Conquering anger

Spiritual consequences of anger

Like every other culture before and since, the Old Testament nation of Israel found it impossible to avoid murder despite the commands of God. They killed the prophets (Matthew 23:37) and committed acts of violence on their streets (Psalm 55:9-11). Now Jesus interprets the law of murder even more strictly:

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. (Matthew 5:22, NASB)

Does Jesus extend the definition of murder? Or create a new law prohibiting anger, hatred and insults? Or is He simply stating the facts based on His knowledge of God’s justice? Most commentators accept Jesus’ pronouncement without further analysis. Their lack of curiosity doesn’t provide any nuance to His statement. I’ll try to fill in several gaps as we review the passage.

Riddle

A simple reading of these verses yields this conclusion – Jesus condemns anger and insults. Does He intend for us to eliminate all anger (in every case)? Can I still hate mushrooms and spinach?

Jesus gives three examples while escalating the preeminence of the court. Anger results in guilt before the court. An insult is guilt for the supreme court. Another insult is sufficient for the fires of hell.

Remedy

I began this section of the sermon (about fulfilling the law) with a basic premise. Jesus understands and expresses the Old Testament more accurately than Jewish traditions. He summarizes God’s intentions so that we can understand His divine goals. To ensure that we properly understand Jesus, we always measure His doctrine against the message of the entire Bible. His teachings can withstand this scrutiny because they have a solid foundation in divine truth.

A quick background review of anger reveals a simple conclusion. We cannot assume that Jesus intends to condemn all anger based on the Scriptures and yet maintain that He interprets the Scriptures better than Jewish tradition. The existence of godly anger and the biblical encouragement of it among believers contradicts a total prohibition of anger. We need to have a more nuanced understanding to appreciate His teaching.