Me a Murderer? from The Sermon

Me a Murderer?
Matthew 5:21-26
Have you ever gotten to the point with someone that you were so angry, so mad, so upset that you just wanted to do or say something that would hurt them? Has rage so controlled you that you lash out at those around you? I have been there. I have been so upset with some of those that are close to me that I did not care what I said and I tried to hurt them. For me it starts with attitude. Mine and the person I am interacting with. If somebody gets a bad attitude with me, it is very hard not to get an attitude back. And when that happens, you have 2 people with bad attitudes and a situation that can escalate in a hurry. I can’t say that it has gotten to the point that I have ever wanted to kill somebody. Hurt them badly? Yes. Destroy their spirit? Yes. Who is it usually that we get the most upset with? For me it has been the people that are the closest to me. Brothers, parents, and close friends. Hopefully we can all say that we have never committed murder. Hopefully we can say that we have never taken another life. We can feel pretty good about ourselves until we hear the words of Jesus:
Matthew 5:21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. 25Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or 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. 26I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
Last week we focused on verse 20 which holds the main teaching of The Sermon. Jesus tells us that unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees that we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. He is setting up his listeners to hear more specifically what he means about righteousness. Our righteousness is very much wrapped up in our relationships with others. How we deal with the people that we interact with on a day to day basis has a huge impact on our righteousness. Jesus just jumps right in when he starts in Verse 21 talking about murder. Every Jew that was there no doubt had studied the 10 commandments all their lives. This is exactly why Jesus says “you have heard that it was said…” Jesus was particularly referencing the 6th commandment “Thou shalt not kill”. If we were to rank these commandments many of us would put this as the number 1 commandment. It is such a heinous thing to take someone else’s life. Jesus wanted those with him to understand the full teaching of the law and not just the traditions that were passed on from one generation to another. When someone who has studied the law would hear this commandment he would know several things already. They would know that this commandment refers to the intentional taking of a life, murder. It is not in reference manslaughter or accidental death, and it does not refer to life taken in war. What Jesus was pointing out, and what Moses also intended was that murder is when with anger and premeditation you cause the death of someone else. In cases of manslaughter there was a system that was followed. In the Old Testament there were places called Cities of Refuge. People who had accidentally killed someone else would go to the city of refuge and would await a trial to determine if it really was an accident or not. These cities are described in Deuteronomy 19: 4 This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life—one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. 5 For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. 6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought. And a few verses later in verse 11 But if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, assaults and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, 12 the elders of his town shall send for him, bring him back from the city, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die. 13 Show him no pity. You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.
And also in Numbers 35:15 These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites, aliens and any other people living among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there. 16 " 'If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.” In the next few verses it is spelled out a little more. If you hit someone in anger with premeditation with something made of wood or stone or metal or even your fist and they die, you are guilty Verse 22 goes on to say “'But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally 23 or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him, 24 the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. 25 The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
What Jesus is saying is that it is the internal attitude that is prohibited by the law. The outward actions are important, but God holds us responsible for more than our appearances. A commentary that I read, Barnes Notes on the New Testament says: “The Pharisees were intent only on the external act in worship. They looked not at all to the internal acts of the mind. If a man conformed to the external rites of religion, however much envy, and malice, and secret hatred he might have, they thought he was doing well.” And Jesus speaks to them about their situation, that their anger and abusive language and condescension were making them as guilty as the people who spilled the blood of others. We see this same idea in I John. John makes a comparison between real Christianity and false religion. I John 3:14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. The same attitudes that bring a person to murder are at work in them and in us when we do not have them under control.
Now we come to the word therefore. So we need to see Jesus is building on top of something that he has already said. Based on this new information, if you have had ill will towards your brother that you are in the wrong, he says this in Matthew5:23Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. This attitude in you has probably caused others to be offended and you need to work things out with your brother in order to be right with God. Barnes Notes says “It was of more consequence to have the heart right, than to perform the outward act.”
25"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or 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. 26I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

And he concludes by saying “So now, the worship of God will not be acceptable, however well performed externally, until we are at peace with those that we have injured” In other words we should all be conscious of our relationships and make sure that they are right. Our relationships with others tell us a lot about our relationship with God.