Matthew 5: 23- 24 “So if when you are offering your gift at the altar you there remember that your brother has any [grievance against you, 24 Leave your gift at the altar and go. First make peace with your brother, and then come back and present your gift.”
Jesus is continuing to teach about the dangers of anger and the need to forgive and to seek forgiveness. These verses describe the ritual of offering a sacrifice to God at the Temple, known as the korban. Offering any major sacrifice was a high point of the religious life of a Jewish man in Jesus’ day, perhaps even a once in a lifetime event. This was generally an animal such as a sheep, an expensive offering indeed. Common worshipers would not themselves ever place a gift on the altar, this was reserved for priests. It is likely that this would be one of the only times a layman would ever approach the altar of the Temple. According to the priestly tradition, once the sacrificial ceremony was begun, nothing should be allowed to interrupt it. What Jesus is believed to be saying is that even if in the middle of this process one realizes that there is a dispute with one’s brother, that it would be better in God’s eyes to go and immediately try to resolve the dispute then to continue with the ritual.
(Information from Wikipedia “https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matthew_5:23–24&oldid=914230213”)
This verse is sometimes misunderstood. One friend was astounded when she was accosted by a fellow church member just as the communion service was starting. It seems that this lady had unwittingly offended this man and now the man felt compelled to confront the lady so that he could then take communion. Dumping your gunny sack of hurts on someone is NOT what Jesus meant! If someone offends you, forgive them, whether or not they seek forgiveness. But here Jesus is speaking about a situation in which you are the offender and you know yourself to have offended. In that case, Jesus says that seeking forgiveness from your brother is more important than any religious ritual, no matter how significant. For if you do not seek forgiveness from your brother when you know you have actually offended him, your sacrifice will be meaningless.
“But what if I have done nothing wrong and my brother has chosen to be offended anyway? How can I tell if or when I need to ask forgiveness?” This question is a thorny one, for each of us can name acquaintances who take offense when none was intended. In such a case, you need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and to give you the words and the timing. There is a time to speak and a time to remain silent. But you can pray while you are waiting for further guidance. Pray that God will bring his perfect solution to your situation. You must realize, however, that sometimes you may attempt reconciliation and the other person will absolutely refuse to accept it.
When we were first beginning our missionary training, we were in a group with several missionary families from different mission agencies. Thrilled to be getting exposure to language learning and cross – cultural adaptation, we plunged into the training with unbridled enthusiasm. But one of the missionary wives was suffering. Unfortunately, this dear lady had a number of unresolved emotional issues that were surfacing due to the stress of the training, and she was unhappy and afraid. What we failed to realize was that she resented both of us, particularly me, because we were working with language learning and she was struggling. I am a gifted language learner. I can take no credit for this; I might as well say that I have brown hair and grey eyes, and I can’t take any credit for those either. But we were in the same language learning group together and this lady hated me for assimilating the material with enthusiasm. Later, when the leaders misguidedly decided that it would be great if everyone bared their grievances, this lady attacked me publicly in such a pointed fashion that everyone knew she was speaking about me. I tried to reconcile with this lady, but her resentment had grown to such enormous proportions that it was impossible. I had come to represent everything she hated and feared about going to the mission field because I appeared to be coping well and she was not. In such a situation, closure became impossible and we had to complete the training program with this situation unresolved. I did try as much as I could to reconcile; the offer was there but this lady refused to accept it.
PRAYER: Father, thank you that when you ask us to do something, there must be a way to accomplish it. Please help us to recognize when we have offended someone and to reconcile as quickly as possible. And help us to forgive as quickly as possible and not to treasure up any hurts but to quickly put them under the blood of Jesus. In Jesus’ precious Name. Amen.
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