Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 5:22

"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." — Matthew 5:22 (ASV)

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment;

And a far higher judgment than that of men;

And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,

A word of very uncertain meaning, a kind of snubbing word, a word of contempt which men used to one another, meaning that there was nothing in them: Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Murder lies within anger, for we wish harm to the object of our wrath, or even wish that he did not exist, and this is to kill him in desire. Anger without a cause is forbidden by the command which says Thou shalt not kill; for unjust anger is killing in intent. Such anger without cause brings us under higher judgment than that of Jewish police courts. God takes cognizance of the emotions from which acts of hate may spring, and calls us to account as much for the angry feeling as for the murderous deed.

Words also come under the same condemnation: a man shall be judged for what he shall say to his brother. To call a man Raca, or a worthless fellow, is to kill him in his reputation, and to say to him, Thou fool, is to kill him as to the noblest characteristics of a man. Hence all this comes under such censure as men distribute in their councils; yes, under what is far worse, the punishment awarded by the highest court of the universe, which dooms men to hell fire. Thus our Lord and King restores the law of God to its true force, and warns us that it denounces not only the overt act of killing, but every thought, feeling, and word which would tend to injure a brother, or annihilate him by contempt.

But I say to you,—

Oh, what divine dignity there is in this majestic Person. He claims authority to speak, even if he contradicts all the Rabbis and all the learned men who came before him: I say to you,—

Shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire.

Christ will not have us treat others with anger or with contempt, which is a very evil form of hate, akin to murder, because we, in effect, say, "That person is nobody"; that is, we make nothing of them, which is morally to kill them. We must not treat our fellow human beings with contempt and derision, nor indulge any angry temper against them, for anger is of the devil, but love is of God.

Murder lies within anger, for we wish harm to the object of our wrath, or even wish that he did not exist, and this is to kill him in desire. Anger without a cause is forbidden by the command which says, Thou shalt not kill, for unjust anger is killing in intent. Such anger without cause brings us under higher judgment than that of Jewish police courts.

God takes cognizance of the emotions from which acts of hate may spring and calls us to account as much for the angry feeling as for the murderous deed. Words also come under the same condemnation. A man shall be judged for what he shall say to his brother. To call a man Raca, or a worthless fellow, is to kill him in his reputation. To say to him, Thou fool, is to kill him as to the noblest characteristics of a man.

Hence, all this comes under such censure as men distribute in their councils. Indeed, it falls under what is far worse: the punishment awarded by the highest court of the universe, which dooms men to hell fire. Thus, our Lord and King restores the law of God to its true force and warns us that it denounces not only the overt act of killing, but every thought, feeling, and word which would tend to injure a brother or annihilate him by contempt.

What a sweeping law this is! My conscience might have been easy regarding the command Thou shalt not kill, but if anger without just cause is murder, how shall I answer for it? Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation!

That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Christ here shows us that the commandment, Thou shalt not kill, deals with anger, with angry words, with words of cursing, with words of derision, for all these are killing things, hurting and wounding things, and the passion of anger is forbidden under the command, Thou shalt not kill. People have not thought so, but it really is so, for anyone who is angry with his brother is a murderer; there is the spirit, the essence of that which leads to murder in the passion that breeds malice and revenge. The law is spiritual; it touches the emotions, the thoughts, the desires, as well as the words and actions of people. If I desire ill for someone, I have within me that which would desire his death; and what is that, after all, but murder in the heart?

How strict is this law, and yet how just and right!