The Gospel Mass reading for August 14, 2024 is Matthew 18:15-20. In the NABRE it begins with, “If a brother sins [against you]” and ends with “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” It seems to me that an issue is that the following verses, 15:21-22, include this phrase: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?” There seems to be a good case that verses 15-22 comprise a pericope and should not be separated.
Supporting that case is the fact that, according to the footnote for 18:15 in The Catholic Study Bible NABRE, the bracketed “against you” is not in some of the oldest and most important texts. (Remember that there are no extant original versions off any of the Gospels.) So, perhaps “against you” has been erroneously added to later manuscripts to match up with “against me” in verse 21. (Maybe not all of those copiers were theologians.) I checked all the English translations of verse 15 on biblegateway.com and found that a dozen or so, the NIV included, do not say “against you.” Some that do and some that don’t point out the issue in footnotes. The simple answer is that we don’t know what the original said.
So, perhaps in the original there are two separate cases. The first is about sin against God observed in a loved brother, a fellow member of the Church, and how that sin should be addressed by a loving concerned friend. The second case is about appropriate responses to personal offenses. That seems reasonable since even some disciples apparently had a tendency to be self-centered and worried about how they would be treated.
An example of the first case would be a member observed stealing or committing adultery or swearing and a loving brother wanting to help the person repent and be forgiven. The second case is introduced by Peter’s question, “What if my brother sins against ME?” That is answered by Jesus’s statement about forgiving seventy seven times. Just to make the lesson absolutely clear, the parable of the unforgiving servant follows.
That two-issues understanding even takes the mystery out of the verse 17 statement by Jesus that one who refuses to listen to the church, should be treated as a Gentile or a tax collector. That sounds like rejection or expulsion. But, wasn’t Jesus frequently accused of dining and associating with such folks and inviting them to believe?
So, the simple bottom line for Matthew 18:15-22 seems to be, if someone offends me, I should forgive and forget. If someone needs spiritual assistance, I should offer help and pray for them. I like that understanding. Besides, I don’t recall cases of anyone sinning against me. Maybe I have just forgotten.