Matthew 5:21-26

This year we are covering the four Gospel Accounts together in chronological order.

In the previous post, we covered Matthew 5:13-20. Here was the conclusion:

Jesus taught believers must be a positive influence. The only way to do this is to allow God to do this through us and the result is Salvation.

During the Matthew Series, we covered these chapters in detail. Remember, the purpose of this year's Series is to show the chronology and the role of each passage relative to the occurrence of other passages. For the rest of this Series, with each post I will provide a link to the associated Matthew Series post for those who want to go in depth with each passage. For example, here is the link to the Matthew Series for today's post: Matthew 5:21-26.


Matthew 5
"21 Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:"

(Jesus stated the Doctrine that existed during His time on earth.)

"22 but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire."

(Jesus widened Doctrine. He was able to do this because He was a Semikah Rabbi. Jesus widened the Doctrine from an action to an attitude. Notice, a person who committed the bad act would also have the bad attitude. Look at the Doctrine carefully: this concerned believers dealing with other believers! A person who had an evil attitude towards another believer was in danger of losing their Salvation.)

(Like we saw in the previous post, Jesus had just stated He didn't come to destroy the Law. Jesus' first example supported His claim. The new Doctrine didn't destroy the old Doctrine. The new Doctrine included the old Doctrine...and added to it.)

(Jesus had given the principle. Next, He gave an application...)

"23 If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee,
24 leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

(Jesus stated an effect of the widening of this Doctrine was that a person's prayers could be hindered if they had a bad attitude towards another believer.)

(Jesus presented another application...)

"25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
26 Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing."

(Jesus stated we ought to agree with our adversary quickly. On this blog, I have called this "weed killer". Today's weed killer products don't work by killing the weed...they actually fertilize the weed! They progress the growth of one aspect of the weed to the point the other aspects can't keep up. Likewise, we shouldn't try to kill other peoples' arguments. We should facilitate the other person's point to its logical conclusion...and the first step would be to agree with them. If their argument holds up, then we have learned something. If their argument falls apart, then the other person will have to adjust or prove they aren't a believer.)


CONCLUSION
Jesus presented His first example of widening Doctrine. It involved not having a bad attitude towards other believers.

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