Last time, in our quest for the true morality of the historical Jesus, we read Matt 5:21-22 and saw that Jesus puts the act of killing and the act of anger in the same moral category: gravely sinful. Today, we'll continue on with more of Jesus' "Teaching About Anger" in 5:23-24. Recall that this Teaching About Anger occurs in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, the most important and focused moral teaching of Jesus recorded in any gospel.
As we continue to study these chapters, it is my hope that you will find yourself, as many have, marvelling at the glaring incongruities between the teachings of most Christian churches and the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. Indeed, huge swaths of the Sermon can't be made sense of in the context of American churches without a series of caveats being errantly placed on Christ's tongue. To name a few:
" 'Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment...' ...except when that anger is justified by self-righteous nationalism."
" 'Blessed are the meek...' ...unless you're trying to project imperial military might on a global stage."
" 'Blessed are the merciful...' ...unless you work for the US justice system."
" 'Blessed are the peacemakers...' ...unless you're fighting a 'war on terror.' "Please understand that the caveat is always a blasphemy. If the Sermon on the Mount is the revealed word of God, altering it as such is always a blasphemy. The ubiquity of these blasphemies in modern churches will become more and more clear to you as we continue our simple gospel reading.
Ok, enough of the small-talk. Let's get started with today's reading.
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Matthew 5:23 through 5:24
23 Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you,
24 leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
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Today, we'll continue with the standard treatment of these verses. First, we'll check out some of the Koine Greek from which these verses were translated. Next, we'll consider the context of these verses, that is, we'll discuss the ritual of sacrificial offering at the Temple of Jerusalem. Third, we'll postulate as to what real-world action Jesus is here asking his followers to take, or what real-world mind-frame he is asking his followers to adopt.
Language
Pondering the Greek origin of the words we read in the gospel is one of the fastest ways to give an extra dimension to our consideration of the text. The first word of interest here today is "bring." The original Greek word here was "prospheró," which could alternatively be translated as "donate," "pay," or "pay up." Most alternative translations for this word seem to indicate some kind of financial transaction; some kind of debt repayment.
Next, consider the phrase "anything against you." This is translated from the Greek "tis" (alternatively "something" or "someone"), "kata" (alternatively "at" or "on"), and "sou" (alternatively "your.") Lovers of language will be interested to notice the relation between the Greek "sou," the Latin "tū," the Spanish "tu," the French "vous," the Persian "to," and the English "you," all meaning roughly the same thing. Note that these words all come from the Proto-Indo-European "túh," which also meant roughly the same "you" all those six thousand years ago.
Moving on. The word "gift" here was fairly precisely translated from the Greek "dóron." "Dóron" could also mean a "hand's width."
The last word of interest here, the one we have translated as "reconciled," comes from the Greek "diallassó." Alternative translations for this word include "swap," "exchange," or "compromise."
Context
We've already had the opportunity to discuss temple sacrifice on a number of occasions during the last few months. Today's lesson on morality from Jesus is delivered specifically within the context of ritual sacrifice, though, so we will now take a little time to readdress ritual sacrifice in the first-century Jewish belief system.
Recall that Jews of Jesus' time believed in a spiritual life that was entirely centered around the Temple of Jerusalem. The inner-sanctum of the Temple, or the "Holy of Holies," was considered to be the literal house of God on Earth, which constantly contained the literal God of the Jews. The God of the Old Testament was extremely transactional in his dealings with his people, and those transactions were all to occur at the Temple under the supervision of the Temple priests.
According to the covenants of the Torah, a minimum of two lambs were to be sacrificed everyday at the Temple. We see this in Numbers, chapter 28:
3 You will tell them therefore: This is the oblation which you will offer to the LORD: two unblemished yearling lambs each day as the regular burnt offering,
4 offering one lamb in the morning and the other during the evening twilight,
5 each with a grain offering of one tenth of an ephah of bran flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil of crushed olives.
6 This is the regular burnt offering that was made at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, an oblation to the LORD.The "regular burnt offering" was a matter for the priests to attend to - the common man needed make no contribution to it. There were myriad other kinds of offerings to be made, though, many of which involved the common man bringing a sacrifice to be given in his name for some favor. There were two extra lambs to be sacrificed on the sabbath, there were special sacrifices to be done on holidays, and there were specific sacrifices done for personal purposes.
Some of the more personalized sacrifices that occurred were sacrifices for the purification of the unclean, sacrifices of contrition for those who had sinned, or sacrifices of peace and thanksgiving for those who wished to have peace and good communion with their fellows and God.
I cannot stress enough how similar the core of the ancient Jewish religion was to all of its pagan contemporaries and predecessors. For the Egyptians too had priestly offerings and holiday offerings and personal offerings. The Greeks had priestly offerings and holiday offerings and personal offerings. The Romans had priestly offerings, holiday offerings and personal offerings. The Chaldeans. The Sumerians. All of this sacrifice occurred around temple complexes, big and small. A Greek with no knowledge of Judaism would have still immediately understood what was happening the first time he saw the goings-on at the Temple in Jerusalem.
As exemplified in the above verses, the Torah often makes reference to the pleasure that God derives from smelling the odor of the sacrifice as it is being cooked, be it a baked grain-cake or a grilled lamb. Even this particular aspect of sacrifice was attested in other societies. It was well known in ancient Greece, for example, that the Gods primarily feasted on the aroma of the sacrifice as it was being cooked.
The specificity of the Torah in regards to how the God of the Old Testament wanted sacrifices carried out is often unnerving. Take, for example, the following description of the "reparation offering" as described in Leviticus, chapter 7:
1 This is the ritual for the reparation offering. It is most holy.
2 At the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, the reparation offering shall also be slaughtered. Its blood shall be splashed on all the sides of the altar.
3 All of its fat shall be offered: the fatty tail, the fat that covers the inner organs, and all the fat that adheres to them,
4 as well as the two kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which is removed with the kidneys.
5 The priest shall burn these on the altar as an oblation to the LORD. It is a reparation offering.
6 Every male of the priestly line may eat of it; but it must be eaten in a sacred place. It is most holy.
There are perhaps dozens of descriptions like this in the Torah regarding the proper handling of a slaughtered animal's fat, meat, organs and blood.
Again, I'll reiterate, sacrifice was a truly central aspect of the lives of all first-century Palestinian Jews. It would have been seen as being of paramount importance. The Temple was nearly always awash in blood, and during holidays, the blood ran like a river. Whether you were a poor man of Jerusalem bringing an offering of grain in order to ward off some supposed impurity, a rich man from Bethany bringing lambs to the slaughter in order to thank God for your good fortune, or a pilgrim from Galilee making requisite offerings during your Passover visit to Jerusalem, all able-bodied Jews in first-century Palestine would have had cause to approach the priests at the Temple with an offering at some time.
Any of these forms of sacrifice could be the context for today's gospel reading. Jesus knows the paramount importance of sacrifice among his people. It is the importance and centrality of sacrifice that Jesus wishes to play off of here when he mentions leaving the "gift at the altar."
Finally, let's talk about Jesus' meaning here.
Actionable Teaching
So, within the solemn and ubiquitous context of Temple Sacrifice in the Second Temple, what is Jesus asking of his followers here?
This should be very clear, although I fear that it is often misunderstood.
Jesus is asking his followers to do a revolutionary thing. He is asking his followers to consider their relationship with their fellow humans as more important than their relationship with God. In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus essentially says "none of the solemn action taken by the priests on your behalf at the Temple will avail you anything with God in heaven as long as you are in conflict with one of your brothers or sisters here on earth."*
Wow.
Put yourself in the shoes of a first-century Palestinian Jew. All your life, you've heard how the daily sacrifices at the Temple keep your people in the good graces of God. All your life, you've been taught that the only thing keeping another Babylon from destroying the Temple and displacing the Jews again is the ongoing sacrifices performed by the priests in the Temple itself. All your life, you've been taught that the way to personally stay in the good grace of your creator is to give him something yummy to smell at the citadel of Jerusalem.
Imagine, then, how it might sound when Jesus utters these words: "the temple sacrifices are meaningless if you have unresolved conflicts with other humans. The sacrifices of so many people are in fact for naught because of their inability or unwillingness to be reconciled with their enemies. Again, your relations with God will be fruitless if your relations with your fellow are in disarray"
These verses are deceptively consequential. They are perfectly indicative of the reordering of the cosmos that Jesus intends to do with his Galilean Ministry. They warrant deep meditation and multiple readings.
Jesus is saying that ritual, sacrifice, and tradition are not as important as maintaining peaceful relations with one's brothers and sisters. Jesus is negating the mechanics of the first-century Jewish faith by subordinating the old covenant, that of sacrifice and circumcision, to a new covenant, that of peace and love.
If you are a Jewish person sitting in the crowd during the Sermon on the Mount, you might again be squirming in your seat when Jesus speaks these verses.
Throughout the Sermon, we will see Jesus continuing to upend traditional Jewish and pagan thought with his preference for peace, love, and good human relations. We will continue to imagine that some of his followers are perpetually squirming in their seats.
The takeaway here, for me, is that I ought to work to reconcile myself with my brothers and sisters wherever need be, as a matter of primary importance.
I will use this reading as an opportunity to see if any beefs need squashed.
Jesus loves squashed beef.
As I am wont to do, I'd like to remind you that this, the most important endeavor of my life, is a never-for-profit endeavour. Thank you so much for reading. Please share this writing.
Love.
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* Remember that we consider "brothers," as Jesus uses the term, to mean "any other human."
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To read what's next, click here.
To read what came prior to this, click here.
For the index of Christ's words, click here.
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To read what's next, click here.
To read what came prior to this, click here.
For the index of Christ's words, click here.
