How Does Jesus Give Two Examples Of Forgiveness And Reconciliation

In this last segment of the passage, Jesus concludes his teaching on anger by giving two examples of forgiveness and reconciliation. The first example that Jesus uses “deals with reconciliation before the Day of Atonement [(i.e. Yom Kippur)].” In this example, Jesus says, “if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (v. 23). The point that Jesus is trying to illustrate through this example is that “there can be no true worship of God without justice.” Genuine justice therefore demands that acts of mercy must take precedence over acts of worship, and Jesus makes this point clear later in Matthew’s gospel when he quotes Hosea 6:6: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (v. 12:7). Mercy and reconciliation

Gentile Christians would have been quite familiar with this kind of predicament. Jesus advises his disciples that they should settle with their “opponent quickly while on the way to court” (v. 25) because the judge may find them guilty, and then have them thrown into jail until they have “paid the last penny” (v. 26). The point that Jesus is trying to make with this example is that it is far better for a person to reconcile and to make friends with his enemy, because God may ultimately find the plaintiff guilty of being the real cause of the problem. This sort of situation is reminiscent of the old saying that “It takes two to tango,” which means that both parties are in the end responsible for the antagonism and enmity between each