Sermon Notes. - Santa Barbara Community Church

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