 |  |
A | 5: 21-26. Anger.
B | 27-30. Desire.
C | 32. Subterfuge to avoid keeping covenant.
C | 33-37. Subterfuge to avoid keeping oath.
B | 38-42. Non-resistance.
A | 43, 44. Love to enemies.
The words "without cause" in verse 22 are to be omitted. The law read, "Whosoever
shall KILL shall be amenable to the judges". Christ said, "Whosoever is angry with his
brother shall be amenable to the judges". To say "Raca" to one's brother, that is, to
speak contemptuously, is to make oneself amenable to the Sanhedrin, the great national
council. To go further and say "wicked reprobate" is to make oneself amenable to the
"Gehenna of fire".
The three grades of punishment occur again in the sequel (25, 26) viz., the adversary,
the judge, the officer. Prison is equivalent to Gehenna. Some may feel that a proof text
for the orthodox hell is being taken from them, but we make bold to say that the modern
conception of hell does not enter into the scope of the passage. Entrance into the
kingdom is joy; rejection is outer darkness and gnashing of teeth. It is not a question of
salvation or damnation, nor of heaven or hell here, any more than it is in Matt. 25: 31-
46. It is entry or non-entry into the kingdom. The three stages of verse 22 indicate the
straitness of the gate, and the "destruction" towards which the broad way leads. If the
Gehenna of verses 29, 30 be taken literally, of course the cutting off of the hand and the
plucking out of the eye must be literal too. We do not remember ever meeting, even
among the most devoted advocates of the Sermon on the Mount, one who had plucked
out his eye or cut off his hand, yet many if not all had been "offended" sometime or
other.
The deeper spiritual commandment that is given to those who seek the kingdom and
its blessedness is focused in the closing verses of the chapter.
A | 45-. That ye may become children of your Father in heaven.
B | -45. For. / Sun on evil and good.
\ Rain on just and unjust.
B | 46, 47. For. / If love them that love what reward?
\ If salute brethren only where differ?
A | 48. Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven.
This insistence upon being like the Father is seen in the great prayer of chapter 6:,
"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors", and in the Lord's comment:--
"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your
trespasses" (verses 14, 15).
See also Matt. 18: 23-35. This truth however is not a part of the gospel of the
Grace of God and cannot be preached as such without confusion and harm. It is however