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The Independence Podcast helps everyday people discover that true freedom isn’t found in self-reliance but in total dependence on Jesus Christ. Each episode blends honest conversation, biblical truth, and practical application to help listeners move beyond emotional devotion toward consistent, daily surrender. Whether you’re new in your faith or longing to grow deeper, you’ll find encouragement to trust God fully, live from His grace, and follow Christ with courage in a world that celebrates independence but neglects dependence on the One who truly sets us free.
Bryan Dunham (00:00)
Have you ever looked at something like the 10 commandments and thought, I'm actually not doing too bad. I've never murdered anybody. I haven't committed adultery, not stolen anything, I'm not a thief anyway. And we often congratulate ourselves on the sins that we don't commit. As if I've never killed anyone was the ultimate moral high ground. But the verses that we'll be covering in this episode today, Jesus suggests that murder is simply the fruit of a much deeper and frankly, much more.
common root. And we can have a tendency to think that we're doing pretty good when we haven't broken the law, so to speak, but actually it's possible for us to be enslaved to a simmering resentment that dictates our internal world. True freedom, living independence means letting God govern the heart long before the hand ever moves.
Welcome to episode 25 of the Independence Podcast, where we are learning how to live independence daily on God. I am your host, Brian Dunham. Today, we return to the Bound for Freedom series on the Sermon on the Mount. And now, where we're embarking on in the section that we'll be in, which is Matthew chapter five, starting in verse 21, we're gonna get into the real meat of Jesus's teaching here. Before we jump into that,
My first book, Questions God Asks, which released in December, covers 10 questions of the more than 600 questions that God asks in Scripture. I just started a monthly blog series where I cover one of the other 600 questions that God asks. So if you're interested in that, you can sign up for that on the website, receive that in your inbox. It's not the length of a chapter. It's maybe a half a chapter long, something like that, like a typical book chapter.
But there are so many of these questions and they're so rich and there's so much to learn. I really felt the desire to continue to go down the theme of the questions God asked because I personally get so much out of it. I hope you do too. Again, you can find all that on the website, which is questionsgodasks.com. All right. So let me read Matthew chapter five verses 21 through 26, because this is what we will be covering today. And this is coming from the English standard version.
Jesus is speaking here. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council, and whoever says you fool will be liable to the fire of hell. So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
Leave your gift there before the altar and go. First, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you're going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny." So the first thing to notice here is Jesus says, have heard that it was said,
But I tell you, or but I say to you." And this refrain he's going to begin using repeatedly. We have talked in the past about how Jesus is a first century rabbi, and the rabbi's job was to interpret the Torah or to interpret the law in a way that they could learn how to best utilize that instruction to live with fellow man and live with God in Shalom or in peace. So Jesus here is...
is interpreting this particular scripture under his yoke, right, which is his own interpretation. So Jesus here is saying, you've heard that it was said, don't murder, but I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. So here Jesus is, he's what's called binding the law, which is he's taking a commandment and he's actually making it, dialing it in closer, making it a bit more restrictive because
You could walk around and say, well, I've never murdered anybody. So therefore I'm covered under this commandment. I'm a righteous person. And like Adam and Eve in the garden who tried to cover themselves up with fig leaves, a lot of times our righteous behavior, like our external show of our righteous behavior is essentially a fig leaf that we're using to cover up other things that are actually happening inside of our heart. So Jesus here traces the concept of murder actually going deeper.
down into the heart, down into the root of where it originally comes from. So notice the progression. But I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Okay, so that's one thing. And anger is kind of an internal process. You feel it internally. And then if it's there long enough, it begins to erupt externally. So the very next step is whoever insults his brother. This is in the Greek, this is using the
⁓ Hebrew term, Raka. It's like whoever calls his brother Raka says Raka to his brother. That means someone, you know, it's an insult. It's someone who is ⁓ empty headed or stupid. And then it moves from that whoever insults his brother will be liable to counsel and whoever says you fool. This is this term you fool is not just an insult in their culture. This is the Hebrew word or the Greek word sorry morass, which is
where we get our word moron from, this is more about the person's character. This is kind of a character assassination. It's saying that they are morally worthless, basically. So the progression goes from internal anger to insulting them to actual character assassination. And what's interesting here about this Greek word for anger,
is because I think a lot of times we can read this and go, gosh, I can't get angry. I'm not supposed to be. It's a sin to be angry. this Greek word here for anger is or gets a man. And it is not just a flash of anger. It's not, that made me mad. And I got angry at that person. This is a settled anger.
It is a lingering resentment. It's like a slow burning fire that you have learned to live with and potentially are even nursing. Back when I was a kid, I've talked about my father here on this podcast before, and I think he did the absolute best with the example that he was given. But in my mind, I wasn't receiving from him what I
really deeply desired, which was approval and love. And so over time, I worked very hard to try to receive his approval, to try to receive his love. And it just felt to me, my experience of that was even when I did something that others would look at and say, well, that was awesome. He would pretty consistently point out the flaw in it and where I had fallen down. And, and I didn't receive that as him trying to help me get better. I received that as,
an insult as, as he was telling me that I was actually, I still couldn't do anything right in his own eyes. again, these are my words and, you know, not a very mature mind trying to apply, you know, my own reasoning to the situation. And so I'm, I'm, guess what I'm saying by that is I'm trying to own what I'm bringing to the table here. I'm not trying to put all of this on my father, but what wound up happening over time is I began to stop trying to please him because I felt like I couldn't.
And so like there was nothing I could do that would be good enough. so this deep seated anger began to settle into my heart. And I began to nurse that and something clicked over in my brain where I just, instead of trying to please him, I would just be angry at him. Like being in the same room with him, I had a hard time looking at him and not feeling anger. And that resentment,
that grew into a resentment that colored my relationship with him for many, many, years, even into adulthood. And that's...
that pathway I'm talking about, like taking it into resentment, that's what happens with this kind of anger that you begin to nurse, you don't do anything to try to fix it. Actually, there's something you're gaining out of nursing that anger, and that's where I was. So this anger that Jesus is talking about is not just a flash in the pan. It is something that is settled in your heart, and it's like, am angry at this person, and I'm not letting this...
go and I'm not trying to make reconciliation. That's the kind of anger we're talking about here. Okay, so not just a flash in the pan. again, this anger turns into insulting someone, then turns into this deep-seated resentment over time where you look at them and you think moral condemnation about them. Like morass, that idea of you fool, is looking at someone that is made in the image of God and saying you're worthless.
And anger here has momentum. And that's what Jesus is pointing out that there's this piece of anger and if it's not dealt with, it has a momentum of its own and it is going somewhere. And then after he gets through this part, he then says, so, or like, therefore, based off of those things, this is in verse 23, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
Leave your gift there before the altar and go. First, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer the gift. Leave the gift. Leave the moment. Leave the religious act. Why does Jesus tell them to do this? And in our minds, this might not be as extreme. We could pick up FaceTime, like whatever gift we're taking to the altar. Maybe it's our tie. We could just say, all right, I won't drop that until I reconcile with this person. And then we could electronically like
For us, the navigation of leaving a gift and being reconciled would be very different than what is happening in Jesus' day. if this were to actually happen, this is kind of, like, if somebody were to execute on what Jesus is asking them to do here, it would be, sometimes, I mean, it could take days of travel to go and be reconciled to that person. So why is Jesus saying, like, interrupt your worship and then go be reconciled first? And that's because in the kingdom of God,
Reconciliation is not secondary to worship. It is actually central to it. And so again, this wouldn't have been a casual inconvenience that Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is saying, it would be better for you to walk away from the altar than to stand before God while harboring unresolved hostility. And that's, for them would have been a fairly staggering priority shift. And also I want you to notice that Jesus here says if,
Someone has something against you. Not that you have something against them. This is recognizing, ⁓ this person actually has something against me. I don't feel any particular way towards them, but I know that they have something against me. And Jesus says in that moment, go and be reconciled. Go to that person and do what you can to restore relational wholeness.
And this goes to the deeper Jewish idea of shalom. We've talked about it on this podcast before. The Hebrew word when it of peace, which is shalom is not what you and I have a tendency to think about. You and I have a tendency to think about lack of conflict. Like we're just not in a fight right now. So that means peace, but in the Hebrew context, peace or shalom is wholeness. when it comes to
⁓ relational conflict, this would be wholeness in the relationship. It would mean that there is some level of reconciliation that has happened, even if it's we agree to disagree, it has been discussed, it has been put on the table, it has been thoroughly worked through, and you have made amends if you've needed to do that. And so, Jesus here is saying, go and be reconciled to that person. And the Greek word for reconciled here is diologaethy.
This is not just about saying sorry. It's not just going saying, hey, I messed up. Sorry about that. This is about changing the status of a relationship. It's going from hostility to harmony, at least to as much harmony and shalom and relational wholeness as you can possibly create in the situation. And so that's what Jesus is saying. He says, and be reconciled. It's not just an apology. It is taking the time to ensure that the relationship is restored to order.
in every way you possibly can. So, anger has a momentum of its own that we talked about earlier, like letting it fester will continue to roll downhill and pick up steam and pick up weight. Similarly here, Jesus is saying unresolved conflict has a momentum of its own, even if it's not your own anger that's driving here, again, if your brother has something against you.
So then comes this level of urgency that Jesus is talking about, right? So first it's not just murder, but don't get angry. And then there's anger that turns into insult. turns into this character assassination, which is basically resentment has now built up. And so Jesus is saying, okay, you need to go and be reconciled. And that doesn't just mean say, I'm sorry. It means take the time to iron out the wrinkles in the relationship to the degree that you can. So you restore as much harmony.
as you can to that relationship. And then in verse 25, Jesus says, come to terms quickly with your accuser while you were going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, the judge should guard, and you'd be put in prison. So this idea of quickly, come to terms quickly. Why quickly? Because anger doesn't sit still. We talked about it. It grows. It hardens. It reshapes how you see people that you are angry with. Unresolved conflict.
and anger has this momentum of its own and it is going somewhere. And if it is left unchecked, it will disciple your heart far more than scripture does. this that Jesus is talking about here has echoes all the way back to Genesis chapter four. Do you recall before Cain murders Abel, what does God say to Cain?
So I'm gonna go back to Genesis chapter four and I will start in, I'll just start in verse one. Now Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bore Cain saying, if I've gotten a man with the help of the Lord. And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.
And the Lord had regard for Abel in his offering, but for Cain in his offering, he had no regard. So Cain was very angry and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door and its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it. So before
Cain murders his brother, the scripture tells us he is angry and then God says to him, sin is crouching at your door and it wants you. It wants control over you. And in other words, this isn't about your brother yet. This is about what is happening inside of you. And then God asks a question, why are you angry? Why has your face fallen? That question,
still applies today because most of us are far more aware of what others have done to us than what is forming inside of us. Jesus is stepping into that moment and saying, I'm not just here to tell you not to kill people. I'm here to deal with what crouches beside that door before you even get there. You know, we live in a culture that defines
freedom in a lot of ways, but one of those, especially of late, is the right to hold on to offense. We are so worried about offense and not wanting to offend people. And we're living in a moment where offense has become a form of authority. Like if someone is offended, we instinctively assume that they must be in the right because I have my quote unquote own truth. And when you offend me,
then that is on you completely. Like I'm the one that's in the right here because I'm the one that is offended. And in doing so, we've created something dangerous. We've made a martyr out of the offended person. Now, listen, scripture absolutely calls for us to be gentle, to be patient, to be slow to anger, to speak in love, but it never teaches that being offended is the same thing as being righteous. Somewhere along the way we have shifted from
Is this true to did this hurt someone's feelings? And those are not the same question. On one hand, love is patient, love is kind. Ephesians 4.29, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth. So yes, our words matter deeply. But on the other hand, Jesus himself was called offensive. The gospel is described as a stumbling block. Truth, when spoken faithfully, will sometimes offend.
Not because it's harsh, because it confronts what we don't want to surrender.
The issue is not whether offense happens. It happens to all of us. The issue is what we do with it when it does. So right now, culturally, we've helped people to come to the belief that if you've been offended, then you've been wronged. But biblically, offense is not always something done to you. Sometimes it's something that is revealed in you. And that's a massive difference because now offense
can become diagnostic, right? Not just authoritative or authoritative at all. So this ties directly into what Jesus is talking about here. He doesn't say, if your brother offended you, make sure he apologizes. He says, if there's something broken between you, go. Even if they have something against you, which completely dismantles our modern framework of how we deal with conflict.
because Jesus shifts the focus here from who's right to who will take responsibility for reconciliation.
Social media amplifies the problem that we have in this area. think people, again, get rewarded for being offended, validated, platformed, even celebrated. But very rarely are we challenged to ask ourselves, why did this affect me so deeply? What expectation was just violated? Is there pride, insecurity, or control underneath?
crouching by the door of this reaction. Instead of processing that though, we just simply project our offense all over the place. And theologically this matters because if offense always equals injustice, then repentance is just unnecessary. And if repentance becomes unnecessary, then sanctification stalls. Because now the problem is always out there, but never in here, in my heart.
So when we are offended, when we get angry, we justify it, we rehearse it. Some people have built identities around their pain. But Jesus says that kind of freedom to express all of that is actually a prison. Because when you hold on to anger, you're not in control of your life, your resentment is. And when it comes to the yoke of Jesus, it's, as Jesus says, it's not heavier, it's lighter.
but it's also more precise. Jesus says, don't just avoid murder, go deal with anger and deal with it immediately before it has an opportunity to grow in your heart. Don't just manage your behavior, surrender your heart. And this is what it means to live in dependence, not waiting until things explode, but inviting God into it when you first see that spark. So let me ask you the question that God asked Cain.
Why are you angry?
Not who hurt you, not what did they do, but why are you angry? What is sitting unresolved in your heart right now?
Who do you need to be reconciled with?
Jesus makes it clear, rest is not found in avoidance. It's found in obedience. It's found in picking up the phone, having the conversation, owning your part, pursuing reconciliation. The command is simple, go. Not later, not when it feels easier. Now, when you realize it, when it comes to mind, even if you're in the middle of offering a gift at the altar, because the longer you wait, the heavier your heart is going to become.
And here's the paradox of the whole thing, right? Jesus's yoke here feels more restrictive, going from murder to don't even be angry, but it leads to freedom because when your heart is free from anger, you're no longer enslaved to that and to the resentment that can build, no longer rehearsing it, no longer defined by it. This is the rest he offers, not a life without conflict, but a heart that refuses to let conflict take
if you found this helpful, please feel free to share with a friend, follow the show. And until next week, grace and peace to you, my friends.