MURDER WITHOUT KNIVES (Matthew 5:21-26) INTRODUCTION: A Sunday School teacher was discussing love in the home to her class of children. She illustrated the commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother." She then asked if there was a commandment that taught how to treat brothers and sisters. One little boy from a family of seven promptly answered, "Thou shalt not kill." The little boy was more right than he realized. Our Scripture today mentions this commandment. The KJV translates this sixth commandment as Thou shalt not kill. But the word kill is better translated murder, because it is unauthorized killing that is forbidden, not the taking of life for any reason. The Bible authorizes what we call capital punishment and just wars. In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had just said to his followers, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. He follows this by giving six examples of how the righteousness of his followers is to surpass that of the Pharisees in verses 21-48. He will talk about murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and enemies. He starts by contrasting what they have heard with what He says. Matthew 5:21 HCSB "You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you In this contrast Jesus is not doing away with the law, but He is filling it up with its true meaning and He is contrasting His teaching with that of the Pharisees and others. He is giving the true meaning of the commandment. By speaking this way He is demonstrating that His authority to interpret the law is equal if not greater than that of Moses. But I tell you. This I is emphatic in Greek and shows that Jesus is teaching with authority. He has the authority to interpret the law and to give more laws. Now, let s look at what Jesus is getting at in this teaching. THE DANGER OF ANGER January 27, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 1
First, in the NKJV version of verses 21-22 Jesus uses the word danger four times. Matthew 5:21-22 NKJV "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.' (22) But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a 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. He says, "danger," "Danger," "DANGER," "DANGER!!" It s like the robot in the 1960 TV program Lost in Space. He would say Danger Will Robinson when Will was about to make a mistake. Jesus is saying Danger to you, when your anger is going to cause you to make a mistake. What is the person who murders in danger of? He is in danger of being judged by civil authorities, by religious bodies, and ultimately by God. Murder is a horrible crime. It is explicitly mentioned in Revelation 21:8 of those who will stand before the Great White Throne judgment to give an account of themselves to God! Now you probably are saying that this teaching on murder is not applicable to you. I have not murdered anyone. But are you sure that Jesus is not talking about you? Jesus is not really wanting to talk about murder. He is wanting to talk about what motivates someone to murder and that is anger and hateful talk about others. He wants to talk about your attitude towards your brothers and sisters. In this passage he is saying Your attitude towards others can bring you into judgment. How many of you have ever been angry at a sibling? I grew up with three brothers and I know how easy it is to get angry with each other. I have known what the little boy in my illustration has felt, Thou shalt not kill. But is it only our siblings that Jesus is thinking of here? No, I believe that primarily Jesus in referring to our brothers and sisters who we live around. He is talking about how we feel about our family, our neighbors, our enemies. The opposite of anger and murder is Love your neighbor as yourself. Anger is a real problem today. There is much being said about Anger Management. Anger can destroy lives, homes, jobs, and relationships. It also can destroy the individual who stays angry at others all the time by depression and bitterness. January 27, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 2
The first murder in the Bible was the results of anger. Cain became angry because God accepted Abel s offering but not Cain s. Cain could control his anger and wound up killing Abel. Genesis 4:5 NIV but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. One counseling center in Florida has this to say about anger: Anger is probably the most poorly handled emotion in our society. Some experts believe that suppressed anger is an underlying cause of both anxiety and depression. What's even worse is the correlation between the dangers of uncontrolled anger and crime, emotional and physical abuse, and other violent behavior. Redford Williams, an internist and behavioral specialist at Duke University Medical Center has developed a 12-step program that can help people learn to deal with their angry emotions: But Jesus has a better way. First let s listen to how Jesus moves from anger to the attitude of contempt for others which is shown by how we talk about them. He says, whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, 'You Fool!' will be subject to hellfire. The two Greek words here are raca and more. It is difficult to distinguish between them, but Raca or fool here means "empty-headed" and could be translated something like "You blockhead. More is a word related to a rebel or outcast. It is like telling a person to go to hell or to say I wish you were dead. One commentator tried to draw out the point by saying, The man that tells his brother that he is doomed to hell is in danger of hell himself. Another commentator distinguishes the two contemptuous epithets this way: Raca expresses contempt for the person s head by saying You idiot or stupid and More expresses contempt for the person s heart by saying you scoundrel or worthless being. What is Jesus saying in this warning? He is saying that we are in great danger, morally and spiritually, if we allow our anger to not be resolved, but to be expressed even in name calling of a brother or sister. We may not go to the extreme of murder when we hate someone, but we will indulge in killing their character or reputation by contemptuous speech about them. Jesus says that this is a dangerous practice. It puts you in danger of God s judgment. Someone has said that animosity is a time bomb; we do not know when it will "go off." January 27, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 3
In a 1994 article, "Wars Lethal Leftovers Threaten Europeans," Associated Press reporter Christopher Burns writes: "The bombs of World War II are still killing in Europe. They turn up--and sometimes blow up--at construction sites, in fishing nets, or on beaches fifty years after the guns fell silent. "Hundreds of tons of explosives are recovered every year in France alone. Thirteen old bombs exploded in France last year, killing twelve people and wounding eleven, the Interior Ministry said. "Unexploded bombs become more dangerous with time. With the corrosion inside, the weapon becomes more unstable, the detonator can be exposed. " What is true of lingering bombs is also true of lingering anger. Buried anger will explode when we least expect it. It is important to have the right attitude towards others, wouldn t you say. Your attitude towards someone can bring you into God s judgment. JESUS ANGER MANAGEMENT PLAN SEEK RECONCILIATION Jesus doesn't leave us with just a sense of dread of God's judgment. He tells us plainly what to do. Jesus has a one-step solution. We are to be reconciled to the person with whom we are angry or with whom we are using contemptuous words about them. Jesus uses two situations of his day to illustrate the necessity of taking action immediately and to seek to be reconciled. The first illustration is in: Matthew 5:23-24 HCSB So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, (24) leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. It was important to bring your offering to the altar in Jesus' day. But Jesus insists it is far more important that a person be reconciled to his brother than he is to discharge his religious duty. To put it in the terminology of today we could say, "It is more important to be cleared of offense before all men than to show up for Sunday morning worship at the regular hour. Forget the worship service and be reconciled to you brother; and only then worship God." It is easy to substitute ceremony for integrity, purity and love. How do you become reconciled to an offended brother? First, acknowledge that there is a broken relationship. Next, be willing to say, "I was wrong. Will you please forgive me?" If you are angry with someone who has offended you, go to January 27, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 4
them and make your feelings and offense known to them. Seek to be reconciled. Finally, treat the person as if there is nothing between you. It is absolutely necessary to be reconciled to your brother if you want God to respect your worship, your devotion, your religious commitment. Next Jesus uses the situation of going to a court of law with an adversary. Verses 25 and 26: Matthew 5:25-26 HCSB Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you're on the way with him, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge, the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. (26) I assure you: You will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny! Two men are on their way to court to settle a dispute between them. They are still arguing on the way! Jesus says the two men should settle the matter now, before they are in the courtroom with the judge. It may be costly to settle it now; it will certainly be humbling. But if it continues, one man may find himself in prison and unable to get out until he has paid the last cent. Would you want to be the man who is found liable? If you have a point of contention with someone, you need to settle it now and not wait until you stand before the judgment seat of God. Who knows, God may find you in the wrong and what will you do then? So Jesus anger management plan is to deal with anger and broken relationships quickly, before the consequences of our bitterness get completely out of control and we wind up standing before God to give an account of our actions and words which are not acceptable to God. His plan is for us to always work for reconciliation. CONCLUSION What are our take-aways from this passage of Scripture? One, is that Jesus has the ultimate authority to interpret Scriptures for us and to apply it. He is the King in God s Kingdom and if we are His subjects in His Kingdom, we will listen to Him and follow Him. Two, is that not only the letter of the law that is meant to be obeyed, but the spirit of the law, the inner meaning of the law. Our attitude towards others is very important. It includes not only how we treat others, but how we think about others, January 27, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 5
and what we say about others. We need to work on our attitude, especially our attitude of anger. God will help us, if we are willing. Three, the goal that God wants us to work toward is reconciliation with those whom we have offended and those who has offended us. This is more important than our outward religious practices in worship! How do we find strength to be reconciled to others? First, by coming to Jesus in repentance and faith and receiving a new heart, a regenerate heart, and forgiveness. Then, by trusting the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our natural tendency to have hatred, strife, jealousy, and outbursts of anger in our hearts, which are works of the flesh and replace these with love, joy, patience, longsuffering for others. Then our righteousness will surpass that of the Pharisees. Amen? Amen! January 27, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 6