Matthew 5:21,22

DISCOURSE: 1300
CHRIST’S EXPOSITION OF THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

Matthew 5:21. Ye have heard that it was said by [Note: It should rather be “to.” See Whitby on the place.] 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, Raea, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

GENERAL statements, and general invectives, rarely carry any conviction to the mind: they must be supported by an induction of particulars, before they can produce any material effect. Assertions without proofs will be taken for calumny; but, when supported by fact, they will bear down all opposition. The assertions of our blessed Lord, indeed, needed no confirmation; because “he knew what was in man;” and because his miracles were a sufficient attestation to his word. Yet even He condescended to substantiate his accusations by appeals to fact.
He had intimated that the Scribes and Pharisees both did and taught many things contrary to his revealed will: and he had declared, that unless we have a better righteousness than theirs, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. To evince the truth of his charge, and of the declaration founded upon it, he shews, that they had grossly perverted the sixth commandment: which on that account he proceeds to explain.
Let us consider,

I. His exposition of this commandment—

The commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” was one of those proclaimed from Mount Sinai, and written by the finger of God himself on tables of stone [Note: Exodus 20:13.]. An order was afterwards given, that the crime of murder should be invariably punished with the death of the offender [Note: Numbers 35:30.]. These two were by the Pharisees joined together, as though they had been one and the same commandment: “Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment.” The effect of this union was, that, first, the import of the commandment was thereby limited to actual murder; and, next, the sanction, with which it was enforced, was limited to a punishment inflicted by the civil magistrate. Hence all other violations of the commandment were either overlooked, as no offences at all, or were considered as of very light moment: and though God’s future judgment might not be expressly denied, it was at least kept very much out of sight, by this method of interpreting the word of God.

To rectify these errors, our Lord gave his exposition of the commandment. He explained,

1. Its import—

[It had been thought to extend only to actual murder; but he declared, that it prohibited all causeless anger in the heart, and all outward expression of it with the lips.

In determining the sinfulness of anger, two things are to be considered, namely, the object, and the occasion of our anger. The only legitimate object of it is sin. The sinner himself should be regarded with love and pity; and his sin only should move our anger. Thus it was with our blessed Lord when he exercised anger; “He looked round about on the Pharisees with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts [Note: Mark 3:5.].” The occasion too must be just: our anger must not be causeless, or disproportionate to the offence, or of too long continuance. Where our anger is faulty in none of these respects, we observe the true medium; “We are angry, and sin not [Note: Ephesians 4:26.]:” but where any one of these barriers is broken down, there the anger becomes a violation of the sixth commandment.

Similar distinctions must be made respecting the outward expressions of anger. “Raca” was a term which indicated a contempt of the person to whom it was applied: it means, ‘Thou empty worthless fellow.’ “Thou fool,” was an expression that implied a great degree of indignation and abhorrence, ‘Thou reprobate villain.’ Such expressions therefore as these must of necessity be considered as violations of the commandment, because they manifest a total want of love and pity towards the person so addressed. But it is not every reproachful word that is sinful. St. Paul said, “O foolish Galatians:” “are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh [Note: Galatians 3:1; Galatians 3:3.]?” St. James makes use of a similar expression; “Wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” Our blessed Lord spake occasionally with far greater severity; “O fools, and blind;” “ye hypocrites;” “ye serpents and generation of vipers.” But in these things he spake as a prophet, bearing special authority; and consequently, unless specially authorized like him, we are not at liberty in these respects to follow his example. The rule for us is plain; we may, like the Apostles, designate the characters of men by appropriate epithets; but we must never use any expression which implies a hatred or contempt of the person to whom it is addressed. If we do not strictly adhere to this rule, we violate the commandment.

Thus you see the import of the commandment. Let us next consider our Lord’s explanation of,]

2. Its sanctions—

[We have observed, that the Pharisees, in their comments on this commandment, insisted almost exclusively on the temporal punishment annexed to the violation of it. Our Lord shewed them, that the principal judgments would be felt in the eternal world; and that not only the direct act of murder, but all those other evils which he had represented as breaches of the commandment, would there meet with deserved punishment. This he illustrated by a reference to the different kinds of punishment which were inflicted in their courts of justice. There were courts, established in different parts of the land, consisting of twenty-three members, who had power to try causes, and to inflict capital punishment on the guilty; and the persons condemned by them, were beheaded. There was also a great court or council, called the Sanhedrim, consisting of seventy-two members, who took cognizance of the greatest crimes; and the persons condemned by them were stoned. But there were some offences for which people were condemned to be burnt alive [Note: Leviticus 20:14; Leviticus 21:9.]: and these, it is thought, were executed in the valley of Hinnom. In that valley the people formerly had burned their children in sacrifice to Moloch; but, when the people were turned from that wicked idolatry, one method adopted for keeping them from returning to it was, to defile the place as much as possible, and to render it detestable in the eyes of the people. For this purpose, all the filth of the city was carried there to be consumed; and fires were kept there on purpose to consume it; and it is probable, that that spot was selected as the fittest place of execution for all who were sentenced to be burnt alive. Now it is plain, that, of these three kinds of death, the last is far the most terrible: stoning was a more lingering death than beheading, and burning was still worse than stoning. A similar kind of gradation there will be in the punishments inflicted in the eternal world. Death, eternal death, will be the portion of all who die in their sins: but some will have a lighter, and others a heavier, weight of misery to sustain, in proportion to their respective degrees of guilt. “Those who are angry with their brother without a cause, will be in danger of the judgment,” that is, of that lighter degree of misery, which may be compared to beheading. Those who suffer their anger to “break out into contemptuous expressions,” and “say to their brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council,” and sustain a heavier punishment, answerable to stoning. And if any person shall entertain such rancour in his heart as to “say to his brother, Thou fool, he shall be in danger of hell fire,” that is, of that heaviest of all punishments, answerable to the being burnt alive in the valley of Hinnom: hell fire being usually expressed, in the New Testament, by a word importing, “The fire in the land of Hinnom [Note: See Doddridge’s note on the text.].”

Thus our Lord shews what are to be regarded as violations of this commandment, and that every violation of it shall receive a recompence proportionable to its enormity.]
Having seen his exposition of the commandment, let us consider,

II.

The general instruction which it conveys to us—

With the right exposition of the commandments every truth of the Gospel is intimately connected.

We may learn from this especially,
1.

The spirituality of the law—

[The law is not a mere letter, which imports nothing beyond the literal import of the words, but extends to all the thoughts and dispositions of the heart. It prohibits all tendencies towards the sin forbidden, and enjoins every virtue that is opposed to it. St. Paul speaks of this as a tiling known and acknowledged; “We know that the law is spiritual [Note: Romans 7:14.].” In his unconverted state, indeed, he did not know it: he had the same view of the commandments as other Pharisees had, and thought he had never violated them, at least not so as to be condemned by them: but when God shewed him the meaning of those words, “Thou shalt not covet,” he saw that “the commandment” was, as David had long before represented it, “exceeding broad [Note: Psalms 119:96.]:” he saw that there was not an inclination of the mind, or an affection of the heart, which was not under its cognizance and controul; and, consequently, that he had violated it in ten thousand instances. This is the account which he himself gives us of his own experience: “I was alive without the law once; but, when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died [Note: Romans 7:7; Romans 7:9.];” that is, ‘Before I understood the law, I thought I had kept it, and should be saved by it; but when I saw its spirituality and extent, I was sensible that I was a condemned sinner, and could never be justified by my obedience to it.’

It is remarkable, that God has taught us this very lesson from the commandment before us. Moses was the meekest man upon earth: yet on one occasion he transgressed against this commandment, and spake unadvisedly with his lips: “Ye rebels, shall we fetch you water out of this rock?” and then, in his anger, he struck the rock twice. Now for this single transgression God excluded him from the earthly Canaan [Note: Compare Numbers 20:10. with Psalms 106:32.]. And what was the import of this dispensation? It was intended to teach us, that the law is violated as much by an angry word or temper, as by murder itself; that one single violation of it is sufficient to exclude us from the land of promise; and that, though it is of excellent use to conduct us through the wilderness, it can never bring us into Canaan: that is the work of Joshua, and of Joshua alone. Let us then learn this important lesson from the commandment before us; and be convinced, that there is no justification for us by the works of the law.]

2. The evil and danger of bad tempers—

[It is thought in general a sufficient excuse for passion, to say, that we are naturally quick and hasty; and, if a man do not long retain his anger, this hastiness of spirit is not considered, either by himself or others, as any great blemish in his character. But God does not judge so, when he tells us, that anger in the heart exposes us to his heavy displeasure, and that the saying to our brother ‘Raca’ puts us in danger of hell fire. Surely we must have very little considered the effects of anger, if we can think so light of the criminality attaching to it. See what murderous purposes issued from it in the heart of David [Note: 1 Samuel 25:32.]! — — — and what infernal acts were executed in consequence of it by the incensed sons of Jacob [Note: Genesis 34:13; Genesis 34:25. with 49:5–7.]! — — — Or let us look nearer home, and see how often it terminates in blows, in duels, and in death. Who will say, that “the feet of an angry man are not swift to shed blood?” If nothing but the declarations of God himself will satisfy us, let us attend to them: “He that hateth his brother, is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him [Note: 1 John 3:15.]:” and again, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain [Note: James 1:26.].”

Hear ye then, ye “dealers in proud wrath;” hear what God himself speaks concerning you! Think it not a light matter to be angry with your wife, and children, and servants, on every occasion; and to be of such an irritable temper, that the smallest thing in the world suffices to put you in a passion. Whatever professions you may make of regard for religion, God tells you “not to deceive yourselves;” for that “no railer or reviler shall enter into his kingdom [Note: 1 Corinthians 6:10.]:” and such a disgrace does he consider you to his religion, that he bids his own people “not so much as to eat with you [Note: 1 Corinthians 5:10.].”

You will say, “It is only with the lower class of people that I am angry; to my equals I am courteous enough.” What then, is not one man your “brother,” as well as another? Go and murder a poor man; and see whether the laws of the land will make any distinction: and, if they will not, much less will “God, with whom there is no respect of persons.” If you indulge anger in your heart, and express it with your lips, “hell fire” will be your portion, whatever be your own rank, and whether the objects of your anger be poor or rich.
If you would be Christians indeed, your habitual conduct must be agreeable to that precept; “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you [Note: Ephesians 4:31.].”]

3. The greatness of the Gospel salvation—

[Let any one judge himself by our Lord’s exposition of this commandment, and see how often he has been “in danger of the judgment, and the council; yea, and of hell-fire itself.” Yet here is only one commandment; and that too considered only in a very partial way. What then must be the amount of our guilt, when tried by all the commandments? And if such be the guilt of every individual amongst us, what must be the guilt of the whole world? Yet this was the guilt which was laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and was expiated by his all-atoning sacrifice! How “mighty then must He be on whom such help was laid [Note: Psalms 89:19.]!” and how precious must that blood be which could wash away such loads of guilt! We do not in general consider this as we ought: if we did, we could not but be filled with wonder at the stupendous plan which the Father laid, the Son executed, the Spirit revealed.

It is the full view of this subject that animates the heavenly hosts to sing, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing:” therefore, “blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever [Note: Revelation 5:12.].” And were we also to meditate more on these things, we should oftener catch the fire, and sing with enraptured hearts “the song of Moses and the Lamb [Note: Revelation 15:3.].”]