Sermon on the Mount – Part 3

Matthew 5 v21-26

All NKJV unless otherwise specified

Matthew 5 v21-26 21“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. 23“Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24“leave

your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25“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. 26“Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of

there till you have paid the last penny.

Jesus refers the hearers in verse 21 to the old testament scriptures……

Then we have in verse 22 “But I say to you……”

Upon initially reading this, we may be led to think that Jesus is contradicting the Old Testament scriptures. But He is

not. Since the Old Testament scriptures came from God, and Jesus is God, and God is the same yesterday, today and

forever (unchangeable), we know that there simply cannot be a contradiction.

Rather Jesus is correcting a perception that was being taught by the religious authorities of the day. In other words, the

true meaning of the old testament scripture had been watered down by the religious leaders of the day. Jesus came to

bring the full meaning of these scriptures to the people.

Before expounding on the above verses, it is of interest to get straight to the point, as per 1 John 3v15 below….

1 John 3 v15 15Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

So we have scripture equating hate with murder. Someone who hates is the same as someone who murders.

If we fall into a comfort zone - thinking because we have not physically murdered anybody that we are innocent of

transgressing the 6th commandment, the above verse quickly brings us back to reality.

Jesus clarifies the commandment (continuing on from Matthew 5v22)

“But I say to you……” – who is speaking here? Not merely a religious teacher, not a Pharisee, but God Himself. He

is the highest and final authority on these matters. If Jesus decided to ‘clarify’ the commandment, we can be assured

that this is God’s intent! Jesus is the TRUTH. He came to dispel lies. We should be careful of what people teach us,

and always confirm what is taught in the Word. Deception has brought down many good intentioned people.

Jesus expounds upon the spiritual meaning of “You shall not murder”.

Whoever is angry at his brother (this means anyone else because we have all come from the same flesh through

Adam), without cause (in other words, the cause of the anger is unjustifiable, the person made an honest mistake, or

our anger does not fit the trespass, the anger is violent in heart, when it leads to thoughts of revenge), then this person

is 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. ‘Raca’ is an Aramaic term of contempt, belittling others to make yourself feel good. It is rooted in

pride. It essentially says “You empty person”. It tramples our brother. The term ‘You fool’ is rooted in spite and

hatred. It looks upon the person as being vile as not to be loved. It is a vengeful heart condition towards the person.

Lets see what David says about this in Psalm 64

Psalm 64 v3-8 3Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words, 4That they may shoot in

secret at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear. 5They encourage themselves in an evil matter; They talk

of laying snares secretly; They say, “Who will see them?” 6They devise iniquities: “We have perfected a shrewd scheme.”

Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep. 7But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they shall

be wounded. 8So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; All who see them shall flee away.

God will shoot down those who use bitter words, those who cut their brother down with the sword of their tongue.

Jesus makes it clear above, these persons are in danger of hell fire.

2 Directions of Offense

Now there are 2 directions for offense – 1) you have something against your brother; and 2) your brother has something

against you. We will briefly cover off the first type here below, but Jesus in the above passage in Matthew is referring to a

brother who has something against you.

1) Offence against your brother.

Mark 11v25 25“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also

forgive you your trespasses. 26“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

The key point here is this------forgiveness – “You don’t give, you don’t get”.

The only people who can get into heaven are those whose sins are forgiven. So a person cannot get into heaven with

unforgiveness in their hearts.

Forgiveness is not just lip service. It is a heart condition.

2) Your brother is offended with you. 23“Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24“leave your

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

If you remember that someone has something against you, Jesus says that we are to go to our brother and be

reconciled to him.

This is the nature of a Christian. A Christian has the nature of God, a nature of reconciliation. Matthew 5v9 “9Blessed

are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.”

Humble yourselves to your brother, confess your fault, ask for his pardon, make restitution where possible.

Do this because otherwise we are unfit for Holy communion with God. We are trying to approach God with wrath,

envy, and malice in our hearts toward our brother. 1 Timothy 2v8 “8I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere,

lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;”

Where reconciliation has been attempted and is rejected by the offended person, make sure that it is not through lack

of trying on our sides. This heart of reconciliation is what God reads.

Be merciful towards those we have something against, and just and fair to those who have something against us.

25“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. 26“Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of

there till you have paid the last penny.

Jesus said that we are to agree ‘quickly’. There is no time for delay or excessive pondering. We quite simply

cannot risk being snatched away before settling these issues.

The ‘prison’ referred to here is the prison of hell.

The only acceptable sacrifice for sin is the blood of Jesus. Since you personally cannot pay that price, there is no

way to buy your way out of hell.

Agree with God quickly on this matter.

“While you are on the way with him” – while we are still alive.

In closing

God is Holy. He cannot and will not drop His standard. We receive Jesus Christ by faith and He cleanses us from sin. We are

not to willfully choose to live in sin but rather repent from (turn from) sin. If we do sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us

and cleanse us from sin if we confess these sins and turn from them. This is a process of sanctification. We need God’s help

every minute of every day to live a live of obedience to God. It is so easy to slip up and fall into sin. Our sinful nature traps us.

But we must believe that sin is no longer our master, and that all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us.

Therefore it is possible to overcome the sins of bitterness, malice, hatred, unforgiveness, gossip, contempt, etc. We need to

trust in God and follow Him. Know His Word and be obedient. We are to be led by the Spirit of God. If we are led by the

Spirit we will be overcomers.