LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’  But I say unto you that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca’ shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, ‘You fool’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”   Jesus

 

The Lord Jesus discusses six examples that show His interpretation of the law of God compared to the way the scribes and Pharisees have interpreted it.  In each example, the Pharisees had interpreted the Law to fit their needs; they had accepted the letter of the law while forgetting the spirit of the law. For example, they had reduced the commandment to not kill to a matter of murder only.  They made it a matter for their local court alone and did not mention God’s court at all.

 

Jesus pointed out the error of this thinking in three examples.  “Thou shall not kill” was not meant to just not murder.  The commandment includes not only physical murder, but also includes careless anger in our heart against another.  Jesus is saying that to be angry in your heart with another person without cause is to be in danger of the same punishment of the law.  Lloyd-Jones has written, “To feel bitter, to hate, and to feel resentment towards a person without cause is murder.  Anger in the heart towards any person, especially to a brother in the Lord, is the same as murder to the Lord.”

 

 “Raca” means worthless fellow; it is an attitude of contempt.  In the sight of God, to express feelings of worthlessness about another is a terrible thing.  In another blog, we discussed Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?”   Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries and other evils.  The contempt of the heart is what leads to murder.  Killing does not need to lead to the destruction of the physical life; it can also lead to the destruction of one’s spirit, destroying a person in any form.

 

The third statement Jesus made in this example was to call someone a “fool”.  According to our language today that is a pretty easy term as people are certainly called much worse.  To call someone a “fool” was an expression of abuse.  Bitterness and hatred in one’s heart find expression in words.  The issue is not the anger here.  The issue is that the anger is often taken out on the person and not on the sin.  The distinction must always be made between the person and what he does.  It seems to be a matter of controlling one’s anger.  If the anger is not controlled, it may cause something to be done later on.  If anger is not controlled, it actually controls the individual.

 

So, what do you do if you are a Believer and have anger issues against another?  Jesus addressed this in verses 23 and 24 of this section.  As a Believer positive steps need to be taken to make a wrong against another (especially against another Believer) right.  Jesus is making it clear that no evil thought or feeling is to be concealed in the heart.  God knows every thought of our heart.  Take action to remove the cause of the trouble; there must never be wrong even in spirit between Believers.  Jesus thought this so important that He said if you found yourself offering a gift to God and remembered you had done something to another to cause them to stumble, you were to go to that person and make it right.

 

There is a third principle in this section of the Sermon on the Mount.  In verses 25 and 26, Jesus said to “agree with your adversary quickly”.  If you offend a brother and do not make amends, the Lord becomes your adversary.  There is an urgency here to settle the situation quickly because this conflict affects our relationship with the Lord.  If the situation is not cleared up quickly, God becomes Judge instead of Savior and “spiritually speaking puts the person in a spiritual prison”. (Jimmy Swaggart)

 

Jesus is not speaking of righteous anger at injustice or holy resentment for hurtful wicked behavior.  He is condemning the bitter anger that would unjustly desire the death of another.  I am pretty confident that each of us has an anger issue of some sort.  It probably reveals itself showing the worst part of who we are.  I still seem to be able to clear the area around me when anger comes out.  The Lord is still working in me and will in you as well.  When anger shows its ugly head, give it to the Lord to deal with, asking for His forgiveness; He is helping me to focus moments of anger toward what produces righteousness not unrighteousness.

 

 

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