It looks like Jesus is calling for reinforcements.

Not for himself. For you.

He is talking about what to do when you see someone sinning, someone doing something that God has indicated not to do.  (That’s highlighted as a reminder that I don’t get to decide what counts as a sin.)

After talking with a person one on one, Jesus says, “if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

What it feels like is ganging up. But  think about how the conversation would sound.

You go to your friend. You say, “that looks like something you shouldn’t be doing. Am I misunderstanding or are you actually choosing to do something God asked us not to do?”

Your friend says, “Nope, you’ve got it right. I’ve thought about it and I think that in this situation, what God said doesn’t apply to me.”

You say, “But don’t you see what that means?  Are you sure?”

Your friend says, “yep. I’m sure.”

You could do nothing. You could tell everyone what your friend is doing. Both of those have problems. The former lets your friend keep doing what will hurt. The latter is gossip.

So Jesus says, “Make sure.”  Ask your friend if you can come back with a couple other people. They can listen so you and your friend have someone who can say, “No one’s making this up.” They can help both sides know whether someone is misunderstanding the other. They can represent maturity (which is in the Deuteronomy text Jesus quotes).  They lend a  seriousness to the conversation.

This isn’t about ganging up. It’s about slowing down, listening to be sure of what each is saying.

It’s an unrush to judgment.