Matthew 5:25

Matthew 5:25 says, 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.  Jesus said it is better to settle disputes with your adversary quickly and between the two of you than to allow the law to become involved.  We at times hear today about church members suing each other, or groups of church members suing other groups of members in the same church, and I don't believe this ever brings honor and glory to God nor does it serve as a good witness to the unsaved people of the world.  Verse twenty-six adds, Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.  Jesus said that if the law was involved and the judgment went against a person and he or she was cast into prison that he or she would not be released until every farthing had been repaid.  I believe we can also say that we must make peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ or if not, then we are subjected to the penalty of sin under the law, which is everlasting separation from God, and we can never repay that penalty.  Verse twenty-seven says, Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:  Jesus next talked about the fact that a person was to not commit adultery, and we would all agree with this today.  Verse twenty-eight adds, But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.  Jesus took the law against adultery to another level and said that someone who even looked at another person with lust in his or her heart was guilty of adultery.  Former president Carter received a lot of criticism for saying that he was guilty of committing adultery in his heart, but he was evidently just being true to what the Bible teaches.  Verse twenty-nine declares, And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  This seems really severe, but it is true that if somehow one part of our body is leading us to sin then we would be better off without that part if we cannot keep it from leading us to sin.  Verse thirty adds, And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  This just continues the statement made about the eye and applying it to the hand and we have just looked at the fact that we are better off without a body part that leads us to sin than we are being cast whole into hell.  Verse thirty-one proclaims, It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:  Then verse thirty-two adds, But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.  Jesus said that the reasons for divorce were very specific, and that anyone who put away his wife for any other reason would cause her to commit adultery and anyone who married her was guilty of adultery.  The concept of no fault divorce is not a Biblical concept.  Verse thirty-three says, Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:  Jesus then begin to teach about making oaths.  Jesus basically said that our oaths were to be to God.  Verse thirty-four states, But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:  Verse thirty-five adds, Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.  Verse thirty-six continues, Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.  Jesus tells us that we are not to swear, or make oaths by, anything that is a part of God's creation.  I don't believe that this means that we cannot make oaths in court for instance to tell the truth, but when we do we are to base it on following God's rule about speaking the truth.  Verse thirty-seven concludes, But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.  I believe this applies to taking oaths and when we do, we are to simply tell the truth as simply as possible.  We are to answer honestly and without in any way adding anything that we do not know to be true.