Forgiveness not Justice

14 June 2025   Matthew 5:33-37

“Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ Anything more than this comes from the Evil One.”  Matthew 5:37​

The standard takeaway from this text is “Always tell the truth, and you will always be trusted.” Excellent advice. Excellent, that is, as long as you live in a world where no one seeks information they are not entitled to, where all have good intentions, and no one ever means to do the wrong thing.

By that advice, when the Gestapo comes to the door asking, “Are you hiding any Jews here?” You’d have to say, “I cannot tell a lie. They’re in the attic closet, top floor, second door on the left.”

We don’t live in a world where everybody has pure intentions. Neither did Shiphrah and Puah, the Hebrew midwives who were ordered by Pharaoh to take all the newborn baby boys and fling them into the Nile because the Jews were becoming too numerous. Shiphrah and Puah never had any intention of following such a ghastly order, and when Pharaoh finally heard the racket raised by all the Jewish baby boys, he demanded an explanation. Shiphrah and Puah lied right through their teeth: “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and are delivered before the midwife comes to them” (Exodus 1:19). And far from punishing Shiphrah and Puah for their naked lie, God blessed them: “And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families” (1:21). This was how Moses survived the Egyptian holocaust, and well, you know how that story ended.

Jacob was a fast talker and a sharp dealer. He deceived his father Isaac, andswindled his brother Esau out of his inheritance (assisted by Rebekah, Jacob’s mother and co-conspirator, Genesis 27:1-45). He swindled his Uncle Laban also, and became fabulously wealthy doing it – Laban had swindled Jacob first, of course; turnabout clearly was fair play (Genesis 29:1-30:43). Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, and he became the father of Israel – his twelve sons became the twelve tribes, whose names are inscribed on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:12). And all of that without a single word of condemnation for all of Jacob’s deceptions and sharp dealing.

So, should the takeaway be instead, “Withhold the truth when you have reason to question the motives of the people you’re dealing with”? That’s pretty tricky advice. It requires more purity of heart and clarity of vision than anybody has. Let’s face it: “Withhold the Truth” isn’t what Jesus said. He said, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ Anything more than this comes from the Evil One” (Matthew 5:37). Always Tell the Truth is still the standard. That is Heaven’s justice.

But by Heaven’s justice, Heaven would be empty. No Shiphrah, no Puah, no Jacob. Certainly not us. Jesus knows that we sin not only when we are at our worst, but also sometimes when we are at our best, trying hardest to protect the innocent, to protect the Church, to do the right thing. We are stained even by some of our noblest efforts, and we don’t have what it takes to make the stain go away.

That is why the inner logic of the Sermon on the Mount is mercy. It is why the Sermon on the Mount goes on to say, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (5:44), “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” (6:12), “Judge not, that you be not judged” (7:1) and “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (7:7). Jesus knows how deep our stains are, how unable we are to save ourselves. It is why he also told the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). It is why His last prayer from the cross was, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). It is why forgiveness, not justice, made the paralytic walk again (Mark 2:1-12).

Maybe, then, the takeaway should be, “Of course try your hardest. Live as close as you possibly can to the Justice of Heaven. But only a very great fool would stand at Heaven’s Gate and say, ‘Give me what I deserve.’ Remember that your first word at Heaven’s Gate must be, ‘Mercy.’ The joy and peace of heaven, what makes heaven full, the Good News, isn’t justice, but mercy.”