...Like A Gentile Or Tax Collector (part 1)

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.  If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector. – Matthew 18:17  (NET)

Stern words from Jesus.  The context, of course, is relationships between covenant brethren.  Jesus has said “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone.  If he listens to you, you have regained your brother.  But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses, every matter may be established” (18:15-16).  Our introductory verse follows from this statement, presenting something of a system for dealing with conflicts. 

So how do we generally interpret these words?  Upon first reading, do we think something along the lines of “Yes.  That’s right.  If we’ve made the necessary efforts, and if the response is not correct (meaning, the response is not that which we desire to see), then that individual is to be marginalized and ostracized---treated as a Gentile (or a pagan) or a tax collector, for he is unrepentant and beyond reach”?  We could venture to say that, instinctively, especially in light of our parsed reading of Scripture, that such thoughts do indeed present themselves.  In general, we are accustomed, within the church world, to the creation of an “us vs. them” mentality, with the “us” being those inside the church, and the “them” being the pagans, heathens, and veritable Gentiles and tax collectors that stand outside of and presumably opposed to the church and its claims on behalf of Christ.  This customary treatment, unfortunately, is patently incorrect. 

Without going into too much detail, it is worth recounting that Jews, in recognizing their role as God’s elect and chosen covenant people, and according to the prescriptions of the Mosaic law and the rather large assortment of traditions grafted on to that law, kept themselves separate from Gentiles.  Purity laws demanded that there be no mixing with Gentiles.  For them, and painting with an extraordinarily broad brush, Gentiles were those people that stood against the claims of their creator God, while also functioning in an ongoing role of oppressors (very much an us vs. them mentality). 

Tax collectors were the hated group that collaborated with their Roman oppressors.  This disdain went well beyond the general disgust that is almost universally felt towards those that collect taxes, as their presence and their role were constant reminders of Israel’s covenant failures, and their God’s ongoing punishment of His covenant people.  If we take these basic facts into consideration, then it would seem rather odd to say that an assessment of Jesus’ statement that affirms an isolation and ostracizing of unrepentant individuals through treating them as Gentiles or tax collectors is an incorrect statement.  Still, that statement stands, and we deny that Jesus came anywhere near to implying that an unrepentant individual should be isolated, ostracized, or condemned.  Rather, we take up His statement and affirm that he or she is to be treated like a Gentile or a tax collector.

Shortly after the statements of verses fifteen through seventeen, we find Jesus’ famous and popular statement of “For where two or three are assembled in My name, I am there among them” (18:20).  We tend to glory in this statement, while also tending to forget that it is offered in the context of conflict and what appears to be discipline.  This discipline, it shall be seen, is not necessarily the discipline of the individual in question that is being brought before groups of brothers or before the church, but rather, the teachings of Jesus that are meant to provide a disciplining effect for the covenant community---guiding their actions and behaviors.  Along with this, we do well to recognize the fact that these words on offer by Jesus, as reported by Matthew and as placed in the structure of His narrative concerning Jesus, follows immediately from the parable of the lost sheep, which presents a shepherd leaving ninety-nine sheep to go after just one that is lost, and closes with Jesus saying “In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones be lost” (18:14).  This statement must be kept in mind when we hear Jesus saying “treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector.” 

At the same time, we are forced to come to grips with the fact that Jesus, after speaking about His presence in the midst of gathered ones, is reported to have conducted a conversation with Peter, who has asked about the necessity of multiple offerings of forgiveness.  Jesus effectively informs Peter that forgiveness must be limitless.  This demands to be understood within the narrative flow of the entirety of Matthew’s Gospel, as well as the flow of the section in which it is to be found, so it can be asserted that it does have bearing on the way Jesus’ insistence in regards to treatment as a Gentile or tax collector is to be understood.