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Great Expectations

Text: Matthew 18 : 15 - 35

To be a disciple is one thing, but to be trained to be an apostle, that’s another issue altogether! Much was expected from The Twelve especially. They were expected to have great faith. They were also expected to have depth of understanding and discernment with reference to doctrinal matters as well! However, that was not all that Jesus expected from His disciples. He wanted them to learn how to deal with interpersonal problems too. And on top of everything else, He wanted them to learn how to handle spiritual and ecclesiastical authority.

“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
will be loosed in heaven.
Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth
concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them
by My Father in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in My name,
I am there in the midst of them.”
MATTHEW 18:18-20

ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY

The disciples must devote their time to learning how to handle authority, rather than to dissipate their strength in foolish debate about who was greatest among them.

1. Great ecclesiastical authority indeed!

It was important that the disciples appreciate the fact that when they served as apostles in time to come, they would have significant ecclesiastical authority. Of course, this authority is confined to church or ecclesiastical matters!

2. Reinforcement of Thought

The disciples must have been reminded of what Jesus had taught earlier on this subject.

“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
MATTHEW 16:19

In the first context, Jesus directed His words to Peter. In the second context, Jesus spoke to all the disciples. They too would be able to “bind” and “loose”. The act of binding and loosing is a descriptive way of saying that they possessed authority to make decisions that would be binding! They also had power to make statements that would effect release!

3. Great Caution Needed

It is important that we pay special attention to the text. Jesus gave two special words of caution that must be taken most seriously.

a) No carte blanche authority

The disciples must not feel that they have unrestrained authority! Few things are more dangerous than when people feel that they can wield all authority without reference to others!

b) The Presence of Jesus

The disciples must cultivate this special sense of awareness of the Presence of Jesus in their midst! The disciples were expected to make constant reference to Jesus in all their decision making!

c) The context of being faithful “witnesses”

The full context of the trustworthy and faithful witnesses must be borne in mind at all times! If the disciples-apostles were found to be unfaithful and thus unworthy, they may lay no claim to any ecclesiastical authority!

d) Special grammatical construction in this text

Attention must be drawn to the fact that this text uses a grammatical structure that is difficult to translate, simply because there is no English equivalent. To simplify matters, we may make the following statements:-

i) The Greek Perfect Tense used

Matthew used the Greek perfect tense to good effect. He, being one of the original Apostles would have an even greater grasp of what Jesus taught! He knew what Jesus meant! The perfect tense in Greek speaks of an action that has already taken place in the past! The effects of that past action however linger on into the present!

ii) Understanding the phrases, “will be bound in heaven” and “will be loosed in heaven” (Greek perfect tense used in both phrases)

When and if the apostles need to make decisions that involved great authority, they must consult with the Lord first! The obvious understanding is that, they would be given every assistance. When the disciples finally make that decision, they would discover that their decision would be in full accord with God’s will!

AN OFT-MISAPPLIED TEXT

It is common to hear of Christians “claiming” this text (Matthew 18:18-20) as a prayer promise to request anything and every thing from Jesus! Many declare that they received great encouragement through reading this text!

A careful study of the context however reveals that this passage of Scripture is NOT about prayer! Jesus sought to teach His disciples an important truth! They would always have His Presence, Power and Authority all the time, even if there were only two or three gathered in His Name! How the disciples must learn well their lessons!