The Act of Reconciliation
Tuesday’s Verse:
From Matthew 18:20 ESV
(Jesus said) "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."
Matthew 18:20 is often cited as a comfort when only a few people arrive for worship or a meeting. The comfort is real: our Lord is not absent simply because a gathering is small. But in its immediate context, Jesus is speaking more specifically about His Church’s difficult and holy work of addressing sin, calling one another to repentance, and restoring the fallen.
The verses just before this promise describe a brother or sister caught in sin. Jesus does not tell His disciples to ignore it, gossip about it, or cast the person aside. Instead, He commands patient, orderly love: speak privately; if necessary, bring one or two others; and, if needed, involve the church. The purpose is not punishment for its own sake. It is reconciliation—the gaining back of a brother or sister.
This is why the presence of “two or three” matters. Christians are not left to exercise judgment according to private opinion, resentment, or personal preference. The Lord gathers His people around His Word. There, in mutual accountability and humble repentance, Christ Himself is present. He authorizes His Church to speak His Word of Law, which exposes sin, and His Word of Gospel, which forgives and restores sinners for His sake.
In Lutheran terms, this passage directs us toward the Office of the Keys: the Church’s responsibility to forgive sins to the repentant and, with grief and patience, to retain sins when repentance is refused. This work is never about asserting power over another person. It is Christ’s own ministry of seeking the lost. Even discipline is meant to serve the Gospel, so that the sinner may be turned from destruction and returned to the fellowship of Christ’s body.
So when conflict arises in the congregation, family, or Christian community, we need not act alone. We bring the matter under Christ’s Word, pray for humility, speak truthfully and lovingly, and seek peace. The Savior who died to reconcile us to the Father is present among His people as they pursue reconciliation with one another.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Merciful Father, we have been reconciled to You through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Please forgive us by Your grace. Give us humble hearts to receive Your corrective restoration when we wander away. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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