“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:… Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” (St. Matthew 5:21, 23-24)
It may seem as though Jesus was adding to the Law given by God when He said: “But I say unto you”, but actually He was giving a more complete explanation of the Law. In Exodus 20:13 God commanded: “Thou shalt do no murder”. Jesus explained that we should not even allow ourselves to become angry enough to do murder. When we are so angry that we would like to kill somebody we have already committed murder in our hearts. I seriously doubt there is a single person here that has not, at some point, been so angry that they wished somebody were dead. We are all guilty of that at some point. In our hearts we have all killed some person already, even though we do not lift a hand against them. In the time of Jesus the Pharisees looked at the law and said to themselves: “Ah, you see, I have not killed anyone therefore I am a righteous man.” But in their hearts they were angry and they hated. The Pharisees and Sadducees and the Scribes and Priests all held terrible anger for Jesus. In their hearts they wanted Him dead. And the anger simmered and seethed and fermented until it was hatred. But still they were righteous in their own eyes because they had connived to have the Gentiles kill Jesus so their hands were technically clean. But their hearts were soiled.
We need to look at the intent God had when he gave the law. We can not keep God’s laws with your eyes closed to His intent. In my other profession we speak about the spirit of the law verses the letter of the law and we are suppose to enforce the spirit of the law; so it is also with the Laws of God
“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Jesus said. How can you love your neighbor and be angry with him or her?
Anger is a terrible emotion; it can lead to many places we wish we had not gone, to places we do not want to go but do because we are driven by anger. Anger can lead to physical violence. Your health can suffer as stress level increase. Anger causes chemical changes in your blood and in your brain and it causes the mind to work overtime on how to exact retribution on the subject of your anger while leaving more important things to wait.
Murdering a person is a terrible sin. Why? Because it violates God’s law. Being Angry with a person is also a terrible sin, even if you do nothing to further the anger but fume over the circumstances. Why? Because it violates God’s Law to Lover your neighbor.
The anger Jesus was speaking about is that terrible, abiding anger whereby we brood and seethe and cultivate bitterness, not just the sudden flash that passes quickly – we all know about that sort of anger too.
Anger prevents us from cultivating the spirit God wants us to have, a spirit of love and joy. Do you doubt what I am saying? Have you ever tried to love someone you were angry with? Have you ever tried to find real joy in your life when you are angry with your brother? Anger is absorbing and demanding.
I recently received a little story from my sister-in-law. The title of the story is "NAIL IN THE FENCE". Let me share this story with you.
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper (I think I meant this boy once looking in the mirror). His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally, the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.
You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.”
No matter what our young friend does he cannot really repair the damage done by his anger. The holes in the fence can be covered with putty and paint, but the holes are still there. The damage is done. When we are angry with another, and we give vent to that anger the damage is done and no matter what we do it can not be undone. Just as you can not recall the notes of a bell once rung you can not recall anger once it is given wing.
Many times we are proud of ourselves because we did not allow our tongues to spew words of anger, but what of the holes in our own hearts? Yes, the holes in our hearts? You see, all too often the fence we drive nails into when we are angry is our own heart. Self control is a wonderful thing to have. We bite back the words, but what of the thoughts? Anger is going to make a hole some place whether it is spoken or kept silent. Where will the holes be, in you neighbors fence or in yours?
The goal is to not just self-control but thought control. The goal is to refrain from thinking angry thoughts. We will fail repeatedly, because we are human but the goal should be set nonetheless. Anger is Satan’s key to your heart. Love is God’s key to our hearts. Jesus said: “THOU shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (St. Matthew 22:37-39; St. Mark 12:29-31;