The Spirit of the Law
Part 1: The Heart of Murder
Matthew 5:21-26
Cultivating a Murderous Attitude (vv. 21-22)
- “You have heard it said…”
- “…but I say to you…”
Confronting a Murderous Attitude (vv. 23-24a)
- Confrontation in worship
- Conviction in worship
- Consistency in worship
Correcting a Murderous Attitude (vv. 24b-26)
- First reconcile
- Then worship
- Find liberty
More to Consider
The scribes and Pharisees were evidently seeking to restrict the application of the sixth commandment to the deed of murder alone, to the act of spilling human blood in homicide. If they refrained from this, they considered that they had kept the commandment. And this apparently is what the rabbis taught the people. But Jesus disagreed with them. The true application of the prohibition was much wider, he maintained. It included thoughts and words as well as deeds, anger and insult as well as murder. John Stott
Hate is like acid. It can damage the vessel in which it is stored as well as destroy the object on which it is poured. Ann Landers, Bits & Pieces, September 17, 1992, p. 3.
A man who hates to be slapped on the back packs his coat with TNT and waits for this man who always slaps his back. His idea is when he hits me, I will get him, I'll blow him up. Hate kills both the person who you hate, but also yourself as well. Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat. H.E. Fosdick
A lady once came to Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. "There's nothing wrong with losing my temper," she said. "I blow up, and then it's all over." "So does a shotgun," Sunday replied, "and look at the damage it leaves behind!" Billy Sunday.
