Jesus teaches:
“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ (vain, empty, worthless) is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell“ (Matthew 5:22).
Jesus says:
“You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?” (Matthew 23:17)
“You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?” (Luke 11:40)
Tags: Bible, Conflicting, Teaching
February 26, 2009 at 12:41 pm |
Good catch. This seems to be an issue of context. What’s the context of Matthew 5:22? Let’s check it out:
Matthew 5:21-24, “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’
“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty {enough to go} into the fiery hell.”
Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Jesus is teaching here that while they used to hear…
* Don’t commit murder.
Jesus now says…
* Everyone who is angry with his brother, or
* Says, ‘You good-for-nothing’, or
* Says, ‘You fool’
… will have a price to pay.
The “old thinking” and “new thinking” teaching Jesus was using is paralleled in verses 27 and 28.
Who was Jesus addressing in Matthew 23:17 and Luke 11:40? Again, a matter of context:
Matthew 23:15, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”
Luke 11:39, “And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.”
Looks like Jesus was calling the scribes and pharisees “fools” here. Ah, much clearer.
March 16, 2009 at 10:50 pm |
I was going to post something similar before I read what Rich had to say, and to add on, along with showing the old and new way of thinking, Jesus, in Matthew 5 was talking to his disciples. So, you have Jesus talking to two very different groups of people. 1st -those that were considered his true followers and then 2nd – the Pharisees, those that were spiritually blind. Does it still seem like a contradiction, BEattitude? Just curious on your thoughts…
Peace,
J
March 17, 2009 at 7:54 pm |
I still see it as a contradiction. The Bible speaks of righteous anger, but Jesus is basically do as I say, not as I do.
March 19, 2009 at 9:42 am |
Can you give some biblical examples of Jesus not walking as he talked?
Peace,
J
March 19, 2009 at 10:56 am |
The above verses are a perfect example. He ridiculed the Pharisees and called them names on several occasions. Jesus taught his disciples one way and he did the exact opposite. He’s Jesus, so he can do whatever he wants.
Jesus’ attitude is hardly respectful when he calls Herod a fox (Luke 13:32), and he mocked the scribes and Pharisees at length, calling them “blind guides” and “hypocrites” (Matt. 23:24-25). He goes on to curse them, saying, “You are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth” (Matt. 23:27)
Also:
Jesus went into an angry tirade in the Temple flipping over tables. (John 2:13-17, Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-18, Luke 19:45-46) Not exactly turning the other cheek or loving his enemies.
Jesus curses and kills a fig tree because he was hungry and it did not have fruit because it was not the season for figs. That is a cruel and irrational act for someone claiming to be a patient and forgiving messiah. (Matthew 21:18-22, Mark 11:13-14)
Much of Jesus’ ministry was spent mocking and ridiculing people. These are not examples of “walking as he talked” with his teaching of loving your enemy and never showing anger toward your brothers.
March 28, 2009 at 4:14 pm |
Jesus is the author of truth. I’m not talking about truth in relative terms as our world likes to conform to today. Truth – as in absolute truth. Your examples display Jesus speaking absolute truth to his audience, and he wasn’t afraid to be forthcoming with his displeasure of the Pharisees actions. He was also fully man, and fully God, so showing anger would have been a natural human reaction to the kinds of things he was seeing from the people. He called Herod a fox….because he was. He referred to the Pharisees as blind guides and hypocrites…. because they were. He also followed that up with “First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will be clean as well”. This is a great illustration of Jesus teaching absolute truth, and then following it up with love…telling them that they must be clean on the inside first, not the other way around. Jesus showed that true love was not achieved through toleration. Toleration leads to conformity…Jesus’ ministry on earth was not about conforming to false teaching or leading people to destruction.