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Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing
“Everyone who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of
the judgment.”—Matthew 5:22, R. V.
Through Moses the Lord had said, “Thou shalt not hate thy brother
in thine heart.... Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against
the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Leviticus 19:17, 18
. The truths which Christ presented were the same
that had been taught by the prophets, but they had become obscured
through hardness of heart and love of sin.
The Saviour’s words revealed to His hearers the fact that, while
they were condemning others as transgressors, they were themselves
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equally guilty; for they were cherishing malice and hatred.
Across the sea from the place where they were assembled was the
country of Bashan, a lonely region, whose wild gorges and wooded
hills had long been a favorite lurking ground for criminals of all de-
scriptions. Reports of robbery and murder committed there were fresh
in the minds of the people, and many were zealous in denouncing
these evildoers. At the same time they were themselves passionate
and contentious; they cherished the most bitter hatred of their Roman
oppressors and felt themselves at liberty to hate and despise all other
peoples, and even their own countrymen who did not in all things
conform to their ideas. In all this they were violating the law which
declares, “Thou shalt not kill.”
The spirit of hatred and revenge originated with Satan, and it led
him to put to death the Son of God. Whoever cherishes malice or
unkindness is cherishing the same spirit, and its fruit will be unto
death. In the revengeful thought the evil deed lies enfolded, as the
plant in the seed. “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye
know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”
1 John 3:15
.
“Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca [vain fellow], shall be in
danger of the council.” In the gift of His Son for our redemption, God
has shown how high a value He places upon every human soul, and He
gives to no man liberty to speak contemptuously of another. We shall
see faults and weaknesses in those about us, but God claims every soul
as His property—His by creation, and doubly His as purchased by the
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precious blood of Christ. All were created in His image, and even the
most degraded are to be treated with respect and tenderness. God will