Matthew 5:25-26 “Reach agreement quickly with your accuser while on the way to court, or he may hand you over to the judge, … and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last cent!”
You are guilty. The sentence for your crime is life in prison. Before you are arrested, the one you have injured offers you a deal: no trial, no conviction, and no jail time! Though hard to refuse, you must understand your part of the agreement. No bargain comes without a price – not even an agreement with Jesus. What must you do to get such an amazing deal?
“Reach agreement quickly” is not a warning about earthly courts, rather about the severity and nearness of God’s judgement. In the parable of two kings contemplating battle (Luke 14), Jesus says that when one king determines he can’t win, he must ask for terms of peace. Then Jesus adds, “No one can be my disciple if he does not renounce everything.” That is the agreement: all or nothing. We have no leverage. He has all the cards and all the power.
In Matthew 5, Jesus informs us that God’s standards are far above the laws of men. Not only have we completely failed God’s standards, but the penalty for our failure is beyond severe. We have no right to expect anything but full condemnation. Then Jesus says “Reach agreement quickly before you arrive in the court, where you will be found guilty, rot in prison, and pay every last cent you have.”
What was the agreement Jesus offered? “Die to self, be forgiven, and live by My standard or live for self and die for your sins.” Those are His terms. With tearful gratitude we sign the agreement, then quickly forget the terms. Our forgetfulness does not negate the agreement. We must be diligent to attempt to live according to His standard, even though we fail. Having received the grace to try – even to fail – we must not be content judging ourselves according to the standards of mankind.
Knowing that by His grace we will not be judged when we fall short, we must earnestly pray for strength to live according to His higher standard: dead to self, alive to God through Christ!