Matthew 5:25 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 5:25

Comments

We are thinking about Christ’s instruction to the same person all the way through verse 21 to 26. The adversary is still the other party that I am angry with, and need to be reconciled with. The anger and the cause of grievance should be settled quickly. Goodwill needs to be secured. Christ returns to the illustration of verse 22. The cause of anger is now threatening to become a legal case between you and that other person, and they are in the right, not you. You are in danger of being prosecuted, and the longer you go on holding out against them and refusing to admit your fault and be reconciled, the more serious it will get. If you don’t deal with it soon, something much worse will happen. If you have anger or contempt, bear in mind, the situation will deteriorate. The longer you have anger, the more distorted your attitudes will become, the wider the gap will grow between you both, the more trouble will result from the dispute, and the more the Spirit will be grieved and quenched. Pay the debt while the person will let you off lightly. Else you will have trouble you never bargained for, both on earth and in heaven, both from the adversary and from the Lord. The long you hold out, the harder they are going to find it to forgive you.

Application

Remember also that there is a point after which it will be too late to be reconciled. This is true in our dealings with men and with God. Once your human adversary hands you over to the judge then the legal process has begun. The judge is not in the business of showing mercy but of applying the law. Out of court settlements must come earlier. His job is to try you and sentence you. He will then hand you over to the officer, whose responsibility is to put you into prison. The officer cannot show you mercy; the law must now take its course. So too with the Lord. He is very patient and does not immediately punish us for our sins the moment we commit them. His patience towards us urges us to repent, but if we hold out against him and go on justifying ourselves, and refuse to admit our fault, then eventually his patience will be exhausted. There will come a time when mercy will no longer be offered by the Lord. This may happen before the end of life. We may enter a state where our lives are preserved for a time, but all grace is withdrawn from us, and without God’s grace we are never going to repent or seek the Lord, for we cannot come to him unless he draws us to himself.

Therefore repent early, says the Lord. Don’t take it right to the edge. Don’t provoke the Lord by your stubbornness when you know what you have done is wrong. You can go too far, and you do not know how far you can go. It is not you who decides when you have gone too far. With a human adversary whom you have wronged, you do not determine the point where he says, ‘I have had enough of your behaviour. I am not going to put up with it any longer; I am going to prosecute you.’ So with the Lord, you do not determine how far his patience is extended towards you. Once you have gone too far, there is nothing you can do or say that will change his mind. He is not vacillating between two opinions. When he decides to act, he will act (Proverbs 1:28; Luke 13:25). As in verse 22 Christ moves from the courts to the eternal judgment of God, the closing words of the verse are again about everlasting hell. Once you are there the opportunity for reconciliation with men and with God is over; you will pay the full price, which in the case of hell lasts forever.

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Matthew 5:25 Commentary and Bible Study