By Father Paul Nord, O.S.B.
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Ezekiel 33:7-9; Responsorial: Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9; Second Reading: Romans 13:8-10; Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20
In Ezekiel 33:2-3, God commands the prophet: “Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: When I bring the sword against a land, if the people of that land select one of their number as a watchman for them, and the watchman sees the sword coming against the land, he should blow the trumpet to warn the people.” In today’s reading, God tells Ezekiel: “You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel.” This is Ezekiel’s mission as a prophet: to tell the people that God is allowing destruction to come upon them.
In 33:2-6, God exhorts Ezekiel to warn the Israelites that “the sword” (military conquest) is coming. If Ezekiel tells the people God’s warning, but they ignore the warning, then the Israelites will be responsible for their own deaths. But if Ezekiel does not tell the people God’s warning, then God will hold Ezekiel responsible for the deaths of the people. God again warns Ezekiel in 33:7-9 that he must faithfully repeat God’s message to those who are wicked. If he does, even if the wicked man dies for his guilt, God promises Ezekiel: “you shall save yourself.” Then Ezekiel will be faithful to his role as watchman — a faithful prophet who obeys God and fearlessly proclaims his word.
Psalm 95 says: “let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.” After God rescued his people Israel from Egypt, the people thirsted. So God instructed Moses to strike the rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:6). Then God provided water from the rock. “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert” (v. 8). This describes the Israelites’ rebellion, which provoked God to provide them water from the rock.
St. Paul urges the Christians in Rome: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Paul then cites the fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth, and tenth of the Ten Commandments from the law of Moses. Paul says that these and all other commandments are summed up by Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Paul is echoing a teaching of Jesus which was repeated by the early Church. This teaching of Jesus is recorded in the Gospel of Mark 12:28-34 (also Matthew 22:34-40; Luke 10:25-28). There Jesus cites this same passage (Leviticus 19:18) in combination with Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.”
This teaching of Jesus is summarized by Paul: “Love does no evil to the neighbor;
therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). Paul uses a strong Greek conjunction meaning “therefore” to emphasize his conclusion: “love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Paul emphasizes with repetition. He says: love “has fulfilled the law” and love is the “fulfillment” of the law. Jesus does not use “fulfillment” language in the “love your neighbor” passages cited above from Mark 12, Matthew 22, or Luke 10. But in Matthew 5:17, Jesus says: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”
Also recall Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel 13:34: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” Jesus gives a “new commandment.” The Ten Commandments and “whatever other commandment … are summed up” in Jesus’ command to love one another.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us what to do “if your brother sins against you.” Forgiveness and healing of conflict are essential to Jesus’ Gospel. They are also essential to maintaining unity in the community of Christ’s disciples. In the early Church, “brother” was the typical word to describe a fellow follower of Christ.
When we believe that someone has wronged us, it is always tempting to bring the matter immediately to an authority who can administer justice on our behalf. But Jesus tells us instead to talk privately with “your brother” about “his fault.” This gives him the opportunity to repent for his fault, or to make peace with you directly. This facilitates reconciliation of the relationship, not just action for justice.
If your brother does not listen to your complaint, then you should bring “one or two others along with you.” If he still does not listen, then “tell the church” — the community of faith. Jesus gives us a process of gradually including other people in our quest for justice with our brother.
If your brother “refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.” That is, although he is “your brother” — a fellow follower of Christ — you should now treat him as if he does not belong to the Christian community. By his refusal to repent or reconcile, he has effectively removed himself from communion with his Christian brothers.
Jesus then says: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (18:18). This is almost exactly what Jesus told Peter (singular “you” bind/loose) in Matthew 16:19. This was after Jesus had promised to give Peter “the keys to the kingdom of heaven,” and after Jesus had told Peter: “upon this rock I will build my church.”
Jesus repeats this saying to his disciples as a group. Jesus entrusts this power of “binding” and “loosing” to the Church as a whole. Jesus’ does not entrust this authority to Christians as individuals. Rather it is given to the community of faith. When Jesus says, “whatever you bind/loose” in 18:18, he uses the plural of “you.” This is reinforced by Jesus’ next words: “if two of you agree about anything for which … (they) pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.”