Two or Three Witnesses

The Bible has unexpected encouragement in well-known passages and the more obscure.  I found great encouragement in a passage that is often quoted in part, that Jesus said when two or three are gathered in His name, there He is in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).  Most often this is said to encourage people who gather at church or in a corporate prayer meeting to emphasise God's faithfulness to be among His people, to hear and answer prayer, to guide and direct those who gather.  This is all true and wonderful.  Yet the context of the passage gives encouragement in circumstances that can be disheartening:  when dealing with conflict among believers and administration of church discipline.

Jesus taught if a believer was offended by another Christian, the offended party was to humbly go and tell him the fault that caused offence with the aim of reconciliation.  If the one who did wrong was unwilling to listen to the concern of the offended party, Jesus said one or two more believers should accompany the next meeting that "in the mouth or two or three witnesses every word may be established" (Matthew 18:16).  This was not a new concept for Jewish Christians, for it was written in the Law in Deuteronomy 19:15:  "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established."  The one or two who accompanied the first person needed to be convinced the offender had indeed done wrong--not to simply go along as moral support or as a favour for a friend.  The idea held forth is two or three of God's people, having been guided by God's word and Jesus Himself who was among them, were able to discern right from wrong and make sound judgments.

Immediately following this teaching, Peter asked how many times he needed to forgive a sinning brother.  Jesus then spoke a parable where binding and loosing--in context the ascribing of guilt or proclaiming pardon--is illustrated along with two or three witnesses.  Jesus said one servant owed a king a great debt, and he begged to be forgiven.  His king had compassion on him and forgave him the immense sum he owed.  Then he went out and grabbed a fellow servant who owed him a small debt (by comparison), and he was unmoved by the pleadings of his fellow servant for more time:  the man who had been loosed from a great debt had him arrested and thrown into prison.  Matthew 18:31 then illustrated the intercessory action of two or three witnesses:  "So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done."  The king listened to His servants and took action against the wicked servant who had been forgiven much but refused to forgive his fellow servant who begged him.  The king commanded the man who was loosed to be bound and pay back his debt in full, for he showed no compassion to his fellow servant.

Jesus Christ is the KING OF KINGS, and whether we have done wrong or been offended by others we are to humble ourselves before our LORD and one another, knowing we have been loosed from a debt of sin we could never pay.  As the Judge of all the earth Jesus will always do right, and by faith in Him we can submit to our brethren in love, knowing Jesus is in the midst of our gatherings.  Should we be the one who refuses to forgive or stubbornly continues in doing wrong, we should be circumspect and humble because our King is in our midst.  Those who are grieved when they observe injustice, lack of compassion or corruption can come to Jesus Christ in prayer, knowing He will hear and answer.  Just two or three witnesses is sufficient to establish a matter and begin legal proceedings on earth, and the same is true in a spiritual sense concerning matters of offence and discipline among believers.