MATTHEW 18:20 "TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED... " Is it true Jesus said that it doesn't matter how small a group of Christians is -- just where two or three are gathered together, He will be there? Jesus did say, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them," (Matthew 18:20), and His statement is generally used in the sense of a special presence at our assemblies when we gather to worship. Does that interpretation fit the context? Immediately preceding His statement about two or three gathered together in v. 20, is instruction about dealing with personal sin ultimately necessitating "church discipline" (vv. 15-17). In that instruction a plurality of witnesses is shown to be essential -- "take one or two more that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established..." The first consideration pursued to understand the whole context is whether or not the statements in vv. 18-20, are connected to the procedure mentioned in vv. 15-17. If there is a connection, it is in application of the essentiality of "two or three witnesses" (vv. 15-17), "two of you shall agree (v. 19), and the "two or three are gathered together" (v. 20). The principle is that a plurality of witnesses is essential to the establishment of truth. This would be reasoning from the general to the particular -- the general being the establishment of truth from revelation and the particular the application of revelation to the church discipline. But verses 18-20, seem to present another thought from that which is stated in vv. 15-17, because the connecting words, "again" and "for", are used in v. 19, and v. 20 respectively. These words connect the thoughts in vv. 18-20 together. No connecting word exists between v. 17 and v. 18. Another thought seems to be pursued consistently in vv. 18-20, which is introduced by a general statement similar to what Jesus had said to Peter earlier in ch. 16:19 -- "Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind..." (v. 18). Having stated a truth in v. 18, Jesus proceeds in verse 19, with an "again" (Greek word "palin") which means either "repeated" or "further." "Again" is followed by a statement about "...two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done..." (v. 19). Note the significance of "two." Why does their agreement produce a giving from heaven? "Again" (repeated or further) connects the agreement of two or three and their asking with the binding and loosing of v. 18. There is assurance that "it will be to them" (literal wording from the Greek). What will be to them? While several disciples praying for one thing would add weight to the fervor of their appeal of righteousness, a better explanation in context is the idea of establishing truth of revelation. Then v. 20, ties to the previous thought by the word "for." "For" is a connective word. It is translated from the Greek word "gar," which "... adduces the Cause or gives the Reason of a preceding statement or opinion..." (Thayer p. 109). There is a flow of thought consistently tied together by connecting words. What follows in v. 20, is connected to what preceded in v. 19, and v. 19, was connected to v. 18 by "again." In the previous verse (v. 19), He states that if "two of you shall agree..." which says that a plural number is essential to the establishment of veracity of testimony. And v. 19, is connected to what had been previously stated about revelation -- what was bound on earth "shall be having been bound" in heaven. So, when Jesus says, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them," I understand him to be saying that in the agreement of revelation from two or more witnesses there is heaven's approval. In the beginning of the church, when there was no written word, the disciples would know the truthfulness of truth, where a question might arise, by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Which is not to say that truth would not be truth, if two or three men did not agree that it was, but that all could know it was truth by the agreement of revelation from the testimony of two or three inspired sources. I believe there is an historical, case study verifying the truth Jesus has just taught which is recorded in Acts 15:1-ff. Why did Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem? When the apostles and elders had assembled together there was a procedure of comparing testimony of revelation (v. 6-21). There was the testimony of three -- Peter, Paul (along with Barnabas) and James -- which related directly to a particular revelation about what God required of the Gentile Christians. Then, there was a conclusion reached from that assembly by the comparison of revelation -- "It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord..." (vv. 25-29). The explanation that Matthew 18:20, refers to an agreement and verification of revelation seems, to me, to fit better than the conclusion that Jesus was saying that He would be present, in a special sense, even in the smallest assembly of the saints, when they gathered in His name.

	Created on 27-Oct-99	Page last updated