You have not killed anyone, but how many times this week did you wish someone would simply disappear from your sight? Further into the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) Jesus sets anger alongside murder and moves God’s law from outward acts into the heart, because words spoken in rage leave marks like nails driven into a fence. The sermon also raises something harder than restraining anger: the duty to go first and seek reconciliation before you come back to worship. Listen if you are carrying stored-up anger that will sooner or later go off.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, and that His followers' righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. How do you understand this higher righteousness?
- Why does Jesus place anger, contempt and calling someone a fool so close to murder? How might His listeners, who thought the commandment did not apply to them, have received this?
- The story from the hospital parking lot shows it is easier to follow the rules than to do what is right. Where do you settle for outward correctness instead of caring about your heart and about other people?
- The story of nails driven into the fence reminds us that words spoken in anger leave lasting holes. What helps you pause, even for a few minutes, before you say something or post it online?
- Jesus says to leave your gift at the altar and first be reconciled to your brother. Why does God care more about our relationships than about our attempts to balance out harm with religious deeds?
- Who comes to mind when you hear about the unexploded bomb of old anger, or about someone who has something against you? What first step toward reconciliation can you take this week?
