Several times on this blog I've dealt with scripture that has been taken out of context. Recently a friend of mine (Thank you, Melanie!) pointed out a verse that is commonly taken out of context. It's one I had never thought of but realized is terribly confusing when not put in its proper place. It's Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." This is often used by Christians to state that when they pray together, Jesus shows up. But, wait? If that's what it means, then apparently Jesus just can't be with me when I pray alone. I mean, he's going to be there when two or three are there, but not one. Right? Wrong. Friends, Jesus doesn't need people to be together to show up. I'll let you in on a secret: Jesus is God and that means he's omnipresent. He's already with you! If that is true, then what does this verse mean? Let's take a look at the context.
Here are the verses that come before Matthew 18:20: "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 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. 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. 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. 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."
The context of Matthew 18:20 is church discipline. If we go back to Matthew 18:1, we discover that Jesus was talking to the disciples, not a general crowd. Jesus is instructing the disciples, future leaders of the church, how to handle discipline issues in the church. The picture is of a brother in the church who is stubbornly committing sin. He is approached one on one, but doesn't listen. He then is approached by two or three people, so that there are witnesses to the fact that he refuses to listen. Then, the matter is brought before the church body. Jesus then notes that the disciples as leaders of the church will have the weight of the authority of heaven on their sides. In Matthew 18:20, who are the two or three gathered? Where have we seen the number of people before in the context? Matthew 18:16, the one or two you take along to talk to the erring brother. What is Jesus' point in Matthew 18:20 then? That when the disciples, the leaders of the church, approach an erring church member together, they come as if Jesus was physically standing with them. The weight of Jesus' authority is with them in the room. They discipline with his authority.
Dr. Thomas L. Constable says it this way: "It should be obvious from the context that this promise does not refer to whatever two or three disciples agree to ask God for in prayer. The Bible contains many promises concerning prayer (cf. 7:7-8; 21:22; John 14:13-14; 15:7-8, 16; 1 John 5:14-15; et al.), but this is not one of them. In the context 'anything' refers to any judicial decision involving an erring disciple that the other disciples may make corporately. God has always stood behind His judicial representatives on earth when they carry out His will (cf. Ps. 82:1). This is a wonderful promise. God will back up with His power and authority any decision involving the corporate discipline of an erring brother or sister that His disciples may make after determining His will. Here again (v. 20) Jesus takes God's place as "God with us" (1:23; 2:6; 3:3; 11:4-6, 7-8; cf. 28:20). This statement implies a future time when Jesus would not be physically present with His disciples, the inter-advent age, specifically the period following His ascension and preceding His
return."
So there you have it. Jesus is with you all the time. You don't need to be with people for Jesus to be with you. This verse has nothing to do with prayer whatsoever. What an assurance that even alone, I can know Jesus is with me.
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