Agree With Thine Adversary

In His sermon to the Nephites at Bountiful, the Savior said this: “Agree with thine adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him, lest at any time he shall get thee, and thou shalt be cast into prison.  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence until thou hast paid the uttermost senine. And while ye are in prison can ye pay even one senine? Verily, verily, I say unto you, Nay” (3 Nephi 12:25-26).  This is similar to the counsel He gave to His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount: “Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.  Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing” (Matt. 5:25-26).  What exactly did the Savior mean by this, and what is the real message He wants to convey by these words?  What does it mean to agree with our adversary?

               Taken at face value, the “adversary” spoken of here seems to be any human enemy who might do you harm.  The counsel here seems to be to not fight with or contend against these adversaries.  This seems to be in line with this counsel the Savior gave on another occasion: “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Luke 16:9).  This is not to say that we compromise our standards or agree in all points with the wicked, but rather that we should be agreeable and peaceful and not encourage any discord or anger with those around us.  As disciples of the Savior, we should be a people of peace and not a people of contention.  Christ showed us how this is done, particularly in the final hours of His life.  As He stood in front of the high priest in their illegal trial amidst the mocking crowd, “One of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand.”  Most of us would have been unable to handle the cruelty and injustice of the situation without lashing back in indignation.  But Jesus did not retaliate or show any anger, but replied in calmness and majesty: “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?”  (John 18:22-23).  The example of the Savoir teaches us to be agreeable in front of our adversary; to respond to hatred with kindness; to give a loving word in the face of violence.

            When the Savior was teaching these words to the Nephites, He had just taught them to reject contention.  He said, “And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been…. He that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention….  Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away” (3 Nephi 11:28-30).  Surely His message to agree with our adversary is an extension of that message: we must do away with contention and sue for peace when the world stirs up anger all around us.