Matthew 18:15-20

Ezekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-22

Psalm 113:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:

“If your brother sins against you,

go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.

If he does not listen,

take one or two others along with you,

so that every fact may be established

on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church.

If he refuses to listen even to the Church,

then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

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.

Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth

about anything for which they are to pray,

it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name,

there am I in the midst of them.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, help me to understand how my sin is a cause of division. Allow me to see exactly how it creates division within my family, within my community, and within the Church. With your grace, help me confess my sins, truly repent, and be restored to healthy relationships.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Ezekiel’s Prophetic Actions: The prophet Ezekiel carried out a series of prophetic actions that led to his vision of the departure of the Glory of the Lord from the Temple. Shortly after eating the scroll with words of lamentation and mourning and woe, Ezekiel went out to meet the exiles in Babylon by the river Chebar. After seven days, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel and appointed him as a watchman for the house of Israel. He was commissioned to warn the rebellious house. Ezekiel made a model of the city of Jerusalem and showed how it was besieged. He laid beside the model on his left side for 390 days symbolizing the years of punishment of the house of Israel and on his right side for 40 days symbolizing the years of punishment of the house of Judah (Ezekiel 4:1-8). Ezekiel also cut out his beard and hair. A third he burned; a third he struck with the sword; and a third he scattered into the wind. This symbolizes that because the people have defiled God’s sanctuary, a third will die of pestilence and famine, a third will fall by the sword, and a third will be scattered (Ezekiel 5:12).

2. The Departure of God’s Glory and the Prophecies of its Return: The prophet preached about judgment against the people of Israel for their idolatry and foretold an impending doom. This culminated in a vision (592 B.C.) of abominations taking place in the Temple. Once again Ezekiel saw one having the appearance of a man, who showed him “vile abominations” in the court of the Temple. Ezekiel wrote: “I went in and saw; and there, portrayed upon the wall round about, were all kinds of creeping things, and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 8:10). Before the idols stood the seventy elders of the house of Israel burning incense to them. In the inner court of the house of the Lord, Ezekiel saw twenty-five men with their backs to the Temple of the Lord, worshiping the sun (Ezekiel 8:16). Because of these sins of idolatry in the Temple, the prophet announced judgment and described how the Lord, “in his chariot throne, moves to the threshold of the Temple (9:3), heads to the inner court (10:3-4), moves to the east gate (the main processional gate that leads to the Temple; 10:19), finally departs the city and alights on the mountain to the east of Jerusalem (11:23)” (Leclerc, Introduction to the Prophets, 293). Towards the end of his prophetic book, Ezekiel will see the Glory of the Lord enter the restored Temple (43:1-5). However, when the exiles returned from Babylon to Jerusalem and the temple was rebuilt and dedicated in 516 B.C., there was silence about the glory of the Lord. It was understood that God’s glory did not return to the Second Temple. In the years that follow, the prophet Malachi will foretell the return of the Lord to the Temple in order to purify the people (Malachi 3:1).

3. The Glory of God in Christ: The New Testament speaks of the glory of God in Christ. John says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and in Christ we behold the glory of the only begotten Son of God. Luke records the song of the angels at Christ's birth: “Glory to God in the highest!.” Furthermore, the prophecy of Malachi was initially fulfilled on the occasion of the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Simeon takes the child Jesus into his arms and says that he has seen the salvation of God, a light of revelation for the Gentiles, and glory for Israel (Luke 2:29-32). Jesus will cleanse the temple and point to his Resurrection as the building of the New Temple of God, where men and women will worship God in spirit and truth. The Church, the Body of Christ, is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. “What was foreshadowed in the old Temple, is fulfilled by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the Church: the Church is the ‘House of God,’ the place of his presence, where we can find and meet the Lord; the Church is the Temple where the Holy Spirit dwells, the Spirit who animates, guides and sustains the Church” (Francis, June 26, 2013). In the Gospel, Jesus gave guidelines for dealing with sin in our Christian communities. If our brother or sister offends us, we should first tell them and seek to be reconciled with them. If they do not listen to us, then bring the testimony of witnesses of the offense. If they still refuse to listen, tell the Church. The goal here is reestablishing communion. If the person remains in their sin, they break themselves off from that communion. In contrast to those who sin against one another, Jesus refers today to another situation – those who pray together in Christ’s name. The prayer of Christ’s disciples is united to the prayer of Christ before his Father. When a child asks his Father for something good, the good Father will give them all that they need.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have merited divine grace for me. Move my heart to repentance and conversion. Reconcile me with the Father and my brothers and sisters. I long to see your glory.

Living the Word of God: Is there anyone I need to be reconciled with? What caused the rupture in the relationship? Have I reached out to them? What do I need to do to repair and restore the relationship?