Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt
not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I
say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be
in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall
be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in
danger of hell fire. – Matthew 5.21-22
It is a really, really good thing that Jesus fulfilled
the Law. The Law seems like a lot of outside does and don’ts, and it is. We
could not even do the visible things required. Now Jesus makes it clear that obeying and
fulfilling the is much more than just doing – it is a way of being. It is not
enough to just keep the Law – it must be kept from the heart.
The first illustration Jesus uses to teach this lesson
is to define murder. Everyone knew ‘you shall not kill.’ That was obvious.
Jesus must have shocked them when He said that was not
enough. Not only can you not kill anyone, but if you hate someone it is the
same things as committing murder.
How can that be? How is it just as bad if I keep it in
my heart?
Because all sin starts in the heart I can’t afford to
allow hate to take root in my life. If hate goes unchecked eventually it will
show itself in my life. Other places in scripture tell us that it is impossible
to love God and hate our brother.
Hate is totally incompatible with citizens of the
Kingdom, even while living in a world that is going to hate us. We must deal
with any semblance of hate in our hearts.
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