Saying 1 of 10
Even an angry word is enough
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says that contempt for a brother puts a person in danger of the Gehenna of fire. He was showing that sin starts in the heart, and that everyone needs mercy.
What Jesus said
Jesus took the commandment against murder and went to its root. Anger and contempt for another person, He said, already make a person answerable to God, and calling someone a fool puts a person in danger of the Gehenna of fire.
Gehenna was the name of the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem. Jesus used it as the name of the place of final judgment.
21“You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not murder;’ and ‘Whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
Matthew 5:21-22 (WEB) · context
Why this matters for you
If anger and contempt are enough to make us guilty before God, then nobody can claim to be good enough. That is not meant to drive anyone to despair. It is meant to show us that we need a Saviour, and that Jesus is that Saviour.
23for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; 24being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Romans 3:23-24 (WEB) · context
17For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
John 3:17 (WEB) · context
A common objection
Some people say a few angry words cannot matter much to God, and that only really evil people need to worry about judgment.
What Scripture answers
Jesus said the opposite: God looks at the heart, not only at what we do. The good news is that the same Jesus who warned about judgment came to take it on Himself for everyone who trusts Him.
7But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7 (WEB) · context
The good news
Jesus came to save you from this
God loves you and gave His Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish.