What Does It Mean That Jesus Is “Where Two or Three Are Gathered” in His Name?

What does Jesus mean when He promises, “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am among them”? Today, Joel Kim examines this often-quoted passage from Matthew 18, considering its context and significance for the life of the church.

NATHAN W. BINGHAM: We‘re joined by Rev. Joel Kim this week on the Ask Ligonier podcast. We‘re recording live from Ligonier‘s 2025 National Conference. Rev. Kim, what does Jesus mean when He says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matt. 18:20)?

REV. JOEL KIM: Oftentimes, that Matthew 18 verse is utilized to indicate the presence of God in the gathering of God‘s people. I‘ve been a part of a number of church plants. And in many parts of the world also, there are occasions when you cannot gather as Christians. And so, you literally are sitting with two or three other people to worship the Lord, often quietly, so others cannot hear. And it’s an encouragement, in many ways, to be able to say that the Lord is present, even among the gathering of two or three people.

As meaningful as that is, and I think as accurate as that is in terms of its biblical understanding of the Lord‘s presence among His people, that text probably is not referring to the gathering of God’s people for worship in particular. We talk about in seminaries “the right doctrine from the wrong text”—that is, the understanding is biblical, but probably not arising from that particular text. And the reason is the context is such an important one when we approach the Word.

The context is about discipline—that is, chapter 18 talks about the fact that if a brother offends you, and it goes on to list out some of the steps that many of us are familiar with, with the intention of correction and restoration. At the end of the day, discipline is not about punishing someone. It’s about the desired effect of restoring that person to the Lord’s care. So, it talks about going and approaching that person and letting that person know about the offense. And if the person is unrepentant, it talks about going with another person, whether another person or two, to confront the individual about the wrong and the sin. If the person remains unrepentant, then you tell the church—I think the phrase goes on to say—that is not to say you blast it, but to bring the leadership of the church into the equation so that they may be able to speak biblically and faithfully, prayerfully, to the individual for correction’s sake. And then it goes on to point out that if the person remains still unrepentant, then the church may consider them gentiles, in terms of a phrase that is to indicate that the person has been set outside the church. That’s the context.

And in that context, Jesus’ words end with this particular understanding that whatever is bound on earth will be bound in heaven (see Matt. 18:18). And then He goes on to explain, as an explanation of that statement, when two or three gather, Jesus is among them. And I think the context is to remind us that Jesus is present in the activity of the church as it continues to labor to minister to them—in this case, correction. And what we’re encouraged by is that the Lord’s promise is that He’s going to be there with us even as we fumblingly administer the teachings of the Word to the various individuals. And that’s the promise given to us.

Now by extension, does that indicate to us when two or three gather and worship, the Lord is there? Yes. And there can be a far implication as a result of that, but that’s not the initial or the clear intent of the text. Grateful that the Lord’s presence is there when two or three gather and worship, but in this particular text, it’s about the Lord’s promise to apply and be present and provide wisdom when this particular activity of the church is engaged by the leaders and the individuals.