#5 The Kings Interpretation of the Law Forbidding Murder & Anger

Matthew 5:21-26

1. Matthew 5:21 says, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.”

a. “You have heard” The people of Israel heard traditions written from the time of Ezra and afterward, which were commentaries on the Law and the Prophets. This was a reference to how the ancients interpreted the Word of God of the Old Testament.

b. The prohibition against killing is not a valid Biblical argument to use against capital punishment.

c. Murder was a capital crime. The Greek word for “murder” in Matthew 5:21 is φονεύσεις or transliterated, is phoneuseis. A phoneus is a murderer. Phonos is a noun for murder. This word does not mean manslaughter, killing in war, or second-degree murder. The Hebrew word for “kill” in Exodus 20:13 is trə·ṣāḥ, which also means murder.

d. There are five other words that the New Testament translates “kill” and are not as strong as phoneus. They are:

1) Apokteino, which means to “put to death.

2) Anaireo, which means to “take up.” It was a slang word for killing (Luke 22:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:8).

3) Thuo, which means to kill as a sacrifice (1 Corinthians 5:7; Matthew 22:4; Mark 14:12; John 10:10)

4) Thanatoo, which means to ‘put to death,’ as in Romans 8:36.

5) Diacherizo – which is from “cheir,” which means “hand.” The meaning is to lay hands on a person and kill (Acts 26:21).

2. The penalty for murder was death.

a.  Jews called the trial the “judgment,” which was a provincial court of seven judges (Deuteronomy 16:18; 2 Chronicles 19:5).

b. There were other crimes that carried the death penalty under the Law of Moses. They are:

1) Striking a parent (Exodus 21:15)

2) Blasphemy against God (Leviticus 24:14)

3) Sabbath Breaking (Numbers 15:32-36)

4) Witchcraft (Exodus 22:18)

5) Adultery (Leviticus 20:10)

6) Unchastity (Deuteronomy 22:21)

7) Rape (Deuteronomy 22:25)

8) Incest (Leviticus 20:11)

9) Kidnapping (Exodus 21:16)

10) Offering one’s child to a false god, which is idolatry (Leviticus 20:2).

11) False Witness (Deuteronomy 19:16, 19)

Note: See these laws in the 613 commandments of the Law of Moses in the first chapter of this blog.

3. Jesus’ interpretation of the law concerning murder. He said in Matthew 5:22, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.

a. To be angry with one’s brother is a sin. So, the Lord Jesus amplified the command against murder to also include the idea of mental murder.

b. To say to your brother “Raca” brings you up before the Sanhedrin Court in Israel. Bible Dictionaries say the word Raca is a term of reproach derived from the Chaldee reka, which means “worthless.” ("Raca denotes a certain carelessness of life and manners, while fool, in the same passage, means a wicked and reprobate person. It is the same as calling a fellow Christian an unsaved person. But “Raca” can represent both believers and unbelievers.

4. Whoever is angry (Matthew 5:22).

a. The Greek word for “angry” is orgizo. It is a mental attitude sin.

b. It is not a one-time anger. It is a continuous anger, an abiding condition of the mind. It is the present participle form of the verb orgizo. So, the meaning is “whoever keeps on being angry…”

c. Often the word orgizo has the idea of retribution. Matthew 22:7 translates orgizo as “enraged,” as follows: The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.”

d. The object of the anger in Matthew 5:22 is “his brother.” According to Matthew 5:43-47, it is any human being.

e. Jesus’ primary intention in this teaching was to show the similarity between murder and anger.

TABULAR VIEW OF THE SINS OF MURDER AND ABIDING ANGER

Crime	Penalty	Nature of the Crime
Murder	Judgment in Minor Court	First Degree Murder
Abiding anger	Judgment in Minor Court	Mental Attitude Sin

f. What we learn from this:

1) The Law condemns both the thought and the deed of sin. God can see both sins, but He wants everyone to know that continuous rage is as bad as murder in His eyes.

2) Notice that it is the same court but a different sin.

g. Jesus added emphasis by progression of the penalty.

TABULAR VIEW OF THE PROGRESSION OF THE SINS OF MURDER AND KINDS OF ANGER

Crime	Penalty	Means of Crime
Murder	Judgment in Minor Court	Murder with Intent to kill.
Abiding Anger	Judgment in Minor Court	Abiding Mental Attitude Revenge
“Raca”	Judgment in Sanhedrin Court	Mental Attitude of Despising, as in, “You are stupid.”
You Fool: Greek is: Μωρέ or “Mo-re.”	Hell Fire – No patience; No trial. The Lord Jesus judges this sin in His Lordship over the world.	Very serious contempt for the other person, as in, “You are a fool.”[1]

5. Application: Matthew 5:23-24 says, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

a. The Lord Jesus gave all the teaching above to prepare the people for Matthew 5:23-24.

b. The point is that there is progression of punishment, and there is progression of the degree of sinfulness in sins of anger. So, act quickly to avoid allowing yourself to become overtaken by anger against another person or against God. Anger is like the root of a tree, which produces growth above ground. A root of bitterness becomes a tree of bitterness, or a person of bitterness (Hebrews 12:15).

c. Do not serve God with anger, revenge, and contempt in your heart.

d. Since God looks at the heart, our mental attitude sins repulse Him.

e. Genesis 6:5-7 says, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. 6And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”

f. The point is that you must have right attitudes toward other people. Do not dwell on their sins against you. Let the sins go. If you are bringing an offering to God’s altar as in Leviticus 1:2, do not even offer it. Leave it there if you remember that your brother has something against you (This is like a property owner, to whom you have not made payment.) Go and be reconciled if you can. Then go back to the altar and offer your sacrifice.

g. You must hope your creditor is propitious. You must seek reconciliation with your brother. Mental attitude sins grow into murder and worse.

h. You must have mercy on the person who has something against you. We must have filial affection for others. It is our duty.

i. Luke 15:5 says, “And when he finds it [the straying sheep], he joyfully puts it on his shoulders,” We must love our brother like the shepherd loves his sheep.

j. Mental murder is equal to the act of murder. Anger is a very deceptive sin.

k. We must deal with any lack of peace before performing religious duties (Matthew 5:23-24). The point is that reconciliation has top priority for us.

l. We must also deal with any lack of peace before arriving at court. Matthew 5:25-26 says, “Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26Truly I tell you; you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.” Thus, This is debtors’ prison.[1]

m. Deuteronomy 25:1 says, “When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty.” To do the right thing, a judge must acquit the innocent and condemn the guilty. He must show no partiality to anyone’s status.

n. The officer’s responsibility is to collect the debt and carry out the decision of the judge. If the judge finds you guilty, he will give you to the officer, and the officer will put you in prison. You will be incarcerated until the debt is paid in full. So, you could rot in jail. As of this writing however, America does not have debtors’ prison.

o. Responsibility of the debtor to the creditor:

TABULAR VIEW OF THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DEBTOR TO THE CREDITOR

Similar Bible Texts	In Matthew 5:23-25	In Luke 12:58-59
Creditor	Creditor may be willing to come to terms	Creditor is unwilling to come to terms.
The debtor is not to be angry.	The Debtor must accept the creditor’s terms; But seek a workable solution. Once he is in court, it may be too late.	You must make every effort to bring the creditor to terms, but remember, the creditor is right, and the debtor is in the wrong. He could end up in prison.
The Greek word for “deliver” is Parado Matthew and is Katasure in Luke.	Greek for “deliver” is paradidomi, which is a mild word. The creditor is firm and kind but “delivers” the debtor to court.	The Greek is katasure, which is a rough, rude handling. If you do not reconcile, the creditor may drag you into court.

6. Application of Matthew 5:23-26 to the Christian life.

a. The scene is the Brazen Altar where priests offer animal sacrifices to God. The gift is the sacrificial animal as seen in Leviticus 1:2. Everyone needs a sacrificial animal to take the penalty of our sin, instead of the human sinner taking it himself. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In faith we must bring Him to God as our Crucified Messiah. Jesus died on the cross to placate God for our sins.

b. In a dispute, the debtor is usually wrong. But the creditor is also responsible to God for his actions. Being the creditor and having people owe money to you does not exempt you from treating people in a kind and gentle manner.

c. A Christian owner and employer must understand that God forgave him of a much greater debt than anyone owes him. He must take Matthew 18:32-33 to heart, which says, “Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed.” This is an example of what not to do.

d. Mental Attitude sins against any creditor, employer, or property owner are sinful. Anger can build toward those over us, to the point of physical murder. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Let it go!

e. No one owes you a loan. Do not believe that he owes it to you. Work, be humble, and do without for a while. Be debt free. You can do it if you work and do not splurge.

f. When we incur debt, we incur great responsibility. Debt is a trap. Avoid it unless you absolutely must take it.

g. Proverbs 22:7 says, “the borrower is slave to the lender.” Debt limits your priceless freedom. When you owe money, you must always think of your creditor before you can make any decision.

h. If you do not pay your bills, the Lord Jesus Christ will not prevent justice. He is the God of justice.

i. If you are angry with someone to whom you owe money or service, remember that you are his slave. He can dictate to you. You should be a free man so that you can serve the Lord Jesus Christ as His slave. You cannot be a slave of two masters.

j. The real reason that a debtor becomes angry with a creditor is that the debtor did not do what he promised to do. All your creditor wants to do is to collect what you promised.

k. By teaching us about murder and anger our Lord shows a progression of penalty. If you allow yourself to be angry, it is equivalent to murder. Avoid it at all costs. The penalty for murder is handed out in a minor court, the same as the mental attitude sin of anger. But if a person treats another in a despising manner, using the word raca, it is even worse. But if he calls the other person a fool, it is the most serious contempt. He does not even get a trial because he treated the man as if he were a complete fool. Avoid that kind of language.

7. A Message for Unbelievers from this text:

a. Many people believe that their thoughts are their own, and God has no interest in thoughts at all. But that is not true. All sin, including mental sin, brings us into debt before God.

b. You are in debt to God. You own absolutely nothing that He did not give to you.

c. Before God you stand as a sinner who has broken His Law. You have a penalty debt.

d. His word says that the wage of sin is death.

e. As a debtor you must settle with God as soon as possible.

f. God is an exceedingly kind creditor. You are a very guilty debtor to Him.

g. He sacrificed His Son for sinners such as you are. Jesus took the sin debt for those who will turn from sin and become His disciple.

h.     His Word says that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

i. You will not be able to receive that gift unless you turn to Him to get it. So, you must renounce your sin and look to Him for mercy.

j. Will you turn to Christ, believe in Him, and begin to follow Him? If you will do this, His death counts for you. Trust Him for it. By trusting Him you receive His gift of eternal life. You are not a debtor to God anymore. He paid your entire debt, but you must be His disciple.

[1] There is a difference between being a fool and being foolish. Foolish may describe a person according to what he does sometimes, but fool speaks of what he is in his heart of hearts. So, a bona fide food is always a fool, and if he acts properly sometimes, it is an aberration.

[2] Note: Jesus was not endorsing debtors’ prison. He was instructing the people of His day, in which they did have debtors’ prison.