Tonight we’ll be studying Matthew 5:25-26. It’s the last in a three part series about anger and reconciliation as Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount.
And to jump start this lesson, we are going to go back and review to keep everything in context. We’ll start at Matthew 5:21 and move forward, read it with me:
21 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
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23 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
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So, last week – from those verses — we said He gave us a ministry of reconciliation.
He gave us a ministry of making things right whenever and whenever we can with whoever we can in order to draw others closer to the light of God.
His will for us is that we first be reconciled with Him, through Christ.
And then, Jesus says, go and be reconciled with one another. It all goes back to. “Love God and Love others as yourself.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
And last week we read Jesus saying don’t give your gifts at the altar if you know someone has something against you. First, GO and make things right, be reconciled.
And we looked at Isaiah 1:11-17, where God says, if we have an unresolved heart issue or conflict with another person, then all our smiles and sacrifices, all our worship, all of our “Christian-ness” all of that stuff we do and say in His honor — is worthless. He makes it clear; He wants no part of that.
So, Jesus says yes, taking a life is sin. But, that’s not the line. The line is at our heart.
So if we hold onto a grudge, or we stew in resentment or let our hearts marinate in malice to the point that our hearts spill out in harsh words — words that can hurt feelings, words that can destroy reputations or cause other types of damage —
Jesus teaches that in those things, anywhere in the spectrum from anger to murder, we defy the will of God. We stand in opposition to Him. In short, we sin.
And the thing that we like to throw out as an argument here is, yes, but what about Jesus, He got angry, and The Old Testament says that God’s anger burned against the people.
The quick answer is yes. That’s true. And if you are dealing with righteous anger, we can discuss that at another time. That is the anger that Jesus had.
But, it’s clear that Jesus, in this passage, is teaching us how to deal with life where we are living.
So let’s not put up a smoke screen so we can discount the rest of the lesson.
Now, that’s all review, lets dig into the meat of tonight’s passage.
Let’s read, Matthew 5:25-26
25 "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
So, according to this text, when should we settle matters? Jesus says quickly! We don’t drag our feet. In verse 24, He says FIRST, go and be reconciled.
In other words, as believers, this is a #1 priority.
And then, who are we to set things straight with? Your adversary. At risk of going off on a tangent, this is a great standard for not going to other people about issues that have nothing to do with them.
For example, if the conflict is with your boss, go to Your Boss, not to your co-workers behind the boss’ back.
If it is your spouse, go to Your Spouse. Women, don’t complain to your girlfriends or the people at work, or even your Mom, about your husbands. Men don’t gripe to the guys at the gym, or at the bar or at your workplace about your wife.
Moving on. Last week we talked about reconciling quickly. And last week the focus was on the fact that conflicted hearts and conflicted relationships block us from true fellowship with God in our worship.
So following the God, then man path, Jesus first shows us our relationship with the Father, then He brings the issue down to how it relates with us normal folks.
Let’s read Matthew 5:25-26 again
25 "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
Now Jesus uses a legal illustration and you may be in that situation where someone is taking you to court over money, or property, or custody or whatever.
In that case, this passage is pretty clear-cut. Make things right before you get to court, because there is a chance that things are going to go very badly for you if you leave it up to the judge.
But, what about the rest of us?
There are a lot of times when there is a rift in a relationship that never makes it to a real court. What does this passage teach us about those situations? The situations of conflict that we live in from day to day?
The lesson here is: There is set time in which we can reconcile and after that, our chance is gone. The damage is done and there may be nothing left for us but regrets.
Think about the person in Jesus’ illustration. He was headed to court because someone had something against him.
If the guy is anything like me he doesn’t want anything to do with reconciliation, because he thinks he is in the right. There’s no telling him otherwise.
The man who Jesus is telling to attempt reconciliation may think that once he has a chance to explain his side of things to the judge, then everything will turn out in his favor.
But, then he goes before the judge and the court decides against him.
Have you ever been in that situation when you have been so mad that you stopped listening to any arguments that contradicted the way you were thinking? And then one person that is removed from the situation lets you in on some nugget of information that shines a whole new light on the situation and you finally see your part in the problem.
Well, the judge’s verdict may have been that “ah-ha!” moment for the man. But, since he figured it out too late, he could no longer avoid the consequences — the consequences of his pride and stubbornness.
So as he sits in the jail cell, he has all the time in the world to think, “If I had just made things right before we got to court. I was such a fool!”
But it is too late.
A painful example of this in my own life, some of you already know this story.
Way back, it must have been 10 years ago, my dad had a stroke.
So I traveled up to Indianapolis from Texas and did what I could to help out with the family and help them figure out their next steps.
And my youngest brother, I think he was 12 or 13, was dealing with it the best he could, but he was a kid, and as an early teen, he was focused on how it affected him. His way of reacting included several outbursts. The kind you would expect from someone his age.
Anyway, long story short, on the day I left to go back to Texas, my brother had thrown a fit about something and I snapped.
I, an adult, a grown man who should have had more self control, who should have known better, called my brother a selfish ingrate and told him he was a burden on my folks when they needed less stress, used every four letter word I knew, and I know a lot.
And, I took no account of the pain, hurt, or confusion he was feeling as a result of my dad’s illness.
I had no consideration for the scars that words can have. I took no account of the way he had looked up to me as an older brother.
No, the anger in my heart added with the stress of the situation spilled out in words of hate.
Here’s where it gets back to the passage in Matthew 5:25-26.
I could have reconciled the situation; I could have apologized before leaving Indiana. Or, in the time afterwards I could have called or written him a letter, or something. But like the man in the passage, I thought I was in the right, my pride and my resentment held me back and then one day it was too late.
In October of 2000, my brother was hit by a car while walking to a friend’s house. And suddenly, it was over. My chance for reconciliation was over. And just as it would be with a judge rendering a verdict and slamming down his gavel. When I heard those words over the phone, “Your brother is gone.” It became obvious and undeniable that I had been in the wrong.
And like the man in the prison, I was locked up in a grieving heart saying to myself, “I was such a fool!”
Now, since that time, I have come into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as my Savior, Redeemer and Lord.
And I know that I have been forgiven of my sins.
And I have faith that one day we will be in Heaven, walking side by side with Jesus and He will wipe every tear from my eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4).
And that is great, but as I walk this world in this flesh, with these memories, I am still gripped at times with deep regret.
That is one of the things Jesus is warning us against. Again, He doesn’t give us these commands to hold us back or to be some mean taskmaster. No, He knows that otherwise we will suffer under the yoke of our sins. The laws, the commands of God, are for our good.
This is the end of three weeks of messages about dealing with anger and about reconciliation. Jesus is very clear and out of love for Him we are to obey.
Can you imagine what life would be like if we could grasp and really do this? I’m not talking about everybody, just you and me in our lives, in our spheres of influence.
What would our relationships be like if we dealt with anger right away instead of letting it marinate in our soul.
What would it be like if we didn’t wait to apologize or to set things right.
I’ve said what I can about this chunk of Scripture. Now I would beg you, all of you, to read Matthew 5:21-26 tonight in the quiet of your home and get on your knees if you have to, and ask God, where do you want to see reconciliation in my life, with whom must I make things right. At work, at school, with my kids, with my parents, with my spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend; Lord show me.
And Lord, in what areas am I holding onto anger. The anger that kills me from within, the anger that seeps out of my heart and into every area of my life. Lord take that anger from me, help me to remember your grace in my life and your mercy.
Give me a new focus in the areas where I have held to this darkness.
I guarantee that the Holy Spirit will show you what direction to go toward healing.
And that brings us to the last point tonight. There is a time when all of this is over, one day everything will be done and our chance to make things right will be over. That time for you and for me will be the day we take our last breath or the day Jesus returns, whichever comes first.
And on that day, we are told every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
The most important area of reconciliation is that between you and God.
Before we were the enemies of God and now we have been reconciled to Him through the saving work of Christ on the Cross.
If you have never put your trust into Him, into Jesus our Savior, if you have been hoping to just be “good enough” to get in or if you have assumed that every religion leads to Heaven as long as you are sincere, or if you’re here and you don’t even believe in Heaven or Hell. One day Jesus says, it will be too late to get things right.
One day, those who have all the arguments or questions that they think disprove God, or make Him hard to know, one day, they will be saying, “I was such a fool!”
So we beg you, if you have not done so already, be Reconciled To God.
Turn with me to Luke 16:19-31. we’ll read this and then close in prayer.
19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
25 "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
27 "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
29 "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
30 "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
31 "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Let’s pray…
