being sufficient for Him to be present. If you have two or three, plus the Head, you have the minimum number for an assembly of called out ones capable of functioning as the church.
There is no Bible verse that specifies any other number as being required to constitute a church. So the originally quoted reference is not being taken 'out of context', but is in fact being understood in context. The context being 'the ekklesia', which is not a mere social gathering of people who believe the same things, but rather is a governmental unit of the Kingdom of God called out of society to be gathered together to deliberate and rule on Kingdom matters.
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