Sometimes when scripture is read, the message does not click. It seems out of place and maybe self-contradictory. In those cases, the passage(s) cannot be glossed over. Such is the case with the key verse for this commentary:
Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. (Mat 5:25)
First off, let us examine the word adversary.
In the Greek — the textus receptus — the word is “antidikos.”
Adversary is an appropriate translation,
especially, the “Adversary,” the Devil. Would Jesus say that a person is to agree
with the Devil at all, no less quickly? Probably not! The other meaning is “an
opponent in a suit of law” (
Pontius Pilate, the prelate, and acting on behalf of Caesar who was in seclusion on the island of Capri, judged Jesus in the absence of Caesar. Pilate asked a direct question, “What have you done?” Jesus quickly answered, without further ado the thing He had done:
36 My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto Him, “Art thou a king then?” Jesus answered, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18:36-37)
A malefactor is an evildoer, but the
priests would dribble on: “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death”
(verse 31). Jesus, if He had been trying to save His life, would have agreed
with that for He had done no evil, and they had jurisdiction only if Jesus had
broken their Law. Jesus would have agreed with that statement of fact!
As it turned out, the accusation
changed. The new accusation was that Jesus claimed to be King of the
Jews. The Jewish kingdom, Jesus knew, was not to be in this world but another.
When the Abrahamic Covenant was made, perhaps
only Abraham knew that the “Promised Land” was in another realm, and the Book
of Jasher placed Abraham king of that realm; the one that Luke called “Abraham’s
Bosom” (Luke 16:22).
It was God’s intention to deliver His own
Person to be the Holocaust. Jesus quickly agreed. He was indeed King of the
Jews, but not king of them in this world but in another realm. He was the
successor to Abraham as the “Seed of Abraham,” hence the genealogy of Matthew
chapter one. If it had been the Davidic Kingdom, like David, His people would
have fought to retain the House of David with Jesus as King. As such, the
Father was the One who judged the case, and the Father found Jesus guilty as
charged!
“Guilty?” you ask, but Pilate found no
fault in Him (John 18:38).
Yes, Pilate found no fault in Him, so
the Jewish leaders changed the accusation’ they said, “He said, ‘I am King of
the Jews.’” (John 19:21).
Jesus never said that; they said it!
Jesus was a legitimate heir to the Kingdom of Judea, but never did He contend
for that empty throne, just like Abraham who was comfortable living in the same
land and being king of another realm.
Looking back at the key verse, Jesus
never denied even false claims about Him because He trusted the Father. He was
born to die, and that was the truth. If they had accused Him of that, Jesus
would have quickly agreed. The Jewish leaders seem to be the accusers, but who
really was?
Pilate reminded Jesus that he had the
power of Caesar with him; that he could either condemn Him or release Him. To
which Jesus responded, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except
it were given thee from above: therefore He that delivered Me unto thee hath
the greater sin” (John 19:11).
At first glance, those that delivered Jesus
to Pilate were the chief priests. They did sin a greater sin, but was Jesus
speaking of them?
Who delivered Jesus to the Cross? Was
it one of the leaders to which Jesus could have appealed? Was it the chief
priests? Judas? No! It was the Power from above who delivered Jesus.
Paul knew the answer to that; “For He
hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Father God was responsible for the
death of Jesus. He made Jesus sin; not in a verbal sense because Jesus never
sinned. Jesus was made the scapegoat (Lev 16:10). He never sinned but carried
the sin of all mankind.
God broke His own Law. “Thou shalt not
kill,” but then He reconciled that sin by resurrecting Jesus. God was vindicated
because Jesus died so that others might live (John 3:16).
So, in this case, Jesus, and Him alone,
agreed with His adversary, but it was God to whom Jesus succumbed, “My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46). He had not forsaken Jesus because
soon, it is revealed that the Father resurrected Him (Mat 27:53).
God is in charge. If it is your time to
die, then it is God’s decision. Arguing with the adversaries may seem to delay
the time but death comes with God’s timing. There was nothing that Jesus could
say that would change the Plan of God, so He just agreed with all the accusations
made by all His adversaries.
Satan — the Adversary — had nothing to do
with the death of Jesus. The Holy Ghost of Jesus had put Satan in his place and
deposited him in Hell with sin after the darkness subsided. For one time, Satan
was not responsible for this. The sin of Judas was great; and although He had
Satan in him, God is greater than Satan or sin!
Continuing with the key verse, Jesus
was cast into a “prison.” We think of bars and jails as prisons, but Jesus was
confined to the Cross. His prison was when all movement was contained, and He
could do nothing!
Some Jews believed in Jesus, even while
the Cross made for Him a prison of sorts. Jesus said to them, “Ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
What made the believing Jews free? They
too saw that Jesus is God when the Person Jesus revealed His Inner Self — the
Holy Ghost. Most could not see it, but Jesus was revealed as God when He gave
up the Ghost in a sort of second transfiguration.
Jesus, in a sense, was “crazy” as He
was beside Himself, finally as accused by His friends, “And when his
friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, ‘He is
beside Himself’” (Mat 3:21). The governor Festus agreed with that (Mark 3:22). The
Greek word “existemi” is translated both as “beside Himself” and “crazy.”
Let’s take that word literally… “To
stand out of wits.” (ibid) — to stand beside the Intelligence, or Jehovah,
the “Existence.”
When Jesus died, He gave up the Holy
Ghost and soon was at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33). Jesus was finally at
His death, “beside Himself” as His Holy Ghost was revealed. He was not crazy
but did have a second “Person.” To this day, schizophrenia is thought of as
craziness with the sick person having delusions of grandeur. Jesus proved that
God is for real when He showed Himself beside Himself!
Can that key verse be applied to us? We
all shall die, and it will be in God’s time. Anything we say cannot change God’s
time because when the death angel is due, he shall come for us.
(Picture; "Christ Before Pilate")
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