Matthew 5:23 (LSB)

Passage

Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,

Nearby Context

Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.’

Matthew 5:22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Matthew 5:23 Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,

Matthew 5:24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

Matthew 5:25 Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "therefore", "presenting", "offering", "altar", "remember", "brother", "something", and "against". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "therefore" and "presenting", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "But I say to you that everyone..." into verse 24's "leave your offering there before the altar...", so "therefore" and "presenting" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "therefore" and "presenting" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.