For as thou goest with thine adverse party before a magistrate, strive in the way to be reconciled with him, lest he drag thee away to the judge, and the judge shall deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison.
Jesus has just told the crowd they can read a cloud or a south wind, but not the moment they are living in. So He gives them a courtroom scene: a man walks to court beside someone with a claim against him, and commentators ask who that opponent is and whether the prison door ever opens.
The picture is of a debtor with no defence, whose one hope lies in settling before the case reaches the bench.
They were like men in danger of being called before a court. They had no answer to give that could keep off the punishment they deserved. Their only hope was to make peace with their accuser before they stood before the judge. Once they reached that stage, they could expect nothing but judgment, and a punishment that would only end when the whole debt was paid. Mercy would not be found at the judge's bench.
Kelly ties the walk to court to the time when Christ Himself was still with the nation.
In their lawsuit with God, the Lord advised them, as it were, to settle out of court while He was in the way. If they rejected this advice, the result would be prison until the last penny was paid.
Commentators differ. Kelly sees the case as God's own suit with the nation. Others name the accuser as the law itself, and trace each official in the chain through Israel's history.
In the similar passage in Matthew 5:25 the "magistrate" is not mentioned, and I do not know that here he is necessarily different from the judge, unless it is a more general term. The subject here is Israel. The "adversary" — the law, "even Moses in whom you trust" — was bringing them to the Ruler or Judge, God, the Judge of His people... But while that was going on, Israel was still only "on the way to the magistrate." There was still time to be "reconciled" by repentance and by accepting Christ as Messiah. They refused... So what the Lord said has come true. They have been handed over to the Judge, and God has dealt with them in judgment. He has passed them on to the "officer," the one who carries out His will — any instrument He sees fit to use.
The last man in the chain has a rare name — a word found nowhere else in the New Testament.
The word praktor comes from "to do or act," and it occurs only in Luke 12:58. It is used for the officer appointed to collect the money the judge has awarded.
A debt that gets paid off has an end, and so does this prison. Darby says what kind of dealing it pictures.
This is not a question of eternal salvation, but it simply refers to the state of the Jews... Jerusalem will not get out until she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. But she will get out from the chastenings of the Lord when they are complete. It is very evident that this passage refers simply to God's government of His people.
Some pull that limit the other way, as if a person could work off sin after death.
People have wrongly applied the last part of this picture in a spiritual way, and that has caused much confusion. The doctrine of "purgatory" is probably the saddest proof of it. Scripture nowhere teaches that a man must suffer a temporary punishment from God after his death to be eternally saved. No; once death has come, the eternal destiny of the soul is settled: a person is either eternally and perfectly saved, or eternally lost.
The urgency in the verse is the moving feet. Settlement is possible on the road; it is not possible at the bench.
The Lord says here in symbolic language: "There is the opportunity to be reconciled with the opposing party in a peaceful way before it is too late, even though one might find this difficult. But the time for reconciliation will cease. The one who is not prepared to act in this way, however, will have to bear the consequences."
Earlier in the chapter a man had asked Jesus to act as a divider between him and his brother. The closing verses turn the lawsuit back on him — and on everyone listening.
In the last two verses, He glances back at the man who asked Him to be a divider. "You have been dragging your brother to a magistrate. Another is dragging you; and I would advise you to make terms with him: Moses, the law of God. Make every effort. For I tell you: if once you get there, you will not get away until you answer the demands of the throne of God." Could anyone here do it? If you cannot stand before the throne of God, you are not saved.
- On the road. The case is not yet before the judge. The whole force of the verse rests on those moving feet.
- A real claim. The opposing party is in the right. Commentators name him as the law, or as God pressing His own case against the nation. At the bench there is no answer to give.
- A chain of links. Magistrate, judge, officer, prison — Israel's own history ran down that chain once they refused to settle.
- A measured sentence. The prison is God's government of His people. It ends when the chastening is complete. No one works off sin there after death.
- Settle now. The one thing you can do on the road you cannot do in the courtroom: mercy is not found at the judge's bench.
I say unto thee, Thou shalt in no wise come out thence until thou hast paid the very last mite.
Luke 12 ends with a verdict: once the case has passed the judge, the officer and the prison door, only full payment opens it again. Who is this debtor, and can he ever pay the last coin?
Where the ESV says "penny," older translations say "mite." It was the smallest coin in use — the least anyone could owe.
Luke 12:59. — The mite (lepton) was the smallest coin.
The "officer" in the previous verse is the one who collects what the judge has ordered.
The word comes from "to do or act." It occurs only in Luke 12:58. It is used for the officer appointed to collect the money the judge has awarded.
The picture assumes a legal practice the first hearers knew. The time to settle runs out.
In the past it was common to leave a convicted debtor in prison until all his debts were paid (compare Matthew 18:30, 34). The Lord speaks here in symbolic language: "You can still be reconciled with the opposing party peacefully, before it is too late. But the time for reconciliation will cease. The one who is not prepared to act in this way, however, will have to bear the consequences."
Commentators read the trial as Israel's.
The subject here is Israel, to whom the times should have shown that judgment was coming. The "adversary" — the law, "even Moses in whom you trust" — was bringing them to the Ruler or Judge, God, the Judge of His people. John the Baptist, and our Lord Himself, had been preaching as the adversary or accuser of the people. They showed them their sins and called them to repentance. But while this was so, Israel was only "on the way to the magistrate." There was still time to be "reconciled," by repentance and by accepting Christ as Messiah.
That was the window, and it was open only while He stood with them.
Christ was saying, I am yet in the way with you. "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation."
On that reading, the prison is God's dealing with a nation, not a soul's eternal fate.
This is not a question of eternal salvation. It refers to the state of the Jews: they will not come out until they have paid the very last mite. Jerusalem will not get out until she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. But she will get out from the chastenings of the Lord when they are complete. It is very evident that this passage refers simply to God's government of His people.
Commentators differ here. Others press the same words on the individual, where no payment is possible at all.
In this case prison would be the lake of fire, from which there is no release, for who can fully pay the debt of his own sins? This emphasises the unbending, inflexible justice of the law. One must face God about his sins and have them forgiven, by virtue of the sacrifice of Christ. If he does not do this before God summons him to judgment, he can expect no mercy then.
People have made the word "until" carry a doctrine it cannot bear.
Wrong spiritual applications of the last part of this example have led to much confusion. The doctrine of "purgatory" is probably the saddest proof of that. Scripture nowhere teaches that a man must suffer a temporary punishment from God after his death to be eternally saved. No; once death has come, the soul's eternal destiny is fixed: one is either eternally and perfectly saved, or eternally lost!
Read of the nation, the sentence has an end — and past its end comes comfort.
The guilty debtor still lies in that prison, until his heart turns to the One he despised. Then the word will go out, Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her, that her time of suffering is finished, that her iniquity is pardoned.
The law's full demand is what Christ met as surety — the one who takes on another's debt.
Christ, having risen from the dead, became the living witness that the justice and truth of God were satisfied for ever. Had there been one sin unatoned for, the surety must have stayed there. "You shall not depart from there until you have paid the very last mite." That is what the law demands. But the penalty was paid in all its demands, and eternal justice perfectly satisfied.
- The debt. The mite was the smallest coin. The officer's job is to collect the exact sum, and he writes nothing off.
- The window. Settlement belongs to the road, not the courtroom. While Israel was still "on the way," reconciliation was open.
- The refusal. Israel despised the One who came to them, so the case went past the Judge to the prison.
- The limit. The imprisonment is God's governmental dealing, measured and finite; when payment is complete, the word is "Comfort, comfort my people."
- The payment. No prisoner can pay his own debt. Christ met the law's full demand, and His resurrection shows He left no mite owing.