Bible notes

• Matthew’s Gospel contains five sections where Jesus teaches at length on a subject. Today’s passage is part of the fourth section, focusing on life in the church.

• It is important to note that ‘church’ as we understand it did not exist at the time Jesus was speaking. When the reading speaks about ‘church’ it could mean a gathering or an assembly, or this might be a later edit by Matthew to help us understand his meaning.
  
  
• Jesus teaches about how to handle a situation where wrongdoing has broken relationships within the community. He presents a plan for mending these relationships. If we feel someone has wronged us, we must tell them and deal with it face to face. If need be, we should take one or two others we trust along with us, and if that doesn’t work, we should take our differences to the whole church community to sort out. Jesus then affirms the importance of our Christian communities by promising that he will be present, no matter what size the gathering is.
  
  
• Today’s passages from Ezekiel and Romans also speak about our duties towards one another in community. In Ezekiel there is a call for accountability, and the Romans passage places the value of loving one another above all others.
  
  
• How might these passages speak to the communities we find ourselves in today? What tensions and difficulties arise? And how do we deal with them in a way that builds up the community?