The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

Heart Transformation for Reconciliation:  Mt.5:21 – 26

^5:21 You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. ²³ Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. ²⁵ Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

          As Jesus describes the fresh, new humanity he calls his followers to be, the first major heart issue he talks about is anger. As we bear witness to the world around us, how we deal with the emotion of anger is very, very important. It will have direct implications on our relationships.

          Physiologically, harbored anger is a stress on the body.  It takes up energy and sometimes leads to physical problems like digestive problems, ulcers, and skin rashes.  Spiritually, harbored anger distorts our perception of reality.  The apostle Paul said that momentary anger is not sin in itself (Eph.4:26 – 27), and it is even a healthy response to a wrong done to you, but anger harbored over time is an opportunity for the devil.  He said, ‘Be angry, but do not sin, and do not let the sun go down on your anger, lest you give the devil a foothold.’

          As Jesus deals with the heart issue of harbored anger, he describes what it does and how it grows.  His first warning is to ‘everyone who is angry.’  The second is to whoever calls his brother ‘you good-for-nothing,’ which is a character insult.  The third is to whoever calls a brother ‘you fool,’ which is a term for casting someone outside the covenant community.  The growth of anger comes with harboring it.  How often have we rehearsed lines and nurtured anger in our hearts, wishing that we could have an opportune moment to sink venomous words into the person who has hurt us?  Then, how easy is it to not focus on an issue, but to assassinate their character to their face, or let out a snide remark to build a coalition?  And how easy is it to forget that they are part of God’s covenant family?  It is all too easy to let anger fester.

          So Jesus describes an escalating series of consequences.  Although they are metaphors and although they are set in the context of the first century Jewish world, they are nevertheless striking.  The first consequence is to be ‘guilty before the court,’ the local court that you would appear in if you had murdered someone.  From the times of Moses to Jesus, the default Jewish process for dealing with murder was to gather witness (Num.35:30, Dt.17:6 and 19:15) and town elders and form a type of local ‘court.’  Jesus is saying that harboring anger against someone is the same as murdering her or him.  The second consequence is to be ‘guilty before the supreme court’ of the nation, the Sanhedrin, that decided the most serious national issues.  The public nature of your insult (calling your brother a good for nothing) calls for you to be publicly denounced by the highest and broadest court (before the Sanhedrin).  The third consequence is to be ‘guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.’  That refers to the burning trash heap outside of Jerusalem, though it has overtures to the ultimate hell, of course.  The punishment there matches the crime, too.  If you, out of anger, cast your brother outside the covenant community by saying, ‘You fool,’ you will be useless.  Just as salt that has lost its flavor is only good to be thrown out and trampled upon, so a Christian who has succumbed to bitterness is absolutely useless.

          So Jesus insists that we handle our anger his way.  Reconciliation and healthy conflict resolution, therefore, are of utmost importance.  Not even the act of worship and offering is as important as reconciliation (v.23 – 24).  We are to always give our anger over to Jesus, surrender it to him, and let him instruct us.  And typically what he insists on, to begin with, is a healthy confrontation resulting in reconciliation.

Jesus even gives a surprising command.  Right after describing the problem of escalating anger, Jesus says, ‘Therefore…’  But instead of saying, ‘if you have something against your brother’, he says, ‘if you remember that your brother has something against you…’  That is, we care about our brother’s anger just as much as our own.  If Jesus is right about how serious a problem anger is (and I think he is!), then you must care how someone else might be angry at you.  Just as we would want to settle legal matters quickly and before we go to court (v.25 – 26), so in the family of Jesus, we want to settle matters quickly.  Even when a full reconciliation does not happen, we must never, ever harbor anger.

          What do we do to bring our anger to Jesus?  First, harbored anger involves a sense of entitlement to live a pain-free life, and we must recognize that we have no such right.  Though we may draw certain boundaries, our suffering will not be over before Christ’s return.  We cannot demand to live a pain-free existence.  Second, as we pray, we can physically turn our palms upward, unclench our fists, or do something that symbolizes what we are doing on a heart level.  As we pray through our anger, asking the Lord to lift it from us, we ask him to receive it from us.  Third, we pray for God to bless them regardless of how we feel about them at the moment.  Fourth, we hold open the possibility of a more full reconciliation.

          We must also do things in our communities to deal with anger in a godly way.  First, we must make clear that anger and conflict are natural human responses.  They are nothing to be ashamed of.  They are especially not to be hidden.  But second, we must remind ourselves to consistently give our anger and conflicts to Jesus.  Third, we must consistently incorporate a reminder at the very start of our worship times that Jesus prioritizes reconciliation over other gestures of worship.  We may not ask people to leave the worship time.  But we remind them and ourselves that we must draw on the Lord’s power to deal with anger and set things right, to the extent that we are able.