Matthew 5:21-26

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 5

Anger

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

What’s important for us to notice on the outset of this particular text is that Jesus opens with, “You have heard that it was said to those of old...” This is a very helpful clue to understanding the context of what Jesus is about to say, and once we understand the context we’ll more easily understand why Jesus says what he does in the following verses, and even through the rest of the chapter.

Whenever Jesus, or any of the NT writers for that matter, quote from the OT they all start off by saying something like, “as it is written…”, or “for it is written”, so as to give clear indication that what they’re about to say is what God has already said. They’re referring to what has already been written or recorded in the OT.

ll start off by saying something like, “as it is written…”, or “for it is written”, so as to give clear indication that what they’re about to say is what God has already said. They’re referring to what has already been written or recorded in the OT.

For example, in Matthew chapter 4, when we studied the account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, Jesus responds to the devil with the phrase “it is written” four times. Verse 3-4 read,

English Standard Version Chapter 4

3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

In verses 5-6 we even see the devil quote scripture in this way,

English Standard Version Chapter 4

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

And verse 7 reads,

English Standard Version Chapter 4

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

And finally in verses 9-10 we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 4

9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.’ ”

So when we come to and read, “You have heard that it was said of those of old...” it’s a clue for us that Jesus is not referring directly to the OT. Instead, in this case, what he’s referring to are those who teach from the OT scriptures - namely the scribes and Pharisees.

Now, it isn’t that what he’s referring to here isn’t true, for he quotes them as teaching, “You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgement.” This, of course, is partially a direct quote from , “You shall not murder.” What he’s referring to here is that what the scribes and Pharisees were teaching about in this particular OT text, and he’ll go on to tell his disciples to say that they had missed the point of what the OT was teaching here. That they had, in essence, misunderstood the meaning of the text, and thereby were teaching and applying it incorrectly, and ultimately leading God’s people astray.

Like we saw last week Jesus did not come to abolish or annul the law but to fulfill it, and here he intends to give his disciples the true sense or meaning of what the Law and the Prophets taught, particularly with regards to murder. Whereas the much of what they had been taught concerning the law by the religious leaders was wrong. So Jesus is not correcting or reforming the law of Moses here, but instead he’s clarifying it, he’s getting at the heart of the law, which the scribes and Pharisees of their day had missed.

Jesus proceeds then to reform, or correct, the teaching of the religious leaders in Israel, this is why he says, “You have heard that it was said … but I say to you ...”

Jesus reforming the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees

Starting

Picking up in verse 22 we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 5

22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Essentially, what Jesus is saying here is that there’s more than one way to break the 6th commandment. In fact, he tells us that there’s at least three ways, in a sense, to commit murder. The first is the most obvious, and that is to take the life of another person, to intentionally kill someone. The second is by being angry toward our brother. The Greek word translated ‘who is angry’ here literally means ‘to be very angry’ or ‘to be enraged’. The third was is to insult our brother, to, in some fashion, call him stupid or empty headed, to verbally injure him.

You see all of these seek to destroy the other person in some fashion. To injure their person, to injure their reputation, to verbally abuse them or to tear them down. While on one hand one can wield a weapon to intentionally take the life of another we can also wield the tongue to, in a very real sense, bring harm to another. The condition of the heart in all of these examples is the same, it’s a heart that seeks to destroy another, and this is the very essence of the meaning, or intent, of the 6th commandment.

You’ll not only be held accountable, or liable, to judgement for taking someone’s life, but you will also be held liable to judgement for every verbal injury against your brother. Jesus is saying that no one can insult his brother and still think that he’s somehow upheld the law that says, “You shall not murder.” There’s more to the law than the letter of it, there’s also the intention that undergirds it, that is, the heart, or the spirit, of the law. The 6th commandment sought to restrain the human heart from seeking the destruction of another person (like Cain and Abel).

Genuine conformity to God’s law is always a fruit of our love for God himself

God never intended for his people to merely keep 10 specific commandments. God did not only say, “You shall not murder”, “You shall not steal”, “You shall not commit adultery”, He also commanded Israel in , shortly after his listing of the 10 commandments,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

These 10 commandments were to be a manifest overflow, or the inevitable byproduct, of a genuine love toward God himself, not merely a list of do’s and don’t’s that if we are outwardly conformed to them then we’ll somehow become acceptable to God. No, this was not, and is not God’s intention behind God’s law. But this is exactly how the scribes and Pharisees were treating and teaching God’s law. They were so overtly concerned with their outward conformity that they had absolutely no inward conformity to it. In other words, they had the appearance of being strict followers of the law, but in reality they were hypocrites becauase their hearts were devoid of love toward.

Love and obedience are necessary

Love and obedience are necessary

And I think it’s important for us to pause and consider this, because we’re all usually prone err either on the side of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day and think that having an outward conformity to God’s law is enough, all the while being devoid of any genuine love for God himself, or to think that a mere profession of love for God is enough, all the while we live lives that are essentially devoid of any manifest obedience to God’s law. In both scenarios we’re hypocrites, we’re either practicing some kind legalism that’s devoid of any true love for God, or professing a love for God that’s devoid of any manifest obedience to his law.

Genuine affections creates genuine God pleasing conduct

As disciples of Jesus we must have both a genuine love for God that then seeks to obey him in all things, because if we don’t have genuine affections for God we’ll never be able to walk out the conduct outlined here by Jesus in Matthew chapter 5. You cannot have the fruit with without the root, but you will always bear the fruit if you have the root.

Reconciliation and the intent of God’s law

So what is that Jesus prescribes to us here today in this text? Let’s read again what he says starting in verse 23,

English Standard Version Chapter 5

23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

The heart of the law

The heart or intent of “You shall not murder” is this, do no seek not revenge, do not seek retaliation, do not be angry and seek to destroy your brother like Cain did with Abel. Instead, always seek reconciliation. So, as Jesus says, if you're on your way to church and you remember that your brother has something against you, there's something more important than offering your gift at the alter, Jesus says leave your gift and go and be reconciled to your brother.

Jesus continues in verse 25,

English Standard Version Chapter 5

25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

What Jesus is saying here is that reconciliation isn’t just limited to your brother or sister in Christ, but includes everyone. The commandment to be reconciled to one another is the same for our relationships with unbelievers as it is with fellow believers. Jesus tells his disciples to "Come to terms quickly with your accuser, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge... and you be put into prison". So, whether it be in church or the secular world go and be reconciled.

Reconciliation is central to the Christian life

The life of the Christian is to be a life of reconciliation. We are not to stand aloof and wait for others to reconcile with us. We are to be proactive, we are called to take the initiative in the same way God initiated reconciliation with us. With as much as lies within our power we are to be reconciled to our brother and reconciled to our neighbor. That includes our spouse, our parents, our coworkers, our employer, anyone.

The life of the Christian is to be a life of reconciliation. We are not to stand aloof and wait for other to reconcile with us. We are called to take the initiative in the same way God initiated reconciliation with us. We are to do everything that we can to seek out reconciliation, both with other Christians and those outside the church.

In Jesus says this,

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

English Standard Version Chapter 18

If Your Brother Sins Against You

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

What’s the point of you going to the person who has offended you? What is the point of taking two others with you if the person does not listen to you? What is the point of involving the church if the person still refuses to listen to you? The point is to gain your brother! Don't harbor anger toward your brother, don't speak evil of him, don't destroy his reputation, don't injure him with your speech - be reconciled unto him, gain your brother. This is what it means to keep the law, to love your brother, not to hate him.

Loving your neighbor fulfills the law

I want you to listen to what Paul says in his letter to the Romans in chapter 13:8-10,

English Standard Version Chapter 13

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

What is the point of you going to the person who has offended you? What is the point of taking two others with you if the person does not listen to you? What is the point of involving the church if the person still refusing to listen to you? The point is to gain your brother! Don't harbor anger toward your brother, don't speak evil of him, don't destroy his reputation, don't injure him with your speech - be reconciled unto him, gain your brother. This is what it means to keep the law, to love your brother, not hate him.

How does love fulfill the law? Love fulfills the law by always seeking to obey the heart of the law. The one who loves his neighbor will not steal from him, nor will he covet his neighbor's wife, nor will he secretly look at a woman with lustful intent. Someone who loves his neighbor will not insult his neighbor or verbally injure his neighbor’s reputation, love will not call him names, nor will it heap insults upon him. This is how love fulfills the law. Loves identifies the intent of the law and seeks to obey it at every point, this is how love fulfills the law.

How does love fulfill the law? Love fulfills the law because it always seeks to obey the intention of the law. The one who loves his neighbor will not steal from him, nor will he covet his neighbor's wife, nor wil he secretly look at a woman with lustful intent. Someone who loves his neighbor will not insult him or verbally injure his reputation. This is how love fulfills the law. Love upholds the law.

Love is the object and intent of the law

Love upholds the law, it’s the object and intent of the law, and this is what Jesus is trying to make clear to his disciples, even through all of the muck and mire of legalism that was taught in their day. I love how Calvin puts it, “The law is not merely meant to restrain the hands but also the affections that are opposed to brotherly love.” Or better yet, listen to Paul again in ,

English Standard Version Chapter 5

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

“The law is not merely meant to restrain the hands but also the affections that are opposed to brotherly love.” - John Calvin

The letter and spirit of the law

Let us not be merely concerned with the letter of the law but also the spirit of the law. To be concerned with the object and intent of the law, who ultimately is Christ himself. And let us remember that Jesus intends to help us fulfill the law. God intends to conform us into the image of his Son by pouring the love of God into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been freely given to us. This should instill within us great hope and a desire to do all that we can by the grace of God to go and be reconciled to our brother, to be reconciled with our spouse, to be reconciled with our coworkers, to be reconciled with one another. So, let us love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

Prayer