Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 5:21-26

Temper!

Temper!

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 everyone 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.

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.

First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.

Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.[1]

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n a previous message, I relayed to you the teaching concerning worship which is revealed in this pericope.

At that time, I confessed that the passage obviously dealt with the issue of anger harboured in one’s heart.

In this message, I seek to address the issue of anger—anger toward fellow saints and toward those outside the Faith.

Jesus did speak of the issue of anger, and we are responsible to know what He has commanded concerning individual ownership of our anger.

There is a holy anger against sin.

We are instructed in *Ephesians 4:26, 27* to be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

In the text before us, however, Jesus talked about an unholy anger against people.

The word He used in *Matthew 5:22* means “a settled anger, malice that is nursed inwardly.”[2]

I need to address one other preliminary issue which may arise from the use of older translations of the Bible, or even from careful scrutiny of the footnotes of more recent translations of the Bible which you may be reading.

Many of you, reading from more recent translations of the Bible, will observe a footnote which reads something like this: “Some manuscripts insert /without cause/.”

ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὀργιζόμενος τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ ἔνοχος ἔσται τῇ κρίσει,[3] is to be compared to ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὀργιζόμενος τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ εἰκη̂ ἔνοχος ἔσται τῇ κρίσει,[4] which reveals that the word εικη has been either added or omitted, depending upon your understanding of Biblical criticism.

Eijkh` is an adverb, signifying *without cause*, *rashly*, or *without heed*.

The adverb occurs in the vast majority of ancient texts, beginning to be seen especially in those texts appearing around 200 a.d.

It is only in a few manuscripts, admittedly strong in their claim to antiquity, that the adverb is absent.

Most contemporary scholars omit the adverb, rightly or wrongly.

The controvery over inclusion or exclusion of the adverb is by no means settled.

Bruce Metzger has this to say concerning the controversy over the words *without cause*.

“Although the reading with eijkh` is widespread from the second century onwards, it is much more likely that the word was added by copyists in order to soften the rigour of the precept than omitted as unnecessary.”[5]

On the whole, we can dispense with any excuse for anger, accepting that Jesus condemned all anger as unworthy of His Name.

It seems unlikely that He made an exception for our personal pique.

The Cause of Anger — 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 everyone 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.

Many pastors explain these words of the Master as setting a new standard for life.

The assumption is that Jesus is providing us with instruction to replace the Old Covenant, or perhaps that He is expanding the interpretation of or application of those same commandments.

I do not believe this assessment to be correct.

One of my favourite commentators is G. Campbell Morgan.

Morgan had a most incisive manner of revealing the core issue addressed by a particular passage.

Perhaps this was because of his careful reading of what was said in a given portion of Scripture.

His comments always brought to bear the whole of the Word on the portion to which his attention was fixed.

Listen to his statement as he begins a review of Jesus’ words.

“In the giving of the laws of the Kingdom there was neither the abrogation of existing laws, nor the utterance of any which are to replace them.

In other words, Jesus lays down no rules for the government of human lives.

He rather enunciates principles and communicates a life, which life in itself is at once pattern and power, a revelation of purpose, and a dynamic for the realisation therefore.

No soul living in His Kingdom is governed by anything external to himself or to herself.

We are not governed by a law of carnal ordinances; we are not governed by anything which Jesus said from without; we are governed by the living Christ Who dwells within, and interprets His will to us by the Holy Spirit.”[6]

Jesus begins by quoting the sixth commandment from *Exodus 20*, but He reveals that the intent of that commandment embraces *Leviticus 19:17, 18*.

/You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbour, lest you incur sin because of him.

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord/.

The great British Pastor, Charles Spurgeon, provides commentary on this issue.

“The first part of the saying which our Lord quoted was divine; but it had been dragged down to a low level by the addition about the human court, and the murderer’s liability to appear there…  To narrow a command is measurably to annul it.

We may not do this even with antiquity for our warrant.

Better the whole truth newly stated than an old falsehood in ancient language.”[7]

Quoting again from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the issue is stated in this manner.

“Our Lord and King restores the law of God to its true force and warns us that it denounces not only the overt act of killing, but every thought, feeling, and word which would tend to injure a brother, or annihilate him by contempt.”[8]

Craig Keener makes the identical point when he writes the following words.

“Not only the outward act of murder, but also the inward choice of anger than generates such acts violates the spirit of God’s law against murder.”[9]

Similarly, the footnote accompanying this verse in the Baptist Study Edition of the New King James Bible notes the same points.

“Jesus intends to show that behind the overt act of murder is the disposition to anger, hostility, or contempt.

Thus, although attitudes may not be tried in court, they are as dangerous as the overt acts of wrong for which one is fined in court or for which one stands in danger of hell fire, unless one experiences God’s forgiveness in Christ.”[10]

As stated in a previous message, anger is murder.

I did not make this up.

This is the clear teaching of the Word of God.

Weigh John’s pointed statement on this subject.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him [*1 John 3:15*].

This is a most serious admonition concerning a particular sin which is tolerated and justified by far too many who name the Name of Christ the Lord.

Underscore this disturbing truth in your heart so that you never again permit yourself to nurse anger toward another.

Especially avoid anger toward fellow believers.

To hold onto anger toward another is to clasp a poisonous asp to your breast and trust that it will not strike, sinking the venomous fangs into your skin.

Anger is thoroughly condemned by our Lord.

Bear in mind that we are speaking of that noxious anger which seeks malice toward another.

Let each of us who name the Name of Christ the Lord determine that we will not harbour in our hearts bitterness, rage, nor malice.

Let us determine not even to permit irritation to continue unchecked.

Especially must we determine that we will not permit anger toward a fellow saint to find residence in our life.

Why does a parent rage over small incidents when their children displease them?

Isn’t it because of pride?

Why does a spouse explode at her or his mate when things don’t go exactly as they might have wished?

Isn’t it because they are insecure and seek to bring the other down to their own sordid level?

We permit ourselves to excoriate our children because we know we can get away with it.

However, we need to realise that we expose ourselves as sinners with hearts full of uncleanness.

We permit ourselves to speak harshly to our spouse because we know we can get away with it.

However, we must realise that in doing so we demonstrate the failure of our own righteousness.

Would you know the cause of anger?

Our Lord addressed this precise issue at a later point during His ministry on earth.

Take careful note that in *Matthew 15:18, 19* the Master forever exposed the source of anger among men.

Listen to His searching Word.

What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Here we are given the basis for the frightful warning given in the Word.

Anger exposes a heart which is unchanged.

The individual surrendering to anger is guilty of most heinous sin.

You cannot be a Christian and hold onto your anger.

You must deal decisively and definitely with anger when it first appears in your life.

The Consequence of Anger —I say to you that everyone 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.

It is vital that each of us who name the Name of Christ the Lord understands that the Master is warning that the manner of one’s life reveals the character underlying that life.

I am compelled to stress the fact that we live godly lives because we are children of the Heavenly Father.

We do not live godly lives in order to become children of the Heavenly Father.

We choose righteousness because we are righteous, not in order to become righteous.

Those who make every effort to live righteous lives soon discover that they are incapable of attaining such aspirations—except in the power of the Spirit.

Those who are born from above will find themselves rebuked by the indwelling Spirit of God whenever they attempt to give way to the flesh.

Those who can give way to sin without consequence, never knew the Saviour.