Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 5:25-26

"Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing." — Matthew 5:25-26 (ASV)

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The Lord never allows us to lack a peaceable temper, and therefore commands us to be reconciled to our adversary quickly, while on the road of life, lest we be cast into the season of death before peace is made between us.

St. Jerome: The word here in our Latin books is "consentiens," and in Greek, ευνοων, which means "kind" or "benevolent."

St. Augustine of Hippo: Let us see who this adversary is to whom we are told to be benevolent. It could be the Devil, a man, the flesh, God, or His commandments. But I do not see how we can be told to be benevolent or to agree with the Devil. For where there is goodwill, there is friendship, and no one would say that we should make friends with the Devil, or that it is good to agree with him, since we proclaimed war against him when we renounced him. Nor should we agree with him, for if we had never agreed with him, we would never have come into these circumstances.¹

St. Jerome: Some, based on that verse from Peter, Your adversary the Devil... (1 Peter 5:8), interpret the Savior's command to mean that we should be merciful to the Devil, not causing him to endure punishment because of us. For since he puts incentives for vice in our way, if we yield to his suggestions, he will be tormented for our sake.

Some follow a more forced interpretation: that in baptism, each of us has made a compact with the Devil by renouncing him. If we observe this compact, then we are agreeing with our adversary and will not be cast into prison.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Again, I do not see how this can be understood to refer to a man. For how can a man be said to deliver us to the Judge, when we know that only Christ is the Judge, before whose tribunal all must stand? How then can he deliver anyone to the Judge, when he himself must appear before Him? Moreover, if someone has sinned against another by killing him, he has no opportunity to agree with him on the way—that is, in this life. And yet, that does not prevent him from being rescued from judgment by repentance. Much less do I see how we can be told to agree with the flesh, for those who agree with it are sinners. Rather, those who bring it into subjection do not agree with it but compel it to agree with them.

St. Jerome: And how can the body be cast into prison if it does not agree with the spirit, seeing that soul and body must go together, and that the flesh can do nothing except what the soul commands?

St. Augustine of Hippo: Perhaps, then, it is God with whom we are instructed to agree. He may be called our adversary because we have departed from Him by sin, and He resists the proud. Whoever, then, has not been reconciled with God in this life through the death of His Son will be delivered by Him to the Judge—that is, the Son, to whom He has committed all judgment. And a person may be said to be "on the way with God," because He is everywhere.

But if we do not like to say that the wicked are with God, who is everywhere present—just as we do not say that the blind are with the light that is everywhere around them—then the only remaining option for our adversary is the law of God. For this law is an adversary to those who love to sin, and it is given to us for this life so that it may be with us on the way. We ought to agree with this law quickly by reading it, hearing it, and giving it the highest authority. When we understand it, we should not hate it because it opposes our sins, but rather love it because it corrects them. And when it is obscure, we should pray that we may understand it.

St. Jerome: But from the context, the meaning is clear: the Lord is exhorting us to peace and concord with our neighbor, as was said above, Go, be reconciled to your brother.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: The Lord urges us to hasten to make friends with our enemies while we are still in this life, knowing how dangerous it is for us if one of our enemies dies before peace is made. For if death brings us to the Judge while we are still at enmity, our adversary will deliver us to Christ, proving us guilty by his judgment. Our adversary also delivers us to the Judge when he is the first to seek reconciliation, for whoever first submits to his enemy makes the other guilty before God.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, the adversary delivers you to the Judge when your abiding wrath toward him convicts you.

St. Augustine of Hippo: By "the Judge," I understand Christ, for the Father has committed all judgment to the Son (John 5:22). By "the officer," or minister, I understand an angel, for Angels came and ministered to Him, and we believe that He will come with His angels to judge.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: "The officer" is the ministering angel of punishment, and he will cast you into the prison of hell.

St. Augustine of Hippo: By "the prison," I understand the punishment of darkness. And so that no one would despise that punishment, He adds, Verily I say to you, you shall not come out from there until you have paid the very last farthing.

St. Jerome: A farthing is a coin containing two mites. What He says, then, is, "You shall not go out from there until you have paid for the smallest sin."

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, it is an expression to mean that nothing will go unpunished, just as we say "to the dregs" when speaking of something so emptied that nothing is left in it.

Or, by "the last farthing"ⁱ may be denoted earthly sins. For the fourth and last element of this world is earth.

"Paid," that is, in eternal punishment; and "until" is used in the same sense as in the verse, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool (Psalm 110:1), for He does not cease to reign when His enemies are put under His feet. So here, "until you have paid" is the same as saying you will never come out from there, because a person is always paying the very last farthing while enduring the everlasting punishment for earthly sins.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, if you make your peace while still in this world, you may receive a pardon for even the heaviest offenses. But if you are once condemned and cast into the prison of hell, punishment will be exacted from you not only for grievous sins but for each idle word, which may be what is meant by "the very last farthing."

St. Hilary of Poitiers: For because charity covers a multitude of sins, we will therefore pay the last farthing of punishment, unless by the cost of charity we redeem the fault of our sin.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, the prison is worldly misfortune, which God often sends upon sinners.

St. John Chrysostom: Or, He is speaking here of the judges of this world, of the way that leads to this judgment, and of human prisons. In this way, He employs not only future but also present incentives, since those things that are before our eyes affect us most, as St. Paul also declares, If you do evil, fear the power, for he does not bear the sword in vain (Romans 13:4).

1. Serm. in Mont, i, 11