Matthew 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.

 

The Southern Baptist Convention, of which Central Baptist Church is a part, has seven seminaries.  That is, there are seven seminaries that receive Cooperative Program funding and are officially considered to be “our seminaries.”  Each seminary has a president, as well as other officers.  While our seminaries are not perfect, they are, I believe, by and large, a credit to Southern Baptists.  Even so, they are staffed by human beings and, over the years, problems and conflicts inevitably arise.

One such conflict caught my attention some years ago.  It involved the firing of one of our seminary presidents.  I will not name the president or the seminary, for nobody should be dogged by their sins from years ago, especially when, as a friend of mine who knows him informed me, he genuinely repented and the Lord has done a real work of grace in his heart.

The title of the article I read reporting on his initial confession of wrongdoing to the Board of Trustees (that shortly thereafter led to his firing) was, “_________ Seminary president told to deal with his anger.”  The article reported that this seminary president had a serious problem with anger and that he “repeatedly bec[a]me enraged [and] used profanity with subordinates.”  The president confessed to all of this.  His particular wording struck me as interesting.  He said he had been guilty of “misappropriation of anger.”[1]

That wording (“misappropriation of anger”) is interesting because it means the “misuse” or “wrongful use” of anger.  If the brother in question used anger wrongly, that means it is possible to use anger rightly.  And, of course, we would all agree that there is a rightful appropriation of anger.  We should be angry, for instance, against injustice, the abuse of the weak by the strong, the perversion of the gospel, etc.  There are times when we should be angry.  There are even times when it is wrong not to be angry, as in the examples I just mentioned above.  For instance, in a poem by Jane M. Nirella, she writes:

God,

Grant me the grace

of anger,

Turn me into

a howling wind

to hasten change

where injustice stagnates;

make of me

a tempest

to conquer grinding sorrow.

Hammer at my

hard heart’s door;

smash the lock

of my indifference.

May the grace of anger

transform

my cowardly spirit.

Amen.[2]

In this case, Mrs. Nirella asks the Lord to help her be angry about injustice in the world.  It is almost a cry of repentance for her lack of anger.  We should have righteous anger over evil in the world.  Even so, it must be said that the majority of times we deal with anger it has more to do with pride than righteousness.  More times than not, our anger is a revelation of our own sinfulness and our own distance from God.

A few years ago I reached a point where I felt like I just needed to clear my own head, so I took an afternoon and took a long, slow walk through a place called Calloway Gardens in Columbus, GA.  Calloway Gardens is a lot like Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs.  On the way I picked up, on a whim, a little paperback copy of the sayings of that strange group of men we call “the Desert Fathers.”  The Desert Fathers is a phrase referring to a number of Christian men and women who withdrew from society moved to the desert to live in solitude in the 3^rd and 4^th centuries.  While they did not seek attention, they got plenty of it, and people soon flocked to see them and hear what they had to say.

As I sat in the little chapel at Calloway Gardens reading this collection of sayings, I was struck by how many times the Desert Fathers mentioned the dangers of anger.  For instance, one of the Desert Fathers named Agatho was prone to say, “Even if an angry man were to revive the dead, he would not be pleasing to God because of his anger.”  Another, a man named Isidore, who was the elder of Scete, was asked by another brother, “Why is it that the demons are so grievously afraid of you?”  He replied, “From the moment I became a monk I have striven to prevent anger rising to my lips.”  Another Desert Father, Ammonas, spent fourteen years praying that he would be free of anger.[3]

Yes, we are more apt to misappropriate anger than to use it appropriately.  And oftentimes, as in the case of the seminary president mentioned above, anger gets the better of us and we end up paying quite a price for it.  It is therefore all the more significant to notice that Jesus, after calling on His followers to exercise righteousness, began his list of illustrations of this exercise of righteous with a warning about anger.

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.

I. The “You have heard…But I Say” Formula Establishes the Deity of Jesus (v.21-22)

Before we consider anger in particular, I would like for us to acknowledge a shocking little formula that Jesus uses here and that He will use in the five illustrations following this (that we will consider over the next five weeks).  You can find this formula in the beginning phrases of verses 21 and 22.

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of old… ²² But I say to you…

Why is this shocking?  It is shocking because, in using it, Jesus is claiming deity for Himself.  He is, in fact, claiming to be God.  How so?  Because when Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said,” He is referring to Almighty God.  We know this because God is the one who gave the commandment that Jesus goes on to quote (“You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.”).  Furthermore, in the five illustrations that follow this one, Jesus begins with that phrase or some variation of it:  “You have heard that it was said to those of old…”  In every case He then mentions one of the commandments.

Of course, it was appropriate and right for a Rabbi to say that:  “You have heard that it was said to those of old…”  What He says next, though, is a very big problem:  “But I say to you…”  While Jesus does not go on to rebut the commandments or reject them (as we saw last week, such a notion was completely absent from His mind), He does interpret them in ways that were unique and surprising.

I do not wish to belabor this point.  I simply want to point out that unless Jesus is Himself God, the phrase, “But I say to you,” after the phrase, “You know what God said before,” is monstrously blasphemous.  If I ever stand before you and say, “God’s Word says this…but I say…” you should run me out on a rail before I finish the sentence.  Why?  Because no human being has the right to say, “But I say to you,” after quoting the words of God.  Only God can rightly say what God means and intends.  Thus, for Jesus to say, “But I say to you,” is for Jesus to say a great deal about Himself.

At this point we also need to recognize an important Old Testament prophecy that was fulfilled by Jesus Christ.  We need to do grasp this now or else we will not understand what Jesus is doing with these, “But I say to you,” phrases.  The passage is in Jeremiah 31:

³¹ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. ³³ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The Lord said that He would establish a new covenant, a new agreement with His people.  One of the central marks of this covenant is that it will reposition the Law of God from outside of man to inside of man’s heart.  Meaning, the fulfillment of the Law will have less to do with adherence to external rules than it has to do with the internal condition of the human heart.  (Though, again, let us remember that Jesus adamantly said He did not come to abolish the Law.)

I would suggest that this was the intent and upshot of the Law all the time, but what the Lord said was that the day would come when that reality (i.e., the reality that the Law is only truly abided by and fulfilled when righteousness takes root in the human heart) would move to the forefront.  Why this is significant for us to understand at this point is because it is here, in the Sermon on the Mount, and in this section of the Sermon in particular, that Jesus begins to define righteousness in terms of heart-health not rule-keeping.  As we will see today and in the weeks to come, Jesus moves us to a deeper understanding of the nature of righteousness and holiness.  And, in so doing, He shows that the new covenant that God said would come had indeed come in Jesus Himself.  This is why, in Luke 22:20, at the last supper, Jesus takes the cup and says, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

II. Unchecked Anger is a Great Evil That Will Be Judged (v.21-22)

To illustrate how the new covenant under which we live works, Jesus begins with the issue of anger.

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’

So here we have the Law, the sixth commandment to be exact.  “Do not murder.”  And for ages upon ages, the people of God sought to abide by that commandment.  Of course, it is a measurable commandment.  You have either killed somebody or you haven’t.  At least, that’s how the commandment came to be viewed.  So the scribes and Pharisees, and, likely, everybody, came to view this commandment with a kind of indifference.  After all, most people have probably not killed somebody.  So this became one of the “filler” commandments in the popular consciousness.  “You shall not murder.”  “No problem,” we are inclined to think, “I haven’t murdered anybody!”

That seems clear cut.  But then Jesus adds His, “But I say to you,” and are attention is grabbed.

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.

Do you see what Jesus is doing?  God said, “A new covenant is coming.  The Law will be written on your heart.  The heart is where true righteousness is found.”  And Jesus says, essentially, “Ok, you haven’t murdered anybody.  But what is the heart issue that leads to murder?  It is anger.  To have anger in your heart toward another person is to murder him.  What good is it if you have not murdered with your hands if you are consistently murdering with your heart?”

The wording Jesus uses here is significant. Charles Quarles notes that “the term used for ‘anger’ (orgizo) here is a very intense term.  Elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel, the term is used only of anger that is a prelude to destructive behavior…The verse is never used to describe the anger of Jesus.”  Further, Quarles points to the fact that the word is a present participle, which denotes an ongoing, progressive state, to suggest that the word is used by Jesus to refer to “enduring anger as well as destructive rage.”[4]

So the anger Jesus is speaking of is the kind of anger that would lead to murder.  This is a deep spirit of anger, a kind of growing rage that slowly grips the angry person.  I do not say this to excuse our small bursts of anger.  In fact, the small bursts of anger we indulge lead inevitably to this deep spirit of anger.  Anger also leads to murder, but, before it gets there, it usually manifests itself verbally in insults.

^22b …whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

A.T. Robertson says that (raca) is an Aramaic word meaning “empty” and that the word for “You fool!” (more) is a Greek word meaning dull or stupid.  What is more, the word raca contains a phonetic insult in that the Aramaic pronunciation of it sounds like a man clearing his through to spit in another man’s face.[5]  Roberson quotes Bruce to the effect that raca communicates contempt for a man’s head while more, “fool,” communicates contempt for a man’s heart.[6]  So we are speaking here of anger that emanates from an enraged heart and that manifests itself initially in verbal assaults but would, if it could, manifest itself in physical assault.

If you think that you can traffic in verbal assaults without going all the way to physical assaults, please note that Jesus is putting insults as the first step in an inherently progressive process that leads to murder itself.  The heart that would insult is in fact the heart that would kill.  It does no good to say that you have merely insulted a human being, but you haven’t killed him.  In fact, an insult is nothing less than character assassination and an effort to kill a man’s name.  It is a form of murder, and it may, in fact, lead to murder.

Anger is progressive in the way that lust is progressive.  It is never satisfied.  This is likely why, if you read verse 22 carefully, the punishments for anger that Jesus mentions are increasingly more and more intense.

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.

If you’re angry, you’re liable to judgment in court.  If you call your brother raca you will have to stand before the Sanhedrin, the high Jewish court.  And if you call a man a fool you are “liable to the hell of fire.”

We should see anger for the ugly thing it is.  Martin Luther, a man who struggled with anger himself, said this:

We indulge in anger, rage, and villainy as though we were doing a fine and noble thing.  Really, it is high time that we started to deplore and bewail how much we have acted like rogues and like unseeing, unruly, and unfeeling persons who kick, scratch, tear, and devour one another like furious beasts and pay no heed to this serious and divine command, etc.[7]

It is true that not all anger is sinful anger.[8]   It is technically true.  Experientially, though, we rarely show ourselves to be responsible stewards of anger.

III. The Solution to Anger is a Transformed Heart Confirmed by Humble Action (v.23-26)

How, then, do we guard ourselves against this pernicious evil of anger?  Jesus shows us the way in what He says next.

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.

Let’s unpack these amazing words by listing the steps to combating anger that we find in them.

(1) Realize That Sinful Anger Disrupts Your Relationship With God (v.23)

It is significant that, in Jesus’ example, the person realizes his anger during worship.  He is offering a sacrifice at the Temple in Jerusalem when he remembers that another person has reason to be offended with him.

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.

So this happens at church!  Have you ever had that experience?  Have you ever been singing a hymn about love and forgiveness and God’s grace and then realized that you have wronged another person?  In the immediate context, you have wronged them by harboring sinful anger against them.  But it could be any wrong.

The point to note here is that Jesus cautions us not to offer our offering if we remember that we have wronged another person.  This is because the undealt-with anger renders our offering null and void.  Sinful anger and conflict disrupts our relationship with God.  This explains to us what Peter meant when he wrote this in 1 Peter 3:

⁷ Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord Jesus is much more interested in the condition of your heart than in the volume of your hymn singing or the amount of your giving.  If you have wronged another person, your offerings to God, whatever they may be, will be stymied.

(2) Go to the Person You Have Wronged (v.24)

So you realize that somebody has something legitimate against you.  What then?

²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Go to the person you have wronged.  The longer you wait, the harder it will become and the more your relationship will be damaged.  If you are in the wrong, go the person and make it right.  Apologize.  Ask their forgiveness.  Be reconciled.  If you are not sure that you are in the wrong but think you might be, go anyway and talk it out.  If you are convinced you are not in the wrong, ask the Lord to search your heart and make sure one way or another.

Let me just say at this point that it is amazing how much conflict ensues in churches because people will not talk.  Christian people, for some reason, have a great deal of trouble simply talking to one another.  Your personal relationships, as well as the unity of the body of Christ, are worth the initial awkwardness of the conversation you need to have.

(3) Go Quickly and Try to Make Amends (v.25a)

Next, go quickly.

²⁵ Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court

Jesus recommends hopping up in the middle of church and going out to make things right.  There is no delay in His instructions.  It is gloriously awkward!  Paul says the same in Ephesians 4:

²⁶ Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and give no opportunity to the devil.

Why should we immediately get to work when the Lord brings us conviction in this matter?  Because the devil has immediately gotten to work in the moments you are not speaking.

(4) Realize That Undealt With Anger and Wrong Will Have Its Punishment (v.25b-26)

Jesus spoke of the certainty of punishment in v.25b-26:

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.

Next, it is important that we reject the notion that undealt-with anger is no big deal, that it will just fade away, and that it will carry no consequences.  As a matter of fact, it will have its punishment, both internally and externally.  Internally, doctors say that unresolved anger can have physical results on your heart.  It will also feed a further spirit of anger that will slowly consume your whole being.  Externally, it will erode your relationships and distort your very face.  In terms of earthly punishment, it may very well lead to devastating consequences here.  Regardless, it will ultimately be dealt with at the divine bar of justice if not repented of and confessed.

(5) Learn to Combat Anger by Allowing the Charitable Patience and Hope of Jesus to Take Root in Your Heart

Finally, it is important to understand that just as anger leads to a disposition of anger, so love leads to a disposition of love.  That is why it is so very important that we cultivate individual hearts of love as well as a corporate spirit of love.  In Ephesians 4, Paul put it like this;

¹ I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷ But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Notice the positive virtues that combat a spirit of anger:  humility, gentleness, patience, love, eagerness for unity, peace.  Why?  Because we are one body in Jesus Christ!

Would you say that your personal disposition lends itself to congregational peace or congregational discord?  It’s in the little things that the battle is won or lost.

For instance, consider how developing the habit of charitable compliment can combat a spirit of anger.  What if you simply determined (a) to speak no ill of any person and (b) to speak good instead.  People used to say of the Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte, “Watch out for Whyte! All his geese become swans.”[9]  That is, he could find something good to say about everybody.  In doing so, he kept his own heart from anger and he did his part to fight a spirit of anger as well.

Finally, let us, as a church, help one another to combat anger.  Let us calm one another when we become tempestuous.  Let us reason with one another when we fall into blind rage.  Let us stir one another up to love and patience and kindness, realizing that we’re all on the same journey to Christlikeness, a journey in which we need the loving support of one another.  As Stanley Hauerwas put it:

Anger and lust are bodily passions.  We simply are not capable of willing ourselves free of anger or lust.  Jesus does not imply that we are to be free of either anger or lust; that is, he assumes that we are bodily beings.  Rather, he offers us membership in a community in which our bodies are formed in service to God and for one another so that our anger and our lust are transformed…Jesus, however, is not recommending that we will our way free of lust or anger, but rather he is offering us membership in a people that is so compelling we are not invited to dwell on ourselves or our sinfulness.[10]

Let us become that kind of community.