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Godly Conduct Toward OthersThe Watchtower—1981 | September 15
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by the accused during this meeting in case the last step had to be taken.
12. The final step would be what, as explained by Jesus?
12 Jesus gave as the final step in connection with the sinner: “If he does not listen to them, speak to the congregation. If he does not listen even to the congregation, let him be to you just as a man of the nations and as a tax collector.” (Matt. 18:17) Yes, as a last effort to turn back the sinner from his way, the matter would be taken to spiritually older men of the congregation. These could hear the facts and obtain the witnesses’ testimony. And they would be able to reprove the wrongdoer with God’s Word. However, if he refused to repent, they would act in behalf of the congregation to discipline him, protecting the congregation from his dangerous influence by expelling him.
NOT INHUMANE TOWARD OTHERS
13, 14. How can we be certain that Jesus did not endorse being inhumane toward others?
13 As an aid in determining what our conduct should be toward such a person, we need to understand Jesus’ words: “Let him be to you just as a man of the nations and as a tax collector.” In later centuries, some Jewish rabbis did express extreme views, such as that a Jew should not even help a Gentile who was in peril of death. Such heartlessness was not shown only toward Gentiles. For instance, in Jesus’ parable about being a true neighbor, both a Levite and a priest refused to help an injured fellow Jew, though a Samaritan later did so.—Luke 10:29-37.
14 But in Matthew 18:17 Jesus could not have meant that his disciples were to refuse to do an act of human kindness, as in a case of accident or of desperate need. Jesus showed such kindness to some Gentiles. For example, he did so to a Syro-phoenician woman. Though Jesus, his disciples and the woman acknowledged that her situation was unusual because she was a Gentile and Jesus was sent to the Jews, Christ nevertheless healed her daughter. (Matt. 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30) Jesus showed similar human kindness when a Roman army officer implored him to heal a paralyzed and suffering slave. The officer admitted that he did not expect Jesus, a Jewish teacher, to enter his home. Yet “older men of the Jews” begged Jesus to show mercy to this worthy Gentile, and he did so. (Luke 7:1-10; Matt. 8:5-13) So by what he said about someone’s being “as a man of the nations and as a tax collector,” Jesus did not forbid expressions of merciful kindness. What, then, did he mean?
“AS A TAX COLLECTOR”
15. How did the Jews view and treat tax collectors?
15 First, how did the Jews look at and treat tax collectors?
“The publicans [tax collectors] of the New Test[ament] were regarded as traitors and apostates, defiled by their frequent intercourse with the heathen, willing tools of the oppressor. They were classed with sinners . . . with harlots . . . with the heathen. . . . Left to themselves, men of decent lives holding aloof from them, their only friends or companions were found among those who, like themselves, were outcasts.”—“Cyclopædia” by M’Clintock and Strong, Vol. VIII, p. 769.
Yes, Jesus’ hearers well knew that Jews in general shunned tax collectors. Only reluctantly would Jews have even minimal business contacts with them, to pay the tax required by law.
16, 17. What was Jesus’ conduct toward some tax collectors?
16 ‘But,’ someone might ask, ‘did not Jesus associate with tax collectors?’ Well, let us examine the facts.
17 As “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world,” Jesus was a light to all people, though he concentrated on the Jews during his earthly ministry. (John 1:29; 8:12; Isa. 42:1, 6, 7; Matt. 10:5, 6; 15:24) He was like a physician in aiding all those Jews who needed him most, including sinners such as harlots, drunkards and tax collectors, who often used dishonest means. Matthew Levi, a despised tax collector, was one who responded to the new message of salvation that Jesus brought. Matthew invited Jesus to his home for a feast, thus allowing Matthew and other interested tax collectors to hear more of the wonderful new truths. (Luke 5:27-32; 19:1-10) These were men who had ‘sinned in their ignorance,’ but who were ready to take steps to have their sins “blotted out.”—Acts 3:19; Heb. 9:7.
18. Why were Jesus’ dealings with some tax collectors not the pattern for what he said in Matthew 18:17?
18 However, Jesus’ effort to give a witness to tax collectors who ‘drew near to hear him’ and ‘followed him’ was not a pattern of how unrepentant sinners were to be treated. (Mark 2:15; Luke 15:1) How can we be sure? Though Christ ate with such tax collectors, the apostle Paul ordered that Christians must ‘not even eat with’ the sinner who was expelled from the congregation. (1 Cor. 5:11) Also, Jesus told his disciples to deal with an unrepentant wrongdoer as, logically, they viewed tax collectors of the time. The translation by R. F. Weymouth reads: “Regard him just as you regard a Gentile or a tax-gatherer.”—Compare New International Version; The New English Bible.
HOW WERE GENTILES VIEWED AND TREATED?
19. What does the Bible show as to relations between Jews and non-Jews?
19 The apostles who heard Jesus’ words that are recorded at Matthew 18:17 were Jews and knew that their countrymen did not socialize with Gentiles. The Law distinguished between Jews and Gentiles, serving to keep the Israelites separate from the surrounding nations. (Deut. 7:1-4; Num. 15:37-41; Eph. 2:11-14) At Passover 33 C.E. the Jews would not enter the Roman governor’s palace “that they might not get defiled.” (John 18:28) And the separation between the Jews and the Samaritans, who even accepted the Pentateuch, was so wide that a woman at a well in Samaria expressed surprise that Jesus, “despite being a Jew,” would ask her for water.—John 4:9.
20. What can be learned from Peter’s experience with Cornelius as to how Jews dealt with persons of the nations?
20 Furthermore, in 36 C.E., when God purposed to demonstrate that uncircumcised Gentiles could then be accepted as heirs of the Kingdom, he directed the apostle Peter to the Roman army officer Cornelius. But Peter told Cornelius: “You well know how unlawful it is for a Jew to join himself to or approach a man of another race.” (Acts 10:28) Peter’s remark shows how deeply Jews felt that there should be no fraternization with a man of the nations. Also, when it became known that Peter had gone to Cornelius, some Jewish Christians strongly objected that Peter “had gone into the house of men that were not circumcised and had eaten with them.” Yes, Jews regarded it as a shocking thing to be with and eat with a “man of the nations.”—Acts 11:1-3; compare Galatians 2:12.
21. How, then, do you understand what Jesus said about an unrepentant sinner being “as a man of the nations and as a tax collector”?
21 The Scriptures thus help us to understand Jesus’ advice to treat an unrepentant wrongdoer who refused to listen to the congregation “as a man of the nations and as a tax collector.” Applying Christ’s counsel today certainly would not mean viewing the wrongdoer as an average person in the community, for that would not be how Jesus’ disciples understood what he said. We can better appreciate this by examining added counsel in the Christian Greek Scriptures, which will help us to deal with real-life situations today involving persons expelled from the Christian congregation.
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Disfellowshiping—How to View ItThe Watchtower—1981 | September 15
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Disfellowshiping—How to View It
“O Jehovah, . . . who will reside in your holy mountain? He who is walking faultlessly and practicing righteousness.”—Ps. 15:1, 2.
1, 2. How do we know that God expects his worshipers to uphold his standards?
JEHOVAH is righteous and holy. Though he is merciful and understanding with imperfect humans, he expects those worshiping him to reflect his holiness by trying to uphold his righteous standards.—Ps. 103:8-14; Num. 15:40.
2 An Israelite who deliberately violated God’s commands, such as those against apostasy, adultery or murder, was to be cut off, put to death. (Num. 15:30,31; 35:31;
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