Q&R with Brad Jersak – “Leave your gift at the altar” (Matthew 5:24)

Question: In Matthew 5:24, Jesus says, "Leave your gift at the altar." What does that mean in context? Does it mean we need to go and apologize to those we've hurt, or God won’t talk to us? Response: Let's begin with the context, as you suggested. This is a section of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) where he is citing the Law of Moses and explains how the spirit of the law goes deeper than external conformity to obvious rules against murder or adultery (for example). God's intent is to transform our hearts so that in following Jesus Christ, grace will weed out the roots of murder and adultery while they are still inward hatred or ...