And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto you as a heathen man and a tax collector.
All Commentaries on Matthew 18:17 Go To Matthew 18
Jerome
AD 420
Thy brother is to be reproved in private, lest if once he has lost a sense of shame, he should continue in sin.
For in saving another, salvation is gained for ourselves also.
Or it is to be understood in this way; If he will not hear thee, take with theeone brother only; if he yet will not hear, take a third, either from your zeal for his amendment, that shame or admonition may move him; or for the purpose of meeting before witnesses.
If yet he will not hear them, then it must be told to many, that he may be held in abhorrence; so that he who could not be saved by his own sense of shame, maybe saved by public disgrace; whence it follows, “If he will not hear them, tellit to the Church.”.
That He says, “As a heathen and a publican,” shows that he is to be more abhorred, who under the name of a believer does the deeds of an unbeliever, than those that are openly gentiles. Those He calls publicans, who pursue worldly gain, and levy contributions by trading, cheating, and villainous frauds, and perjuries.
