Angel Puppo

B340 Biblical Interpretation

Presented to Dr. Abner Chou 

March 29, 2020

Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever

you loose on earth shall be loosed[a] in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth

about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or

three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”1 These verses has been neglected and

outraged by the Spanish church circle on which I minister. In this paper, I will try to bring light

to the veridic interpretation of these verses using the historical context.

The book of Matthew

  The Gospel on which we find these verses is the Gospel according to Matthew. “every

Gospel focuses on a different subject. Mark’s on Jesus as a server, Luke’s in Jesus as a man,

John’s on Jesus as God, and Matthew’s focuses on Jesus as the Messiah, the awaited Davidic

king..”2 The Gospel of Matthew comes as a perfect continuation to the book of Chronicles the

last book on the Hebrew Bible. “The question of who wrote the First Gospel is thus an open

question. One approach to answering the question is simply to take church tradition from the

second century and later at face value. In the case of Matthew, that tradition is supported by a

1
Matthew 18:18-20 (ESV)
2
Carballosa, Evis. Matthew the revelation of the majesty of Christ. 

(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Portavoz, 2011)

statement attributed to an early bishop named Papias, cited by the church historian Eusebius.

According to Papias, Matthew assembled a Hebrew or Aramaic version of "the oracles" of Jesus,

and other Page 21 Gospel writers translated or interpreted them as each was able. Papias' words

are usually taken to mean that the apostle Matthew wrote the First Gospel.”3 The language of the

books is unclear; some books said it could have been written in both languages; other texts say

that it was written in Greek in a Hebrew manner. The date the gospel was written was unclear

too, “Many scholars date Matthew a few years after the end of the Jewish revolt in 70 a.d. A few

even date the Gospel to sometime in the 80s. The principal argument for a post-70 date is the

possible allusion to the burning of Jerusalem in the parable of the wedding ban-quet (Matt 22:1–

14).”4

Who was Matthew?

“Matthew, the Evangelist who wrote the Gospel that appears first in the New Testament,

was different from the other Apostles. He was not a popular man. Many people felt that he was

unworthy to be a chosen as a follower of Jesus. Matthew worked for the Romans as a tax

collector. The Romans ruled Palestine and the Jewish people in the time of Jesus. They forced

the Jewish people to pay taxes to them. Many of the tax collectors cheated the people by

charging more taxes than required and keeping the extra money for themselves. The Jews

considered tax collectors to be traitors.”5 In chapter 9, we learn that Matthew was called from a

tax collector booth, something that no rabbi would have done at that time is that tax collectors

3
Gardner, Richard B. Matthew : Believers Church Bible Commentary.

(Herald Press, 1991.)

4
Evans, Craig A. Matthew.

(Cambridge University Press, 2012.)

were scum among the Jews. After calling him Jesus is asked “Why does your teacher eat with tax

collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but

the sick.  But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’[a] For I have not come

to call the righteous, but sinners.”6

Historical Situation

Chapter 18 starts with a question. “Who is greater in the kingdom of God” Jesus gives a

five verses answer on which he explains that whoever becomes like a child before God would be

the biggest on the kingdom of heaven. After this short explanation, Jesus goes on a lengthy

discourse on how bad it would be for whoever that makes one of his little ones stumble “it would

be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the

depths of the sea.”7 Then he explains why it's important to really become a child to God and let

go of all the things that hold us back from that “If your hand or your foot causes you to

stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to

have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.”8 We then read the parable of the

wandering sheep were we learn how important it is to God the ones who are called for salvation,

and finally we get to the pre-verses to the discussed text 15-17 ““If your brother or sister[b] sins,
[c]
 go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won

5
“MATTHEW THE APOSTLE,” Saints Resource, last modified 2017,

http://saintsresource.com/matthew-the-apostle
6
Matt 9: 10-13 NIV
7
Matt 18: 6 NIV
8
Matt 18: 8 NIV
them over.  But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be

established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[d]  If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the

church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax

collector.”9 These verses are used as the rule of dealing with sin in the church. This is a delicate

matter that should be addressed with the carefulness of Jesus' approach. If not done correctly, we

could be hurting one of God's little ones, and we already discussed how serious this is to the

Lord. “The function of the discipline spoken of here is restorative, not punitive, but if the

offending party refuses to respond to the appeals and witnesses, then they are to be treated as one

would treat other out-siders, in this case pagans and tax collectors. Presumably this would mean

being cordial but distant, not treating them with the warmth and hospitality expected between

brothers and sister sin the faith.”10 After taking the correct steps we get to the misinterpreted

statement “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever

you loose on earth will be[f] loosed in heaven.   “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth

agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where

two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”11 These verses have been used by the

Spanish church to say that they can bless and curse, they can make one prosper, and they can

cause one to fail, and if they reunite together, they can bind God to do their bidding. This

confusion arises because they read the two verses alone from the context. If they were to read

verses 15-17, they would realize that the meaning to the word bind and loose needs to be put on

the background of discipline. Still, because they read them alone, they decide to give any
9
Matt 18: 15-17 NIV
10
Witherington, Ben. Matthew.

(Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 2006.)

11
Matt 18: 18-20 NIV
meaning they please or feel convenient for any given situation. For them, the bible becomes a

mere book with words and phrases that can be bind or loose to say whatever the false prophet

desires it to mention. The correct interpretation needs to be applied to deal with an errant brother

or sister, who perhaps is resistant to correction. After the proper steps have been taken, and the

brethren still wants to live in its own way. What does the church do then? First, he is to be taken

as “pagan or a tax collector,” and them verses 18-20 are to be applied. “According to verse 18

(which begins with the solemn formula Truly, I tell you), the power to bind and loose granted to

Peter in 16:19 is now bestowed by Jesus on the disciples as a group, and thus on every

community of believers. In the context of the discussion about sin in the church, bind and loose

convey the sense of convict and acquit, and may allude to the extreme case of excommunication.

The church, then, has authority to pronounce judgment in God's name, and the church has

authority to release persons from that judgment and restore them to fellowship. Verses 19-20

further define this authority and the way it functions. As described in the text, the community

which God affirms in its binding and loosing exhibits several characteristics:(1) It assembles in

Christ's name.(2) It seeks the will of God in prayer.(3) It acts in agreement or consensus. In such

a community, however small (even two or three members), Jesus is present with the members to

guide their deliberations (cf. G. Thom. 30). A striking parallel to 18:20 is found in an early

collection of sayings by Jewish rabbis: "If two sit together and the words of the Law [are spoken]

between them, the Divine Presence rests between them" (Aboth 3:2). What is noteworthy in

18:20 is the way Jesus assumes the role of the Torah in the synagogue. He himself is the one

around whom the church gathers, and he himself is the presence of God in the community.

Linked to God in this manner, the community is assured that God will grant its requests on
behalf of those who sin.”12 This simple explanation teach us how important it is to look at the

context of anything we are examining as well as the history behind it.

12
Gardner, Matthew.
 Bibliography

Carballosa, Evis. Matthew the revelation of the majesty of Christ. 

(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Portavoz, 2011)

Evans, Craig A. Matthew.

(Cambridge University Press, 2012.)

Gardner, Richard B. Matthew : Believers Church Bible Commentary.

(Herald Press, 1991.)

“MATTHEW THE APOSTLE,” Saints Resource, last modified 2017,

http://saintsresource.com/matthew-the-apostle

Witherington, Ben. Matthew.

(Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 2006.)