Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. Matthew 5:25-26
Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would ‘magnify the law, and make it honourable’ (Isaiah 42:21). Not only did Jesus magnify the commandments by teaching perfect obedience to them, but He revealed the spiritual character of the law – something the Jews had not perceived. In His healing hands; in His tender words of encouragement to sorrowful souls; in His meek reply to being smitten upon the cheek, Jesus demonstrated what it means to keep God’s law of love. But the principles underlying true commandment keeping were most plainly defined in the sublime yet simple teachings delivered in the Sermon on the Mount.
To the astonishment of His hearers, Christ revealed that to simply be ‘angry with [a] brother without a cause’ or to cast at him a derogatory word, is to violate the spiritual principle, ‘thou shalt not kill’ (Matthew 5:22). Building on this, Jesus exposed the absurd hypocrisy of those presuming to go ‘before the altar…and offer thy gift’ (to perform acts of devotion to God) before being reconciled to a brother whom they had murdered inside by their anger, or thrust a dagger into with their bitter words (Matthew 5:24).
Notwithstanding the moral obligation we have to make speedy reconciliation, the Lord explains that making things right quickly is expedient in terms of personal loss. According to Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, there existed in Roman law a statute directing plaintiff and defendant to make up while they were ‘in the way’ – before they arrived at court for a hearing. Our omniscient Lord appeals to the practicality of this legislation written by the occupiers of Palestine, not because it is spiritual, but because it is in the self interest of the wrong doer to make things right before escalation. For if, after defending his actions and being found guilty, the defendant is cast into prison, he will end up losing far more than if he had settled the matter before going to court, paying the plaintiff or the state ‘the uttermost farthing’.
Conceding a wrong quickly in any circumstance is a principle that every believer should enshrine in their hearts. God never fails to convict us of a wrong word or action, or if a doctrinal position we hold is unsound. These convictions may come directly from God speaking to the conscience, or be prompted by a brother or sister. Never should we delay to act upon these convictions. If for no higher motive than to keep our self respect or reputation from paying ‘the uttermost farthing’, it is expedient to ‘agree with thine adversary quickly’.
Christopher Sparks