I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.(Mt 5:20-26).
God is good all the time.
Anger and insults do depress, destroy, and kill. So, Jesus cautions that "whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna."
So, Jesus is saying , “don’t be angry” and “don’t insult” your brother or sister. If you have something in your heart against your brother or sister, do not curse them, don’t use foul words to them and put them down with your words. These things are easy to do, but Jesus says do not do it because they emerge from your heart, and the heart is what you bring to offer sacrifice to God.
Jesus started this teaching challenging his followers to let their righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees and scribes. Jesus said, "I tell you unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven."
Jesus was giving a new perspective that differs from the ones set by Moses and is often misinterpreted further by the Pharisees and the scribes. They had defined and followed their own kind of righteousness, which was not the same as God's righteousness. But Jesus always got it right for us.
So, we may need to also review our conduct during this Lent to reflect what Jesus is teaching us. May God turn our hearts into a true place of sacrifice. Amen.