"Where two or three are gathered...." - Joey Ferrell

Oftentimes, we hear this particular statement relating to assembling to worship together. Unfortunately, it has also been used to alleviate the idea that we need to worship TOGETHER as a group of like-minded individuals as the church. So…was Jesus wrong in stating this? Well, we must look at the context of the verse to see why it really doesn’t mean what some may think that it means! Study along…

““Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.””

(Matthew 18:15–20)

The context of the passage can be seen by backing up a few verses…as well as moving forward a few verses. Now don’t get me wrong…I am not stating that the idea that Jesus is not in the midst of us when we gather together with 2, 3, or 900 is not accurate. But, what I am saying is that sometimes, our society has used this verse to say that they can go to the lake on Sunday with their family to worship together, or substitute worship with a live-stream in the comforts of their own home instead of attending with the saints if unhindered in as such to keep them from being able to attend together. This is definitely NOT what Jesus is referring to here, as you can see.

In the Old Testament, any “charge” of wrong doing required two or three witnesses that agreed. (Deuteronomy 17; c.f 2 Corinthians 13:1). This was to ensure that the truth was told and that no false accusations would be made that resulted in punishment undeserved.

It is interesting that Jesus would use this in the form of discipline, as He has in Matthew 18, considering that when He is under trial in the days of the crucifixion, they were not able to establish the witness that was needed; yet, He still was wrongly accused and sentenced.

Matthew 18 is a prime example of how sometimes we can misunderstand scripture and we really need to establish the context prior to being “set” on a meaning. “Where two or three are gathered” lends more to the idea of discipline…than to assembly.

With these things said, the crux of this article is to encourage us all to remember what is said in Hebrews 10:24-25 specifically. We are told by the Hebrew writer that we should not forsake the assembly. What does that mean? Purposely missing an assembly would be forsaking. Not health reasons, not impairments that are otherwise impending travel, and so on, but purposed missing - “I don’t feel like going today; We have to go to a ballgame; We are on vacation…”. The list could go on.
To understand more about WHY this is important, make sure to keep the context of Hebrews 10:19-25 in mind. Jesus is the new Veil, He is the new and living way to enter “the temple,” He has sacrificed His blood so that we might be able to meet together…and finally, for the sake that is mentioned in verse 24…to lift one another up together!

Maybe some of us have lost sight of the importance of assembling together. Maybe we need to do more self-study into why we feel that it is okay to miss the assembly, or to watch on a computer screen/phone/tv when we are not hindered from attending in the body. Maybe we can all look at the context of Matthew 18 a little differently and realize how important it is to not only find the context, but also…another article would be needed, but to understand the concept of correction?

Let us think on these things, edify one another, praise God in the highest, and love Jesus like He loves us!

Joey