COME TO JESUS
The Downward Slide of Sin
By Laura Ackley
Verse of the Week: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgement.’ But I say to you that every who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, “You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matt. 5:21-22).
Extended Reading: Matthew 5:21-26.In His longest recorded sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained the inauguration of His upside-down Kingdom and the expected behavior of its citizens. In a shocking statement, Jesus explained that to be a member of the Kingdom of Heaven, people needed to possess a righteousness that exceeded that of the scribes and the Pharisees (Matt. 5:20).
This statement would have rattled all of Jesus’ listeners. The Pharisees and scribes were supposed to be experts in both knowing and living out the laws of God. How could anyone accomplish a righteousness that surpasses the experts?
In attempting to answer this questions, Jesus’ listeners might have assumed that Jesus meant to do away with the law altogether. This was not the case. Instead, Jesus would go on to explain that righteousness begins at the heart-level. The religious leaders of the day might have looked righteous on the outside, but Jesus invited His listeners to zoom in on the heart.
In Jesus’ call to true righteousness, he began with an extreme: murder. Clearly, everyone agrees that murder is morally wrong.
Jesus taught,
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgement.’ But I say to you that every who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, “You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matt. 5:21-22).The people had not been taught incorrectly; Murder was strictly prohibited by God on numerous occasions in the Old Testament.
Jesus took the command a step further by forbidding sinful anger, insults, and remarks of contempt like “you fool.” Why? Surely such grievances are not comparable to murder. Well, Jesus seems to be forbidding the sins that take root in a heart and could lead someone to devalue a life.
Let’s begin with anger. Anger is an emotion. It is often fleeting and dissipates once a person has opportunity to “cool down.” Although there are examples of anger in the Word of God that are not sinful, Jesus seems to be referring to the type of anger that is sinful at its core. These strong feelings of hostility or annoyance are often rooted in our pride as sinful anger is selfish at its core. When feelings of anger arise, we are challenged to be like our God who is
“the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6).Here is the thing about anger, if we do not put it away, it will often morph into something more sinister. Often, sinful anger leads to the second sin on the list that the Lord Jesus prohibits—insults.
It is no surprise that anger is linked to insults. Out of the overflow of our hearts, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).
Often, when negative emotions bubble up, they overflow into all kinds of sinful speech patterns such as name-calling, gossip, slander, sarcasm, passive aggressiveness, and harsh speech.
All of which are certainly not fitting for a citizen in the Kingdom of Heaven. As the people of God, we are called to
“let [our] speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt… (Col. 4:6).Additionally, we are to let
“no corrupting talk come out of [our] mouth[s], but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29).
When we fail to honor the Lord by dealing with our anger and muzzling insults, our hearts continue down the slippery slope and land in feelings of contempt.Jesus explained that we should not call someone a “fool” in a devaluing way that shows contempt. The word for fool that Jesus used is understood to mean more than just “stupid” or “dumb.”
In its original language, to call someone a fool was to declare them as underserving of worth or basic consideration as human being. This is what it means to hold someone in contempt.
When contempt enters a heart, we are in danger of believing that a person is beneath our consideration. We might even believe that the person has no value. When we have lost sight of the innate worth and value that a person has as an image bearer of God, we are in very serious, dangerous territory from which our loving God wants to protect us. Not everyone who harbors contempt for another person ends up a murderer, obviously. But Jesus is highlighting the truth that contempt in a heart has the power to cause someone to consider the unthinkable.
Sinful anger expressed in its many forms can lead to contempt which can lead a heart into breaking the sixth commandment.To illustrate this point, let’s return to the experts in the law—the Scribes and Pharisees.
They would have proudly explained that they obeyed all of God’s commands. Surely, they were not guilty of murder.
And yet Jesus says of them,
“woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, but outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness… (Matt. 23:27-28).Jesus looked at their hearts. He knew that their hearts were full of anger toward Him.
The “righteous” religious leaders held Jesus in such contempt that they orchestrated His death on a cross. Their hatred for Jesus led to them seeking His murder. Jesus calls them out on it,
“I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my words find no place in you” (John 8:38).Instead of submitting to the true Kingdom of Heaven in their midst, they succeeded in killing the incarnate son of God. What they didn’t realize was that Jesus’ death on the cross was the will of God for accomplishing believers’ righteousness at a heart-level before God.
Knowing this, let us not be like the Pharisees and scribes. We must be willing to address sin at the heart-level so that we do not decay into beautiful tombs full of dead men’s bones. In Jesus’ wisdom, He challenges His followers to not just consider how we appear on the outside and in the eyes of others, but to care very much about all that is going on within our hearts. Because of His great love for us, Jesus doesn’t just declare, “Do not murder!” Instead, He asks us all to take a closer look at our hearts and deal with any dangerous and destructive anger, speech patterns, and contempt that we may or may not be harboring.
The truth is, holding on to anger and contempt hurts us. It steals our peace and leaves us bothered. Due to this, Jesus addressed His heart for reconciliation. Jesus said,
“… if you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your bother has something against you, leave your gift there at the alter and go. First be reconciled to your bother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matt. 5:23-24).In the eyes of Jesus, reconciling takes precedence over offering gifts and sacrifices to God. He would much rather see us humbled, learning to forgive.
If you have anger in your heart, come to Jesus and ask Him to teach you how to let go. If you consider a person underserving of consideration and genuinely hate them in your core, come to Jesus and let Him touch that area in your life. Come humbly and honestly before God knowing that your heart is already exposed before Him.
Come to Him and ask Him for His help loving as He loves.
Come to Jesus.
