21"You have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' 22But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, "Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, "You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. 23Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
I think we could all agree that murder is bad. Someone who murders would be in danger of judgment. But Jesus is comparing being angry with murder. A footnote in my Bible says "raca" expresses contempt for someone's mind, similar to "blockhead" or "stupid", and "fool" expresses contempt for someone's character. These names express a judgment and can be very destructive. But that destructiveness affects both you and the person you directed it at. You would be brought to judgment for it just as you would if you had murdered someone.
Sure, this is explaining what will happen if you are angry without a cause. That pretty much removes any worry for the times you get angry doesn't it? I mean, isn't there always a reason why you got angry? Didn't the other person do or say something that made you think of them as stupid or as a fool? Well... maybe they didn't do something that bad. Maybe if you really look at what they did and why they did it, they had good reason too. So maybe they weren't as stupid or as much a fool as you thought. Oh no! There really was no cause for your anger! Here is where you have to be very careful. Is there ever really a good cause for your anger? Isn't your anger a judgment you really have no right to make? God will take care of all judgments. I don't think He needs us to hand deliver offenders to Him.
By the way, it talks of being angry with your brother. By brother I believe He is talking about anyone you meet.
But the good news is that it just says in danger: in danger of judgment, in danger of the council, in danger of hell fire. How do you escape that danger? It took awhile before I realized that the next verses talk about how to save your brother from that danger. When you are taking your gifts to God, whether it is to praise Him or to ask Him for forgiveness of your sins, and you remember that your brother has something against you, is angry with you, there is a greater gift you can bring to God. Leave whatever gifts you were planning for God, reconcile with your brother, then come to offer your gifts.
Anger begets anger, both easily without cause. Reconcile with your adversary quickly, for as soon as you have your differences, both of you are in danger of judgment, the council, and hell fire. For if your differences are not reconciled, the danger in front of you will be carried out, for your adversary may send you to the judge who will send you to the officer who will send you to prison (judgment, council, and hell fire). And as Jesus says, you will then assuredly pay for all you have done.
It is so easy to get angry with someone. Jesus understands that about us. But He also wants us to know how destructive that is and how dangerous it is for us. Regardless of who started it, Jesus tells us how important it is for the both of you to end it quickly. Can the cause of the anger possibly be enough to justify our damnation or our adversary's damnation? I don't think we can make that kind of judgment. We should leave that judgment to God and reconcile with our brothers, for both our sakes.