12 Sep 2014
Matthew 5:21-22
Matthew 5:21: “Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22 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.”
Notice the all-important phrase “without a cause”! Even Christ was angry from time to time. It is one thing to be angry at someone who has done something truly terrible. God was angry at Pharaoh for not letting the Israelites go, and He was also very angry with the Pharisees for their hypocritical lives. Jesus was angry with the moneychangers in the Temple. Paul was angry at false teachers who were leading people to Hell. All of this anger was appropriate and right.
However, there are some people who are hateful and cruel ‘just because’. Cain hated Abel, even though Abel had done him no harm. What Jesus is emphasizing is that this sort of internal anger and hate – even if we never act on it – is sinful in and of itself.
The sin does not begin when the person is murdered; instead it begins in the heart. We must be aware that our angers, hatreds, lusts, and envyings are sin, even if we never act on them. Sin begins in the heart. If the action itself is wrong, then the desire to perform that action is also wrong.