Murder Begins in the Heart

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

SUMMARY: Instead of "Do not kill," Christ prohibited anger. Anger leads the way to murder. All anger is forbidden to us. Anyone who wants to commit murder is a murderer, even if he is not able to kill. Agreeing with sin is already a completed evil, even if someone does not actually do the act. The altar refers to a place of sacrifice. There is one Eucharist, one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, one cup, and one altar. Our sacrifice is our prayers, and the altar is in heaven. The altar that is with us here is the congregation of those who devote themselves to prayer. According to Clement of Alexandria, the adversary may refer to Satan. Tertullian understood the prison to be Hades. He explained the uttermost farthing to mean the very smallest offense. 5:21 and following. Irenaeus: Moreover, this godless opinion of theirs about actions, namely, that it is required for them to experience all kinds of deeds, even the most horrible, is proven wrong by the teaching of the Lord. With the Lord, not only is the adulterer rejected, but also the man who wants to commit adultery, not only is the actual murderer judged guilty of killing another person to his own condemnation, but also the man who is angry with his brother without a cause. The Lord commanded his disciples not only not to hate people, but also to love their enemies. He commanded them not only not to swear falsely, but not even to swear at all. He commanded them not only not to speak evil of their neighbors, but not even to call anyone "wracker" and "fool." He declared that otherwise they were in danger of hellfire. He commanded them not only not to strike, but even, when they themselves were struck, to offer the other cheek to those who mistreated them. He commanded them not only not to refuse to give up the property of others, but even if their own property was taken away, not to demand it back again from those who took it. He commanded them not only not to harm their neighbors and not to do them any evil, but also, when they themselves were treated wickedly, to be patient. He commanded them to show kindness toward those who harmed them and to pray for them so that through repentance they might be saved. In this way, we should not copy the arrogance, lust, and pride of others in any way.

IRENAEUS: Instead of saying, "Do not kill," he prohibited anger.

TATIAN: you have heard that it was said to the people long ago: "Do not kill," and everyone who kills is worthy of the judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause is worthy of the judgment, and everyone who says to his brother, "You foul one," is condemned by the synagogue, and whoever says to him, "You fool," is worthy of the fire of Gehenna. If you are now offering your gift at the altar, and you remember there that your brother has any grudge against you, leave your gift at the altar. Go first and make things right with your brother. Then return and offer your gift. Make peace with your adversary quickly. Do it while you are still with him on the way. Give a ransom and free yourself from him. Otherwise, your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the tax collector, and you will be thrown into prison. And truly I say to you, you will not get out from there until you pay the last penny.

TERTULLIAN: Remembering God's commands makes a path for our prayers into heaven. The main command is this: we must not go up to God's altar until we have settled any disagreement or offense we have taken on with our brothers and sisters. What kind of act is it to come near the peace of God when you do not have peace? It is like asking for debts to be forgiven while you still hold on to the debts of others. How will someone calm his father when he is angry with his brother, when from the beginning all anger is forbidden to us? Even Joseph, when he sent his brothers and sisters away to go get their father, said, "And do not be angry in the way." At that time he was warning us. He was warning us that when we are set in the way of prayer, we must not go to the father with anger. After that, the Lord, amplifying the law, clearly adds a ban on anger against a brother to the ban on murder. He does not even allow it to be poured out by an evil word. Even if we must be angry, our anger must not last past sunset, as the apostle warns. But how reckless it is to go even one day without prayer because you refuse to make things right with your brother. Or, by holding on to anger, you end up losing your prayer.

ORIGEN: Agreeing with sin is already a finished evil, even if someone does not actually do the act. By saying this, our Savior is pushing us away from what causes sins; He is trying to cut sin off completely. When this intention is not in our souls, the action will not go with it either.

CYPRIAN: In Solomon in Proverbs: "Better is a patient man than a strong man, for he who restrains his anger is better than he who takes a city." Also in the same place: "The imprudent man declares his anger on the same day, but the crafty man hides away his dishonor." About this same thing, to the Ephesians: "Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun set on your wrath." Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: "You have heard that it was said by the ancients, 'Do not kill, and whoever shall kill shall be guilty of the judgment.' But I say to you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without cause shall be guilty of the judgment."

THE DIDACHE: Do not be quick to anger, because anger leads to murder. Do not be jealous or quarrelsome, or hot-tempered. Murders are produced out of all these things.

IRENAEUS: "He who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment." All this is declared so that we may know that we will give an account to God, not only for deeds like slaves do, but even for words and thoughts. This is true for those who have truly received the power of liberty. In that condition, a person is tested more severely to see whether he will honor and fear and love the Lord.

IRENAEUS: Therefore, from that Father, from whom the Son was sent to those farmers who killed Him, from Him also the servants were sent. But the Son, since He came from the Father with highest authority, used to speak like this: "But I say to you." The servants, again, who came from their Lord, spoke like servants; they delivered a message. So they used to say, "Thus says the Lord."

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: The apostle pushes back this dirty kind of talk. He says, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good." And again, as is fitting for saints, "Do not let filthiness be named among you, nor foolish talking, nor jesting." These things are not proper, but instead give thanks. And if he that calls his brother a fool be in danger of the judgment, what should we say about someone who speaks foolish things? Is it not written about people like that, "Whosoever shall speak an idle word shall give an account to the Lord in the day of judgment"? And again, "By your speech you will be justified," he says, "and by your speech you will be condemned." So then, what are the helpful guards for our ears, and what are the rules for eyes that easily slip? They are conversations with righteous people. These conversations keep us busy with what is good, and they prepare and protect our ears against those who would lead us away from the truth.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Wisdom says that anger is a miserable thing.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Anyone who wants to commit murder is a murderer, even if he cannot kill.

TERTULLIAN: He judges that murder can be committed even with a word of cursing or insult. He also judges it to be murder in every impulse of anger. He also judges it to be murder in neglecting love toward a brother or sister, just as John teaches: "The one who hates his brother is a murderer."

TERTULLIAN: "If lust or evil has risen up in a man's heart," Jesus says, "it is counted as an action."

ORIGEN: And now, to confirm what reason has concluded by the authority of Scripture, namely that it is our own choice whether we live rightly or not, and that we are not forced, either by causes that come to us from outside, or, as some think, by the presence of fate, we bring forward the testimony of the prophet Micah in these words: "If it has been announced to you, O man, what is good, or what the Lord requires of you, except that you should do justice and love mercy and be ready to walk with the Lord your God." Moses also speaks as follows: "I have placed before your face the way of life and the way of death; choose what is good and walk in it." Isaiah, moreover, makes this declaration: "If you are willing and hear me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you are unwilling and will not hear me, the sword shall consume you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this." In the Psalm 2, it is written: "If my people had heard me, if Israel had walked in my ways, I would have humbled her enemies to nothing." By which he shows that it was in the power of the people to hear and to walk in the ways of God. The Savior also says: "I say to you, do not resist evildoers," and: "Whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment," and: "Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." And by giving certain other commands, he gives no other meaning than this: it is in our own power to obey what is commanded, and therefore we are rightly held liable to condemnation if we break those commandments that we are able to keep.

ORIGEN: There are commands in the Gospel that no one doubts should be obeyed in a literal way. For example, the one that says, "But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother," and so on. And also, "But I say to you, do not swear at all."

CYPRIAN: Since it is written, "Neither will revilers inherit the kingdom of God," and the Lord also says in His Gospel, "Whoever says to his brother, 'You fool,' and whoever says, 'Raka,' will be in danger of the Gehenna of fire," how can they escape the Lord's rebuke? He is the Avenger, and they pile up words like these.

CYPRIAN: For even in the sacrifices that Abel and Cain first offered, God did not look at their gifts, but at their hearts. So the one was accepted in his gift because he was accepted in his heart. Abel was peaceful and righteous. When he offered his sacrifice to God in innocence, he also taught others. He taught that when they bring their gift to the altar, they should come with the fear of God, with a simple heart, with the law of righteousness, and with the peace of unity. It was right that he, who was like this in offering sacrifice to God, later became a sacrifice to God himself. In this way, he who first showed martyrdom and began the Lord's Passion by the glory of his blood had both the Lord's righteousness and his peace. Finally, people like this are crowned by the Lord. People like this will be avenged with the Lord on the day of judgment. But the quarrelsome and divided person, and the one who does not have peace with his brothers and sisters, will not be able to escape the sin of family division. This is true even if he has been killed for the name of Christ. This is in keeping with what the Blessed Apostle and the Holy Scripture says. For as it is written, "He who hates his brother is a murderer, and no murderer reaches the kingdom of heaven, nor does he live with God." He cannot be with Christ if he would rather imitate Judas than Christ. How great is the sin that cannot even be washed away by a baptism of blood! How terrible is the crime that cannot be paid for by martyrdom!

CYPRIAN: why do you stand like Cain? The Apostle John says in his letter that anyone who is jealous of his brother and hates him is guilty of murder. He says, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has life abiding in him." And again, "He that says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness even until now, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because that darkness has blinded his eyes." Whoever hates his brother, he says, walks in darkness and does not know where he is going. He is going without knowing it to Gehenna, in ignorance and blindness. He is rushing into punishment. He is leaving the light of Christ. Christ warns and says, "I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." But the one who follows Christ is the one who stands in His commands. He walks in the way of His teaching. He follows His footsteps and His ways. He copies what Christ both did and taught. This agrees with what Peter also urges and warns, saying, "Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps."

IGNATIUS: let no one deceive himself: if anyone is not within the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God.

IGNATIUS: the one who is within the altar is pure, but the one who is outside is not pure. That is, the person who does anything apart from the bishop, the presbytery, and the deacons is not pure in his conscience.

IGNATIUS: be careful to have only one Eucharist. There is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup to show the unity of His blood. There is one altar; in the same way, there is one bishop, along with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow servants. Then, whatever you do, you may do it according to the will of God. Do it.

IRENAEUS: Therefore, the offering of the Church, which the Lord gave instructions to be offered throughout all the world, is counted by God as a pure sacrifice. It is acceptable to Him. Not that He needs a sacrifice from us, but the one who offers is himself honored by what he offers if his gift is accepted. By the gift, both honor and love are shown toward the King. The Lord wanted us to offer it with complete simplicity and innocence. So He said, "Therefore, when you offer your gift upon the altar and remember that your brother has anything at all against you, leave your gift before the altar and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then return and offer your gift." And the whole kind of offerings has not been done away with. There were offerings among the Jews, and there are offerings among the Christians. There were sacrifices among the people then, and there are sacrifices in the Church now. But only the kind has been changed, because the offering is now made not by slaves but by free people. For the Lord is always one and the same. But the nature of an offering made by slaves is different from that of free people. This is so that by the offerings themselves the sign of freedom may be shown. For with Him there is nothing without purpose, nothing without meaning, and nothing without plan. For this reason, the Jews did have the tithes of their goods set apart to Him. But those who have received freedom set aside all their possessions for the Lord's purposes. They give joyfully and freely, and they do not give only the less valuable parts of their property, because they have the hope of better things afterward. This is like that poor widow who threw all she had to live on into the treasury of God. For in the beginning, God looked with favor on the gifts of Abel, because he offered with a single mind and with righteousness. But he did not look with favor on the offering of Cain, because Cain's heart was divided by envy and evil which he held against his brother. As God says when correcting Cain's hidden thoughts, "Though you offer rightly, yet if you do not divide rightly, have you not sinned? Be at rest, since God is not made peaceful by sacrifice." For if anyone tries to offer a sacrifice only for outward appearance, doing it without fault on the outside, in proper order and as appointed, but in his soul he does not give his neighbor the right and proper fellowship with him, and he is not living in the fear of God, then he is holding on to secret sin. That person does not fool God by a sacrifice that looks correct on the outside. Such an offering will not help him at all. What will help is giving up the evil that has been formed within him. Therefore, sacrifices do not make a person holy, because God does not need sacrifice. Instead, it is the conscience of the one who offers that makes the sacrifice holy when it is pure. So, even though he does not need these services, he still wants us to do them for our own good so that we will not be unfruitful. In the same way, the Word gave the people that command about making offerings even though he did not need them, so that they might learn to serve God. Therefore, it is also His will that we too should offer a gift at the altar, often and without stopping. The altar then is in heaven, because our prayers and offerings are directed toward that place.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: The altar we have here on earth is the congregation of those who devote themselves to prayer. It is like they have one shared voice and one shared mind.

TERTULLIAN: does the Eucharist cancel a service devoted to God, or does it bind it more to God? Will not your station be more serious and holy if you have stood at God's altar? Fasting on certain days was known as stations.

TERTULLIAN: about the rule of peace, which is so pleasing to God. In a world that is quick to lose patience, who will forgive their brother even one time? I will not even say seven times, or seventy-seven times. Who, when thinking about taking a lawsuit against an opponent, will settle the matter by agreement, unless they first start by cutting off anger, hard feelings, stubbornness, and bitterness? These are truly the poisonous results of impatience. How will you forgive, and forgiveness will be granted to you, if a lack of patience makes you hold tightly to a wrong done to you? No one who is against their brother in their own mind will finish offering their duty gift at the altar, unless they first return to patience with the purpose to make peace with their brother. If the sun goes down on our anger, we are in danger. We are not allowed to go even one day without patience.

MARK MINUCIUS FELIX: Do you think we are hiding what we worship because we do not have temples and altars?

ORIGEN: If you are offering your gift at the altar, and you remember there that your brother has anything at all against you, leave your gift there before the altar. Go back, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. For what greater gift can a rational creature send up to God than sweet-smelling words of prayer, offered from a conscience that is free from the stain of sin? In the same way, this is also instructive: Do not deprive one another, except by agreement for a season, so that you may give yourselves to prayer. Then you may be together again at another time, so that Satan may not have an opportunity to exalt over you because of your lack of self-restraint. For prayer as we ought is held back unless the marriage mysteries which call for our silence are completed with more solemnity and careful thought, and with less passion. The agreement spoken of in the passage wipes out the discord of passion; it destroys lack of self-restraint and prevents Satan's malicious exaltation. This is also instructive for prayer as we ought: If you are standing at prayer, forgive anything that you have against any man. Also, this passage in Paul describes the right way to pray: Any man who prays or preaches with his head covered dishonors his head, and any woman who prays or preaches with an unveiled head dishonors her head.

CYPRIAN: In Malachi: "Has not one God created us? Is there not one Father of us all? Why have we certainly deserted one another?" About this same thing, according to John: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you." Also in the same place: "This is my commandment, that you love one another even as I have loved you. Greater love than this has no man; than that one should lay down his life for his friends." Also in the same place: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." Also in the same place: "Truly I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about everything, whatever you ask shall be given to you from my Father who is in heaven. For wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I am with them." About this same thing in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: "And I indeed, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal people, as to babies in Christ. I have given you milk to drink, not meat. For while you were still little, you were not able to bear it; and even now you are not able, for you are still carnal. For where there are in you jealousy and strife and divisions, are you not carnal, and do you not walk in a merely human way?" Likewise in the same place: "And if I should have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, but do not have charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods for food, and if I should deliver up my body to be burned, but do not have charity, I gain nothing. Charity is patient. Charity is kind. Charity does not envy. Charity does not lie. It is not puffed up. It is not easily angered. It does not think evil. It does not rejoice in injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It loves all things, believes all things, hopes all things, bears all things. Charity shall never fail." About this same thing to the Galatians: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself; but if you bite and accuse one another, see that you are not consumed by one another." About this same thing in the Epistle of John: "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are shown. Whoever is not righteous is not of God, and the one who does not love his brother. For the one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life living in him." Also in the same place: "If anyone says that he loves God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see?" About this same thing in the Acts of the Apostles: "But the multitude of those who had believed acted with one soul and one mind. There was no distinction among them. They did not consider anything they owned to be their own, but all things were shared among them." About this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "If you would offer your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift at the altar." Also in the Epistle of John: "God is love, and the one who lives in love lives in God, and God in him." Also in the same place: "The one who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is a liar, and walks in darkness even until now."

VICTORINUS: and when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who were slain. John says that he saw under the altar of God, that is, under the earth, the souls of those who were slain, for both heaven and earth are called God's altar. The law says this, and it commands, in a symbolic form of the truth, that two altars be made, a golden one inside and a bronze one outside. But we understand that the golden altar is called heaven. We know this by the witness our Lord gives about it, for he says, "When you bring your gift to the altar, surely our gifts are the prayers we offer, and there remember that your brother has anything at all against you, leave your gift before the altar." Surely prayers rise up to heaven.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: But the Savior Himself, whom they think is the only one you should obey, has forbidden hatred and insulting speech. He says, "When you go with your adversary to court, try to reach a friendly agreement with him." So, they will either refuse to accept Christ's urging because they are against the adversary, or they will become His friends and stop opposing Him.

TERTULLIAN: In short, since we understand the prison mentioned in the Gospel to be Hades, and since we also understand the uttermost farthing to mean the very smallest offense that has to be repaid there before the resurrection, no one will hesitate to believe that the soul goes through some corrective discipline in Hades. This does not take away from the full process of the resurrection. At that time, the repayment will also be carried out through the flesh.

TERTULLIAN: They talk about the judge who sends people to prison. They say he allows no one to be released until the person pays the very last mite. They describe this judge as the Creator, and they do it to put him down. But I think I need to answer this small objection with the same reply: every time the Creator's strictness is shown off in front of us, Christ is shown to belong to Him. The Creator urges people to submit to Christ by using fear as the reason.

ORIGEN: In this life, on this path that everyone travels, you do well to accept the warnings of your conscience and not ignore them. But if you are careless and neglectful in this life, your conscience itself will take the role of a prosecutor and will accuse you before the judge. Conscience will bring you under the jury's decision, and you will be handed over to punishments that cannot be healed. You would not have suffered these things if, while you were still on the way, you had truly gained goodwill toward your accuser. You would have done this by accepting his rebukes as coming from goodwill. For this reason, the Divine Evangelist John also says in his letter: "If our conscience does not condemn us, we have confidence before God."

TERTULLIAN: For who is there who will not want, while he is still in the flesh, to put on immortality? Who would not want to keep living by a happy escape from death, through the transformation that must be experienced instead of death? And who would not want to do this without also having to face Hades, which will demand the very last farthing? Even so, the one who has already passed through Hades is also destined to receive the change after the resurrection. Because of this, we clearly declare that the flesh will, by all means, rise again.

ORIGEN: Notice with me that every deed that is good or proper is like a profit and an increase, but a wicked deed is like a loss, just as there is one kind of profit when the amount of money is greater and another when it is less, and just as there are differences of more or less. So it is with good deeds; there is, so to speak, a valuing of profits as more or less. To figure out which work is a great profit and which is a smaller profit, and which is the smallest, belongs to the one who alone knows how to examine such things. He looks at them in light of a person's attitude and the word and the deed. He also considers things that are not in our power working together with the things that are in our power. In the same way, with opposite things, it belongs to him to say what sin, when an accounting is made with the servants, is found to be a great loss, and what is less, and what, if we may call it that, is the loss of the very last might or the last farthing. Therefore, the accounting of a person's entire and whole life is demanded by what is called the kingdom of heaven. It is compared to a king when we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Then, when the accounting is being made, every idle word that people speak will also be brought into that accounting, and so will any cup of cold water that someone has given to drink in the name of a disciple.