The Opinionated Christian

"...But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment..." 
-Jesus, section of Matthew 5:22

I get it. Someone in a Rav 4 just cut you off on your way to Walmart. It’s nothing extreme, to be sure, but something about it just sends you flying off the rails. Anger is a very difficult emotion to gain control of. Jesus knows this, which is why he covered the topic in his “Sermon on the Mount”.

"Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him." Matthew 5:1
Early in Jesus' ministry, following His baptism and temptations in the wilderness, Jesus was beginning to amass crowds listening to His teachings. Matthew 5 through 7 covers this sermon, which covers a wide variety of topics from anger to lust to divorce to the Golden rule.
This is regarded as the greatest sermon of all time. Pastors for centuries have given sermons based off Jesus' words.

Our actions matter. They have weight to them. And we will be judged for them at the end of time. God sees every thing we do. It doesn’t matter if it’s breathing or something we say. God even knows the thoughts in our heads. Therefore, we cannot hide the intentions of our heart from God. We must ask ourselves, “What good can come from being angry?” It’s a simple question, really. We cannot reconcile with our brother if we maintain burning anger in our hearts. We can’t fix a relationship. We can’t right a wrong. Any therapist would agree that unrestrained anger is a vicious thing—a self-reinforcing cycle that builds on itself and worsens the longer it sits. Why, then, would we allow this anger to build to a place that might lead us to murder?

 "In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.'
Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him."
Genesis 4:3-8

I can hear you wondering, “Well how angry can I be, and who can I be angry at?” Thankfully for us, Jesus has the answers to our questions.

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire." 
Jesus, Matthew 5:22

This is a dense verse, so let’s unpack it:

• Jesus has elevated the commandment “Do not commit murder” to include inner states of anger.
• He has linked unrestrained anger to the same divine penalty as murder.
• Everyone angry with his brother will be judged.
• Whoever insults his brother will be judged.
• Whoever calls someone a fool will be judged.

In this context, Jesus is not talking about our biological brothers (sisters are implied as well any time brother is used). When He says brother here, He is referring to all people. Everyone is our brother in Christ, and therefore we should not be angry with anyone.

Jesus teaches that murder, both committed and uncommitted, stem from a place of uncontrolled anger. In doing so, He has expanded the meaning of murder to include anger allowed to fester. What is also included is insulting our brothers! *GASP*. Can you even begin to image a world where you can’t call your little brother a grumpy little turd? Well, Jesus has instructed us to do more than imagine this world, we are to make it a reality. When He says we will be liable to the council, He is saying that when He returns on Judgement day (See On the Basics of Christianity) we will have to answer for our words towards others. We must work to keep anger from driving our mouths to speak hatefulness to our brothers. Furthermore, Jesus says that anyone who calls another a fool is subject to the fires of Hell. To us, this feels like an extreme response to something simple, but the reality is we only ever call someone a fool, an idiot, or stupid when we’re angry with them. You don’t say these things to people you aren’t angry with.

Additionally, in Jesus’ wordage, He has said that being angry with a brother could make you liable to the fires of Hell. This is not directly stated in the scripture, however it is equated through his examples of actions based in contempt and the punishments for these offences. Calling someone a fool can send you to Hell, the same punishment for murder. And remember, Jesus just said that anger is an extension of murder. Therefore anger is a sin punishable by Hellfire.

So that’s it? Just don’t be angry with people?

Well, no. There’s more.

 "So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." 
Jesus, Matthew 5:23-24.

It is not enough to not be angry with someone. Jesus teaches here that if someone else is angry with you, before you come to God with our praise and gifts, go and fix things with that person! We are called not just to be paragons of patience, but we must do whatever it takes to remove the anger our brothers have towards us! If we did not, we would essentially be condemning them to Hell. Unchecked anger makes you liable to judgment, so why would we leave our brother in that position?

"Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny." 
Jesus, Matthew 5:25-26

Jesus here is using an analogy of a lawsuit to explain the spiritual circumstances of any inability to reconcile. Just as if we do not fix our offense with our brother he will sue us and we will be liable to the judge, so too will we be liable to judgment from God Most High. There is urgency to this part. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. We aren’t even guaranteed our next breath, so we must reconcile our issues with our brothers as soon as possible.

Anger is a dangerous thing. It is an extension of murder, cannot be left uncontrolled, and can lead to us saying and doing things which we would face judgment for. It is so dangerous that we can be held liable to judgment for our actions that made our brother angry with us. We must go forward from this moment with prayers for patience and opportunities to choose love.

In the words of Jesus himself,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
-Matthew 5:43-44

We must go on with an awareness of our actions and their effects on others; we must be especially careful not to speak anger towards our brothers.

Choose Peace,

Opinionated Christian