Jesus said to his disciples:
"I tell you,
unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
The scribes and Pharisees appeared to others to be righteous. This was, after all, their goal. They performed their works to be seen and publicly presented themselves as holy men. But Jesus revealed that these exterior works masked corrupt interior intentions. He taught that it was not enough to merely avoid the sins that the commandments forbade if one cherished those sins in his heart.
You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment,
and whoever says to his brother, Raqa,
will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,
and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
We typically exonerate ourselves from any charges of murder on the basis of the fact that most of us are not frequently given to physical violence of any sort. Yet Jesus sees through this merely external and performative obedience to the motives of our hearts. By how we treat and talk about others we sometimes act as though we wished that they were out of the way, in effect, that we could murder them. Of course we don't go so far as to intend murder, but sometimes only because it is forbidden. If we could find a legally acceptable way to silence our foes perhaps we would happily do so.
Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? (see James 4:1).
We must take steps to prevent any animosity against others from taken root in us, and this at the earliest possible opportunity. That is why we must never allow a rift to form between our brothers and ourselves. It is so urgent that, "if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift". We must seek reconciliation right away regardless of whether it is their problem with us or ours with them. The risk otherwise is that our anger will fester overnight.
Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger,
and do not leave room for the devil (see Ephesians 4:26-27).
We are taught by Jesus to nip problems in the bud, to stop them while they are still small and before they take deeper and more intractable roots within us. It isn't impossible to correct even the most hardened faults. But it is definitely a harder and more painful process than it is work things out earlier.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Jesus reveals the tendency of our hearts toward sin and what to do about it, not because he desires the punishment or the death of the sinner, but rather so that we could turn to him to find life. He unmasks the illusions we hold of progress and holiness not to leave us empty, but rather, so that he himself can fill us.
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