True Righteousness
We are learning that Jesus made several statements clarifying what the truly blessed, happy, and flourishing life is. He is calling his disciples to live influential lives of good works for the common good and the glory of God, by being salt and light in their world. Jesus now goes on to explain what a greater righteousness looks like.
Matt 5:21-48 are a series of statements called antitheses in which Jesus is contrasting what his hearers had heard and been taught about the Law with what he is now teaching them. These statements begin “you have heard that it was said” or “it was said” and then Jesus says, “but I say to you…,” which can seem more radical and contradictory. Jesus is not contradicting the Law, but as the Law’s upholder, he is fulfilling the Torah and the Prophets by giving the true meanings for those statements, and is calling his followers to a greater righteousness than that of the Scribes and Pharisees who were guilty of perverting the Law.
Instruction About Anger – Matt 5:21-26
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.
Tim Mackie of Bible Project puts it this way: “Jesus actually agrees with the command, and all he's doing is showing the real meaning behind it. “You've heard that it was said, don't murder? Exactly right. And so I say to you, ‘don't be angry.’”
Murder is defined as the intentional, premeditated, and deliberate killing of someone and carries severe consequences, both earthly (punished by law) and spiritual (separation from God). It is distinguished from killing as in warfare, accidental death or killing in self-defense. Murder is considered a grave sin and a violation of the sanctity of life, which is viewed as a gift from God.
Premeditated murder under Old Testamenat carried the death sentence (Num 35:31.) The murderer was brought before the village elders and on the testimony of two or three witnesses was sentenced to death. The death penalty was carried out by stoning. God says He is not willing that any should perish, and has given society the right and responsibility to punish evil doers. But as with days of old and today’s legal system, what the law mandates as the ideal level is not necessarily what occurs in practice.
Matt 5:22 (a) But I say to you that anyone who is angry* with his brother will be liable to judgment (*ESV has a footnote saying some manuscripts insert ‘without cause’).
Anger: A state of indignation and outrage, often resulting from distress caused by injustice or insult. Scripture affirms God’s righteous anger against sin and urges moderation in regard to human anger. (Dictionary of Bible Themes)
An angry person is subject to God’s judgment? The same punishment as for the one who commits murder?
Jesus points out that the murderous act springs from the angry thought. It is in the mind that the crime is first committed. Though the earthly court cannot take action against the angry thought, the heavenly court can-and does. God is the only one that examines the thoughts and intents of the heart, he can try a person for their inner anger. “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:10; cf 1 Sam 16:7; 1 Chron 28:9)
The scribes and Pharisees were evidently seeking to restrict the application of the sixth commandment to the deed of murder alone, to the act of spilling human blood in homicide. If they refrained from this, they considered that they had kept the commandment, and this apparently is what the rabbis also taught the people. But Jesus disagreed with them. The true application of the prohibition was much wider, he maintained. It included thoughts and words as well as deeds, anger and insult as well as murder. – (The Message of the Sermon on the Mount)
Is it always wrong or a sin to be angry?
Ephesians 4:26-27 – “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.”
Righteous anger
- God’s/Jesus’ anger at injustice, sin, unbelief, exploitation - Matt 21:12-19-cleanses the temple; Mark 3:1-5; Luke 19:41-44.
- James 1:19 – “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”
But controlling one’s temper is a challenging task for many Christians.
Got Questions: We can know for sure that our anger or indignation is righteous when it is directed towards what angers God Himself. Righteous anger and indignation is justly expressed when we are confronted with sin. Good examples would be anger towards child abuse, pornography, racism, homosexual activity, abortion, and the like.
Amy Jill Levine- if we are not made angry by sufferings, by cheatings, by indifference, then we are not human.
Unrighteous anger and hatred can be dangerous and destructive and can lead to physical violence and murder. When someone is angry there is the desire to do damage or to destroy.
Hard Sayings of the Bible: According to the KJV, “whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” But the phrase “without a cause” is a later addition to the Greek text, designed to make Jesus’ words more tolerable. The other man’s anger may be sheer bad temper, but mine is righteous indignation-anger with a cause. But Jesus’ words in the original form of the text make no distinction between righteous and unrighteous anger. Anyone who is angry with his brother exposes himself to judgment.
Matt 5:22(b) ‘whoever insults his brother (sister) will be liable to the council (Sanhedrin – the supreme court). The word used here for insult is the word Raca.
Got Questions: Raca comes from the Aramaic term reqa and is a derogatory expression meaning ‘empty-headed,’ insinuating a person’s stupidity or inferiority. It was an offensive name used to show utter contempt for another person. Jesus warned that the use of such a word to describe someone was deserving of the severest punishment.
Hard Sayings of the Bible: So insulting someone is more serious than being angry with them or insulting someone can stem from being angry with them. I guess the angry thought can be checked, but the insult once spoken cannot be recalled and may cause violent resentment or retaliation.
Matt 5:22(c) “and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
So saying “you fool” is a deadlier insult than saying Raca and deserving of fiery hell??
Greek word is more, where we get moron in English— meaning ‘you fool.’
Who knew that calling someone a fool, or an imbecile or an idiot is deserving of ‘the fire of hell’ or punishment. In our day and time nobody is going to be taken to court for calling another fool, or stupid, but Jesus warns about name calling.
Remember that saying “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” It’s all a lie. Words can and do hurt. Think about someone growing up and constantly hearing that they are no good, that they are stupid, or they won’t amount to anything. So again, it’s the attitude of the heart that makes a person morally guilty before God. So we should avoid name calling and watch our words carefully.
Tim Mackie, Bible Project puts it this way: If I've gone through my whole life never having murdered someone, does that mean I automatically have lived by the will of God? That's where Jesus would say, no, no, no. You never murdered anyone, but everybody in your life hates you because you belittle them and devalue their contributions at work. You think you're better than everybody else, and you're mean. In Jesus’ mind, that is a human being who's just as distorted. When you murder someone, whether you think about it or not, you're making a public declaration that this person's existence has no value, and it's just as punishable by the courts in his (Jesus’) mind.
Reconciliation – Matthew 5:23-26
From The Message of the Sermon on the Mount: It’s like this: ‘If you are in church, in the middle of a service of worship, and you suddenly remember that your brother has a grievance against you, leave church at once and put it right. Do not wait till the service has ended. Seek out your brother and ask his forgiveness. First go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your worship to God.’
Instruction about lust – Matt 5:27-28
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
This message warns of the destructive and escalating consequences of lust, emphasizing that its initial pleasures are deceptive and its ultimate cost is devastating.
Adultery in the Heart
Hard Sayings of the Bible: The 7th commandment says, “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex 20:14). In the cultural context of the original Decalogue, this commandment forbade a man to have sexual relations with someone else’s wife, and to infringe (disobey) was a capital offense; the penalty was stoning to death (as it still is in some parts of the Near and Middle East).
So here is another instance of Jesus making the law more stringent by carrying its application back from the outward act to the inward thought and desire.
(Ex 20:17-“you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife”)
To covet
- Is to go beyond simple admiration or need.
- It involves a deep-seated craving for another person’s possessions.
- It is to have an inordinate, intense, or evil desire for something that belongs to another person. This desire is not just wanting something but wanting it so badly that it pulls your heart away from God, fosters discontent, and can lead to sinful actions like theft, deceit, or even murder.
- While it starts in the heart, coveting is a dangerous sin because it can lead to other harmful acts, such as lying, stealing, and murder, as seen in biblical examples like King David and King Ahab.
Matt 5:29-30 - If your right eye causes you to sin*, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.’ (Matt 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-48)
*Other translations: ‘If your right eye offends thee’ (KJV); ‘If your right eye causes you to stumble’ (NIV).
Gouge out your Eye/Chop off the hand?
We know this is an hyperbole (an exaggeration to make a point) or figurative language. After all, if it were literal, there would be a lot of one-eyed or one-armed people.
Meaning: Notice this statement is placed immediately after Jesus’ words about adultery in the heart and it provides a ready example of how a man’s eye could lead him into sin. He says don’t let your eye lead you into sin. How could it do that? By resting too long on an object of temptation. Since sin causes extreme danger, we should use extreme measures to prevent or eradicate it.
From Bible Project: This is given to men. This is something for men. I’m not saying that women don't have this problem, and probably, increasingly, in our day they do, but this is directed at the men. There is this propensity in culture (worldwide) for men to say, well, if women just dress differently, or covered up, or maybe acted differently, or maybe if we just kept women out of the room so we don't have to deal with it, then we wouldn’t have a problem. And everything is her fault. Yet Jesus is really clear here. Dr. Lucy Peppiatt (on BibleProject) puts it this way, “Jesus says, ‘I tell you, anyone who goes on looking at a woman (to stare at) in order to cultivate lust for her has committed adultery in his heart.’”
It’s your eye, your hand, your heart and the only way you are going to deal with it is by doing something drastic internally that will cut you off from it. And you can't put her in a different room, or cover her up, or separate yourself from her, and think that it's all going to be gone. You have to do something drastic, otherwise you will be taking something that doesn't belong to you and Jesus says that’s a sin.
In these verses, Jesus draws attention to the eternal consequences of sin that are harmful to others and are offensive to God and warrant eternal judgment. (Matt 5:22, 29). The fact that Jesus spoke about judgment does not diminish his love; it demonstrates it. He warned about hell because he did not want people to experience it. Remember: these standards of the kingdom put forth by Jesus cannot be done by mere external obedience, because it’s a heart issue. Jesus teaches in Matt 15:19 “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness and slander.”
This from Greg Laurie: "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay".
