by Gary S. Hatrick
In Luke 12:57-59 Jesus gives a curious instruction. He says: “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.”
What is going on here? Is Jesus just doling out good legal advice? No, but as in much of Jesus’ teaching, the earthly is only an illustration of a Heavenly truth. In this illustration, the party going to trial with his opponent is obviously guilty. How do we know? Because the judge is going to find him so and give him to the law officer, who will put him in jail until he pays the full penalty for his offense.
The opponent is not the bad guy; he is the victim of the offense, the one who was “done to.” Therefore, he has the right to settle the matter if the offender admits his guilt and is willing to make some sort of restitution. The judge, by the way, is not a bad guy either. He is upholding the law, which tells him what he must do. He must judge according to the law. That is why if you are guilty and wise, you will try to settle things with the one you offended before you go in front of the judge.
This is the earthly backdrop for this Heavenly lesson: We are marching to judgement. We are sinners, and we know it, and we have offended a holy God. Judgement will come when we die or when the Lord returns, but we will all get there. (This is our perspective from time, and it is the only perspective we have. The truth of the matter is that we are judged already in the Eternal Now in which God dwells [John 3:18], but since we exist in time, we are moving in time toward judgment.)
We all have violated the Law of God, which is what is called sin. The Law is a rigid legal instrument. One sin makes one guilty of the entire Law, and “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Consequently, if we face the Judge bearing our own guilt, we will be cast into hell and pay every cent of our debt, which is separation from God in hell forever. This is not because God is mean or unkind. It is because God plays by His own rules.
He observes legality. He does not fudge on the Law for any reason. He loves us, but He will not ignore or bypass the Law. If you want to hold that against Him, consider what you think of powerful people who try to dismiss the law for their friends and family. Not much, right? God cannot dismiss the Law. If He didn’t, He would not be holy, and as unthinkable as this is, He would not be a loving and righteous God, for He would not be God at all.
Since we are marching to judgment, we have time to settle with our opponent. Our opponent is God Himself, and He is willing to release us from our guilt if our sin debt can be paid as the Law requires. This is an unshakeable requirement. “Every last cent” of the debt for sin must be paid. All we need is to find someone innocent of sin who will take the debt.
There is, however, no one to pay that debt, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). There is no way to settle this debt, except one. Find a sinless substitute – someone to die for the sin of mankind. But there is yet another wrinkle. A man must pay the debt because man owes the debt. Therefore, a sinless creature must become a man, but how can that happen?
There are sinless angels, but they are created beings. They cannot make themselves men. There is only One who can do that. The Creator Himself. So, God, the opponent, the offended One, must become a man. And He does so, marching to judgment in time along with us. His judgement will be the cross where He pays the penalty for sin. The Judge, His Father, will pour out all the punishment for sin on His Son, Jesus the Christ.
Once that was finished, the Law was satisfied and the settlement offered. That settlement is “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. (Acts 16:31) After that, your life belongs to Him, and you must follow Him, and you will - not because it is a condition of your rescue, but because you will be transformed from a world of darkness to a world of light. You will be a new creature, made possible because Jesus didn’t stay dead. He rose from the dead to a new life, and that new life is freely given to us in the settlement.
If you have never settled with God. Do it now while you are still marching to judgment. After death, it will be too late. (Hebrews 9:27) Admit your guilt to the God you have offended with your sin. It is the right and wise thing to do. Accept His terms that are settled forever in Heaven. “Believe that Jesus has taken your sin for you, and you will have a new and eternal life.
In an earthly encounter nowadays, one may be reticent to admit your guilt before the trial, as you cannot trust in the goodness or fairness of your opponent. But in the Heavenly docket, a holy, loving, merciful, gracious God is not only your judge, but He is also your offended opponent. On earth this would be bad, but in Heaven you could not be in any better position. The blood of Christ satisfies the judgment of the Law, and you can have life.
But if you face the Law of God without the blood of Christ. The punishment of the Law will stand for you in the eyes of this same God, and you will bear the penalty, and you will wish you had never been born. Whatcha gonna do?
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