Righteousness in Daily Life: Anger and Judgment
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 37:37
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· 5 viewsRighteousness in the kingdom of God produces reconciliation within the people of God that fulfills the law.
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“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
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.
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
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.
Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
**Modified from Uprooting Anger by Robert Jones**
Jack became a Christian at age seventeen.
He met Jill when he was 24 and have been married for 11 years.
They have been happily married in an American middle-class dream way.
Yet beneath it all they have long-standing bouts of relational anger.
Jack, is a high achiever and hard worker.
He drives his family to perform with high standards.
When he doesn’t get the results he wants—
things like Jill’s affection,
his supervisors approval,
his daughters obedience.
Jack explodes.
Blazing hot anger.
Anger like a volcano.
This is typically the scene we think of when we talk on the subject of anger.
Jill has anger problem too.
Inside she resents Jack for the demands he places upon her.
She murmurs to herself in frustration.
Upset that she ever got herself in a relationship in the first place.
Ice cold anger.
Anger like the Artic.
Jack and Jill are more angry than they would care to admit.
And the thing is, you and I are more angry than we care to admit.
C.S. Lewis captures this well in The Great Divorce, when describing hell.
He describes it as a town of people that could live in a small area but chose to spread themselves out because all they want is to be “unbothered” “uninterrupted” from one another.
People would only stay in one location for a few years because of the hatred that others had for each other.
It reflects a heart that does not care for what God cares for.
“Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But Pride always means enmity – it is enmity.”
– C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
In this section, Jesus will give six examples referring back to the Mosaic regulations set down by Moses in the law.
In doing so He places Himself over the law of Moses by bringing NEW regulations to what Moses originally said.
Not removing what was spoken by Moses but bringing a greater…
“Jesus thus assumes a tone of superiority over the Mosaic regulations and proves it in each of the six examples.” — A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Matthew 5:22)
These six examples do not displace the OT law but heightens it to its fullness.
Jesus isn’t merely a teacher of the law like Moses.
He is the NEW law giver.
He is heightening the ramifications of the law.
Righteousness in a Broken World.
Righteousness in a Broken World.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
Jesus then quotes from Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17; Deuteronomy 16:18 to show His superiority to the OT law.
The quotation here is of the Ten Commandments.
Jesus is NOT quoting from the religious leaders.
He is quoting from the Mosaic law.
The rest of the verse “whoever murders will be liable to judgment” is a reference to Exodus 21:12, and Leviticus 24:17.
Murder Breaks God’s Law – Visible & External
Murder Breaks God’s Law – Visible & External
This is not Jesus picking up later teaching or interpretation.
He is showing that God intended to forbid murder, but much more than murder.
He intended to remove the attitude that inspired the act of murder.
Jesus does not remove the authority of the OT.
Rather, He extends its authority by extending it to it’s MOST full meaning.
He has not come to tear down the OT law.
He has come to fulfill it.
Think back to examples like Cain outside of the garden of Eden.
They still smelled of the paradise garden.
There were still whiffs of the old perfect paradise.
Yet murder began in the heart of Cain and boiled over to destroying his brother in vain jealousy.
Genesis 4:3–4 (ESV)
In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,
and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.
Cain did not bring the Lord the “first fruit” of the ground.
He gave God the stingy portion.
When his brothers offering was regarded with more favor than his he says…
Genesis 4:4–5 (ESV)
And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
Cain was rejected and this made him upset.
God’s acceptance of Abel over Cain had more to do with their hearts than their offerings.
Their offerings were a reflection of their hearts and Cain withheld a portion of his offering.
The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
Notice the way that God describes anger for Cain.
He describes it as a beast that is “crouching” or the same way an animal would crouch ready to devour its prey.
There was a beast that followed Adam and Eve out of the garden but it wasn’t one that Adam had named in the garden.
The beast was the sin that dwelt in Adam’s heart.
Jack — Is just like Cain.
When he feels rejected, he’s quick to boil over in anger.
Jill — Is just like Cain.
When she has any sense of injustice toward herself, she freezes over in anger.
This beast eventually devours Cain and he rises up and kills his brother.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”
The human heart since the garden of Eden has had this disposition toward his brother.
We ask the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Cain & Abel & Cancel culture
People upset us, we are told.
“Just cut them off.”
“Get rid of that person out of your life.”
“You don’t need that kind of negativity.”
Cancel culture is ONE step removed from full blown homicide.
Viewing relationships as toxic with the need to cut them off is an anti-Christian agenda.
“Our Anger is our whole-personed active response of negative moral judgment against perceived evil”—Robert Jones
It sounds like,
“I would never treat so and so the way they treated me”
“I would never disrespect them they way they disrespected me.”
Matthew 5:22 (ESV)
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…
Unrighteous Anger Equal to Murder – Vertical & Internal
Unrighteous Anger Equal to Murder – Vertical & Internal
“Our Anger is our whole-personed active response of negative moral judgment against perceived evil”—Robert Jones
Active response opposed to passive response.
A passive response sounds like,
“They made me angry!”
“I was angry because of the weather.”
The active response nature of anger shows that we are not passive receipts of anger.
We are actively responsible and liable for our own anger.
“Anger in Scripture conveys emotion, spanning the spectrum from red-hot rage to icy-blue rejection. But it always involves beliefs and motives, perceptions and desires.” —Robert Jones
It’s a whole person response because as much as we hate it, our anger finds us.
Sometimes it finds itself in explosive outburst, like Jack.
At other times, it is the cold and calculated indifference toward another, like Jill.
Either way, our anger finds us out.
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
John is condemning a patterned life of hating people in our life.
Church
If we buy into the cancel culture around us, we are at risk for doing what John warns against here.
We are at risk of committing hatred within our hearts.
It would have been impossible for the OT law to regulate this principle in the OT.
But Jesus applies this principle beyond the outer man and into the inner man.
Jesus applies the realities of the OT to the inner man.
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.
Two Words for “Raca” and “More”
“[Raka] expresses contempt for a man’s head=you stupid!
[Mōre] expresses contempt for his heart and character=you scoundrel”
This is a “damning insult” that treats a brother in the Lord as one who does not belong to the kingdom.
It treats a brother as one who belongs to hell.
Matthew 5:22 (ESV)
…and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
The hell of fire is what is called in other places Ghenna.
Ghenna was the valley outside of Jerusalem where the trash of the city would burn continually.
This is also the same place that idolatrous Jewish people would throw their children as a sacrifice to Molech (2 Kings 23:10).
We will be liable to “Hell Fire” if we say someone is a “fool.”
Jesus elevates the OT teaching in a such a way that even speaking ill of someone or being angry with them is equivalent to murder itself.
Is it ever “right” to be angry?
Righteous anger is indeed possible because Jesus himself at certain points he said to be angry.
Mark 3:4–5 (ESV)
And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.
And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart…
So there's a kind of anger that is good and right.
Righteous anger is a slippery slope because our hearts are bent toward unrighteous anger.
More could be said what makes righteous anger, righteous.
A simple question can get to the heart of our anger and if it's righteous or not.
Does my anger reflect God's disposition on this matter?
Reconciliation is Utmost in the Kingdom.
Reconciliation is Utmost in the Kingdom.
Notice the way that Jesus concludes by making several inferences for the listener.
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
In Old Testament times, a person would need to go to Jerusalem in order to offer a sacrifice.
This would not be a simple process.
It could potentially take several days to go.
Then you would need to stand in line and wait as you gave your sacrifice.
And Jesus picks up on this.
You can picture a man standing in line, waiting, tapping his toe, holding his sacrifice.
And recalling the ways he was angry with his friend or family member that past week.
You can picture him with the little thought bubble that comes up above his head picturing the whole situation.
Jesus’ followers will NOT only answer to God for our murder, but for lingering offenses.
Reconciliation > Worship
Reconciliation > Worship
Our reconciliation between each other is more important to God than our worship.
Our anger is against other people, will ultimately be answerable to God Himself.
Since this is the case, Jesus encourages us to come quickly to terms with those who have offenses against us.
When we’ve remembered that we’ve offended someone, we’re obligated to restore fellowship.
There are no “loose ends” of relationships in the kingdom of God.
Only reconciliation and restoration.
There are three steps in this process...
Matthew 5:24 (ESV)
leave your gift there before the altar…
Leave Your Gift at the Altar.
Leave Your Gift at the Altar.
What is a gift?
Giving money as a gift.
Giving of our worship.
What should Jack or Jill do when they are convicted the next Sunday at service?
They should get up and leave the worship service.
He would rather you leave your gift at the altar and be restored rather than receiving worship from you.
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
The tongue is a small member but BOASTS of LARGE things.
The tongue is a small member but sets ablaze much as it spews venom upon others.
There is NOT one kind of beast that can tame themselves.
They require men to tame them that they may be “ridable” or “gentle” enough to come near to.
In like manner, man cannot tame himself (or his tongue).
The LORD must tame the tongue of a man by bridling him with the Holy Spirit.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
Paul applies this same principle to husbands later and warns of estrangement affecting our relationship with God.
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.
Their prayers are hindered because they are at odds with their wives.
Now picture with me for a minute Jack from earlier.
The guy who continually blows up on his wife.
Picture him saying something like,
“I don’t understand why God feels distant.”
He has continued to blow up on his wife and never sought reconciliation.
I would argue that many people who say things like,
“I don’t feel God’s presence anymore”
“God is distant from me.”
They never consider that they it is actually their anger toward a brother or sister that is causing this grievance.
Matthew 5:24 (NIV)
First go and be reconciled to them…
Go! Be Reconciled.
Go! Be Reconciled.
Mutual conclusiveness after mutual hostility.
The imperative to “Go!” emphasizes the imperative to be reconciled quickly.
Christian — Don’t linger!
To continues to linger and stew in anger only harms your soul.
Don’t linger in iniquity.
Jesus tells them to GO!
GO NOW!
GO and BE RECONCILED!
Matthew 5:24 (ESV)
…and then come and offer your gift.
Then Offer Your Gift.
Then Offer Your Gift.
The conclusion of the reconciliation is restored worship to God.
The answer then is not to stop offering your gifts of worship!
The answer is to first be reconciled and then worship!
What does this mean for people like Jack and Jill?
It means that they need the forgiving and empowering grace of God to live.
It means for all of us that we need the forgiving and empowering grace of God!
Worship becomes a false appearance if we’ve offended others in such a way that they are holding a grudge against us.
Christian
God would rather have you have your brother or sister than He would have your gift.
In the economy of the kingdom, money is not that important.
God is NOT poor.
He doesn’t NEED your gift.
HIGH priority within the economy of God is reconciliation with your brother.
Your brother is of more importance than your gift.
We need to consider leaving our gift at the altar in the same way that Jesus left our sins at the cross.
This word that is used for “leave” though it doesn’t always mean forgiveness has with it the connotation of leaving behind.
God in Christ Jesus has left behind our sins at the cross.
He now NO longer picks them up and holds them against us any longer.
God is calling us to leave behind the gift we are making in the same way that God has left behind our sin.
The opposite of this then is not actually giving the gift.
It is actually to hold onto the other person’s sin and refuse to forgive them.
To continue giving then is more associated with a lack of forgiveness.
Reconciliation in View of the Coming Judgment.
Reconciliation in View of the Coming Judgment.
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.
The second example is that of a legal proceeding.
Word Pictures in the New Testament Matthew 5:25
Compromise is better than prison where no principle is involved, but only personal interest. It is so easy to see principle where pride is involved.
Before a situation warrants a courtroom, it is best to settle with the prosecution.
It is easier to settle a matter before legal proceedings begin and thus the penalty needs exacted.
Therefore, reconcile quickly!
Therefore, reconcile quickly!
Jesus encourages us to reconcile quickly as a response to our anger.
God wants our reconciliation AS an act of worship.
God desire our fellowship with a brother more than “worship.”
The whole of the book of Philippians drives to ONE point of conflict…
I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord.
Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Paul urges them to “agree in the Lord.”
He urges them NOT to agree on the matter.
But in the Lord agree.
He also urges others to help in this.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
God’s nearness is again used as an exhortation to be UNITED.
There is hope for people like Jack and Jill.
There is hope for the angry person.
The hope is that Jesus Christ has secured a way for true reconciliation with others.
The NEW COMMUNITY of faith.
The FIRST fruits of the rule and reign of God on this earth.
The Church of Jesus Christ is to be this community that reconciles with each other by the power of the Spirit.
We reconcile because He has first reconciled with us.
“You cannot love a fellow creature fully till you love God.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
Righteousness in the kingdom of God produces reconciliation within the people of God that fulfills the law.
Righteousness in the kingdom of God produces reconciliation within the people of God that fulfills the law.