Luke 12:58

"And why even of yourselves judge you not what is just? For while you are going with him who has a suit against you, in the way to the magistrate, give diligence that you may be delivered from him; lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the exactor, and the exactor cast you into prison. I tell you, you shall not come out thence, until you have made compensation unto the last mite." Now perhaps it may be imagined that the sense of this passage is difficult to comprehend: but it will become very easy if we examine the metaphor by what takes place among ourselves. For let there be supposed, He says, some one who has brought a charge against you before one of those in authority, and has pointed you out to those whose office it is to carry the accused into court, and is causing you to be taken thither. "While therefore, He says, you are still with him on the way," that is, before you have come to the judge, "give diligence," that is, weary not, in using all your earnestness that you may be delivered from him. […]

(Hom. 16. in Matt.) It seems to me that He is speaking of the present judges, and of the way to the present judgment, and of the prison of this world. For by these things which are visible and at hand, ignorant men are wont to gain improvement. For often He gives a lesson, not only from future good and evil but from present, for the sake of His ruder hearers.

So unbridled is their madness, that they declare they have in their power all things which are irreligious and impious, and are at liberty to practise them; for they maintain that things are evil or good, simply in virtue of human opinion.

But the Saviour himself, whom alone they think one should obey, has forbidden hatred and reviling and says: "When you go with your adversary to court, try to achieve a friendly reconciliation with him." Accordingly, they will either refuse to accept Christ's exhortation, in that they are in opposition to the adversary, or they will become his friends and cease to oppose him.

Our Lord having described a rightful difference, next teaches us a rightful reconciliation, saying, When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him, &c. As if He says, When thine adversary is bringing thee to judgment, give diligence, that is, try every method, to be released from him. Or give diligence, that is, although thou hast nothing, borrow in order that thou may be released from him, lest he summon thee before the judge, as it follows, Lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison.

The third point, concerning the warning of the higher edict, he adds: When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, on the way. Bede: "Our adversary on the way is the word of God, which is contrary to our carnal desires in the present …

When you go with your adversary to the ruler, on the way, make an effort to be delivered from him, lest perhaps he deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. These things, …

Or else, our adversary in the way is the word of God, which opposes our carnal desires in this life; from which he is delivered who is subject to its precepts. Else he will be delivered to the judge, for of contempt of God's word the sinner will be accounted guilty in the judgment of the judge. The judge will deliver him to the officer, that is, the evil spirit for punishment. He will then be cast into prison, that is, to hell, where because he will ever have to pay the penalty by suffering, but never by paying it obtain pardon, he will never come out from thence, but with that most terrible serpent the devil, will expiate everlasting punishment.

Having said this, the Lord also gives them teaching about praiseworthy peace. Having pointed out commendable division, He also shows blameless peace. Specifically He says: when your adversary drags you to court, while still on the way, make every effort to settle with him. Or …

By a synecdoche he takes a single class to express the outward exercises of divine worship, which in many men are rather the pretenses, than the true expressions, of godliness. It ought to be observed that Christ, adapting his discourse to that age, speaks of sacrifices.

When thou art going - As if he had said, And ye have not a moment to lose. For the executioners of God's vengeance are at hand. And when he hath once delivered you over to them, ye are undone forever.

Christ's Charge to His Apostles. 1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:91%@v1-2

When thou goest with thine adversary,....

The first thing which this passage teaches us—is the duty of noticing the signs of the times. The Jews in our Lord's days neglected this duty. They shut their eyes against events of the most significant character—which were occurring in their own day. They refused to see that prophecies were being fulfilled around them—which were bound up with the coming of Messiah, and that the Messiah Himself must be in the midst of them. The ministry of John the Baptist had excited attention from one end of the land to the other.

When thou goest, &c.--(See on Mt 5:25, 26). The urgency of the case with them, and the necessity, for their own safety, of immediate decision, was the object of these striking words.

The first thing which this passage teaches us—is the duty of noticing the signs of the times. The Jews in our Lord's days neglected this duty. They shut their eyes against events of the most significant character—which were occurring in their own day. They refused to see that prophecies were being fulfilled around them—which were bound up with the coming of Messiah, and that the Messiah Himself must be in the midst of them. The ministry of John the Baptist had excited attention from one end of the land to the other. The miracles of Christ were great, undeniable, and well-known. But still the eyes of the Jews were blinded. They still obstinately refused to believe that Jesus was the Christ. And hence they drew from our Lord the question, "Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you do not know how to interpret this present time?" It befits the servants of God, in every age, to observe the public events of their own day, and to compare them with the predictions of unfulfilled prophecy. There is nothing commendable in an ignorant indifference to contemporary history. The true Christian should rather watch the career of governments and nations with a jealous watchfulness—and hail with gladness the slightest indication of the day of the Lord being at hand. The Christian who cannot see the hand of God in history, and does not believe in the gradual movement of all kingdoms towards the final subjection of all things to Christ—is as blind as the Jew! Let us remember the words of our Lord in the passage before us—and not err after the manner of the Jews. Let us not be blind, and deaf, and insensible to all that God is doing, both in the Church and in the world. May we all have an ear to hear—and a heart to understand! May we not sleep as many do, but watch and discern our time!