What did HE say? (continued)
Thoughts on The Sermon (Part 2)
“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:21-22).
In these two short verses by the Master we have some of the most powerful and life changing parts of His teaching. He is comparing for us killing and anger and though this may seem to be strange, it is at the very heart of the reality of His Christianity. Let us look at this in small pieces and try to get a real understanding of how these verses can affect our lives and keep us from His Presence. First there is kill; according to the Greek Lexicon the word phoneuo in Greek is to kill, slay, murder; to commit murder** so we know this is not any accidental or unintentional killing. Then there is angry and this word in Greek is orgizo for which the lexicon gives a definition of to provoke, to arouse to anger; to be provoked to anger, be angry, be wroth**. The definition from Webster’s 1828 is much broader and clearer as to what anger means to us: Gr. to strangle, to strain or draw together to vex. The primary sense is to press, squeeze, make narrow; Heb. to strangle. A violent passion of the mind excited by a real or supposed injury; usually accompanied with a propensity to take vengeance, or to obtain satisfaction from the offending party. This passion however varies in degrees of violence, and in ingenuous minds, may be attended only with a desire to reprove or chide the offender. Anger is also excited by an injury offered to a relation, friend or party to which one is attached; and some degrees of it may be excited by cruelty, injustice or oppression offered to those with whom one has no immediate connection, or even to the community of which one is a member. Nor is it unusual to see something of this passion roused by gross absurdities in others, especially in controversy or discussion. Anger may be inflamed till it rises to rage and a temporary delirium*. Rather lengthy but it does give a real picture of the depth and breadth of anger.
So we have the Master equating anger with murder. Saying that the thought that can cause the killing can be as evil as the killing even if the killing would not have occurred. There is much misunderstanding in the Christian world regarding anger and Jesus’ teaching is rather ignored in favor of what the Apostle Paul says in: “be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26) which is taken to mean it is alright to be angry but don’t let it last past the day. Jesus tells us here that it is the same to be angry with your brother as it is to kill; the result is the same. In this verse the King James Version (KJV) adds the words without cause which only appear in the KJV and texts that come from it. The Revised Version (RV) and the American Standard Version (ASV) and most all others do not translate the verse with these words. This makes the KJV, which is taken from later manuscripts, seem to say it is alright to be angry if you do have a cause. Some believe that these words were added to some manuscripts to lessen the severity of this verse. In your own looking on this and judging the intent you may recall that other religions hold the same truths. The Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, explains that the gates of hell are three and lists them as lust, anger and greed (16:21). Is this any different in Christianity, are they not all contrary to the teachings of the Master. The Buddhist scripture lists passion, enmity and folly (words differ by translation but the intent is the same) as things to avoid saying give up the old ways, know the truth and find peace (Dhammapada, Shamballa Publications pg 6) [from In the Words of Jesus Part 3].
This wording however is not the issue for us today as much of the type of anger that occurs in this world today is without cause or rather without real cause. I speak not of the bad feelings between one person and another borne out of some offense; I speak of the mass anger that is so prevalent in the world today as the prejudices and the hatreds of one group against another. This is the point of importance. Viewed in the light of the overall tenor of Jesus’ teachings on Love and this specific teaching on anger we should see that what we do is not only wrong but against the very grain of Christianity. It is, in this country (USA), so common for professed Christians, who believe that they are saved and born again, to express anger with its hatred and prejudice against so many. But whether we are professed Christians or not does not make this any more wrong or right. Before we continue here and so that we have a more complete understanding, let us complete the text of this verse where there is additional levels of wrong applied for saying to another Raca and still greater for calling another a fool. These words in their biblical usage are rather straightforward. Raca is simply to say vain fellow which means to say to another that they are worthless or as the lexicon puts it empty, i.e. a senseless, empty headed man; a term of reproach used among the Jews in the time of Christ**. Saying thou fool is to say just that another is foolish and, in a biblical sense according to the lexicon, impious, godless** which is to imply a heathen nature to another.
Looking at the whole of this verse then can we not see that all of our attitudes towards others that are hate based place an anger within ourselves against a person or a group. Whether they be based on race or religion or social standing, we will find in these attitudes at least one of the three wrongs put forth by Jesus’ teaching. Examine our attitude towards immigrants, especially the ones here illegally, is there anger against them and a tendency to call them worthless. Examine our attitude towards other religions, especially the Muslim Faith, is there a tendency to call them heathens and be angry at them as a group for what a few have done. And how do we, as Christians, feel about people who are of Hindu or Buddhist or Wicca faiths; do we feel that they are worthless in God’s eyes and say so. And what about other differences; how do we look on the homeless, the poor, the afflicted or simply those who are just different from ourselves whether they be gay or lesbian or cultish. If this were not enough, we also have these attitudes in political debate with anger over elections and hatred for the other side with nary a kind word spoken.
If we have thoughts and attitudes of anger towards others; if we think of others as worthless or condemn others as fools we not only go against the precepts of this verse but against the whole of Jesus teaching which is LOVE.
To further His thought Jesus continues His sermon saying: “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). It is interesting here that His words are not that you may remember having something against another; it is the opposite. He tells us that if “thy brother hath ought against thee” which is to say that if we are living in accordance with the previous verse and have no anger and no animosity towards our brother it is not enough if we know that a brother is angry with us. We must go and repair this as well before offering our gift to the Lord.
Now these are, all of them, difficult sayings when looked upon through the eyes of the carnal man. When looked upon from a spiritual perspective however they do take on a different light. When we are allowing the Light that is within us to shine forth through our interactive personalities; when our focus is on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and not on the daily everyday grind of worldly living, then we can see these points more clearly and perhaps this is Jesus’ message: That we should, as He tells us consistently throughout the gospels, not concentrate on the minute affairs of this life but we should set our eyes on the things above and in doing this we are much less likely to be angry with anyone or anything. If our focus is on being right with God ourselves we will not care what others do or what they think; in the absence of a selfish attitude, whether for us or our family or group, there is little reason for anger or animosity. If we treat others as we would have others treat us it is unlikely that anyone will have anything against us. This is why it is called the GOLDEN RULE.
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:7-9). This Quote of the Day was used in a previous post in a dialogue about eternal life. I use it as the Quote of the Day today because it also bears upon today’s subject in that when we are sowing to the flesh we will reap those things in life. Living carnally will allow us to anger because of the selfish nature of that life. Whenever we are looking out for ‘I’ or ‘we’, anything that we perceive against these will anger us. In the reality of spiritual living these same things would most likely not bother us at all.
- * Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
- ** from New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
