Matthew 18 – Where 2 or 3 are Gathered in My Name

Welcome to the Rapid Bull, daily edition, where we provide a quick biblical interpretations and applications. This is the ministry of Striving for Eternity.

Matthew 18:20 in Context of Church Discipline

One of the most misinterpreted passages in the Bible is also in Matthew 18. We saw yesterday verse 19, but today verse 20, where it says, For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I may am among them.

Now this is a very common passage to be used. For small churches with small group meetings, maybe a prayer meeting, and there's only a few people that show up, and someone will say, well, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them, and saying that God is with us because two or three are right here.

However, in the context, as we looked at yesterday, this is dealing with the issue of church discipline. But there's even a stronger reason why this does not make sense to say that God is only with us when there's two or three gathered.

The Great Commission and Christ's Presence with Believers

Why? Because in Matthew 28, 19, and 20, known as the Great Commission, we end up seeing there that Jesus says that I will be with you always until the end of the age. Therefore, what that says is that how many believers does it require for someone to have Christ with them?

Well, according to Matthew 28, 19, and 20, we should say one, not two or three. Well, the actual answer is none. That's right. God is omniscient. God is omnipresent. God's omnipotent. So omnipresent means he's everywhere.

There doesn't have to be any believers for God to be present. Sorry, it was a trick question.

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