The Many Sides of

Anger (Matthew 5:21-

26)
“The Many Sides of Anger”
(Matthew 5:21-26)
Series: God’s Fulfilled Promise [on screen]
Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD
First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida
September 30, 2018
Introductory Comments:
Have you ever been really angry with someone? (Don’t
raise your hand)
Perhaps you were so angry with someone that you felt like
you could just kill them. Then, you catch yourself and you
say to yourself, “I can’t kill that person! That’s a sin to
murder!”
Well, that’s a good thought to have, you shouldn’t kill
anyone out of anger. However, Jesus pushes us farther on
this issue of anger. He challenges us not only on the
sinfulness of murder but also on the sinfulness of anger
itself.
Let’s look at today’s passage together as we discover the
many sides of anger.
Read the Passage
Read Matthew 5:21-26
21 “You have heard that it was said to our ancestors,
Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject
to judgment. 22 But I tell you, everyone who is angry
with his brother or sister will be subject to judgment.
Whoever insults his brother or sister, will be subject
to the court. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject
to hellfire. 23 So if you are offering your gift on the
altar, and there you remember that your brother or
sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift
there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled
with your brother or sister, and then come and offer
your gift. 25 Reach a settlement quickly with your
adversary while you’re on the way with him to the
court, or your adversary will hand you over to the
judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will be
thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will never
get out of there until you have paid the last penny.
Let’s pray together.
(Prayer)
We are continuing our study of Jesus’ sermon on the
mountainside: one of the most famous sermons in history.
Jesus has just finished telling us in verses 17-20 that we
must live an ultra-righteous life in order to get into the
kingdom of heaven, which points us to our great need for
Him and for His righteousness.
Now, Jesus begins a series of statements that follow this
format: “You have heard it said . . . but I say.”
In these statements, Jesus is acknowledging the teaching
of the Jewish law on a matter, and then He is adding to
that commandment, or clarifying it, or explaining what was
really at the heart of it.
So, again, Jesus is not doing away with the law. He is
fulfilling it Himself and explaining it for His followers! He’s
saying that it needs to be obeyed in a fuller way.
So, in this passage, Jesus speaks to us about anger.
We’ll see three sides of anger in this passage.
First, we see that . . .
I. Anger can be evil (vv. 21-22) [on screen]
Jesus says in verses 21 and 22, “You have heard that it
was said . . . do not murder . . . but I tell you everyone
who is angry with his brother or sister will be subject
to judgment.”
There was no doubt among the hearers of Jesus
that murder was evil, but Jesus introduces this new
concept that anger can also be evil.
This would have probably been surprising to the hearers
of Jesus, and it’s probably surprising to many of us today.
We have no problem understanding that murder is evil,
sinful, and worthy of judgment.
But to say that anger is worthy of judgment, well, Jesus is
taking this a little too far, isn’t He?
Jesus carries it further.
He says, if you insult your brother or sister, you will be
subject to the court, meaning you will be guilty.
Then he says, “whoever says, ‘You fool,’” will be subject to
Hellfire. Whoa! Hellfire!
This term, Hellfire, is from the word Gehenna, which
referred to a trash dump outside of Jerusalem that was
continually burning. Jesus said the judgment that we could
experience if we give ourselves to anger and insulting
could be like a continual fire that burns up trash. That’s
intense!
Just as murder is sinful because it is
a physical violation of someone created in the image of
God, so also, insulting is sinful because it is
a verbal violation of someone created in the image of
God.
How is this possible? How is this the case? How can
anger possibly be considered as sinful as murder?
First, let’s make a clarification: Jesus didn’t say that
murder and anger were the same. He said that they were
both worthy of judgment.
Just to be clear, I’d rather all of you get angry at me than
have just one of you murder me.
Jesus’ point is that anger should not be overlooked as
innocent. It is evil.
Well, why is anger evil?
This is a tricky question, particularly when we see that
Jesus was angry at points in His ministry.
You might say, “Jesus had righteous anger.”
We must remember this, church: none of us are Jesus!
So, we should be very careful to say that our anger is
righteous anger.
Jesus’ anger was an identification of the sin of others and
out of a heart devoted to repentance and the pursuit of
holiness for the person to whom His anger was directed.
Our anger opens the door and allows sin to come into our
hearts, which leads us to more sin, including insulting,
denigrating name-calling, and at times, even physical
harm. Our anger is usually selfish, and vengeful, and full
of hate. This is sinful.
Although this may seem insignificant to us, it is not
insignificant to God.
So, how do you view your anger? We should fear our
anger because it could lead to judgment. That is, it could
indicate that we are not truly followers of God and His
ways.
If we claim to follow Jesus, we must truly follow Jesus,
including His commands to flee anger and insult.
We must pursue holiness not only in our actions but also
in our hearts.
Second, we must see that . . .
II. Anger can be reconciled (v. 23-24) [on screen]
Let’s look at verses 23 and 24 again.
23 So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and
there you remember that your brother or sister has
something against you, 24 leave your gift there in
front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your
brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
Jesus says to reconcile an issue with your brother or
sister.
There is hope, and even an expectation, that anger can be
reconciled between others.
Jesus believes so highly in this reconciliation that He
actually instructs us to pause our worship of God in order
for us to make things right between us and someone else.
Think about the implications of that. God is worthy of
worship more than anyone in all the universe! Yet, we are
to put that on hold in order to resolve anger with another
human being.
Of course, when Jesus says “your brother or sister,” He
doesn’t mean only your literal brother or sister. He means
basically other people with whom we have interaction.
If we have anger, or if we are aware of someone having
anger towards us, we are to seek to make that right. We
are to seek to fix the issue.
Oh, that we would get this! This would solve so many
issues in the world if we just sought to work things out.
Reconciliation and the resolution of anger between two
people made in the image of God are utterly important to
God.
This is something that we should not only intentionally
seek to do, but we should work at very hard.
It’s not always easy to make things right with someone,
but we should keep trying and keep trying because it is so
important to God.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t say anything about who’s in the
right and who’s in the wrong. When it comes to
imperfection and sinfulness, we’re all in the wrong!
We’re completely unrighteous without Jesus! We
need His forgiveness and His righteousness, which
should lead us to pursue forgiveness and righteousness in
our relationships with others.
You might say, “Pastor, this is not easy!” I know! I know
it’s not easy! Who told you it was easy to live for God? It’s
not easy because although we’ve been set free from sin
and set free to live a righteous life, we are still cocooned
by the sinfulness and unrighteousness of the world and
those around us, and we personally still carry with us the
residue of sin.
However, because we have been reconciled to God, we
must fight to also be reconciled to others.
If we claim to love God, but we don’t love other people, we
are deceiving ourselves.
Part of God’s vision for our church is to love the church
and love others, not be angry with the church and angry
with others. We are to love, and forgive, and seek to make
things right with others.
Finally, . . .
III. Anger can have consequences (v. 25-26) [on
screen]
Look again at verses 25 and 26.
25 Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary
while you’re on the way with him to the court, or your
adversary will hand you over to the judge, and the
judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into
prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out of
there until you have paid the last penny.
What Jesus is getting at in verses 25 and 26 is that it is
always better to work things out with someone without
going before a judge, whether a human judge or God, the
Holy Judge.
A judge will examine us to see if there is guilt within us,
and if so, we will be punished.
It’s always easier to make things right yourself with
someone else before a judge has to do so.
Again, this is true both on a practical level and on a
spiritual level.
Notice how severe the punishment will be. Jesus
says, “you will never get out of there until you have
paid the last penny.”
Let’s think of an earthly example. Let’s say that you’re a
high school student who is on an athletic team or a
member of the band, and you have a disagreement with
another member of the team or band. If you take care of it
yourselves and work it out, your coach or band director
may never even know about it. However, if you don’t work
it out and things get bad and have to go before the coach
or director, things could get ugly. You could be punished in
some way, including maybe even being kicked off the
team or out of the band.
The same can be true in family relationships, the
workplace, and certainly in the church. It’s always easier
for people to work things out in humility and love, rather
than to take it to the next level.
The longer you wait to make things right the worse the
situation can become.
Avoid anger, seek to make things right, and seek to do so
as soon as possible so things don’t get worse.
Concluding Thoughts:
Ultimately, the issue of anger comes down to our
relationship with God.
Remember, Jesus classifies anger as sin deserving of
judgment.
Furthermore, Jesus tells us that it’s very important to heal
our anger towards other humans.
God is serious about anger and He is serious about His
followers pursuing godliness.
You have heard it said, “do not murder,” but Jesus tells us,
He is also serious about the sinfulness that anger can
cause.
Bottom Line: We should deal with our anger, before
God deals with our anger. [on screen]
(repeat)
Anger is a sin that separates us from other humans and
can also separate us from God.
If we have sin in our hearts, be it from anger or murder,
God is not pleased with us.
We must go to God, through Jesus Christ, and repent of
our anger.
Jesus can set us free from any sin!
We must follow God faithfully and fully.
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways.
Unresolved anger is like spiritual cancer in your heart, so
don’t let it stay there.
Closing:
As we close, I want to remind us that Jesus lays out the
law of God and many of us feel, rightly so, that we cannot
possibly fulfill what Jesus requires. That’s the point, on our
own we cannot please God. That’s why we need Jesus.
Turn to Jesus and live for Him now. Live for Him in all
aspects of your life. He wants all of you. Give yourself to
Him and be made new.
He wants you devoted to Him in your actions and your
heart.
 ON YOUTUBE

When Anger Turns Deadly (Matthew

5:21-26)

When Anger Turns Deadly

II. The Passage: "Everyone Who is Angry" (5:21-26)

Now if you've been with us, you may also remember that, in one sense, the
essence of this 'mountain message' is summed up for us in 5:48...You therefore
must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Sound pretty scandalous,
doesn't it? Perfection? Jesus is demanding moral perfection? Yes, that's
exactly what he's doing. If God, or the Son of God, expected anything less
than perfection, it would be a cosmic and catastrophic compromise.

1. “How serious is my anger?” (vs. 21, 22)

[Verses 21-22...] “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not
murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ [22] 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.

What exactly is Jesus saying? He's telling his listeners (and us) that God's
good path of perfection is concerned, not simply with the act of murder, but
also with the heart behind it. What in most cases fuels the murderous heart?
Anger.
But murder is just one example of what this kind of anger can do. As Jesus
points out in verse 22, this anger is also manifested in our speech; in how we
demean others. Jesus' words are more specific than the ESV word “insults”.
Literally, Jesus is saying, “whoever says to his brother, “Raka”! That's an
Aramaic word meaning empty. A comparable insult today might be something
like, “You, blockhead!” or “You good-for-nothing”. Jesus adds another
example at the end of v. 22... literally, from the Greek moros, the insult is “You,
moron!”

Now, I think if we're honest, all of us have struggled and do struggle with that
kind anger. But that should drive us back to our main question: “How serious
is my anger?” Well, what does Jesus tell us? As with murder, that kind of
anger also makes us “liable (or subject) to judgment” ...even to the extent, as
we see here, at the end of verse 22, liable “to the hell of fire”. There is divine
judgment against both murder and the heart behind murder. God will judge
those who take a person's life, AND those who tear down a person's heart.
Whether we lash out in violence or with venomous words, we will be
condemned.

When does anger turn deadly? Yes, when anger leads someone to take a life.
But it also turns deadly whenever it lodges itself in the human heart. Why?
Because sin leads to death, both physically and spiritually. Our poisonous
words are evidence of our poisoned heart. Did Jesus' listeners understand
this? They should have. Prov. 19:11... Good sense makes one slow to anger, and
it is his glory to overlook an offense. Even in the Law of Moses, we read...

"You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your
neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. [18] You shall not take vengeance or bear
a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as
yourself: I am the LORD.” [Leviticus 19:17-18]
Many Jews might have patted themselves on the back that they were not
murderers. But did they see anger in the same light? Do we? If we do, that
leads to a second question...
2. “How should I address my anger?” (vs. 23, 24)

[Look at verse 23...] “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember
that your brother has something against you, [24] leave your gift there before the altar
and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

The man or woman who takes anger seriously should be the man or woman,
according to Jesus, who takes reconciliation seriously. If you know your anger
has hurt someone else, for example, if you know your angry outburst, has
fractured a relationship, so that now, (v. 23) “your brother has something
against you”, if you know that, you will seek reconciliation; you will seek the
forgiveness of the person who was victimized by your anger.

How high should that reconciliation be on your priority list? What does Jesus
tell us here? He tells us that it should be our first order of spiritual business.
When there is an unresolved issue like that, God is not interested in your
church attendance, your Bible reading, or the consistency of your prayer life.
He certainly wants to use those things. But He wants to use those things to
drive you to reconciliation. That is the first thing on His list for you.

Is that true for you this morning? Is that first on God's list for you? Is there
someone you need to go to, in order to seek forgiveness because of your
anger? Are you here this morning trying to feel spiritually better by singing and
praying to God, rather than by obeying God? If you are, Jesus is calling you to
humble yourself, and to step out in faith. But if you go, can you be sure that
person will forgive you? That things will be better? No. But God doesn't call us
to go only if we're sure. He only calls us do what we can do. As Paul said
in Romans 12:18... If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
But what if we don't choose God's path? Well, that brings us to a third
question...

3. “How bad would it be to ignore my anger?” (vs. 25, 26)

We read in verses 25 and 26... 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. [26] Truly, I say to you, you will never get out
until you have paid the last penny.

While we might look at this passage as another bit of practical advice about
legal matters, about personal grievances, I think this is actually more of a
parable. But if that's the case, what's the point of this short parable? This is
the point: deal seriously and swiftly with your offenses, before things get
turned over to the judge.

Notice how this whole passage, Matthew 5:21-26 begins and ends with the idea
of judgment. It's even there in the middle of the passage, in verses 23 and 24.
Why so much about guilt and judgment? Because Jesus is trying to sober us
up. He wants his listeners, he wants us, to understand that if we are to be
whole, if we are to be holy, if we are to be righteous, if we are to walk that
good path, if we are to live a life that is pleasing to the One who gave us life,
then we have to deal with our hearts... your heart, my heart. Goodness that is
merely external, that isn't at work in the deepest part of who you are, is not the
goodness of God. In short, Jesus wants us to deal with our insufficient ideas
about what is good and right.
III. Peace for the Angry Heart

Brothers and sisters, friends, what is good and right is not simply about doing
the right thing externally. It's begins with being good and right on the inside.
 Turn to Ephesians 4 and let's look at how the Apostle Paul spoke, not only of
anger, but also about the leadership and liberation that came and still comes
through King Jesus,

Be angry and [yet] do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, [27] and give
no opportunity to the devil... [29] Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but
only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those
who hear. [30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption. [31] Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and
slander be put away from you, along with all malice. [32] Be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. [1] Therefore be
imitators of God, as beloved children. [2] And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave
himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 4:26-27, 29-5:2)

How can we maintain peaceful relationships with others?

1. To Maintain Peaceful Relationships, We Must Guard Our Hearts from Evil Thoughts—
Including Anger

To keep ourselves from anger, we must test if it is a

righteous anger.

 First John 3:15 says, “Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer, and you
know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”
 Am I angry because others are being hurt and God is being dishonored? Or is this
anger just about me being personally offended?”

To keep ourselves from anger, we must recognize that unrighteous

anger and thoughts will be judged by God.
 To keep ourselves from anger, we must view things from God’s
perspective.

To keep ourselves from anger, we must resist the devil and his
accusations.

The title “devil” means “accuser” or “slanderer,” and that is often what Satan does to
our hearts. He shoots arrows of suspicion, bitterness, jealousy, and anger at us. In
response, we repeat the bad experiences and evil words over and over again in our
minds. Therefore, we must not only repent, but we must also resist the devil through
prayer and God’s Word

To keep ourselves from anger, we must overcome it with acts of

love.

2. To Maintain Peaceful Relationships, We Must Guard Our Tongues from Evil Speech—
Including Slander
a. To guard our tongues, we must be slow to speak.
Proverbs 17:27 says, “The truly wise person restrains his words.” Wise people restrain their
words.
Proverbs 29:11 says, “A fool expresses all his emotions but a wise person controls them”
b. To guard our tongues, we must only speak gracious and edifying words.
Colossians 4:6 says: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that
you may know how you should answer everyone.” It promises that if our
conversations are full of grace—meaning that we bless people with our words even
when they don’t deserve it—
c. To guard our tongues, we must remember that God will judge our words.
James 3:7-8 says, “For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is
subdued and has been subdued by humankind. But no human being can subdue the
tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” No human can tame the tongue,
only God can. Therefore, we must submit it to God. We must confess our sins and ask
for God’s grace to control our tongues and use them for his glory. In Psalm 141:3,
David said, “O Lord, place a guard on my mouth! Protect the opening of my lips!” We
must also walk in the Spirit through spiritual disciplines, so we will produce the fruit
of the Spirit which includes self-control (Gal 5:16, 22-23).

3. To Maintain Peaceful Relationships, We Must Recognize that Discord Hinders Our

Relationship with God
 Christ focuses on the effect of wrong relationships on worship

For the Pharisees and scribes, everything was centered around worship. “They spent much
time in the synagogues and in the Temple. They made sacrifices, offered prayers, gave
tithes, and carried on religious activities of every sort. But it was all heartless external
ceremony.”6 In the illustration of one offering a gift at the altar, Christ demonstrated that
right relationships with others are necessary to have a right relationship with God. To come
to worship and offer sacrifices without practicing love in our relationships is simply an
outward act with an evil heart. Paul said it this way, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of
angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1). Worship
without love for God and others is just noise to God—a clanging cymbal. There is nothing
redeeming about our worship if we’re allowing our relationships to stay in discord and
unresolved tension.
Scripture teaches that one’s horizontal relationships always reflect his or her vertical
relationship.
(Matt 6:15). First John 4:20 says: “If anyone says ‘I love God’ and yet hates his fellow
Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has
seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
4. To Maintain Peaceful Relationships, We Must Seek to Resolve Conflicts Quickly
Christ’s point is unmistakable: We are to make every effort, with no delay, to reconcile our
relationship with a brother or sister so we can avoid God’s discipline
Christ gave a similar illustration in the Parable of the Merciless Servant. A master had
forgiven a servant a great debt; however, this same servant chose not to forgive a fellow
servant of a lesser debt. Therefore, the master handed the merciless servant over to jailors to
be tortured until he paid the debt. Christ spoke to his disciples saying that God would do the
same to them if they didn’t forgive from the heart (v. 35).
Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “‘Be angry and do not sin’; do not let the sun go down on the cause
of your anger. Do not give the devil an opportunity.” Ephesians 4:3 says, “making every
effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Don’t delay! Don’t give Satan a
foot-hold in your life, your friendship, your marriage, or your church! Work hard to
reconcile! Sadly, many don’t give zealous effort to reconcile—allowing Satan to afflict both
themselves and others.