Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
February 17, 1985
Murder and Anger
Matthew 5:21-26, KJV
Henry Lee Lucas killed for the first time when he was 23. He stabbed and strangled his 74-year-old mother. After 6 years in an institution for the criminally insane and 8 more years in prison, Lucas was released and began drifting around the country. Over the next 11 years he murdered at least 188 people in 24 states. He claims to have killed at least 360 [these figures have since been disputed*]. At his trial for the murder of a hitchhiker, Lucas boasted that he had crucified some victims and filleted other like fish. He said, "I had nothing but pure hatred. Killing someone is just like walking outdoors. If I wanted a victim, I'd just go get one."
Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of judgment." Fortunately this is true in the case of Henry Lee Lucas. He has been sentenced to death several times now. But Jesus doesn't stop with people like Lucas. He continues: "But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment."
If you were following along in your King James bibles, you noticed that I omitted the phrase that comes after angry - "without cause." The reason I did this is because it doesn't appear in the best and earliest manuscripts of the Bible. Jesus is making a very sweeping statement here - he is outlawing anger.
It is passages like this which reveal the true authority of Jesus. He is taking a commandment from God's word and saying it doesn't go far enough. A typical prophet would proclaim, "Thus says the Lord." The prophet claimed no personal authority at all. A typical rabbi would say, "There is a teaching that . . ." Rabbis didn't give their own opinion unless it could be supported by quotations from great teachers of the past. But Jesus, on his own authority, is replacing scripture itself. One of two things must be true - he is either insane, or he is God's son. To call him a great teacher, period, is to evade the real issue.
I am probably overstating the case when I say Jesus replaced Scripture. What he is really doing is showing God's true intent for the sixth commandment. God ordered the Jews not to murder and then established penalties for those who committed it. In time, many Jews got the idea that if they had not been arrested for murder then they were right with God. It's probably a human tendency - anything is permissible as long as you're not caught.
To put God's law in the right perspective, Jesus says a person who murders and a person who merely gets angry have something in common - they have both broken the intent of the 6th commandment. Our thoughts can be just as important as our actions.
The word Jesus uses for anger is orge. It's the kind of anger you brood about and won't let die. Anger is a lot like cancer. If you let it grow, it begins to feed on you.
Charles Cerling is an American Baptist pastor in Michigan. A few years back he returned to his office after a vacation and began sorting through the mail. As he leafed through the minutes of the last deacons' meeting, one phrase stood out, "We discussed our leadership situation." He knew what that meant, and sure enough, a few days later he was fired.
He says his anger began to build in quantity. The church tried to be kind and let him use all the stationary and phone calls he needed during the 90 days they gave him to find a new church. He used their postage and telephone lines as if money were water. Maybe Guam needed a new pastor. Spending money was an expression of rage. The entire time he entertained himself with fantasies of revenge until he realized it was destroying him. 1 John 3:15 lays it out bluntly: "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."
Charles Cerling checked into a motel for 24 hours and did nothing but pray and study the Bible. God delivered him from the pit of anger.
Jesus doesn't stop with anger. In verse 22 he says you're in danger if you call a brother Raca. This Aramaic word means "empty," so calling someone "raca" is to call them an airhead. Jesus also warns against calling someone a fool. In the Bible a fool is more than an idiot. It has moral and religious connotations. For example, Psalm 14:1 reads, "The fool says in his heart, there is no God."
There does not seem to be much difference between anger and raca and fool but there is a great difference in the penalties. For anger you face judgment, which would be a local court. "Raca" would bring you before the council, which is literally the Sanhedrin. This was the Supreme Court of Israel, the same one that condemned Jesus. Calling someone a fool received the worst punishment of all the fires of hell.
This seems to be a pretty steep price for gossip and cuss words. My grandmother took it literally. Years ago my sister and I were messing around in grandma's living room and my sister did something irritating so I called her a fool. Immediately Grandma whipped around and said, "Don't call her a fool or you'll go to hell." All week long I had been calling her a nitwit and a moron, but "fool" was apparently special.
I'm sure it's wrong to put people down. But I also think Jesus has more in mind than anger and bad names in his passage. The punishments are so extreme he must be focusing on a larger issue. I believe this larger issue is personal relationships. Throughout the passage a key term is "brother." In Jesus' teaching "brother" describes the new relationship we have with other believers once we are saved. We are more than friends, we become family. Anger and bitter words can destroy this special relationship just as surely as murder will.
The two illustrations Jesus uses both focus on relationships and how anger affects them. The first one deals with offering sacrifices to God. Just before the sacrifice is presented we remember that a brother has something against us. This is ambiguous, but it probably means we did something that the brother has a grudge about. If this comes to our mind, then the first priority is to be reconciled. You should notice that it doesn't matter if the anger is ours or his - we should take the first step to patch things up. Religious duties come second, even if the thought comes to you in the middle of a church service.
1 Samuel 15:22 says, "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice . . ."
The second illustration in Matthew 5:25 is set in a courtroom, or at least on the way to one. If you can't reconcile, you'll get sued for far more than you own. The penalty would be prison, which in Ohio pays 30 cent a day. The key phrase is "agree with your adversary quickly." If you are involved in a strained relationship, and there is something you can do about it, don't put it off. Paul says we shouldn't let the sun go down on our anger. Peace is too important to let slip by.
[sermon could use more emphasis (or application) on reconciliation.]
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* Police officials now doubt many of Lucas' confessions and think he was motivated by a desire to humiliate law enforcement and get special treatment while being interrogated. However, they are certain he committed at least three murders, including his mother. For more detail see http://crimemagazine.com/lucas.htm
Typed on February 2, 2005, by Wendy Ventura of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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