I don't like me when I am angry

21  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother[a] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults[b] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell[c] of fire. 23  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25  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. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.[d]

In these verses, we read about how Christ came to fulfill the law. Here Jesus digs deeper in the meaning of the sixth commandment, "Though shall not murder." Jesus says that murder is not just the physical act of killing someone, but rash and unjustified anger is just as sinful as taking someone's life. Hate is murder. We are commanded not to murder, but that also means we cannot have hate in our heart. 

There is so much here we can learn about conflict from these verses. Jesus says how hate can be just as evil as murder. In Matthew Henry's commentary, he says, "Malicious slanders and censures are poison that kills secretly and slowly. Christ told them that how light so ever they made of these sins, they would certainly be called into judgment for them." Jesus tells us that we cannot live in community when we live with anger in us. If we don't deal with the hateful feelings towards somebody, we cannot come before God in worship because our hearts are not pure. 

Its goes on in verses 23-26, that if we hold something against our brother we need to reconcile our differences before we can approach the altar of Jesus to worship Him. Because if anger is as vicious as murder, then we need to go to our brother, whom we have murdered, in love and ask forgiveness. If we don't do this, it prevents us from coming in the God's magnificent presence. If it is never reconciled, then our hearts will become dead and we will begin fade. Jesus is telling us that we can't hold onto the anger in our hearts. If we do, we will become overcome with it. 

 

SInce it is star wars day (May 4th, so may the fourth be with you), I leave you with wise words from Yoda, "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."