What If Murder Starts Long Before A Weapon?

Anger is easy to excuse and even easier to spiritualize. We can call it stress, frustration, passion, or “righteous indignation,” and still avoid the harder question: what is it doing inside of us? From Matthew 5:21–26, we walk through Jesus’ sobering move from the command against murder to the heart-level reality beneath it. His words are not meant to shame us into silence, but to uncover what needs healing.

Jesus’ “But I say to you” doesn’t soften God’s law, it deepens it. We talk about why unresolved anger is not a minor flaw, how it can settle into resentment, and how it often shows up first around the people closest to us. We also make an important distinction between righteous anger and sinful anger: one moves toward truth, justice, and restoration, while the other drifts toward pride, bitterness, and condemnation. Along the way we address the progression Jesus highlights from anger to contempt and then to speech that demeans, dismisses, and dehumanizes.

The passage also reframes worship and obedience. If I’m aware a relationship is broken, faithfulness to God calls me to move toward reconciliation, not just keep up appearances. We explore what it means for kingdom righteousness to start near, reshape the church, and then become a witness to the world.

If you’re wrestling with Christian anger, church conflict, or relational healing, this message offers clear biblical direction and gospel hope. Subscribe for more teaching, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help others find Foundations of Truth.

Transcript

Ministry Welcome And Mission

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You're listening to Foundations of Truth, the radio and podcast ministry of foundations. Our mission is to help you build your life on the unshakable foundation of God's Word. Rooted in Scripture, anchored in the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here now is Dr. Timothy Mann.

Why This Passage Feels Uncomfortable

Jesus Links Anger To Murder

Righteous Anger Versus Sinful Anger

When Anger Turns Into Contempt

Reconciliation Before Worship

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We're entering into a section here in chapter 5, the Sermon on the Mount, this first main long extended teaching of Jesus. We're going to examine verse 21 through 26 today of Matthew chapter 5, verse 21 through 26, and we're coming into a section of this sermon, as we call it, Sermon on the Mount, that I don't like. Because it forces me to be self-reflective, to look inward. And that's not always easy. Can I get a witness? That's not always easy. I mean, maybe you're super self-righteous and got it all together and you never sin and do anything, you know, that you gotta worry about. But when I look at myself and I become self-reflective and I look at the deepest, darkest places of my inner person, I'm reminded I really am the worst sinner I know. But the truth is, I don't like me when I'm angry. I don't. Anger is one of the most common expressions of human nature that we excuse. And the source of some of the most destructive sins that we underestimate. We justify it, we rename it, we call it frustration, we call it stress, or we call it passion. I'm just passionate. Or we call it righteous indignation. And because anger often feels justified, we usually don't slow down long enough to examine what it's doing inside of us. In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus doesn't let anger remain a surface issue. And so what he does now as we come to verse 21, he turns to the inner person. And he begins by addressing sins that everyone, everyone who has a conscience and some sort of moral compass, he begins by addressing sins that everyone recognizes outwardly. But then what he does is he exposes how deeply rooted the issues really are. Verse 21. He says, You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, You fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge. The judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assured I say to you, you will by no means get out of there before you have paid the last penny. So Jesus says this. He says, You have read that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder. But I say to you, but I say to you, now that phrase right there, but I say to you, should cause us to sit up, to pay attention. Jesus is not lowering the standard of God's law. He's actually revealing its true depth. He is not redefining murder. He is exposing the inner condition that leads to it. That's what he's doing. I'd say most of us hear the command, you shall not murder, and we probably feel pretty secure. We feel safe. Most of us have never taken a life. So we would assume that this command really doesn't apply to us. But Jesus says that it actually applies far more extensively than we imagined. According to Jesus, anger is not a minor issue. We actually can't act as if it is harmless. Because unchecked, unresolved anger reveals a deeper problem that God takes very seriously. And Jesus presses home here this truth in ways that are uncomfortable and ways that are unavoidable. I told you, I don't like it. I'm having to self-reflect. And this passage also forces us to rethink how we approach worship, how we approach relationships, and how we approach obedience to God. This is not an easy topic. Several of these through the rest of this section are not easy topics. This is not an easy topic, but it is a necessary one. Because the reality is this unchecked and unresolved anger damages relationships. It poisons families. It divides churches. I've seen it. It divides churches and it dulls spiritual sensitivity. And if it's left unaddressed, it hardens the heart. And so Jesus here speaks about anger, not to condemn us, but to save us. To save us. He exposes it because he intends to heal it. And as it is with everything else in the Sermon on the Mount, as we call it, Jesus is not just calling us to simply outward obedience. He's calling us to internal change and healing that needs to happen. So the question before us this morning is not simply, it's not only, have I broken this command outwardly? The question really is, what is happening in my inner person? And am I willing to let the king address it? What is it that's happening in my inner person? We could say in my heart. What is happening in my inner person, and am I willing to let the king address it in my life? And so Jesus begins here by showing us why anger is far more serious than we probably tend to believe. And then from him, we also can see some principles that help us deal with it. And the very first one is this. It's found in verses 21 through 22. And it's this we need to take seriously what unchecked anger reveals about your inner person. Take seriously what unchecked anger, unresolved anger, reveals about your inner person. So Jesus at the gate in verse 21, he begins taking us somewhere familiar. He says, look at it, verse 21. He says, You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. That command is clear. It is one of the Ten Commandments, one of the big ten from the Old Testament. And it really sets a boundary that everyone understands. And most people, when they hear it, they think they're good to go. I mean, after all, they've never committed murder. So they move on quickly. But Jesus doesn't allow us just to move on. He says, But I say to you. Now what's happening there with those words, Jesus is asserting his authority as the king. This is about the king and his kingdom. He's asserting and establishing his authority in that way. He's not contradicting the law. He's actually revealing its true intent. He's not lowering God's standard. He's actually exposing how deep that standard actually goes. And he says, Jesus says, whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment. So there can be a justified cause for anger. Scripture is actually quite clear about that. God is angry at sin. Jesus himself displays perfect, righteous anger. And in fact, the Bible says to even to Christians. In the book of Ephesians, it says to those who are saved and born again and following Jesus, it says, be angry and do not sin. Be angry and do not sin. So Jesus here is not condemning every single experience of anger. Now, some Greek manuscripts, and in fact, because of that, some English translations do not include the phrase without cause. But you need to understand today, a copyist variant does not mean righteous anger is denied. There is such a thing as righteous anger as evidenced in other places in Scripture. However, Jesus is not giving us an easy loophole either. What's happening here is he is confronting anger that settles in the inner person, that lingers, that feeds resentment, and it turns into contempt. That's what he's addressing. And Jesus presses us then beyond the question, was I justified? And he forces us to ask, what is this anger producing in me? Righteous anger, what true righteous anger does is it moves toward the truth. Righteous anger moves toward justice. Righteous anger moves toward restoration. And it does so with the right motive and with the right behavior. That's what righteous anger does. And very seldom, I wonder if ever we ever truly have fully righteous anger without any mixed motive. Sinful anger moves toward pride. Sinful anger moves toward bitterness. Sinful anger moves toward judgment on our part, condemnation on our part. So the issue is not whether there was a cause that was justified. The issue is not that, but actually whether anger has been allowed to take control of the inner person. And so this statement that Jesus made here, it would have actually stunned his hearers. Because what Jesus is saying is he's saying that anger, unresolved, unchecked anger in particular, anger actually belongs in the same moral category as murder. Not because anger and murder are the same act, obviously they aren't, but because they flow from the same place. Murder is the ultimate outward eruption. Anger is the inward root. He's addressing settled, unresolved anger, ongoing resentment, anger that lingers, anger that feeds, anger that hardens, anger that ultimately devalues and dismisses another person made in the image of God. And then he goes further. Look what he says. He says, Whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council. Okay, so when Jesus says, whoever is angry with his brother, and he said, and whoever says to his brother, we need to ask what he means by brother. In the immediate context, I believe Jesus is speaking about someone close. Even more so in the immediate context, because he addresses worship, he's talking about a fellow member of the covenant community. Someone you worship with. Someone you share your life with. Someone you cannot just easily dismiss as a stranger. And what's interesting, I think, about this is that command that actually makes this command more searching, not more limited. Jesus here is addressing anger where it most often hides, and where it often does the most damage. And that's anger toward people we know, people we see regularly, people that we are actually tempted to justify being angry with because that relationship feels familiar. But Jesus is not restricting the principle here to believers only, fellow believers. Throughout Scripture, God never treats inner person issues as just a technicality. He doesn't do that. Jesus often, often begins with the nearest relationship. We walked through this in the Ten Commandments for those of you who are with us, you know, a couple years back. Jesus often begins with the nearest relationship, and then he exposes a truth that applies far more broadly. And so if unchecked, unresolved anger is sinful toward a brother or a sister, then it doesn't suddenly become righteous toward a neighbor. It doesn't suddenly become righteous toward a coworker. It doesn't suddenly become righteous toward a political enemy. It doesn't suddenly become righteous toward an enemy at all. In fact, later in this very same sermon that we're going to get to as we walk through this, Jesus will explicitly widen the circle. He will actually command us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Wow. And so that tells us something very important. And it's this kingdom righteousness does not shrink when the relationships get harder. It actually expands. And so Jesus starts with brother, and we could say or sister. Jesus starts with brother because that's where anger is most easily justified. That's where anger, that's where resentment just kind of quietly settles in. And that is where also hypocrisy often hides. So if we excuse, if we just kind of excused unchecked, unresolved anger toward those closest to us, then we'll excuse it everywhere else. The inner issue here that Jesus exposes, listen, does not depend on the other person's spiritual status. Anger that turns into contempt is sinful no matter who the target is. Because the issue, listen, because the issue is not who they are. The issue is what is this anger doing to us? What's it doing to me inside? Anger that just dehumanizes anyone made in God's image in our inner person actually violates the heart of God. So the question here that Jesus presses in is not, does this only apply to brothers and sisters? No, the real question, when we get right down to it, the real question is, is if I cannot love those closest to me, and we're not talking about the warm fuzzies. We're not even talking about affection necessarily. We're not talking about brotherly love as we would call it. The kind of love that Jesus is talking about here is seeking that highest good for somebody else, including your enemy. Praying for your enemy is the highest good you could do for them. And so he says, if I cannot love those closest to me, that's the question, then how in the world will I love anyone else? Kingdom righteousness always starts near and moves outward. It begins in the inner person. It actually shapes our closest relationships. It reforms the church. And then what happens is it actually becomes a witness to the world. Raka. That was a term of contempt. It meant worthless or empty head. Jesus here is addressing the language that flows from an angry heart, especially towards a covenant brother or sister, a professing Christian. When anger takes root, it eventually spells out, spills out in words that demean and dismiss. And look what he does. He intensifies it again. He says, Whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hellfire. Now at this point, some of you may be thinking, I thought that this week, and I I here's what I thought. I I thought, wait a minute. Jesus says, don't say you fool, but the Bible uses that word all the time. Even Jesus uses it elsewhere. I thought that question to myself. And I think that's a fair question. I said to myself, self, that's a fair question. And the answer matters. I want you to understand this morning that Jesus is not simply policing vocabulary. We like rules. We like a law. Just lay down the law. Now I know what I can do and what I can't do. I don't have to think about it. I don't have to pray about it. I don't have to wonder what's behind the law. Just give me the law. Give me the rule I need to do. And sometimes what we do is we'll go as close as possible to the to the rule, to the law, right? Without stepping over the line. Yeah, absolutely. I know you do it all the time. You could have said amen, Rick, right there. I know you got to go home. I get that. All right. That's a fair question. Jesus is not policing vocabulary. What he's doing is he's confronting contempt. That's what's happening. What's happening here in Matthew chapter 5, verse 22, Jesus is placing three things together. He is placing anger in the inner person, he's placing contempt in the attitude, and then he's also putting together with it demeaning language toward another person. So he's taking anger in the inner person, anger and contempt, demeaning language toward the other person, and putting them together. The word translated fool here is not some just a careful moral evaluation towards someone else. It's actually a demeaning word of dismissal. It is you saying from your inner person, you are worthless, you don't matter, you are beneath me. That's what it's saying. And that's why Jesus treats it so seriously here. So seriously. The Bible often uses the word fool in a wisdom sense. Proverbs does this repeatedly. It actually, the Bible actually names behavior and warns of consequences and calls people to repentance. And that kind of language is meant to correct and to restore someone. That's not what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is addressing language that flows from anger and flows from contempt. Language not meant to correct someone, but to actually dehumanize them. Language that simply reduces a person made in God's image to an obstacle or an annoyance, or even worse, an enemy. There's a big difference between saying what you are doing is foolish, the path you are on is foolish, and saying, you are worthless, you fool. Big difference. There's a difference between truth spoken in love and truth weaponized in anger. Biblical wisdom actually diagnoses behavior for the purpose of correcting and showing the right way and getting people on that right path. Sinful anger demeans and dismisses the person. That's why Jesus connects this kind of speech to murder. Because contempt is the inner person, really just wishing that person does not exist. It's anger that is crossed from frustration into judgment. It's anger that's crossed from hurt feelings, annoyance, irritation into condemnation. It is, in fact, the placing of oneself in God's seat. And Jesus says kingdom righteousness goes deeper than that. You can be right and still be sinful. How many of you know that you can speak truth and still violate love? How many of you know that you can avoid physical violence and still harbor an anger that destroys with words? Yeah. And so, of course, Jesus is not saying here that we can never confront sin or never confront injustice. He's not saying that at all. But what he is saying is that we must never use truth as a weapon to crush someone made in God's image, especially a professing brother or sister in Christ. That's why unchecked anger is so dangerous. What it does to us is it actually reshapes how we view people, how we see people. And this unresolved, unchecked anger that's in us is it trains us to treat them basically as problems to be eliminated instead of neighbors to be loved. And that's why Jesus came to heal that in us. He's not grading anger on a scale, he's actually showing us its progression. Anger begins internally. If left unchecked, if left unresolved, it moves into contempt. It expresses then itself in words that tear down. And if left unchecked, it leads toward destruction. All of us have felt the desire to dismiss or diminish or even to demean someone else. And what this means is we need more than advice, we need change. And Jesus is preparing us here to see that the kingdom he brings is not built just on external rule keeping. That's so easy. It's actually built on new inner realities, humbled hearts. The inner person that's actually freed from the grip of anger by God's grace. And so before Jesus ever tells us what to do with anger, he wants us, he really forces us to see it clearly. And once we see that, oh well, then the next step becomes unavoidable. Because if anger breaks relationships, in particular between a brother or sister in Christ, but even beyond, if anger breaks relationships, then faithfulness to God actually requires more than just avoidance. It requires reconciliation with your brother and sister. That leads us to the second truth that Jesus teaches is pursue reconciliation as an act of obedience to God. Pursue reconciliation as an act of obedience to God. But Jesus says this that if you are aware of brokenness in a relationship with another brother or sister, the responsibility to pursue peace rests with you, regardless of who started it. Now that doesn't mean that reconciliation is always possible in its fullest sense. It does not mean that every relationship can be restored in harmony to a complete prior state. But it does mean this, and this is what Jesus is teaching us, it does mean that the kingdom's people, if we say we're a people in the kingdom under the king, it does mean that the kingdom's people take the initiative toward peace.

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