Verses 23 and 24 say, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go away; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Sacrifice, as the sacrifice for sin, is for dealing with sin; whereas a gift is for fellowship with God. The altar spoken of in verse 23 was a piece of furniture (Exo. 27:1-8) in the outer court of the temple (1 Kings 8:64), on which all sacrifices and gifts were offered (Lev. 1:9, 12, 17). The King, in decreeing the new law of the kingdom, referred here to the gift and the altar of the old dispensation because, during the transitory period of His ministry on earth, the ritual law of the old dispensation had not yet ceased. In the four Gospels, before His death and resurrection, in things regarding circumstances, the Lord treated His disciples as Jews according to the old law; whereas in things concerning spirit and life, He considered them as believers who constitute the church according to the New Testament economy.
The words “anything against you” in verse 23 must refer to the anger or scolding in verse 22. According to verse 24, we must first be reconciled to our brother that our remembrance of offense may be removed and that our conscience may be void of offense. Then we may come and offer our gift to the Lord to fellowship with Him with a pure conscience. The King of the kingdom will never tolerate two brothers not reconciled one to another either sharing the kingdom in its reality or reigning in its manifestation. If, as you come to contact the Lord, you have the sense that a brother or sister has a complaint against you, you must stop your fellowship with the Lord and go to this one and be reconciled. Then you may come back to continue your fellowship with the Lord. Although this is a small thing, it is not easy to do. Nevertheless, we must do it.
Verses 25 and 26 say, “Be well disposed quickly with your opponent, while you are with him in the way, lest the opponent deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, You shall by no means come out from there until you have paid the last quadrans.” We need to be disposed quickly with our opponent lest we die, our opponent dies, or the Lord comes back, and thus there be no opportunity for us to be reconciled to our opponent. The words “in the way” signify that we are still living in this life. The matter of being delivered to the judge, to the officer, and thrown into prison will transpire at the judgment seat of Christ when He comes back (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10). The judge will be the Lord, the officer will be the angel, and the prison will be the place of discipline. To come out from there, that is, to come out from prison, is to be forgiven in the coming age, the millennium.
The Roman quadrans spoken of in verse 26 is a small brass coin equal to a quarter of an assarion, which is equal to one cent. The meaning here is that even with the smallest thing we need to make a thorough clearance. This shows the strictness of the new law.
We need to be reconciled to our opponent before we die, before he dies, or before the Lord comes back. If we do not take care of any matter now, we shall have to deal with it in the coming age. Do not wait for the next age, for the dealing then will be more troublesome. Take care of every problem now, before you die or before your opponent dies. While both of you are still living, you still have the opportunity to be reconciled to him. Furthermore, if you wait, the Lord may come back before you are reconciled. On the one hand, the Lord’s coming back will be marvelous. On the other hand, it will be rather serious, for it will close the opportunity to deal with the problems in this age and compel us to deal with them in the next age. Therefore, it is much better to solve every problem before the coming age. This means that we must take care of every problem before we die, before the other party dies, or before the Lord comes back.