“Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth will be loosed in heaven”(Matthew 18:18).
These words of Jesus to the disciples are not easy to
understand.
As these words are found in the Gospel reading for the 23rd
Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), I asked the participants of the scripture
study class I teach, what Jesus meant by these words.
In fact, everyone “confessed” that they wondered what this
peculiar phrase meant.
Based on the original Greek text, “bind” is δέω (deo), which can mean “bind”,”fasten”, and
“declare to be prohibited”, and “loose” is λύω (luo), which can mean “release”, ‘resolve”
and “permit”. Thus, Matthew 18:18 can be
understood as: Whatever we prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and
whatever we permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
In the context of Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus is referred to the
pastoral authority to forbid and permit in his name, now given to the
disciples. If you remember the Gospel reading of the 21st Sunday in
Ordinary Time, Year A, Mathew 16:13-20, you also recall:
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19).
In Matthew 16:19, upon Peter’s confession of
Jesus’ Messianic nature, Jesus is giving the pastoral authority to forbid and
permit in his name. But, with Matthew 18:18, this authority is now shared by
all of his disciples.
So, what the disciples, including Peter, forbid
and permit on earth in Jesus’ name will be forbidden and permitted by Christ
upon his return for the Judgement. Thus,
both Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18 indicates that what we forbid and permit on earth in Jesus’ name bears heavenly
consequences.
Though this can be a bit too liberal
interpretation of Matthew 18:18, we can also appreciate a lesson from Matthew
18:18 in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, in regard to how the trial of
Antonio turned into the trial of Shylock.
For this, we can also understand “bind” is δέω (deo) as holding or clinging, while λύω
(luo) as releasing or letting go. Thus, what we release can mean what we
forgive. So, what we forgive on earth will be also forgiven in heaven. On the
other hand, what we bind can mean what we cling to, or what we refuse to
release or let go. Thus, what we cling to on earth can be clung to us in
heaven.
In this story, Antonio borrowed money from Shylock, for his
friend, Bassanio, a money lender.
Though Antonio thought he could pay Shylock
back as said in the contract. However, it turned out that he could not. So,
Shylock comes after Antonio, based on the contract. But, to begin with, Shylock
and Antonio had been like cats and dogs. Because Antonio had beaten Shylock’s
practice of usry, Shylock was harboring grudge against Antonio. So, the term of
the contract for Antonio’s loan from Shylock was that Antonio would “pay”
Shylock one pound of his own flesh, in case of his failure to fulfill his loan’s
contract term. Now, having failed to keep the term of the contract, Antonio
owes Shylock one pound of his own flesh. That is what Antonio is bound for,
based on the loan contract.
Though Antonio tried to settle the matter with Shylock by
the money his friend, Bassanio can pay. But, filled with personal grudge
against Antonio, Shylock refused to receive money and demands Antonio’s flesh.
Obviously, Shylock’s intent was a personal revenge against Antonio, inflicting
excruciating pain on him.
Antonio took the matter to the court. At first, the court
allowed Shylock to take one pound of flesh out of Antonio, based on the terms
of the contract. However, the court also rules that Shylock would be subject to
punishment if Antonio’s blood is lost, because Shylock can only take Antonio’s
flesh, but not his blood. With this
ruling, Shylock gave up taking Antonio’s flesh. Instead, he demands money. To
this request of Shylock, the court rules that Shylock cannot demand money from
Antonio, because he once refused to receive money to settle the matter. Then,
the judgement is upon Shylock, for his attempt to kill Antonio. But, Antonio
took mercy on Shylock and asked the court to change Shylock’s death sentence to
confiscation of Shylock’s assets.
Though his life was spared by Antonio’s merciful plea to the
court, Shylock ended up losing all his assets.
Imagine, if Shylock had settled with Antonio with the money
that his friend, Bassanio offered…
Shylock would not have to lose all his assets. Not to
mention, he would not have to be sentenced to death.
Imagine, if Shylock could loose his grudge against Antonio…..he
would have been loosed from such a harsh judgement of losing all of his assets.
It was Shylock’s stubborn binding that led him to be bound
by such a judgement. It was because of
what he binds that led him to be bound by the judgemnet.
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In fact, the Gospel reading for the following Sunday – 24th
Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), Matthew 18:21-35 gives a good example to
illustrate what Matthew 18:18 means. (but, this year, 2014, the 24th Sunday coincides with the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross).
Matthew 18:21-25 is often cited in light of this part of the
Lord’s prayer, “….forgive our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us”, which is based on Matthew 6: 9-16,
in Jesus’ sermon on the mount.
In Matthew 18:21-35, Jesus explains that the wicked servant,
who refused to forgive his fellow servant’s debt to him, is not forgiven by his
master – even though he was once forgiven his debt to his master. The wicked servant is like Shylock, for his inability to let go - or to loose. To put this in light of Matthew 18:18, the
wicked servant was not loosed (released) from his debt to his master – though
he once was, because he failed to loose (release) his fellow servant from his
debt to him on earth. Of course, the master in Matthew 18:21-35 refers to God
in heaven. Thus, this wicked servant was not loosed from his debt to God in
heaven because he did not loose his fellow servant from his debt.
If we are loosed from our debt to God in heaven, then, we
must loose another person’s debt to us on earth. Here, “debt” does not
necessarily means the amount of money owed. “Debt” can be referred to consequences
of our sinful actions, including punitive judgement and restitution. Thus, “loose”
in Matthew 18:18 can be understood as “forgive”. In this sense, John 20:23 corresponds to Matthew 18:18, as
both of these are Jesus directly telling his disciples that it is their mission
to forgive each other in his name, as elaborated in Matthew 18:21-35.
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We must examine what we are holding on to…what we are
binding ourselves to on earth, as these what we hold on to can haunt us later
and in heaven. Some of what we are clinging to need to be let go so that we
will be free from their negative or harmful consequences later or in
heaven. If we are holding on to grudges,
then, these must go first – unless we want to be like Shylock.
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