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23rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle A)

Readings:
Ezekiel 33:7-9
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9
Romans 13:8-10
Matthew 18:15-20

The abbreviations NABRE = New American Bible Revised Edition, NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, IBHE = Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English, IBGE = Interlinear Bible Greek-English, and LXX = Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation. CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).

The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity; therefore, we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).

The Theme of the Readings: Love and Correction
The readings address the duty of the righteous to call sinners in their faith communities to repentance and to restore them to fellowship with the Lord and the community of the faithful. In the First Reading, God told the prophet/priest Ezekiel that he would be held accountable for the souls of the covenant people who were sinners if he failed to speak out against their bad behavior and call them to repentance. It is the same obligation of the ministerial priesthood today. Jesus's representatives must teach the New Covenant people of God about the dangers of sin, the rewards of righteousness, and the covenant obligations the people have accepted as baptized and confirmed members of Jesus's Kingdom of the Church.

God continually calls every generation to act according to the refrain we sing in the Responsorial Psalm: "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."  In the psalm, we hear the voice of God speaking to His people "today," warning them not to fall into the sin of rebellion like the Israelites of the Exodus generation. The Israelites of the first generation swore obedience to God in the sacramental bond of the Sinai Covenant. However, they failed to trust God, preferring their desires and plans over God's divine plan for His people. Members of the New Covenant in Christ Jesus are guilty of the same sin of rebellion when they act according to their understanding and not in obedience to the commandments of Jesus Christ and His Church. The result is that they separate themselves from fellowship with the Lord and covenant unity with His Church. They will have to face the consequences of their rebellion, like the members of the Exodus generation who did not live to see the Promised Land (except for faithful Joshua and Caleb).

In the Second Reading, St. Paul reminded the Roman Christians, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, quoting from Jesus's summation of seven of the Ten Commandments concerning the obligation to love one's fellow man/woman. To obey Jesus's command to love our neighbors as ourselves is to express concern for their salvation. Love is the central requirement of the Christian life. It is how Jesus commanded us to behave towards one another when He said: "Love one another as I have loved you." The "love" Jesus requires is a holy love generated by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and intended to flow outward from the souls of Christians to transform the whole world through Christ's life-giving love.

In the Gospel Reading, Jesus addressed the subject of covenant members engaged in sin but remaining in the fellowship of the faith community. Jesus gave four steps to follow when a "brother" or "sister" has fallen into error to bring them to repentance and renew their fellowship with God and the community. He also affirmed the Church's authority to "bind" and "loose" in judging sin.

In the sixth century B.C., God appointed the priestly prophet Ezekiel as the "watchman" over the "house of Israel," and Jesus established His Apostles and disciples and the prophets' successors as guardians of the salvation of the "new Israel" that is His Church. As this generation's disciples of the Lord, we must bravely take up the obligation to safeguard the teachings of Jesus Christ within the covenant family of His Kingdom of the Church. Jesus calls us to offer correction in brotherly love by judging sin to keep from having wrongs tolerated and corrupting the community of the faithful. However, we do not have the authority to judge the sinner's soul; to pass judgment on the condition of one's soul is a prerogative that belongs only to God.

We will all be held accountable for our misdeeds. Still, those in positions of responsibility as shepherds of the flock of God's covenant people will also face divine judgment if they fail to minister to God's covenant children with mercy, justice, and truth by sharing the Gospel of salvation. It is spiritually healthy to recall God's two warnings to the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:17-18 repeated in 33:7-9: "When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them for me. If I say to someone wicked, 'You will die,' and you do not warn this person or speak out to dissuade him from his wicked conduct so that he may live; that wicked person will die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death" (Ezek 3:17-18).

Like the warning to His prophet Ezekiel, God will also hold the New Covenant priesthood accountable for the sins they fail to address as the guardians of the salvation of the new Israel of the Church. However, this is not an easy task. Priests are often harshly criticized for speaking out to their congregations on the hard topics of divorce, abortion, contraception, and premarital sex. If you have a priest who fearlessly preaches against sin, give him your support and tell him he is a faithful guardian of the people of God.

The First Reading Ezekiel 33:7-9 ~ The Watchman of Israel
7 Thus says the LORD, "You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me. 8 If I tell the wicked, "O wicked one, you shall surely die," and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. 9 But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.

God referred to Ezekiel as "son of man," meaning "human person." It was Jesus's also favorite title for Himself. He used "Son of Man to refer to Himself in His humanity thirty times in the Gospel of Matthew. However, Yahweh referred to the prophets Ezekiel (eighty-three times), Daniel (once), and the divine Messiah in Daniel's vision in 7:13 by the same title. In our reading, Yahweh commissioned the 6th century B.C. priestly prophet, Ezekiel, as the "watchman" over the covenant people living in exile in Babylon. Our passage is the second warning God gave His prophet concerning his responsibilities as Israel's "watchman," repeating the same command from earlier in the prophet's ministry in Ezekiel 3:16-21.

In the cities and towns of Biblical times, the watchmen stationed on the city walls or out on the hills were the vanguard of the people's defensive system. They were responsible for sounding a warning when there was danger. In this passage, God told the prophet Ezekiel, God's emissary to the covenant people in the Babylonian exile (Ezek 1:2), that he had a similar mission. He was responsible for warning the people when they were tolerating sin within the covenant community (verse 7). If he knew there was sin and did not warn the people, then not only would the people suffer punishment, but God would hold Ezekiel accountable for his failure to warn them (verse 8). However, if God's prophet warned the people, and they refused to repent, they would suffer for their sins, but Ezekiel would not experience punishment for the people's failure (verse 9).

This accountability for teaching about sin is the same obligation placed upon the ordained priesthood of today. The Church is responsible for instructing the New Covenant people of God about sin, righteousness, and the obedience of faith in following the covenant obligations they have accepted as baptized and confirmed members of Jesus's Kingdom of the Church. Like the warning to His prophet Ezekiel, God will also hold the New Covenant priesthood accountable for any failures as the guardians of the salvation of the new Israel of the Church. However, this is not an easy task. Priests are often harshly criticized for speaking out to their congregations on the hard topics of divorce, abortion, contraception, and premarital sex. If you have a priest who fearlessly preaches against sin, give him your support and tell him he is a faithful guardian of the people of God.

Responsorial Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9 ~ A Call to Praise and Obedience
The response is: "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

1 Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
Response:
6 Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. 7 For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
Response:
8 Oh, that today you would hear his voice; "Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert, 9 where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works."
Response:

The psalmist begins with an invitation to praise Yahweh (the LORD), the hope of the people's salvation (verse 1). Next, the psalmist invites the people to offer God their thanks and hymns of praise in the Liturgy of worship (verse 2). Yahweh is the divine King of the people He created when He took them out of bondage in Egypt and made them into a free people (verse 6). He faithfully guides and protects His people like a shepherd cares for his flock (verse 7).

In verse 8, we hear the voice of God speaking to His people "today," warning them not to fall into sin like their ancestors of the Exodus generation (Ex 17:17; Num 20:2-13; Ps 78). The warning is to avoid the judgment of the rebellious Exodus generation so a repeat of their failures will not happen to the people "today" who praise the Lord in their Liturgy of worship.

9 where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works.
Tempting God or "putting God to the test" (Dt 6:16; Ps 106:14; Mal 3:10) means testing His goodness and fidelity by attempting to force Him to act, implying that His previous deeds are not enough proof of His love. When we recite this psalm, we should understand the word "today" literally. These verses warn the covenant people in every generation to avoid a repetition of the rebellious nature of the Exodus generation. The people of that generation had sworn obedience to God in the sacramental bond of a covenant union (Ex 24:3, 8). However, they failed to trust God and demonstrate their faithfulness to His commands. They preferred their own plans over God's divine plan for His people. Those who are guilty of repeating the sin of rebellion like the Exodus generation and acting according to their own understanding instead of acting according to the commandments of Jesus Christ will also face divine judgment (see Jn 14:15, 21; 15:10; 1 Jn 2:4-6). Like the Exodus generation, they will never live to enter into the "Promised Land" (Num 14:30, 35), but the punishment is more severe because the "Promised Land" of the generations since the Advent of Christ is Heaven.

The Second Reading Romans 13:8-10 ~ Love Fulfills the Law
8 Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.

13:8 Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
St. Paul wrote to the Christians of Rome that the only debt a Christian should owe is a debt of love. Paul advises avoiding the obligation of debt since it is a condition that makes one a "slave" of the person who holds the debt. However, he says to owe a debt of love is quite different because to love the other person is to fulfill God's Law, referring to the Law of the Ten Commandments, which is a law of love of God and our brothers and sisters in the human family (Mt 22:37-40).

St. Paul focuses on Christian love and obedience to the Law in this passage. Love is the central requirement of the Christian life. It is how Jesus commanded us to behave towards one another when He said: "Love one another as I have loved you." Holiness is at the core of life-giving love, flowing from the Most Holy Trinity into the believer's soul. It is a holy love generated by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Acts of love must flow outward from the souls of Christians to every person they meet, transforming the world by Christ's life-giving love. St. John wrote to the faithful of the Church concerning the obligation to share Christ's love: Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love (1 Jn 4:7-8, NABRE).

9 The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
At the end of verse 9, Paul wrote, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," quoting both from Jesus's summation of the Ten Commandments dealing with the love of one's brother or sister in the human family in Matthew 22:37-40 and from the Holiness Code in Leviticus 19:17-18. In other words, this is not a new teaching; it is a teaching from the old Mosaic Law affirmed by Jesus in the New Covenant Law. Jesus summarized the Law of the Ten Commandments when He said: "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments" (Mt 22:37-40, NABRE). Paul also quoted from both these passages in Galatians 5:13-14, writing: For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (NABRE). The point is that loving one's neighbor and offering members of the human family unselfish love is the best way to demonstrate our love for God, who created our neighbor.

In verse 9, Paul listed four commandments that are directly related to "love of neighbor" from the Ten Commandments (see Ex 20:13-17 and Dt 5:17-21)

  1. You shall not commit adultery.
  2. You shall not kill.
  3. You shall not steal.
  4. You shall not covet.

The number four in Scripture represents the earth. Therefore, in quoting these four commandments, Paul summarized the laws of conduct that order our right relationship with our brothers and sisters in the human family. He made this clear by quoting Jesus's commandment to love, which sums up all the other commandments concerned with our relationship with humanity: You must love your neighbor as yourself.

But how is love the fulfillment of the Law, as Paul stated in Romans 13:10? Love fulfills God's Law through faith in the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, a gift of God's grace. We are now enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit through Christian baptism to live lives of self-sacrificial love and to love as Christ loved us. Love generated by the power of the Spirit enables us to fulfill from our hearts the Law as promised by the 6th-century B.C. prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 31:31-33, the prophet wrote about God's promise to spiritually restore the covenant people: "Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, but not like the covenant I made with their ancestors the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, even though I was their Master, Yahweh declares. No, this is the covenant I shall make with the House of Israel when those days have come, Yahweh declares. Within them, I shall plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I shall be their God, and they will be my people" (NJB, emphasis added).

The Gospel of Matthew 18:15-20 ~ Conduct Toward a Brother or Sister Christian who Sins
15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. 16 If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church [ekklesia]. If he refuses to listen even to the church [ekklesia], then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. 18 Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I [I AM] in the midst of them." [...] = literal translation (The IBGE, vol. IV, page 53).

In this passage, Jesus addressed the subject of Christians engaged in sin but remaining in the fellowship of the faith community. He gave four steps to follow when a Christian falls into error in verses 15-20:

  1. Go to the person within the community who is in error or has wronged you and privately tell him his fault.
  2. If he listens, reconcile with him. But if he does not listen, take others along and speak to him again so that you have witnesses to the discussion.
  3. If he refuses to listen or mend his ways, take the problem to the Church (first, to the priest or possibly the Bishop).
  4. If he refuses to listen even to the Church and remains in sin, in that case, consider that person outside the fellowship of the community. The Church should take the redemptive action of excommunication and denying the Sacraments.

The first step in the process of brotherly correction comes from the Holiness Code in Leviticus 19:17 ~ You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart (NJB). The second step is from Deuteronomy 19:15 ~ One witness alone shall not stand against someone in regard to any crime or any offense that may have been committed; a charge shall stand only on the testimony of two or three witnesses (NABRE). In the third step, if the person refuses to repent, the offense becomes a judicial case under the jurisdiction of the Church's leadership. In the fourth and final step, the Church may impose the redemptive judgment of excommunication. The drastic measure of separating a covenant believer from the Sacraments is a last resort to attempt to bring that person to repentance and back into communion with God and fellowship with covenant brothers and sisters (CCC 1444-45).

17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church [ekklesia]. If he refuses to listen even to the church [ekklesia], then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
All Gentiles, who were outside of the community of the faithful before the birth of the New Covenant Church at Pentecost (Acts 2), were considered sinners, and "tax collectors" was a metaphor for sinners in general. We have the responsibility to correct those within the Christian family of our faith communities who are in sin, but do we have the responsibility to correct those who are not Christians? We have the responsibility to preach the Gospel of salvation to those outside the Church; however, as for those who choose to live steeped in sin outside the Church, we are to avoid them (Mt 18:17). We must leave them to God's discipline (1 Cor 5:13a) and the judgments of the civil authorities. Also see Mt 18:17; 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; Mk 4:11-12; 1 Cor 5:12-13; Col 4:5; 1 Thes 4:12; 1 Tim 3:7.

18 Amen, I say to you [plural], whatever you bind [plural] on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [plural] on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Except for the plural form of the pronoun "you" and the plural verbs "bind" and "loose," this passage is almost identical to what Jesus said to St. Peter in Matthew 16:19b ~ "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (NABRE). In Matthew 18:18, Jesus gave the same authoritative power to "bind and loose" that he gave to St. Peter, the Vicar (chief minister) of His earthly Kingdom in Matthew 16:19. In this passage, He gave that same authority to His other ministers who, together with Peter, form the hierarchy of the New Covenant Church. The authority to "bind and loose" means that whomever the Church excludes from the communion of worship and fellowship will be excluded from communion with God. Whoever is received again into communion, God will welcome back. "Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God" (CCC 1445).

The Greek word ekklesia supports this interpretation. Ekklesia, or the "called out ones," k(q)ahal in Hebrew (which we translate into English as "church") only occurs in the Gospels in the two passages in Matthew 16:18 and 18:17. There are many examples in Jewish literature of this same "binding and loosing" imagery. In those cases, the references are to giving authoritative teaching, imposing the ban of exile from the community (excommunication), or lifting such a ban. Jesus repeated the declaration of this power and authority to the Apostles assembled in the Upper Room on Resurrection Sunday (Jn 20:22-23). See the same "binding and loosing" or "open and shut" imagery in Isaiah 22:22 concerning the authority of the Davidic king's chief steward/vicar.

It is clear from these three passages (Mt 16:19, 18:18, and Jn 20:22-23) that the hierarchy of the Church has the authority of Heaven in passing verdicts on what kinds of behavior are considered acceptable within the community of believers. That authority did not end with the deaths of the Apostles. In Acts 1:15-26, the eleven surviving Apostles, after the death of Judas Iscariot, chose another Apostle to take the place of Judas. They understood that Jesus intended the authoritative hierarchy of His Kingdom to continue. The hierarchy of the Church, established by Jesus through Peter and the Apostles, continues through their successors in the Universal Magisterium, composed of the Pope and the Council of Bishops. They have the authority of Heaven in passing verdicts on:

19 Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
Jesus's statement in verse 20 recalls the judicial ruling in Mosaic Law that called for two or three witnesses to testify against the accused in a trial (Dt 19:15). But in this case, when believers gather to pray in one accord in the name of Jesus, He is their witness, standing in their midst and receiving their petition. In the context of this passage, united prayer is a petition for the Lord's intervention in the life of a Christian whose soul is in peril because of sin or for the Lord's assistance concerning some trouble. Bible scholar John Nolland notes that "behind the binding and loosing of verse 18 stands the prayer of verse 19" (Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, page 749).

there am I [I AM] in the midst of them.
Jesus encouraged private and public prayer, but He confirms in verse 20 the power of faith expressed in communal prayer with the promise of His presence as we pray in the Intercessory Prayers during the Mass (CCC 1088 and 1373). Jesus's promise "there I AM in the midst of them" (the better translation) recalls a prophecy about the Messiah from Matthew 1:23, quoting Isaiah 7:14 and the promise Jesus made in Matthew 28:20. His promise in Matthew 28:20 recalls the title "Emmanuel" (meaning "God with us") given in Isaiah 7:14 and repeated as fulfilled by Jesus in Matthew 1:23. After Jesus's resurrection, He promised the disciples, "And behold, I AM with you always, until the end of the age" (underlining added for emphasis). We can confidently believe God fulfills this promise when we pray with one accord in Jesus's name.

Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Psalm 95:1-6 (CCC 2628*); 95:7-8 (CCC 2659); 95:7 (CCC 1165*); 95:9 (CCC 2119*)

Romans 13:8-10 (CCC 1824,* 2196); 13:8 (CCC 2845); 13:9-10 (CCC 2055)

Matthew 18:16 (CCC 2472*); 18:18 (CCC 553*, 1444*); 18:20 (CCC 1088, 1373)

The Decalogue summed up in one command to love (CCC 2055*)

Reconciliation with the Church (CCC 1443*, 1444*, 1445)

"As we forgive those who trespass against us" (CCC 2842*, 2843*, 2844*, 2845*)

Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.