Matthew 18:17 (WEB)

Passage

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.

Matthew 18:16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.Deuteronomy 19:15

Matthew 18:17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.

Matthew 18:18 Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven.

Matthew 18:19 Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "refuses", "listen", "tell", "assembly", "hear", and "gentile". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "refuses" and "listen", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "But if he doesn t listen take..." into verse 18's "Most certainly I tell you whatever things...", so "refuses" and "listen" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "refuses" and "listen" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.