Sermon Notes. - Santa Barbara Community Church
Sermon Notes. - Santa Barbara Community Church
Sermon Notes. - Santa Barbara Community Church
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TRANSFORMATION FROM ANGER AND LUST<br />
• Matthew 21:12-17<br />
• Matthew 23:17<br />
• Ephesians 4:26<br />
? Is Jesus prohibiting anger? If not, what then is he condemning?<br />
Looking back at v. 22, we see that Jesus addresses insults directed at a brother<br />
or sister in the faith. The sentence, …and if you insult a brother (or sister) you<br />
will be liable to the council, uses the Aramaic word, raca. The connotation of this<br />
word is of something being empty. The insult is in line with offending someone’s<br />
intelligence. In Greek, the sentence translates, …and if you say, ‘you fool,’ you<br />
will be liable to the hell of fire. 1<br />
Respond to this quote:<br />
Jesus in fact gives no command not to be angry or not to call anyone a<br />
fool. In the Greek of the New Testament, “Being Angry” in Matthew 5:22 is<br />
not a command, but a participle, an ongoing action. It is a diagnosis of a<br />
vicious cycle that we often get stuck in: being angry, insulting one another.<br />
It is simply realistic: we do get angry, we do insult one another, and it does<br />
lead to trouble. 2<br />
? How is Jesus drawing an equivalent between murder, and anger and insult?<br />
? Have you experienced a cycle of anger in yourself? What was (has been) the<br />
result?<br />
So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother<br />
(or sister) has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and<br />
go; first be reconciled to your brother (or sister) and then come and offer your<br />
1 Both examples from Stott, p. 84.<br />
2 Stassen and Gushee, p. 134.<br />
PAGE 32<br />
SERMON ON THE MOUNT