Day Fourteen
Matthew 5:21-26 “ 21“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. 23“If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. 25“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, in order that your opponent may not deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26“Truly I say to you, you shall not come out of there, until you have paid up the last cent.”
Jesus then delves into personal relationships. There are five sections to this portion of the Sermon on the Mount. What He said then made people uncomfortable and what He is saying to us now will make us uncomfortable. I am sure some left that day because of what He said. Most of the people stayed. Jesus is not telling them or us that we have a right to things. He is going to say to them and us that our thoughts matter. He is telling us that they matter because other people matter. It cannot be simply about us and our opinion.
Jesus begins with saying, “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.”
Murder is simple and yet complex. It is simple in that it is the taking of another person’s life, but the reasons for each murder make it complex from that point forward. Most of the time it begins in the soul of one person concerning another soul. Anger is complex. We have seventeen words to use for anger from the mild which is irritation to the harsh which is fury. At any point of the spectrum of changes in emotion from irritation to fury, murder can occur. Murder is more than the death of that person. It is an injury to those that love that person. Sometimes the family is emotionally crippled for decades. In one of Chaim Potok’s books, he wrote of a father talking to his son, and he asked his son what does the Talmud say about killing a person. The son said that it said it is wrong. His father explained the reason was because when you kill someone, you don’t only kill that person but also kill all the unborn children and grandchildren. In a sense you kill a world. I have mulled over this and found that it is both true and false. If you kill someone my age the chance of children is behind them, but when you take the life of someone who is young it is true. You kill the potential of that person.
After that statement, the people are agreeing, but He is about to shake them for he says. “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Empty-headed’(Raca), shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”
I had to look up the word Raca to find out what it meant. He moves from murder to the main cause of murder and that is anger. Besides the emotion of anger, there are jealousy and envy which are at the core a form of anger. There is plotting to harm and self-righteous anger. We all have within us the ability to harm others when we use our anger at others.
Jesus is telling them and also us that if our thoughts and our emotions lead us to call others names then that anger will separate us from God. Now I know we all can be guilty of that. Just ride in a car and someone almost causes you to wreck the words fly out. I know I am guilty of this. Something to work on.
Jesus then says to them and us, “If therefore 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 your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”
I think for me it applies to Communion. Before I take communion, I search my heart, and I think of this verse. To me Communion is the most Holy Sacrament because it is reminder of what Jesus did for me, and it is a recommitment to Jesus as my Savior.
Jesus then says, “Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, in order that your opponent may not deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you shall not come out of there, until you have paid up the last cent.”
Jesus is saying make peace with those you have wronged or have wronged you. If you don’t you will pay for that wrong. Anger is a damaging emotion. The more you allow anger to take hold within you… the more it will fester, and will spread throughout your life. Eventually it will begin to block out our ability to love or to receive love.
Jesus knew what He was saying would not be easy for us to do. He would give us a simple answer- “Give our lives to Him and He will change us.” It takes work, but it possible through Jesus to change to where you don’t call people names or let anger control your life. I am better than when I accepted Christ as my Savior. I am better than I was in 2000. But I am hoping I will be better next year than I was this year.
Today’s Question:
What would you change about your temper?
Ever In God’s Love,
Mary Elizabeth Todd
December 3, 2024
I am sorry that there has been a break in my posts… I have been ill, but am better. then my oldest cat Binkey who was fifteen years old. I had him since he was three weeks old. It was a difficult loss for me.
Ruhamah United Methodist Church Bible Verses 