SOTM: Matthew 5:24-25 (Court)

SOTM

 

(Mat 5:25-26 ESV) 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Now — and this is important — it sometimes helps to read Jesus as speaking with a twinkle in his eye and a wink. This is something of a joke. Jesus is being a bit hyperbolic (he’s exaggerating) to make a point. After all, sometimes when you go to court you win. It’s been known to happen.

Jesus is speaking in very pragmatic terms to make a more theological point. The point isn’t to calculate the risk/reward ratio and decide whether to compromise. Jesus is no pragmatist or utilitarian philosopher. No, his point remains the one he’s been making all along: be a peacemaker! seek reconciliation! even if you expect to win the lawsuit, it’s better to settle and be at peace than to win!

On the way to the court the follower of Jesus is to strive for reconciliation — and here Jesus gives an almost comic, pragmatic example. Instead of trusting matters to the court case, in which case the follower may end up in prison, the follower is to take matters into his (or her) own hands and work for reconciliation — and to do so “quickly” (5:25). …

This paragraph illustrates the centrality of reconciliation with others by appealing to an extreme situation: Jesus is for reconciliation, even if it means interrupting sacred actions and legal judgments.

Scot McKnight, Sermon on the Mount (The Story of God Bible Commentary; Accordance electronic ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013), 80.

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.
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5 Responses to SOTM: Matthew 5:24-25 (Court)

  1. Ray Downen says:

    It’s seldom indeed that a Christian should sue anyone. If it becomes essential, then it must be done. But Jesus advises that we not go to court unless absolutely necessary. Jay is right.

  2. Dwight says:

    It seems at times Jesus mainly talks to those around Him as the accuser who must reconcile or attempt to or forgive another, but here Jesus confronts the accused. So both the accuser and accused must place themselves in a position of reconcilliation. Now it might be read as, “save yourself the trouble and just agree that you are guilty”, but if we place ourselves in a humble position, then we are placing another above us, whether or not we are guilty or not. If we are to be peacemakers, then we should strie to make peace anyways. Besides this will usually save yourself some trouble as well. It is not only practical, but the right thing to do.
    Now Jesus did stand up for the accused as well, such as the woman accused of adultery, but he did this not through the court system, but through the heart of the accusers. She didn’t have to reconcile with the accusers, but they all had to reconcile with God.

  3. Dwight says:

    Someone posted, maybe from here and I am paraphrasing, that the problem with being hit with a Mack truck out of love is that you were still hit with a Mack truck.
    Jesus never ran over people and never disrespected people even while condemning their evil ways.
    Really, the hardest thing to hit people with is the truth and some will regard it as a hammer and oppose it and some will regard it as medicinal and get well. And yet many will regard the truth and then defer not to be hit at all. We all need a good tap on the head and on the heart.

  4. QQ says:

    But in my case I’m slow*! What should I do?
    * I made some colleagues unhappy but they don’t know it’s me, even though one of them had suspected but when he voiced his suspicion, I acted normally. Now they’ve already filed a case against whoever has given them a hard time and since they’re not Christians, legal justice will definitely follow if I turn up to close this open question. But I have family and I don’t want to give up on them! What should I do?

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