I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment

 "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, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.  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.  Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."

- Matthew 5:21-26

We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter 5.  It began with the Beatitudes, the blessings of the Kingdom.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued:  "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

"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, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire."  In yesterday's reading, Jesus spoke of the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, and also the fulfillment of the Law.  Here He begins to spell out what He means, beginning with the statute against murder.  My study bible tells us that the formula but I say to you is a statement of total, divine authority (7:29).  Jesus in His divinity as Son is Creator of man and also the Lord, the Author of the Law, thereby Christ can speak with this authority.  My study bible identifies an anger which is not sinful (Psalm 4:4, Mark 3:5), but notes that Jesus here is forbidding sinful anger and identifying it with murder.  The council is the supreme legal body among the Jews.  Hell (γέενναν/Gehenna in Greek) is the final condition of sinners who resist God's grace.  Raca is a term of contempt that means "empty" - implying stupidity.  The Greek word translated as fool is μωρός/moros, from which the English word moron is derived.

"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."  My study bible says that peace with other believers is a requirement for worship (Mark 11:25).  The liturgical "kiss of peace" (sometimes called "fellowship") which comes at the beginning of the eucharistic prayer is a sign of reconciliation and forgiveness.  This is preparing the faithful to offer the holy gifts at the altar (1 Corinthians 16:20, 1 Peter 5:14). 

"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.  Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."  In Luke's Gospel, this teaching comes in the context of the end of the age (Luke 12:57-59).  Here, however, my study bible notes it is in the context of reconciliation surrounding the Liturgy.  A delay in reconciliation allows for the spread of animosity and other evils (Ephesians 4:26-27).

The words that Christ uses to describe an angry rebuke may seem rather tame to us these days.   "Raca!" an Aramaic term implying emptyheadedness, may seem like the least of the words we hear nowadays thrown around at adversaries.  "You fool!" would possibly be a pleasant alternative to some of the discourse that passes for dialogue in certain contemporary contexts.  What Jesus makes clear here is the demeaning nature of such anger.  That is, these are insults designed to tear down a whole person.  They are not expressions of disagreement over specific things, and there is a difference between an anger that seeks to destroy a person and one that seeks correction or to right a wrong.  In this sense, these words imply murder -- they imply a desire for murder.  Modern psychology increasingly confirms the harm done to people through words, through insults.  They are a form of abuse.  But in the context of a communion between people, or even a society, they poison the well.  This sort of sinful anger brings something toxic into the body of whatever circle of people we may be speaking about.  We note also that Jesus says, "without a cause," another aspect of anger that tends to magnify our fears of things that have not actually happened.   My study bible points out that Christ is speaking to His disciples, and thereby within the context of the Church itself.  At least there, perhaps, we may start with learning to address differences in a peaceful way, one in which the judgment of a person -- and all the words and epithets that go along with an expression of such a judgment -- is left to God.  Disagreement about issues and behaviors is always going to be with us.  Let us learn to focus on those, rather than the vilification of persons.  It would go a long way to create peace and a functional society in any setting, whether that be a family, a community group, a parish, or the wider body of the Church -- even the world.  With love, we need not be afraid of our differences.