Matthew 5:21-26

Last Time

Jesus Informed His Listeners that He Had Not Come to Destroy But Fulfill the Old Law

But Once Fulfilled, It Would Be Made Obsolete

The Old Law was to Be Held in High Regard by Those Seeking the Kingdom

They Were to Obey All of it and Teach Others to Do the Same

Then Jesus Told Them that Their Righteousness Must Be Greater than the Righteousness of the Jewish Leaders or They Would Never Be Able to Enter the Kingdom

That Statement Forces Us to Ask, “How Am I Supposed to Do That?”

Jesus Answers that Question With the Rest of His Sermon

We are Going to Look at His First Answer With This Lesson

Introduction

Question: How Many of You Murdered Someone This Past Week?

According to the Jewish Traditional Way of Approaching the Old Law, You Did Really Good this Week!

But Jesus is About to Raise the Bar

Not for the Sake of Making Things Harder, But for the Sake of Teaching the Heart/Spirit of the Law, Not Just the Letter

Another Question: (No Show of Hands, But Be Honest With Yourself)

How Many of You are Angry With Someone and Refuse to Get Over it?

Or How Many of You Were Angry With Someone this Week and Said Something to Them or Behind Their Back that Wasn’t Nice?

One More Question: How Many of You Just Lied to Yourselves?

Jesus Not Only Condemns the Action of Murder

He Also Condemns the Action of Sustained and Uncontrolled Anger…

And All that Proceeds from that Anger

In this Lesson, Jesus is Going to Push Us to Be Peacemakers/Reconcilers, Instead of People of Sustained/Uncontrolled Anger

Matthew 5:21-26

Beginning in this Passage and Continuing Through the Rest of the Chapter…

Jesus Gives Us 6 Examples How We are to Obey the Heart of the Law, Not Just the Letter

Each Starts with a Phrase Similar to “You’ve Heard it Said…But I Say”

This was a Common Practice of Jewish Rabbis When Teaching on a Subject

It Wasn’t About Contradicting What the Law Said

It Was About Properly Explaining/Interpreting What the Law Truly Meant

These 6 Examples are Not an Exhaustive List

They are Meant to be Samples to Help Us Learn to Apply Their Principles to All Avenues of Life

Only When We Internalize God’s Laws and Make Them Matters of the Heart Can We Achieve Righteousness that Exceeds that of the Jewish Leaders

It’s More Than Focusing On How We are Supposed to Act

It’s About Who We Are Supposed to Be

Matthew 5:21 (NASB)

“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’

Here We Have the First Example that Jesus Uses to Show the Difference in Jewish Interpretation and God’s Intention of His Law

Jesus Refers to the 6th Commandment of the 10 Commandments

Under the Old Law, Anyone Who Committed Premeditated Murder Would Be Liable to the Court (“Guilty in the Judgement”)

They Would Be Taken to the Judges

When Judged as Guilty, They Would Be Punished

But Jesus Interprets the Command as Going Further than the Act of Murder

Matthew 5:22a - But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court

Jesus is Referring to a Person Who Remains (Present Tense) Angry with Another

Not “Becoming” Angry, But “Remaining” Angry

That Person Will Be Liable to the Court (“Guilty in the Judgement”)

Nowhere in this Passage or Anywhere Else is Anger Considered a Sin

Ephesians 4:26–27 (NASB)

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.

What Jesus and Paul are Saying is…

Remaining Angry Opens the Door for Satan to Walk Right into Your Life and Wreak Havoc

Anger is an Emotion that God Has Given Us

It Can Be Utilized for Good

It Should Make Us Angry When We and Others are Treated Poorly

It Should Also Make Us Angry When God’s Holiness is Spat Upon and His People Live Wickedly

We Often Call This “Righteous Indignation”

But We Shouldn’t Allow that Anger to Perpetuate Within Us

Satan Will Cause it to Fester Within Us and Lead Us into Sin

Sustained Anger Leads to Bitterness, Hatred, Wrath, Insulting Words, Injurious Actions, and Even Murder

If You Want to Be a Citizen of the Kingdom, You Can’t Harbor Anger Toward Others

We Also Need to Be Careful Not to Think All of Our Indignation is Righteous

Many Times We Become Angry at Others Because They Don’t Act or Behave in the Way We Want Them to

This is a Form of Arogance and Belief that Others are Beneath Us

Humility Doesn’t Demand that Others Be and Do Everything that I Want Them to Be and Do

Humility is Not Seeing Myself as the Center of the Universe and Everyone Else as Slaves to My Desires

And Humility Doesn’t Harbor Anger Against Others Whenever They Don’t Meet My Impossibly High Expectations of Them

Humility Can Still Be Angry

But Humility Gets Angry for Righteous Reasons

And Humility Doesn’t Stay Angry Long

The NKJV Says, “Whoever is Angry with His Brother Without a Cause”

This Seems to Be a Later Addition to the Text Based On Older Manuscripts Not Including it

Jesus Isn’t Saying that I Can Remain Angry With You if I Have a Good Reason to

He Says I Shouldn’t Remain Angry with You at All

Anyone Who Remains Angry with Someone Shall Be (Future Tense) Guilty in Judgement

Jesus Isn’t Talking About Going to Court and Being Found Guilty

Jesus is Talking About the Judgement of God

Anyone Who Holds Grudges Against Others is Going to Be Found Guilty on Judgement Day

Matthew 5:22b - whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court

Jesus Doesn’t Stop with Remaining Angry

Those Who Say, “Raca” to Someone in Their Anger Will Be Guilty Before the Supreme Court (Sanhedrin)

Raca = “Empty-Headed”

To Insult Someone in Anger Will Make Me Guilty Before the Sanhedrin

Jesus Isn’t Referring to the Jewish Leaders Who Judged Over the Affairs of the People

He is Referring to the Supreme Court of Heaven Itself

Matthew 5:22c - whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Those Who Angrily Call Someone a Fool will Be “Guilty in the Gehenna of Fire”

Gehenna is the Word that Jesus Uses to Describe the Place We Call Hell

Gehenna Refers to the Valley of Hinnom Just South of Jerusalem

This is Where, In the Times of the Kings, Israel Began to Burn Their Children in a Fire as a Sacrifice to the god Molech

King Josiah Eventually Came Along and Destroyed this Idol Worship

After That it Became the Garbage Dump of the City

They Would Throw Trash, Animal Carcasses, and Even the Bodies of Criminals into this Narrow Valley Where a Constant Fire Would Be Left Burning All the Time

This is the Image Jesus Used to Refer to the Place of Future Punishment of the Wicked

A Very Horrifying Place to Imagine

We Can’t Allow the Anger Within Us to Escape Through Our Mouths

Right After Paul Told the Ephesians to Not Let the Sun Go Down On Their Wrath, He Said…

Ephesians 4:29–32 (NASB)

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

We Can’t Let a Single “Rotten” Word Come Out of Our Mouths

If Our Words Aren’t Edifying/Building People Up With What They Need to Hear, Then We Need to Shut Our Mouths

The Words of a Christian Ought to Give Grace, Not Discouragment and Judgement

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

When We Use Our Words to Tear Down, We Grieve/Make Sad the Holy Spirit Who Lives in Us

His Work is to Transform Us and Make Us More Like Jesus for the Coming Resurrection

But When We Use Our Words to Hurt Others, We are Working Against Him and Causing Him Grief

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Put Away the Bad and Only Express the Good

The Life of a Citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom is Not About Bitterness, Wrath, Anger, Shouting, and Slandering

It’s About Kindness, Compassion, and Forgiveness

If God Can Forgive You for Being the Reason His Son Had to Die…

Surely You Can Forgive Your Family, Friends, and Neighbors

Murder Isn’t the Only Thing that Will Lead to You Being Judged as Guilty and Punished

Holding Grudges in Our Hearts and Insulting People Will Also Lead Us to Being Judged as Guilty

Not By a Human Court, But By God’s Heavenly Court

1 John 3:15 (NASB)

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

“Jon, Just Because I’m Angry with Someone or Say Bad Things About Them in Private Doesn’t Mean I Hate Them!”

1 John 3:16–17 (NASB)

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

If the Person You are Holding a Grudge Against Were to Need Help, Would You Be the First Person to Offer a Loving, Helping Hand?

If this Person’s Life was in Danger, Would You Save Them at the Cost of Your Own Life?

If You Have to Think for Very Long Before You Answer Those Questions, You’re Dancing on the Edge of Hate

And When You are Dancing on the Edge of Hatred, You are Dancing on the Edge of Murder

Jesus Tells Us that Not Being a Murderer Has Never Been Good Enough for God

Murder Starts With Anger in the Heart

Jesus Says We Can’t Be a Citizen in His Kingdom if We Allow Anger to Remain in Our Hearts

Well, Jesus What are We Supposed to Do With Our Anger Then?

Matthew 5:23–24 (NASB)

Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

Here’s What You Do:

Reconcile the Relationship

In this Specific Situation, It’s Not the Person Who is Angry that is Told to Make Attempts to Reconcile

If I Know Someone is Angry with Me Because of Something I’ve Said or Done to Them, It’s My Responsibility to Try to Make Things Right

This is So Important that Jesus Tells His Listeners (People From All Over Palestine) that if They Remembered that Someone is Angry with Them, They Need to Leave Their Sacrifice at the Altar and Make it Right Before Sacrificing to God

Reconciliation Takes Precedence Over Worship

The Point Jesus is Making is:

Don’t Hold Grudges in Your Heart

And Don’t Knowingly Allow Others to Hold Grudges Against You in Their Heart

Reconcile and Fix the Broken Relationship as Soon as Possible

When You Don’t, Sin Will Begin to Creep in

Matthew 5:25–26 (NASB)

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. Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

Again, Fixing Broken Relationships is the Key

It’s Better to Make Friends with Someone Than to Go to Court With Them

It May Turn Out for Your Demise if the Judge Pronounces You Guilty

Looking at this Through the Spiritual Lense that Jesus is…

It’s Better to Make Friends with Your Enemies, to Reconcile, and Fix Broken Relationships than to Go to Hell

Because That Truly is the Alternative

Conclusion

No One Can Be a Citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom Without Having Righteousness that Exceeds the Jewish Leaders

They Believed Remaining Angry at and Insulting Others Was Okay as Long as it Doesn’t Lead to Murder

But Jesus Reveals the True Intent of the Law of God

A True Intent that Remains in Jesus’ Kingdom Still Today

Do Not Allow Anger to Remain in Your Heart and Cause You to Hate Others

Sustained Anger/Hatred and Murder are One and the Same to God

Jesus Offers a Better Way

Be a Peacmaker; Be a Reconciler

When We Do That, Our Righteousness Exceeds the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees

Pray For God to Help Us to Not Remain Angry With or Insult Others, But to Help Us Reconcile with Them