Friday, August 5, 2011

What Jesus Said about Being Good Enough - Anger, Lust, Marriage, Divorce, Part 5 of 34

TEXT: "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.' 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. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny" (Matthew 5:21-26).

IDEA: If we could deal with the motives behind our acts, then they should be judged in court.

PURPOSE: To help listeners understand why Jesus condemns our motives as well as our acts.

Have you ever wondered about our system of justice? Suppose I am so angry at another person that I take a gun and shoot at him and miss. Suppose someone else in anger shoots and kills that person. Why does that person get a different sentence? Am I given a lesser sentence because I am a bad shot?

I. Jesus says that anger that leads to murder should be dealt with harshly (Matthew 5:21-22).

Anger as the motive for murder also deserves its day in court.

If someone in our culture commits murder, what is the process we follow to be sure that justice is done?

Are there different levels of courts that might hear and try the case?

What kinds of things does Jesus say should be subject to the judgment of the courts?

Anger is subject to judgment. What judgment?

"A reservoir of rage exists in each person, waiting to burst out, we fantasize about killing or humiliating our boss or the guy who took our parking space. It is only by growing up in a civilized society of law that we learn the appropriate response" (R. J. Beaber of UCLA).

Jesus is saying that because we all have nursed a violent anger, we should all be taken to court.

Contempt is also forbidden and is subject to the Sanhedrin.

Spitting out words of contempt ("Raca") is allowing anger to be expressed in violent words.

It's like saying "You brainless idiot," "You fool!"

This is what we might term "verbal abuse."

What was the Sanhedrin?

The Sanhedrin was the highest Jewish court in the land.

Anger and contempt are subject to Gehenna (a garbage dump in a ravine south of Jerusalem). Fire continually burned there to consume the garbage. It came to stand for hell, "The fire of Hell."

Have you not hated? Have you not wished that someone else were dead? Have you ever wished or said to someone, "Go to hell!"?

We should all be dragged into court for anger which is serious enough to make some people explode and actually murder.

II. The Law outlawed murder; Jesus outlawed anger.

The Law had prohibited the murder arising from broken relationships which presupposed the reality of evil.

Jesus demands a relationship among brothers in which there is no alienation.

Do you think that Jesus is actually talking about taking people to court because they nurse anger or speak angry words?