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"

 

 "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 currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught the disciples, "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."  My study Bible tells us that this repeated formula in Christ's Sermon on the Mount but I say to you is a statement of total, divine authority (Matthew 7:29).  Christ is the Creator of humankind and also Author of the Law; as the Lord He can speak with this authority.  While there is anger which is not sinful (Psalm 4:4; Mark 3:5), here Jesus is forbidding sinful anger, and He identifies it with murder.  The council is the supreme legal body among the Jews.  Hell is in Greek γέενναν/Gehenna.  In Jewish history, my study Bible explains, Gehenna was the Valley of Hinnom.  It became a place of forbidden religious practices (2 Chronicles 28:3; Jeremiah 32:35).  King Josiah put an end to these practices (2 Kings 23:10).  By Christ's time, the valley had become a garbage dump that smoldered endlessly.  Because of these associations, Gehenna acquired the connotation of eternal punishment in the afterlife.  Hell is the final condition of sinners who resist God's grace.  

 

"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."  Peace with other believers, my study Bible says, is a requirement for worship (Mark 11:25).  The liturgical "kiss of peace" at the beginning of the eucharistic prayer is a sign of reconciliation and forgiveness, a preparation of the faithful to offer the holy gifts at the altar (1 Corinthians 16:20; 1 Peter 5:14).  See also Jesus' formula for mutual correction in the Church, in Matthew 18:15-20.

 

"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."  My study Bible points out that St. Luke places this teaching in the context of the end of the age (Luke 12:57-59).  Here Jesus teaches it in the context of reconciliation surrounding the Liturgy.  Delay in reconciliation allows for the spread of animosity and other evils (Ephesians 4:26). 

 

Forgiveness and reconciliation are important concepts in the Church, and it's important to note that these are two different words for two different things.  While we are all commanded to forgive, it's not always possible to reconcile.  For example, this is true of an abusive or harmful situation, in which two parties may conflict to the extent that harm is created, or abuse is tolerated.  But forgiveness is the "giving up" of sin in the same sense that a debt can be forgiven, as we'll read in the following chapter of this sermon (Matthew 6:12).  We do this in the context of prayer before our Father in heaven.  As shown in Jesus' teaching on mutual correction (Matthew 18:15-20), reconciliation calls for steps beyond forgiveness.  In today's reading, Jesus seems to teach us the importance of guarding against offenses, and also the reparation for offenses.  We read in the Gospels examples of such reparation and reconciliation, for example, in the story of Zacchaeus the chief tax collector (Luke 19:1-10).  In the story of Zacchaeus, it must be understood that tax collectors were despised within the Jewish society, for they were fellow Jews who worked for the Romans, routinely taking more than was necessary for paying tax and using the power of the Roman state to practice extortion for their own benefit.  In Zacchaeus' case, when Jesus comes to Jericho where he lives, and calls upon him, Zacchaeus states, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."  Of this reconciliation, a reconstitution of community, Jesus says, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."  But nonetheless, we can always practice forgiveness, the "giving up" or "letting go" (as the word literally means in the Greek), as Jesus teaches us as part of the Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father.   Here in today's passage, Jesus places the emphasis on the aggressive act of anger which is unjustified, and provokes unnecessarily through insult or injury of some kind.  Raca is an insult implying a person is empty-headed; "you fool" is the translation of an insult implying mental deficiency, undevelopment, lack of intelligence.  In Greek, it is μωρος/moros, from which we derive the English word moron.  In modern Greek, this word is used to literally refer to an infant.   One imagines that such demeaning insults mean something additionally significant within a social or public context.  Christ's comments just prior to the ones in today's reading spoke of the Law and the Prophets, and Himself as fulfillment.  If we think about the Law given by the Lord to Moses, we understand the important community emphasis on those laws; they weren't simply made in order to teach individuals what to do and how to act within an individual context.  The Law was made to create a community of God's people, and the prayers and practices of the Temple were designed to ameliorate the effects of sin in community.  The blood of sacrifice that was to be sprinkled upon the altar was for purification (not payment) -- and this is another prefiguring of Christ and His Blood shed for us.  Therefore we see this particular sin of anger without cause, and the casting of insults upon others within community, as akin to murder.  It destroys relationships and relatedness, and we are to understand righteousness as right-relatedness. In today's reading, Jesus begins to explain to us why and how we are to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.  Christ's gospel is part of the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, but it extends beyond a legalistic scrupulosity of simply following the rules.  Instead, we're to begin to come to terms with the inward passions that drive harmful actions, and of course this will correspond to the action of the Holy Spirit, the Helper, which would come to us as a gift of Christ's fulfillment of His mission (John 16:7-11), and as part of Christian Holy Baptism.  Within the context of community also comes the need for reconciliation and forgiveness.  But this is done within a community meant to be "the people of God."  The remedy for sin is holiness, not payment.  This is where Christ is leading us, and what the Incarnation as salvific remedy for the world is all about.  The fire of hell is the same purifying fire that is the Holy Spirit, and our experience of that depends upon our orientation to where He leads, our acceptance of the repentance to which we're called.  

 

 

 

Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny

 

 "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 

 

This week, we are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, in preparation for Lent, which begins next week.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "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."  Here Jesus begins His expansion of the Law, first citing the statute against murder (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17).  He begins with a formula He will repeat, "but I say to you."  My study Bible comments that this is a statement of total, divine authority (Matthew 7:29).  As the Creator of man and Author of the Law, it says, Christ can speak with this authority.  Additionally, my study Bible notes that while there is anger which is not sinful (Psalm 4:5; Mark 3:5), here what Jesus forbids is sinful anger -- and He identifies it with murder.  The council is the supreme legal body among the Jews.  Hell (in the Greek, Γέενναν/Gehenna) is the final condition of sinners who resist the grace of God.  

"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 comments that peace with other believers is a requirement for worship (Mark 11:25).  It says that the liturgical "kiss of peace" at the beginning of the eucharistic prayer is a sign of reconciliation and forgiveness; this prepares 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."  St. Luke places this teaching in the context of the end of the age in his gospel (Luke 12:57-59).  Here, it appears in the context of reconciliation surrounding the Liturgy.  My study Bible comments that delay in reconciliation allows for the spread of animosity and other evils (Ephesians 4:26-27).  

 

My study Bible notes that in St. Luke's Gospel, the warning about reconciliation to one's adversary comes in the context of the end of the age, but here in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses this image (of coming before a judge against an adversary) in preparation for the Eucharist, and within the communion of the Church.    The intuition here tells us something significant, that going before the Eucharistic cup, and coming into the Divine Liturgy, we are standing before Christ.  When we partake of His mystical body and blood, when we gather to worship, we are standing in the presence of the Judge.  Therefore, our capacity for reconciliation, for remembering a "brother" who "has anything against you" is important, and we should take it seriously.  When we practice confession before taking the Eucharist it is in a similar pursuit:  we seek to be reconciled to the Judge, to God, before we partake.  All of these various framing of the pursuit of peace and reconciliation lead to the same place, to the place where we are before Christ and in the communion which Christ creates among believers, and this is the place where we are to be reconciled.  This is the place where peace is necessary and important.  We should not forget that in that place we also have the presence of the Holy Spirit who helps us to do this work Christ asks of reconciliation. Indeed, it has been at times during the liturgy that I find myself able to forgive people and things I could not at other times.  Being there in the presence of Father, Son, and Spirit enables the heart to ease, and that is indeed a blessed feeling, a miraculous-seeming sense of letting go.  And that is what forgiveness is.  So whether or not we have something we need to do in order to repair our own trespass, or we need help to reconcile that which is not otherwise mended by another, the liturgy -- and the Eucharist -- become those places where the judge is, before whom we may leave all things.   It's clear, of course, that Christ's final words here apply to the final judgment as well, and our need to repair our trespass before we leave this world.  Remember, too, Christ's words about murder.  Sometimes name-calling, or any form of an insult or diminishing of another, can be poisonous to a relationship and by extension to a community.  As we are about to enter into Lent, today's reading should give us pause to consider all the ways we might contribute to that pool of influence for good or for bad.  Let's watch our words, as part of this historical period traditionally reserved for fasting.  St. John Chrysostom is famously quoted as saying, "For what does it profit if we abstain from fish and fowl and yet bite and devour our brothers and sisters?"  Let us begin by following Christ's clear teachings here, and consider our words and abstain from using them in ways that are self-indulgent and poisonous or abusive to peace.  We always have this choice; let us start there, and honor Him by doing so.

 

 

But 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 currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  On Saturday we read that Jesus taught, "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."  At this stage of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus will repeat the formula "but I say to you..." My study Bible says that this repeated formula is a statement of total, divine authority (Matthew 7:29).  As the Creator of human beings, and also the Author of the Law, Christ can speak with this authority.  As there is a type of anger that is not sinful (Psalms 4:4; Mark 3:5), here Jesus is forbidding sinful anger, and identifies it with murder.  The council is the supreme legal body among the Jews.  Hell is translated from the Greek rendered Gehenna (γέενναν); which is itself a transliteration of the Hebrew term, Gêhinnōm, meaning "the valley of Hinnom."  (See also Matthew 10:28.)  This term is also also referred to as the "lake of fire" in Revelation.   It is the final condition of sinners who resist God's grace.  

"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 comments here that peace with other believers is a requirement for worship (Mark 11:25).  The liturgical "kiss of peace" at the beginning of the eucharistic prayer is a sign of reconciliation and forgiveness, which prepares 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."  My study Bible notes that Luke places this particular teaching in the context of the end of the age (Luke 12:57-59).  Here in Matthew's Gospel it is in the context of reconciliation surrounding the Liturgy.  To delay in reconciliation means allowing or the spread of animosity and other evils (Ephesians 4:26-27).  

In today's excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks about the failure of reconciliation, and He places the responsibility for this on the one who causes offense, the one for whom a brother has something against them.  He begins with the admonition against provocation and name-calling.  But even that starts with His teaching on anger.   He begins with the law against murder, and likens a particular type of anger to it.  Note that this, according to my study Bible, is not righteous anger, such as Jesus' response to the hardness of hearts of those who would forbid a healing in Mark 3:5.  But even in that case of an anger begun by a reasonable grief at those who would refuse someone a healing, Jesus does not respond with a rash act, but with a good one:  His response is to heal, regardless of the actions and motivations of the religious rulers in the synagogue.  What that teaches us is a meditation on what Jesus means by meekness, such as when He taught in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (in this reading).   For Christ's kind of meekness was on display when He healed the paralytic in Mark 3:1-6 although the religious leaders would certainly accuse Him of violating the Sabbath.  Meekness, as my study Bible noted in the commentary on the Beatitudes, is not passive weakness, but rather strength under control.  This aspect of self-control or self-mastery is central to the entire history of Christian spiritual teaching.  It is the key to the historical monastic practice of seeking dispassion.  That is, not to be ruled by our passions.  It is in a true sense the way to unlock the meaning of discipleship.  This is because our passions can simply take their own way with us, surpassing all manner of what we might do or think in calmer circumstances and a cooler frame of mind.  Passions are those things, in effect, that overwhelm us and therefore render us truly weak and passive.  So the kind of self-control that is in this aspect of what Jesus calls "meekness" is all about not letting anger or other passions get to oneself, not letting the things that seek to push our buttons send us over the edge into out-of-control unbalance or lack of equanimity.  This "meekness" is all about the strength of self-mastery, so that we keep our cool when we need to, and respond to even highly stressful circumstances, such as when we're provoked even to righteous anger, get the better of us -- and so that we can respond in the way God would call us to do, as did Jesus.  This is a lost understanding in a modern cultural world in which so many seem to take cues from social media that it is appropriate to vent, to act out.  Our films tend to praise the heroic in ways that prize action over sober assessment or discernment.  What we want is the right action of righteousness instead.  Sometimes our own social ailments are caused by a very poor response to passion in ways that seek to blunt it; for example, using drugs or other substances, or to direct such energy into things that ultimately harm us or someone else.  But simply channeling emotion elsewhere or suppressing it or numbing it is not the answer.  This kind of meekness means that we are able to feel what we feel and yet still choose an appropriate response, and that is the aim of true spiritual discipline.  Those who seek to live in prayer and spiritual discipline in fact seek to cultivate this approach to life and to service to God.  It is the true heart and aim of historical Christian spiritual life and practice.  It is what a prayerful mind seeks to achieve in response to life.  So Christ is teaching us in this gospel of the Kingdom about what it means to be truly and fully human, as creations of God meant to fulfill the image and likeness in which we were created (Genesis 1:26-27).  Even in the Garden, and before the first sin made its appearance, human beings were clearly meant to be creatures who would learn and grow.  In this context, to be truly "natural" in theological terms means to bear the likeness and image in which we were created.  At the present state of the world, this need is more clear and -- in the context of the salvation offered by Christ -- even dire.  So this gives us an image in which we're asked to use the potentials for discipleship within ourselves, which includes the capacity both to know our feelings and to choose wisely how we will express them.  Christ is calling us to a deeper order of community, one that includes God and neighbor, as well as our own hearts and minds in that communion.  But He has given us help to do so.  Let us live the fullness of that life to which He calls us, with all the help He gives us to do so -- a prayerful life, and one in which we allow God to shape us through all the varied means we're given in the fullness of the Church and the Kingdom that dwells within us.  This is the fulfillment of the righteousness of faith.

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"

"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

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught:  "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 (above), Jesus referred to the Law and the Prophets, and specifically the letter of the law ("one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled").  Here Jesus begins with the statute against murder found in Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17.  He uses a kind of formula in speaking in the following passages, and it begins here with but I say to you.  My study bible calls this a statement of total, divine authority (7:29).  As Christ is Creator of man and the Author of the Law, He can speak with such authority.  There is also anger that is not sinful (Psalm 4:5, Mark 3:5).  But here Jesus forbids sinful anger, and identifies it with murder.  The council is the supreme legal body among the Jews (also called the Sanhedrin).  Raca is an Aramaic word that means empty, indicating stupidity or empty-headedness.  Fool is translated from a word that has similar meaning but perhaps to a greater degree, implying brainlessness or one who lacks the capacity for intelligent thought (in Greek it is the word from which English derives "moron").  My study bible adds that hell (in Greek, Gehenna) is the final condition of sinners who resist God's grace. 

"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" (often called fellowship) at the beginning of the eucharistic prayer is a sign of reconciliation and forgiveness, which prepares the faithful in order 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."  My study bible notes here that Luke places this teaching in the context of the end of the age (Luke 12:57-59).  Here, it is in the context of reconciliation surrounding the Liturgy.  The images here suggest judgment, and therefore also gives echoes of the context of Luke.  A delay in reconciliation, my study bible adds, will allow for the spread of animosity and also other evils (Ephesians 4:26-27).

What is righteous anger?  What is sinful anger?  Moreover, how do we distinguish between the two?  Jesus says that "whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment."  We are reminded then to ask, what is a just cause?  People can be angry for all kinds of reasons that they give themselves:  some are reasonable, and others merely selfish.  But often, when our own motives cloud judgment, it is hard to know the difference.  And, we should add, it is so easy to rationalize or equivocate.  One thing that is unmistakable in today's text is the equivalence Jesus gives to words (or insults) and a physical act of violence -- or more specifically, murder.  It tells us something about what we do spiritually or emotionally to another when we insult and call names.  We might not be doing a physical injury, but it's easy to understand the vulnerability involved in a possible soul injury.  Jesus seems to be calling us onto the carpet to bring our attention to the things we do that cause harm -- even when we don't see it and think about it.  And this isn't just a harm to another person.  It is, in effect, a harm to relationship, and through that relationship, a harm to community.  Placing insults in the context of the Eucharist, or of the Liturgy, Jesus speaks of harm within the community, a kind of poison based in injustice (being angry without a cause).  He warns us of the consequences and dangers of prolonged feuding or acrimony:  "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."  Sometimes it is necessary to "agree to disagree" rather than risk a greater degree of harm within the context of relationship and community.  Even if we are in the right, one cannot discount the risk of greater harm coming through increasing strife, insult, and the resulting anger that is sure to come.  For those who are right, and for those who are wrong, there is in fact a similar danger.  The temptation to sin remains, and more damage continues.   A peaceful separation, in such a context, can be preferable to continued and escalating acrimony.  It also gives us time to calm down, to pray, and even to forgive as best we can, even if reconciliation isn't possible.  But we are assured that "you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny" -- one way or another, we pay for missteps, we have lessons to learn, and we're not going to be truly free until we accept whatever they are and follow through.  Let us also note that the kind of insults and name-calling that Jesus mentions involve shame.  These sorts of insults are not clearly stated accusations of wrong-doing.  They are assassinations of character and of a person (note the word "assassination" and its tie to the concept of murder).  They are designed to destroy internal integrity, and when publicly made, to do so in front of community.  Therefore they work as further prompts to anger in an opponent, and to escalate tension and the risk of violence, either emotionally or physically.   Thus, they promote more danger to community and risk further broken relationships.  Jesus Himself, let us remember, did not shirk from telling the truth, even when it would cause division, but He did so at the appropriate time and within the context of a prayerful life, always seeking God's will in doing so and not His own.  This expression would also come in the context of a greater sacrifice on His part for the good of the entire communion and for the life of the world.   The ultimate judge is God, and therefore what Christ calls us to ultimately is mindfulness -- the awareness of God's presence with us at all times.  Before the altar, of course such is true.  In the Liturgy and in the context of the Eucharist it is the same.  And at all times, both in worship and in private, our angels are with us -- and in prompting us to true mindfulness, Jesus in effect teaches us to always be aware of such, even when we find ourselves most angry.  The difference between a righteous and a sinful anger perhaps lies just there:  can we keep ourselves mindful of the presence of God and of God's angels helping us to go through it prayerfully and asking for God's will to be known that we may follow?  Jesus reminds us of the Judge for a reason.  Let us be called to the awareness He asks.