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Leaving Your Gift Before the Altar

November 14, 2005

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Dear Friends

Matthew records Jesus saying:

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. (Matt. 5:23-24)

The truth is, no one can literally do this since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD as there is no longer any altar of the Lord. Yet, we would suggest that the concept is as valid today as it was when Jesus said it. The question is, “what was Jesus trying to teach us?”

Was Jesus’ advice literal even in his day? There is never anything more than faint circumstantial evidence that even Jesus himself literally followed his own advice. We never see Jesus forsaking the feasts or forswearing temple worship while tracking down individually the many, many people that had “ought” (Greek tis meaning anything or something) against him. We do know that Jesus did spend time with the Pharisees and Sadducees. On several occasions, Jesus dined with the Pharisees and did address their concerns regarding him (even if it was in the form of a rebuke). But if Jesus was to be taken literally, Jesus would have never been found in the Temple because he literally had hundreds, if not thousands, of people who had something against him. He could have spent each day of ministry tracking down these people and never reached the end of them.

So if we are not to take these words literally, what are we to make of them? Since the verses in question start off with a “therefore”, it is necessary to back up to find the cause. Notice in the NAS version the increasing severity of the matter. As anger increases, so does judgment! “I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” (5:22) This translation gives us a good sense of the original Greek.

The first person is angry with their brother. In the context of following verse, the person they are angry with is US. They have something against us and it is making them angry. This angry person is to be sent to the local court (Gr. krisis). According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, this court was “the college of judges (a tribunal of seven men in the several cities of Palestine).” As it stands, their offense only merits judgment at the lowest level.

The next level of increasing anger, on the other hand, is name-calling. This level of anger was so severe that they were to be taken before the Sanhedrin – the highest Jewish court in the land. Remember, in the context of Matt. 5, this name-calling is leveled at us.

The final and highest level of anger was false accusation of a person’s character by calling us a “fool.” Biblically speaking, being called a fool has a worse connotation than just about any other name. Look up some references to fools in the book of Proverbs and you will see how the Bible characterizes fools. They are stupid, immoral and lazy. To characterize a brother in this manner puts the false accuser in danger of Gehenna. The NAS translates this as hell, but what is actually being referred to is the Valley of Hinnom. This valley lay just outside of Jerusalem and was the site of what amounts to the local landfill. It was full of garbage and was constantly burning. Executed criminals were often thrown into these fires in the most ignominious burial. This is the danger of those whose anger burns so heatedly against their brethren—execution and a criminal’s burial.

The point is that our brother has this hatred for us and they are in danger of judgment because of it. If it escalates out of control to this last level, they are in danger of “capital punishment” at Judgment. We can shrug our shoulders and say “Well, that’s not my problem” or we can love our brother enough to try and help them overcome their anger. As a matter of importance, we need to leave the comforts of ritual worship and make an attempt at reconciliation. Obviously, fixing this problem with people who have hatred and contempt for us is not going to be easy. If it is something that we are doing wrong, we absolutely need to fix this very quickly. However, even if we bear no culpability in the matter whatsoever, we still need to try and fix it. It is a lot easier just to keep offering the ritual sacrifice. However, Jesus places this as a higher priority than even offering sacrifices as the Temple – a mandated activity for the Jewish believer.

We are almost guaranteed in Scripture that if we are doing the right things, people are going to hate us (see Matt. 5:44, Luke 6:22, John 15:18, 1 John 3:13). We will prick their consciences until they want to kill us just as they did Jesus. In the end, our goal needs to be that of our heavenly Father. We need to be willing that NONE should perish… including those who are angry with us, hate us, mock us and slander us.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. (Matt. 5:44-45)

Have a great week!

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