So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift…
Sacrifice may seem like the most holy and important act of the believer. Jesus Christ himself sacrificed His life of perfection to take on the sins of this world. All through Israel’s history we see sacrifices made to bring reconciliation between man and God. Sacrifice and love go hand in hand.
In this passage, however, Jesus presents something that must come before sacrifice: reconciliation. Jesus displays the holy act of reconciliation between God and man via the cross, but in this passage, Jesus invites the believer to engage in reconciliation with one’s peer as a part of the process of reconciliation with God. Before sacrifices are made before God, reconciliation must be attempted.*
How does this apply to believers today who have been reconciled fully with God through Jesus Christ? The life of the believer should be marked by acts of obedience to the voice and commands of the Father. Many times these calls to obedience are calls to sacrifice. This passage invites us to reconcile with our brother or sister before embarking on a sacrificial journey of obedience, but under what circumstance?
As I’m confident you have experienced, in different seasons of my life, I have been injured by a brother or sister in Christ while transitioning to a journey of obedience. Transition can prove difficult to manage, and some manage it better than others. In this passage, Jesus addresses anger as the root of the grievous sin of murder, thus expanding the judgement of the law to extend beyond actions and into our very hearts. The reconciliation He invites the believer into comes in those moments when we realize that someone has something against us. Meaning, if we have made someone else angry, we must make this right before our sacrifice of obedience.
God calls us to forgive others who have harmed us. Not doing so before a new season in life threatens to flavor that season in bitterness and resentment, and according to this passage, anger that could lead to murder violates the law in the same way that murder does.* Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation though. The offended must forgive before reconciliation can occur, but in the case of the offender, reconciliation must come before sacrifice.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to recognize that you have taken your turn both as the offender and the offended. Which are you today? Perhaps God is asking you to take the step of reconciliation with someone you have made angry before you make your sacrifice. Maybe God is asking you to reflect on your own heart to see if there is anger that needs to be addressed.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 113-117, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 5:21-26) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).