Reflections
Reconciliation and forgiveness hold the church together Readings Between the Lines Father Glenn LeCompte
One of the unique features of Matthew’s Gospel is that Matthew collects a considerable amount of Jesus’ teaching into five lengthy discourses or speeches (Matthew 5:3-7:29; 10:1— 11:1; 13:1-53; 18:1—19:1; 24:1-51). Two of this month’s Sunday Gospel readings come from the fourth of the five discourses. Matthew 18:1—19:1 is referred to by many biblical scholars as the “Church Order Discourse,” because the material within it is concerned with relations within the community of Jesus’ followers. After chapter 13 in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus’ disciples become a more distinct group. Inspired by their leaders, the uncommitted crowds that follow Jesus will end up calling for the former’s crucifixion at his hearing before Pilate (27:20-22). In addition, Matthew’s Jesus delivers private instructions to his disciples, as is exemplified by Matthew 15:15-20, where Jesus explains to his disciples the meaning of his parable about digestion of food (15:10-11). Likewise, the Church Order Discourse is directed to the disciples who will form the nucleus of the church which will continue beyond Jesus’ death and resurrection. Matthew’s Gospel gives a lot of attention to the concept of a church, perhaps more so than the other canonical Gospels. In 16:16-20, after Peter, speaking for all of the Twelve, identifies Jesus as “the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,” Jesus declares Peter the rock on which he would build his church. The foundation of
the community of Jesus’ disciples will be the faith which Peter has just expressed, and Jesus confers authority upon Peter, as leader, to “bind and loose.” In the Church Order Discourse Jesus focuses on intra-community relations. I will consider those sections of the discourse which will be read at Sunday Masses this month. Matthew 18:15-20 depicts a process for reconciliation within the church. If a church member sins against another, the offended party is responsible to seek out the offender and attempt to reconcile. One might expect Jesus to say that it is the offender’s responsibility to initiate the reconciliation process. If the injured party bears the responsibility to start the process, that person has to forego the desire for revenge, and displays a proper care and concern for the fellow disciple. If the offender refuses the invitation to make amends, then the offended party is urged to bring two other members of the church to help adjudicate the process. This procedure is based on Deuteronomy 19:15, which states that, “a charge shall stand only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” The idea is that the two witnesses, assuming they are objective, can help the perpetrator to see that the charge is not simply “the injured person’s agenda,” but that if two others agree, then maybe there is substance to the plaintiff’s claim. If the offender is not convinced when multiple witnesses are brought in,
14 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • September 2020
the issue is finally to be taken before the whole community. Hopefully the offender will see that the dispute brings scandal to the body of believers. If not, then the malefactor is to be excommunicated: “treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector” (18:17). This is because the wrongdoer, by persisting in malice within his or her heart, is behaving like a nonbeliever or a public sinner. As J.P. Meier (The Vision of Matthew, p. 132) observes, “ ... there is no intervention by a single authoritative leader. When the church acts authoritatively, it acts as a whole, though Matthew certainly knows the existence of church leaders ...For Matthew, church leadership does not swallow up the authority of the assembly of believers acting as one body.” The church here is given “binding and loosing” power (18:18-19). The community wields this binding and loosing power, for Jesus, who is “God-with-us” (1:23) and who will promise to be always with his church (28:20), is in their midst when they act in communion with one another. Following the presentation of this patterned reconciliation process, Peter appears to want to know how often a community member is obligated to seek forgiveness of another. When Peter asks if seven times is enough, Jesus counters with the number 77. This dialog may reflect Genesis 4:24, where Cain’s son Lamech kills an offender and boasts about it. Yet God will avenge Lamech, whose
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