Perhaps no saying of our Master has provoked more general discussion than the following admonition (Matt. 5:25): "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him." A thoughtful reading of the context makes the meaning of this passage perfectly clear, especially when Dr. Moffatt's translation of the text is taken into account. A little earlier in his discourse Christ Jesus had said (Matt. 5:17), "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Jesus was not, therefore, annulling the law of Moses, but he was pointing out a better way.

The equivalent of the word "agree," according to Moffatt, is "make terms," which is to say, "make a settlement." The full text of his translation reads as follows: "Be quick and make terms with your opponent, so long as you and he are on the way to court, in case he hands you over to the judge, and the judge to the jailer, and you are thrown into prison."

Under the law of Moses, as in our own day, a person suspected of having injured another was liable to a summons, and, if found guilty, he would then have to pay the full penalty prescribed by the law. Under the new and more enlightened dispensation of the gospel, however, the defendant was advised not to wait for a legal summons, but to make the necessary explanation or amends at once, thus making an effort to settle the case out of court.

Such an act of voluntary reconciliation was Jesus' way of fulfilling the spirit of the law. This did not destroy the law of Moses, but it fulfilled it in righteousness by making its legal enforcement unnecessary. If the parties could not reach a mutual settlement, they could still have recourse to the law of Moses.

The difference between the teachings of the New and the Old Testament involved no conflict between the gospel and the law, but the New Testament initiated a new era of spiritual progress, in which the law of justice became voluntary and self-enforced, rather than arbitrary and compulsory. To stand ready to agree with one's adversary quickly in the truly Christian manner would at once show a willingness to make amends on terms that would be honorable and fair to both parties. There would then be no expensive court proceedings, no family feuds, no lingering grievances, and the matter would be soon forgotten. In fact, a bond of lasting friendship might, in all probability, spring up between the reconciled parties.

The fact that the gospel of Christ elevated the practice of human justice above that of the Levitical law does not in any sense imply disrespect for the Old Testament statutes on the part of Jesus. On the contrary, the Master must have known that the discipline of the Mosaic law had been necessary in order to prepare the way for his further revelation. However, because human thought is generally slow in accepting new concepts, there was little general appreciation of the spiritual significance of the law even in Jesus' time.

A similar difference exists today between ritualistic or ecclesiastical forms of Christianity and the purely spiritual teachings of Mary Baker Eddy. The same moral law that is implicit in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount is reasserting itself through the revelation of divine Science. On page 390 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy applies the Master's words, "Agree with thine adversary quickly," to the handling of all error, whether expressed as sin, disease, or death. She says: "'Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him.' Suffer no claim of sin or of sickness to grow upon the thought. Dismiss it with an abiding conviction that it is illegitimate, because you know that God is no more the author of sickness than He is of sin. You have no law of His to support the necessity either of sin or sickness, but you have divine authority for denying that necessity and healing the sick."

We see, therefore, that Christian Science carries the teachings of Christ Jesus to their logical conclusion. It not only satisfies the just claims of the moral and spiritual law, but shows how one may meet the divine command (Matt. 5:48). "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." With this high standard before us we are enabled to disagree with the illegitimate demands of mortal mind which may tempt us to believe that we are by nature subject to the false claims of sin, disease, and death. In Science and Health (p. 391) under the marginal heading, "Righteous rebellion," we find the following specific instructions for dealing with our so-called adversary: "Instead of blind and calm submission to the incipient or advanced stages of disease, rise in rebellion against them. Banish the belief that you can possibly entertain a single intruding pain which cannot be ruled out by the might of Mind, and in this way you can prevent the development of pain in the body. No law of God hinders this result."

In order, therefore, to agree quickly with what seems to be an adversary, because trials are sometimes blessings in disguise, one should decide at once whether the claim is just or unjust. If it is a legitimate demand, it should be met promptly without demur; if, on the other hand, it comes as an aggressive mental suggestion, claiming that we owe obedience to an unjust man-made law or that we believe in some inherent mental or physical incapacity, the claim should be immediately and emphatically denied. Such righteous rebellion is the fulfillment of the divine law as preached and practiced by Christ Jesus, for it acknowledges but one Law-giver, and but one scientific or spiritual interpretation and administration of God's immutable law.