Part 1: Anger = Murder, Matt 5:21-26
Series Theme in the form of this question:
Did Jesus actually change the Law of Moses?
The point is to see whether Jesus was merely repeating Moses…or whether, as the New Covenant lawgiver, he changed and even overturned Torah at certain points:
In this case a new ruling on negative emotions, e.g., anger/hate now = the act of killing!
READ: Matt 5:21-26
Evangelical Line
GotQuestions.org Article: Did Jesus contradict the Law in Matthew 5:21-22?
"Rest assured, Jesus did not contradict the Law in any point...[but then they say]
Jesus’ point in the Sermon on the Mount was that God sees the heart, and that we are actually held to a higher standard than external conformity to a set of rules...[a change?]
The external command was 'do not murder.' This is a good command...
Jesus said, in essence, God sees your heart.
If you have hatred in your heart, then you are just as guilty as the murderer in God’s eyes."
Seems contradictory, on the one hand "did not contradict the Law in any point" yet...
Jesus holds us "to a higher standard";
Hence, hatred = murder;
Sounds like a new commandment not found in Torah.
Murder Vs Killing
The prevalent Christian interpretation is that Jesus condemned murder meaning unlawful killing only but not killing in general;
Majority of Christians may kill in self-defense or for country;
RF does not hold to that because we're back to the initial question: Was Jesus simply following Mosaic system or teaching something new?
Alane Rozelle TheoCon25 prez on LOVE re: Christian homes with weapons is a form of premeditated murder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1zH5AM2-zw&t=21s
Torah on murder & anger/hatred
Exodus 20:13/Deuteronomy 5:17: “You shall not murder.”
This prohibits the act of murder with a death penalty attached to the actual act, but nothing about anger/hatred = murder.
READ: Exodus 21:12-36
Exodus 21:12–14 — Laws distinguishing intentional murder and unintentional killing.
Exodus 21:18–19 — Injury laws; responsibility when anger leads to assault but not murder; cp. Exodus 22:1–3 — Killing during a break-in (night vs. day distinctions).
Exodus 21:28–32 — Liability for negligent homicide (dangerous ox).
Exodus 21:33–36 — Liability for creating deadly hazards.
Deuteronomy 19:11 – "a person hates someone else and stalks him, attacks him, kills him [literally strikes him fatally]"; hate/anger can lead to murder.
READ: Numbers 35:9-32
Numbers 35:16–21: If someone kills with hatred or enmity in his heart, it is premeditated murder, punishable by death.
Leviticus 19:17–18: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart … You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge … but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
This is the law directly prohibiting internal hatred, which Jesus links to murder.
But again it does not = murder; therefore no divine penalty (“liable to judgment,” “the council,” or “the lake of fire”) to the emotion itself.
Cp. some Proverbs (though not Torah) also repeatedly condemn internal anger, envy, wrath, etc.
Hatred/enmity is evidence of premeditation, but the penalty is still tied to the actual act of killing, not to simply the emotion, i.e., hate or anger.
New Law
Jesus goes along with the accepted interpretation of the 6th Commandment (“whoever murders is liable to judgment/the court”) but changes it to:
The emotion of anger/hatred (without the physical act) now makes you a murderer and liable to be thrown into the lake of fire, unless God accepts your repentance of course (2Tim 2:25).
Even calling someone names might make you liable to the lake of fire!
May God forgive all of us right now of that continual sin!!
So Jesus’ teaching is not simply repeating the Torah; it is a deliberate, shocking intensification and internalization of the commandment that was widely regarded as new and distinctive in early Christianity (and recognized as such by both Jewish and Christian sources). The novelty lies in making the heart, not just the act, subject to the full judicial and eternal consequences of murder.
Summary
The Torah condemned hatred and anger in the heart, but it never equates it with murder.
The same in rabbinic Judaism, anger and hatred were sins, but they were not capital offenses or even court cases.
Jesus novelly ties the negative emotion to the actual act of murder, the person is now fully under the same judgment as the hand that commits actual murder.
That means Jesus isn’t just repeating Moses nor going along with known rabbinic teachings;
Jesus is exercising a new authority as the New Covenant lawgiver.
Bottom Line
When Jesus teaches that unresolved anger and hatred incur the same judgment as murder (Matt. 5), the Christian response is simple:
Obey Jesus,
Repent from past or present, and
Start or continue to Live under the New Covenant Law of Messiah rather than under the old covenant Law of Moses.
Above all, we must never twist clear NT commands to create a Christian “license to kill,” whether in self-defense, the defense of others, or the defense of one’s country by joining police or military.
https://rfcogstudy.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-new-enemy-love-law.html
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