On Earth as It Is in Heaven

by | Sep 17, 2026 | Our Latest Messages

Matthew 18 (NRSVue)

18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

Heaven is not only waiting on us, it is shaped by us.

Here are some questions for discussion:

  1. What does gathering in Jesus’ name require beyond simply identifying ourselves as Christians?
  2. Why might Jesus promise his presence specifically in a passage about disagreement, wrongdoing, accountability, and reconciliation? What difference would believing “Christ is in the midst of us” make when a community is dealing with conflict?
  3. Jesus' location in verse 20 matters. He doesn't say, “I am above them,” directing the meeting from a distance, but “I am there among/in the midst of them.” What might change if we imagine Jesus not presiding over the group from the head of the table, but occupying the space between people who are struggling to agree?

If you’d like to dig a little deeper, consider the following:

  1. Jesus gives the community the extraordinary language of “binding” and “loosing.” What kind of authority is Jesus entrusting to ordinary people here? What significance is it that this authority is given to a community, not merely to isolated individuals? What might this passage say to a culture that often treats faith as a completely private relationship between “Jesus and me”?
  2. What if “binding and loosing” is not primarily about controlling people, but about taking responsibility for what our communities allow to remain bound and what we help set free? What are people bound by today that a community shaped by Jesus should be helping loosen?
  3. In Matthew 18:20, Jesus says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Later, in Matthew 25:40, Jesus identifies himself with “the least of these.” If Jesus is both among the gathered community and encountered in the vulnerable person outside it, how should that complicate the way a Christian community exercises its authority?
  4. What are we willing to let the community discern about our own lives? It can be appealing to imagine the church “binding and loosing” injustice in the world, but what happens when communal discernment challenges our money, relationships, consumption, politics, prejudices, use of power, or unwillingness to forgive?

For further contemplation, consider these prompts:

  1. Where have you experienced a little piece of “heaven” in the present—a moment of reconciliation, unexpected belonging, being truly known, receiving forgiveness, having someone show up when you needed them? What made that experience feel sacred?
  2. What if eternal life isn't only a life that begins after death, but a quality of life with God that Jesus invites us to begin experiencing now? How would that change the meaning of following Jesus today?
Secret Link