Matthew 5:21-26
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Loading ...Matthew 5:21-26
In understanding this text, we must recognize what Jesus means when He quotes what was “heard” and “said” - You shall not commit murder. This expresses the limited way in which the Jews interpreted the law against murder. As they read it, a man was only guilty when he actually took a life, in which case, he would be in danger of judgment - the judgment of the elders of the city of refuge.But Jesus states that God is not going to wait for a person to actually take a life before He convicts him. To simply have bitter anger toward a brother would put him in danger of a local city judgment. To go beyond this and actually verbalize one’s hatred by calling a brother “raca” (indicating utter contempt, an “empty-headed fool”), such a person would be in danger of the Sanhedrin, the high court of the Jews. But if one took a step further and called his brother “fool” (Greek: moros - a moral fool, demeaning his intelligence and his moral standing with God), he would be in danger of the final judgment of hell. Notice that such a one never committed the actual act of murder, but he is judged just as harshly. (See 1 John 3:15).
Verses 23-26 are often overlooked and often violated. How many have gone to the place of worship, prayed, sang songs, and even partook of the Lord’s Supper, all the while knowing that a brother has something against them and they have not resolved the issue? We cannot expect God to accept our worship nor be at one with Him in fellowship when we have not done all we can to be one with our brother. We had better “make friends quickly” with an adversary, lest a sin of ours against him be laid before our Judge, in which case we will pay the ultimate price.
“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love god whom he has not seen?” 1 John 4:20.
Berry Kercheville
