In the lessons that follow Jesus begins to explain the difference between what the Pharisee’s religion teaches and what God says on a variety of subjects. From this point through the end of Matthew 5, Jesus makes this comparison by saying, “You have heard that it was said," then ending with, “but I say to you”. We are going to notice that He gets even more direct in His comments and in exposing their hypocrisy.
Maybe I should set the context of the next red letters in Matthew 5:21 by reminding you of what Jesus has just said in 5:20. “And I’m telling you right now; you’re going to have to do a better job of following God’s Word than the scribes and Pharisees are doing. They’re always careful to follow the rules they’ve made, but they ignore the important principles in God’s commands. You can’t find the Kingdom of Heaven that way.” So, He calls them out by name, just so there’s no confusion about just who He’s talking about (and who He’s talking to, as I’m sure some of them were in the crowd).
The first thing He talks about is anger. “I’ll show you what I mean. They’ve been saying for a long time now that you can’t commit murder. And if you do, you’ll stand trial and suffer the proper punishment for your crime.” (Verse 21) The KJV “Thou shalt not kill” is a quote of Exodus 20:13; however the last part of the verse about being “in danger of the judgment” is not a quotation of any Old Testament scripture, so it was probably a common, later addition. It is interesting though that “judgment” is from krisis, and is a word that was often used to describe a particular Jewish court of justice that existed before the Roman occupation in Judea established a court system that had the sole power of life and death (remember, Jesus was crucified by Roman soldiers, the earlier Jewish court carried out the death penalty most often by strangulation, sometimes by beheading).
“What are they trying to say? You’re a good person if you’ve never committed murder? This is what I say, Is it permissible to be angry with someone for no good reason? Is it O.K. to tell your brother he’s worthless? Is it O.K. to hold on to your anger and say someone is morally or even spiritually empty? Murder isn’t the only crime that deserves punishment. If you continually hurt others with your anger, you’re in danger of eternal punishment.” (Verse 22) So, what’s the comparison here. The Pharisees admit murder is wrong; but Jesus says, what about the issue of anger? When you don’t control your anger, it becomes a destructive force and often leads to dangerous and destructive actions (the Pharisee’s anger in Nazareth had already resulted in them trying to kill Jesus and some in the crowd here had plotted together how they might kill Him).
Here, Jesus uses two terms to illustrate the progression of uncontrolled anger. The first is raka, an Aramaic term of contempt that carried the meaning of being empty or worthless. The second is moros, from which we get the English “moron”. Moros is commonly used to describe someone thought to be stupid or foolish. However, the context of its usage more often suggests the additional meaning of moral worthlessness and even spiritual emptiness.
Actually, Jesus addresses two issues here related to anger. The first is that anger reveals the condition of the heart and the true source of wrong attitudes that can possibly lead to wrong actions. The second is even more important. Jesus considers the attitude to be just as harmful as the action! See what He says above, “Murder isn’t the only crime that deserves punishment. If you continually hurt others with your anger, you’re in danger of eternal punishment.” Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:26 to control our anger and not let it lead us to sinful, hurtful actions. And in Galatians 5:22 self-control is a fruit of the Spirit.
In the next two verses the context is still anger and how to deal with it. “When you come into the presence of God to commune with Him, and then remember someone is hurt because of your anger, Stop right there! Go to that person and ask for their forgiveness. After all, how can you ask God to openly accept you when you know you’re holding on to your anger by refusing to be reconciled to your brother? God won’t honor that.” (Verses 23-24) So, let me first explain my translation above. When I talk about coming into the presence of God to commune with Him, it’s an expansion of the meaning of thusiasterion, translated “altar” and used in the New Testament to both describe a place of sacrifice or a place to meet with God in an individual, personal way. With either description, the word implies being in the presence of God.
Then there’s the issue of being “reconciled” with a brother. This is from diallassomai, interestingly, another word used by Jesus in this passage that is not found anywhere else in the New Testament. It means, to be reconciled (to restore friendly relations), but applies to a quarrel that may be one-sided or two-sided, determined by the context. Jesus uses this word to point out the fact that no one is exempt from the responsibility of reconciliation regardless of who may be at fault, one or both. I really think Jesus expressed it this way to let the Pharisees know they could not (regardless of their attempts to justify their wrong attitudes) avoid the responsibility of reconciliation.
Further, it’s clear that when reconciliation is needed because of a problem caused by anger, forgiveness is necessary. And, as in most issues, Jesus addresses the subject later in Matthew 18:21-22 when Peter asked Him, “How many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? As many as seven times? To which Jesus answered, No, I’m telling you not just seven times, but seventy times seven.” The meaning of Jesus’ answer is, no, there’s not a definite number of times you should forgive, but an indefinite number. Every time forgiveness is needed, you forgive. Of course, this illustrates the character of God we are to emulate: He does not simply forgive us a certain number of times, then refuses to forgive beyond that; instead, He is always ready and willing to forgive (1 John 1:9).
And while we’re on this subject, let’s look at one more issue that has to do with the character and nature of God and how it relates to forgiveness. I referenced 1 John 1:9 above that tells us when we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive. On a personal note, of the many times I’ve admitted to Him my personal weaknesses and failures and He has forgiven me, not once has He ever come back later to remind me of those past failures. The principle is clear: true forgiveness means whatever is forgiven is gone, never to be brought up again.
The problem with this is that in our body of flesh we have memory and to forgive is not necessarily to forget. And our flesh will make sure the memory of another’s failure will remain fresh in our mind. We have to understand this is a test of our willingness to take on the true character and nature of God and resist the temptation to bring up an offense later, after it has been forgiven (or acknowledge to ourselves that it was never really forgiven in the first place). If you can remember, the context of all this is still anger. Those who continue to bring up the past failures of others have never dealt with their own anger.
Let’s move on. The next part of this passage is Matthew 5:25-26 and is a continuation of Jesus’ comments on anger and reconciliation. “Be willing to settle the cause of an accuser who is taking you to court to get what you have refused to give him. Your stubbornness and his anger are a dangerous combination. Make peace with him on the way. If you don’t, it could mean serious consequences for you. Doing what is good and right is always easier and better than the harsh realities of the world’s system.” A little explanation is needed here. Where I have “be willing” above, the KJV has “agree” from eunoeo, literally, to be well-minded, by implication, to be well-intentioned or to be friends. Then “accuser” is from antidikos, always used to describe an adversary or opponent in a lawsuit, an accuser (compare Luke 18:3).
In this example Jesus assumes the guilt of the accused and cites Roman law that allowed an accuser to force his opponent to go before a judge to plead his case in court. But if the accused would settle on the way to the judge, he would not be tried in the court (this is explained in more detail in Luke 12:58-59). In the example Jesus uses here, there was obviously a monetary debt involved, making the consequences even more difficult. If the debtor was imprisoned, it would be up to others to pay the debt to get him released. The implication of what Jesus is saying is expressed in my expanded translation above. “Doing what is good and right is always easier and better than the harsh realities of the world’s system.”
In this next section Jesus tells us where sin originates. This is what He says, “Then they’ve always said that you can’t have sex with another man’s wife. But I’m telling you they never talk about whether it’s right or wrong to continually look at a woman and have lustful thoughts about her. They want to believe that they have protected their virtue because they didn’t actually commit the sinful act. In reality, they’re corrupted by their wrong thoughts. So, when you find yourself thinking such impure thoughts, don’t avoid the personal pain involved in dealing with them in confession and repentance. It’s far better to experience the discomfort of dealing with your sin, than it is to allow that sin to corrupt your life and possibly lead to your eternal destruction.”
(Verses 27-30)
The first part of verse 27 prohibits adultery and is a quote of Exodus 20:14. And the first point Jesus makes is that the one who continually thinks about the possibility of adultery has already committed it in his heart. The verb “look” (“looketh” in the KJV) is the present participle of ho blepon, and to be accurate should be translated, “keeps on looking”. In other words, the sin is not confined to the act, it begins with the thoughts, it originates in the heart. This is a continual thought pattern, or habitual thoughts that can (and often do) lead to the eventual act. Sexual sin, fornication or adultery is mentioned in every list of the sins of the flesh in the New Testament (Mark 7:21; Romans 1:24; 1 Corinthians 6:9 and Galatians 5:19) and here Jesus is emphasizing the importance of recognizing and dealing with it.
Now there are some who like to take literally what Jesus says about “if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away," or “if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away”. Though I’m pretty sure those who say that have at least had impure thoughts and would never even consider plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand if those thoughts led them to sin.
Of course this is hyperbole, an exaggeration to get the attention of those listening and to emphasize the importance of what Jesus is saying. I sum it up in my expanded translation above. “So, when you find yourself thinking such impure thoughts, don’t avoid the personal pain involved in dealing with them in confession and repentance. It’s far better to experience the discomfort of dealing with your sin, than it is to allow that sin to corrupt your life and possibly lead to your eternal destruction.”
I’ve never looked forward to going into the presence of God to confess my weaknesses and failures and ask for His forgiveness. Above when it says this is “far better”, the KJV says it is “profitable” from sumphero, meaning, advantageous. The application is obvious: dealing honestly with the issue of impure thoughts will keep you from sin and will keep you from experiencing that distance and lack of intimacy with God that can corrupt or even destroy your life.
So, Jesus doesn’t stop with time, He ties it to eternity. The KJV says in both verses 29 and 30, “it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” Here, “hell” is from geenna (or gehenna), always used to describe the place of the eternally lost or condemned (compare Matthew 23:15, as it fits this whole discussion). This is another example of Jesus showing us the supposed doctrine of eternal security (once saved, always saved) is false (Matthew 24:13).
In the next lesson Jesus addresses the issue of easy, convenient divorce - something prevalent in most every culture today.