Jesus Teaches Us to Resolve Problems, Gives Authority, and Promises to be with Us 

Matthew 18:15-20

In this time of teaching, Jesus gave a few more important lessons.  

He taught his disciples that if someone had done something wrong to them, before getting anyone else involved, they should go to the person and talk about the problem in private.  It seems that sometimes we first want to tell others about the issue. We really should work it out with the other person before making anything public. Jesus taught that if it works to do this in private, “thou hast gained thy brother.”

Something important to add here would be that if a child has been hurt by an adult, the child should get a parent or another grown-up they really trust to fix the problem.  Children can work out the problems they have with other children.  But if the problem was caused by a grown up, the child needs a parent or that other trusted adult to go fix it.

Another important thing Jesus did at this time was to teach these twelve disciples about the authority he has given them.  Jesus said: 

“Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  

This means that the authority Jesus gave them has power to affect things in the next life.  The acts done by these Twelve bless people even in Heaven.

Jesus Sits by the Seashore and Preaches by James Tissot

And then Jesus gave a very simple, but very powerful promise to anyone who gathers together to speak about Jesus or learn about Jesus: 

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  

Jesus will give us His Spirit and will even be with us Himself when we gather together to learn about him.  This is one of the great reasons to go to church. We can have Him with us to guide us in our lives.  We will probably not see Him in person with us, but we can feel his Spirit with us. This helps us understand things we wouldn’t be able to know without His help.

What do you think?

  • Why is it important to settle problems privately first?
  • What should a child do when another child does something wrong to you?
  • What should a child do when a grown up hurts them?
  • How can Jesus give power to his disciples to bless people even after they are in Heaven?
  • What’s so important about going to church?

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