ON JUDGMENT

 Jesus was reminding the blessed about the consequences of murder laid out in the Old Testament scripture: 

¹⁹ And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; ²⁰ Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. (Lev 24:19-20)

 The Law is rigid; for every breach, the same breach shall be given to the offender; for any violation against a person, the offending person shall be violated in the same manner. That includes murder. Even for an abortion, it is a life for life (Deut 21:23). Life is so sacred that taking one life requires taking the life of the perpetrator.

Jesus recalled the Law to the blessed. Who are the blessed? The makarios — those supremely “blest” by God (Strong 1890); those who may come to enjoy the bliss of heaven. In other words, “Christians.” Jesus issued warnings to Christians, and the Law of Jesus was more severe than the Mosaic Law, to wit:

 ²¹ Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, “Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:” ²² But I say unto you, “That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” (Mat 5:21-22)

 Anger without a cause… Throughout scripture, acts against God kindled Him to anger and in other cases righteous men were kindled to anger because they maintained faith in the LORD GOD. Righteous anger is when someone is provoked. Anger without a cause is anger that is not provoked. Provocation on the part of one person is intended to incite anger in another. Here are two examples:

(1)    We all make mistakes. Say driver A makes a mistake, that kindles the anger of driver B. Driver A did so without intention, so the anger was not provoked by driver A; driver B provoked the anger himself.

(2)    Let’s say now that Driver A again makes a driving error. Driver B responds in anger, then he chooses to counter driver A by pursuing him. That does indeed provoke driver A whose mistake was innocent.

 Provocation is intentional. One person makes a choice to get even. In both cases, driver B has anger without a justifiable cause — as if he never makes mistakes. Jesus said, “Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”

“Whosover” herein is not the same “whosoever” in John 3:16. It is who is supposed to be angry. Supposed, because that person will be judged by Jesus and by grace, justice shall be meted. Judgement has three outcomes: (1) guilty as charged, (2) innocence, or (3) guilty but given relief.

Grace is that Jesus considers the circumstances. Was it righteous anger or retribution? In the Old Testament, the difference was mischief or no mischief (Exod 21:22-23) for terminating the life of the most innocent party — the unborn.

Mischief would be without a justifiable cause. An inconvenience is not justifiable, and neither is anger because the unborn cannot express anger, but can only express fear!

However, this is not just about abortion but anger and death in general. Abortion is a good example of anger without a cause because inconvenience is not an acceptable cause since the unborn cannot provoke anyone to anger.

Moses, therein, was writing about mischief. In the case of the pregnant mother, the mischief was anger, and Jesus added to that, “Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”

“Brother” in that sense is not a relative but another person in general. It is the “whosoever.” In the case of the mischievous person, killing the unborn baby was not the deal breaker, but the anger without a cause. You see, anger kills people; weapons do not. People get angry; guns do not. Guns, like anger, can be either for good or mischief.

Jesus died slowly and painfully. There was no weapon, but His flesh was weak. However, a mischievous mob terminated the life of the Savior without firing a shot. Neither the hammered nails nor the lance killed innocent Jesus but anger. The anger of the crowd was kindled by the vocal few: 

¹² And Pilate answered and said again unto them, “What will ye then that I shall do unto Him whom ye call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ And they cried out again, “Crucify Him.” ¹⁴ Then Pilate said unto them, “Why, what evil hath He done?” And they cried out the more exceedingly, “Crucify Him!” (Mark 15:12-14)

 Jesus had remained silent and calm. He provoked nobody but the loud mouths provoked their leaders who judged Him wrongly to silence their anger.

Jesus had warned the Christians about unprovoked anger. They knew that Jesus was innocent of all charges, but the anger of the crowd killed Jesus. What provoked them? They supposed that He might be the king of the Jews as the Judean throne had been vacant for years. Their anger was kindled for political reasons as every faction there, even the apostles, had aspirations for power. Do you think not?

The disciples had asked Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” wondering which of them might be. They remained silent because they wanted to live for themselves, and not die for this new king! The disciples killed Jesus just like the loud mouths and for much the same reasons.

When Jesus taught about anger without a cause, He was smart enough to realize that it would apply to Himself. The crucifixion was indeed anger without a cause, and He judged all mankind, even those who He had blest, guilty as charged, but redeemed them, “whosoever” they were, by sacrificing His own blood for their sins. When He spoke of the innocent children, He was speaking of His own innocence. Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God? None of them for none of them were innocent for all had sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).

(picture credit; Enigma Magazine)