"But I say to you that everyone who is angry
with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his
brother, 'Raca,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall
say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. If therefore 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 your way; first be
reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering."
(Matt. 5:22-24 NAS)
In this article, I will
be dealing with the last of the three declarations or warnings Jesus gave as
found in Matt. 5:22 regarding man's attitude and speech toward his
fellowman. Jesus says that to say to
one's fellowman "you fool" puts him in danger of going to hell
itself. That is a frightful thought that
the words out of one's mouth are enough to condemn a man for eternity and yet
the Bible teaches that.
"You brood of
vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out
of that which fills the heart. The good
man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of
his evil treasure brings forth what is evil.
And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they
shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and
by your words you shall be condemned." (Matt. 12:34-37 NAS)
It is important that we
remember what was just quoted. If we did
so we would be slow to speak thinking about what we are about to say before we
say it. We would not just blather out
thoughtlessly the very first words that come to mind. James tells us, "Let everyone be quick
to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger." (James 1:19 NAS)
Words not spoken ordinarily
cause no trouble nor lead to condemnation.
However, certainly, there are times and places where it is appropriate
to speak up and sinful not to. But, words
spoken that would have been best left unspoken have resulted in murders,
hatred, anger, strife, bitterness, and condemnation before God.
For the moment I want to
put emphasis on what Jesus said in Matt. 12 quoted above when he said,
"For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart." (Matt.
12:34 NAS) Elsewhere Jesus said,
"Out of the heart come evil thoughts." (Matt. 15:19 NAS) It is the pure in heart that shall see God
(Matt. 5:8). It is the heart that loves
God and loves man that is blessed with eternal life and happiness. "He who does not love abides in
death." (James 3:14 NAS)
The words we direct to
our fellowman are a reflection of how our heart feels towards the one to whom
we speak. Do we love him/her? Are we kind to the person, compassionate,
caring? The words that roll off our
tongue are a reflection of the inner attitude we have toward that individual.
To call a man a fool
reflects the speaker's heart and lack of love.
Even if he was right about the man to whom he was speaking and that man
was indeed a fool it would not get the speaker off the hook for violating the
law of love toward one's fellowman.
The Greek word
translated "fool" in Matt. 5:22 has been and is highly debated as to
its exact meaning. You and I know what
the English meaning of the English word fool is without being told but is that
what the Greek meant that lies behind the English translation in our
Bibles. That is the debated question.
Most of the old
commentators I consulted (Barnes, Clarke, and Gill) believe it means a wicked
reprobate man. Gill says, "The word 'fool' does not signify a man of weak parts, one that is very
ignorant in things natural; this the word Raca imports; but a wicked reprobate
man; in which sense Solomon often uses the word. The Persic version renders it
here 'wicked'." (Gill's Commentary) The translation notes from the NET Bible say, "The meaning of the
term…is
somewhat disputed. Most take it to mean, following the Syriac versions, 'you
fool,' although some have argued that it represents a transliteration into
Greek of the Hebrew term…'rebel.'"
Young's Literal Translation uses the word "rebel" rather than
the word "fool."
Be
all that as it may Matt. 5:22 makes it clear that God has not relinquished his
right to be God and handed that right over to me to make me the judge and make
proclamation over others. When I call
someone a fool I have proclaimed that I myself am not a fool and I am able to
judge others for I am superior. I know
these things and you don't is the idea and I know because I am superior. It is pride and it is arrogance and it is the
placing of oneself on God's judgment seat.
Is it
true there are no fools on the earth? No,
it is not. The book of Proverbs speaks
of fools time after time (the word “fool” is mentioned in 40 verses in that
book in the NAS and the word “fools” in 21 verses) and enough is said about
them so that we can learn quite a bit about who is and who is not a fool. There are many who do not believe in God’s
existence. David by inspiration of the
Holy Spirit said, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'"
(Psalms 14:1, 53:1 NAS)
God
has not asked us to be naïve and go around acting like we cannot discern
foolish things from things that are rational and he has certainly not asked us
to give up discerning righteousness from unrighteousness. We are not asked to be dummies and see no
evil and refuse to recognize evil or foolishness. We know there are evil men in the world; we
know there are foolish men in the world.
Jesus in the New Testament addressed a certain class of men as
"fools and blind men." (Matt. 23:17 NAS) Paul did the same thing in Rom. 1:22. We are told by Solomon, "Do not be a
fool." (Eccl. 7:17 NAS) Surely we
can know what foolishness is.
That
does not mean, however, that we are to take God's place and declare a man a
fool implying we are not. Have we not
all played the role of the fool at one or more points in time in our life? I doubt I could find a man who would deny it
if he has any honesty about himself at all.
If we are and always have been so perfect what need do we have for
Jesus? Paul said, "For we also once
were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and
pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one
another." (Titus 3:3 NAS) We have
no room to speak of others as being fools.
While
the New Testament only uses the words fool and fools 3 times each in the New
American Standard Version (1977) it uses the word foolish in 25 different
verses. The first instance is found in
Matt. 7:26, "And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act
upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand."
(NAS) It is not hard to be foolish, not
obeying the commands (one or more) of Jesus will do it. Jesus and Paul both spoke of foolish men and
foolish acts. One of the problems of the
man who is inclined to call his brother, his fellowman, a fool is his failure
to see that he too falls into the same category. His disregard for Jesus' words spoken in
Matt. 5:22 clearly places him in the classification of being "a foolish
man" according to Matt. 7:26.
What
is needed is mercy and grace, kindness and love, and taking the speck out of
our own eye. "And why do you look
at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is
in your own eye? Or how can you say to
your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is
in your own eye? You hypocrite, first
take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the
speck out of your brother's eye." (Matt. 7:3-5 NAS)
There
is a "fiery hell." Jesus said
so in the passage before us and he told us of one personality headed
there. It is our choice as to whether or
not we make the decision to heed the teachings of Matt. 5:22 or disregard
them. There is a path that leads away
from the fiery hell. Jesus described it
when he said, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts
upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the
rock. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did
not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock." (Matt. 7:24-25 NAS) That is the rock that is higher than I.
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