Whoever insults a brother or sister is liable, to be brought before the council. Whoever calls a brother or sister “Fool!” is liable, of being
thrown into the fire of hell. So, if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against
you, leave your gift there, in front of the altar; go at once, and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God.
Don’t forget this: be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court. Otherwise he will turn you over to
the judge, who will hand you over to the police, who will put you in jail. There, you will stay, until you have paid the last penny.
Reflection:
What does a “keener sense of right and wrong” look like? I guess
it looks like a sense of right and wrong that goes beyond right
and wrong, our human sense of justice. For, human justice
informs me that if my brother holds grudge against me, he is
the one who should come to me for reconciliation. Human sense
of fairness wants to build walls to prevent entry of migrants.
The same sense tells me that only those who work should eat;
and one who killed my brother be executed by the State. Fair
enough! But the keener sense that Jesus wants his followers to
have is not fair; it goes beyond fair: it demands that I go to my
offending brother and initiate reconciliation; that I break down
walls that separate peoples; that I feed those who do not
and perhaps cannot work; that I forgive my brother’s murderer.
Fair sense creates just people; keener sense creates saints.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022