Daily Devotional
"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."
Matthew 5:25
The final step is the hardest. Jesus has moved from murder to anger to the offended brother, and now he lands on the enemy. The courtroom image here is vivid: two people walking together toward a lawsuit, and Jesus says, settle it now. Settle it on the way. Because once the judge gets involved, once the machinery of judgment is in motion, you have no leverage and no chance. Pay every last penny.
Jesus is not giving practical legal advice here. The courtroom is a metaphor for something eternal. The stakes are not financial but relational and spiritual. When one damages one’s relationships with others, one damages one’s relationship with God, with eternal consequences. Peacemaking is not optional for the follower of Jesus. It is an expression of the gospel itself.
Paul echoes this call in Romans 12:18: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” That phrase, “so far as it depends on you,” is both a command and a concession. Paul acknowledges that peace requires two people. You cannot force reconciliation. You cannot guarantee how the other person will respond. But you are responsible to exhaust every option, to do everything within your power to pursue peace before you walk away. Your enemy is included in this call.
The medieval scholar referenced in Sunday’s sermon had it exactly right: the truly meek person chooses to suffer rather than inflict violence. The meek do not wilt under pressure. They refuse to return violence. And meekness, she noted, is especially a virtue for the powerful, because the more power you carry, the more dangerous your anger becomes. You may think you hold little power. But to someone, you are powerful. In your home, in your workplace, in your church, your anger has weight.
Today's Challenge
Who is the “enemy” in your life, the person you have convinced yourself is beyond the reach of your peacemaking obligation? What specific step could you take this week toward peace with that person, even knowing they may not receive it?
Prayer
Lord, I confess that I have drawn a circle around the people I am willing to pursue and left my enemies outside of it. I have told myself I’ve done enough, that some relationships are just too far gone. Forgive me. Give me the courage and the grace to move toward the people I have been avoiding, and give me the wisdom to know what that looks like in each situation. Help me to want peace more than I want to be right. Amen.
