Matthew 5:21-26

As Jesus goes on in chapter 5 to elaborate on ‘a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees’ (v20), he reveals the way in which the law addresses not just our behaviour but also our heart and our mind. Murder, he says famously, is not just an act but an attitude. The emphasis in this text falls on the urgency with which God’s people should seek to be reconciled with one another–putting an end to all rifts and hostilities and bitterness. Both illustrations (vv23-24 & vv25-26) emphasize the need to be reconciled now rather than later. The reason for this is because reconciliation is at the heart of God’s redemptive purpose in Christ (Col. 1:20). So when we as Christians let rifts and division fester among us, we are at odds with the very heart of God’s redemptive purpose.