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institutions familiar to the Jews, than to spiritualize them away as some do. The
synagogue with its council of judgment, and the Temple and Sanhedrin, were not to be
done away with but reformed, and in keeping with this, the Acts church continued to
frequent both Temple and synagogue, and did not try to overthrow them as something
contrary to the teachings of the Lord.
By the Lord's standard of righteousness, a man was to be liable to the Judgment not
simply for murder, but also for anger without due cause. The more severe offence of
saying to one's brother, "Raca" (i.e. "empty head", a term of contempt probably from the
Chaldee reqa', Hebrew req, `empty'--Gen. 37: 24, etc.), would lead to appearance
before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, and to further attribute to one's brother wickedness by
calling him "Fool" (cp. Psa. 14: 1 where the `fool' is not a simpleton, but a wicked man),
would render the offender liable to be denied a proper burial after death, his corpse being
cast into the valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) where it would be destroyed by worms or fire.
If it be objected that this standard of righteousness does not leave one with the feeling
of a "fullness", it should be remembered that the Lord's words here represent only the
negative side of one aspect of the great law which He propounded, and under which all
laws are included:
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matt. 19: 19).
The outline of God's great law contained basically in ten commandments (lit. `words',
Deut. 10: 4 A.V. margin) is filled out by this one word, as the Apostle Paul indicated in
Rom. 13: 8, 9:
"For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal,
Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other
commandment, it is briefly comprehended [summed up] in this saying [lit. `word'],
namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
They who kept this "word", would be barely conscious of the original outline, for the
Law, insofar as it may be considered in negative terms, "Thou shalt not", is not laid
down for the righteous but for the lawless (I Tim. 1: 9). So these actions referred to in
Matt. 5: 22, which sprang not from love (unjustified anger, contempt and slander), were
to be duly dealt with by the judicial system of Israel, the "Judgment" and the
"Sanhedrin".
Jerusalem --- centre of authority.
Judaism was centred around Jerusalem. There at the first was the Temple built where
the Lord put His name (I Kings 9: 3). It was around this centre that the life of Israel
revolved.
When the Acts church came into being it began at Jerusalem, and the authority of the
Apostles was exercised from this centre. It was not until persecution broke out after the
death of Stephen, that (according to Scripture) the Gospel was proclaimed outside of
Jerusalem, and even then the Apostles remained within the city (Acts 8: 1). This was