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A STUDY OVER THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PART XII (TOPIC: WORDS & JUDGING)

INTRO: This lesson will begin with the Lyle Witcher story from Shoutfest. The story is when a girl will not dance with him because as she states it “your face is hurting me.” Ouch. Then there will be a transition into bad words.

1. WORDS

BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:22

“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Raca: Raca is an Aramaic word meaning “fool” or “empty-headed.” It implied an abuse towards others. It implied ignorant or senseless, like saying “You Idiot.”

Fool: Mwros is the word here, and it simply means “fool.” Greek for our word for moron fits the closest.

The Difference: In the surface, one word brings people before the judgment of others (technically it implies that they will be held libel for their misspoken word), and the other word brings them before the judgment of God. The difference is that there is no difference. The phrase “fool, idiot” or any other phrase made in a negative light, the Bible is saying is wrong.

What is a Curse Word? In my college linguistics class, we had a discussion on what makes a cuss word a cuss word. I mean, a word or finger gesture in USA that is horrible can mean absolutely nothing somewhere else (an example would be that pointing a direction that we do in USA is often times a rude word in many Eastern European nations).

Regardless, I discovered that curse words fall into 4 categories: an act of defamation of God, an act of sex, bodily excrement/private body parts, & an applied immoral phrase.

Law & Order: The television show Law & Order always has people on trial for murder or other serious charges. Sometimes you will hear a person say, “The deceased was a horrible, awful, evil man and I am glad that he is dead. But I didn’t do it.” The willingly tell the police that they hate someone which is somehow okay, as long as no murder was committed.

That’s the way it works in America, but it is not God’s way. To man, it is all about the external, to God, it is all about the internal. That is why this phrase was so shocking to the people listening.

It’s a Heart Issue:

BIBLE VERSE: Luke 6:45

6:45 The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his heart.

Danger of the Fire of Hell: This phrase Jesus uses here is Gehenna. Gehenna was a giant trash heap that was always burning trash, it really never ever stopped. Dead bodies were actually thrown into it, and it gave off a serious, serious glimpse of what hell might be like!

Jesus did not mean “if you call someone a fool you are going to go to hell.” What he meant was, a sin is a sin and all sin throws us into hell. It is NOT okay to say such things. Say again, it’s NOT okay. NOT. NOT.

Oh by the way, how is your facebook going?

2. JUDGING

Transition Explanation: After the ill words are spoken, what happens next? Judgment. The person hears of the horrid words and wants to confront them, so then there is all the makings of a court case, which happens right there in our high school and middle school settings.

Transition: Weird Lawsuits

Go online and find some recent weird lawsuits. For this particular case, I clicked on Top 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of All Time for the ones I used (they wouldn’t cut and paste, so you will have to find your own).

BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:25

“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Quick Questions:

At what speed should the matter be settled in? Quickly.

When should you do it? Even on the way there. Avoid courts at all costs.

Who could be at blame if a judge hears it? Honestly, who knows?

What could happen to you? Punishment.

Settling out of Court: In USA, only about 5% of cases actually go to court, in almost all cases, the lawyers on both sides work to keep the case out of court. Why? Because if both lawyers can get a good settlement for their client, they win. Otherwise, there always exists the chance of losing the major court case.