Daily Devotional For Thursday, September 19, 2024
Today is Tremendous Thursday. You have made it this far through this week. Congratulations. If you have been reading these devotionals, you know we are making our way through the greatest and most famous sermon ever – Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. Today, we pick up where we left off yesterday. We are looking at today Matthew 5:23-24:
“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, (24) leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering” (NASB).
In these opening words of Jesus, He comes at us with strong words about how we as His disciples and children are to deal with discord with another believer, disciple, or Christian. We have already seen that if we have the wrong anger in our heart towards someone, we are guilty of murder. We may not murder them physically, but we do murder them in our minds as emotions and thoughts such as hatred, resentment, bitterness, holding a grudge, refusing to forgive and forget consume our hearts. Murder starts in the heart before it gets to the hands.
In these words of Jesus, He does not mince words. His point is if you have any anger or ill feelings toward any believer, your worship, your outward acts of praise are rejected by God. Why? It is a sin and any sin causes a breach in our relationship to God and with that believer. The religious leaders in Jesus’ day would have never called lust and hatred “good,” but they did not think of them as sins. Jesus says that unrighteous anger and hatred are just as much a sin as murder and adultery.
Unresolved conflict must be dealt with first prior to any overtures of worship. We are to attempt to be reconciled to that believer, disciple or Christian before we attempt to be reconciled to God. God detests hypocrisy in us. What hypocrisy? The type that shows up at church to worship knowing you have anger and even hatred towards another believer. We see how God denounced this in the nation of Israel His prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah:
- Isaiah 1:11, 16-17 > “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats . . . (16) “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, (17) Learn to do good. Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow” (NASB).
- Isaiah 58:5-7, “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed; And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord? (6) “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free; And break every yoke? (7) “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry, And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” (NASB).
- Jeremiah 7:9-10, “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, (10) then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations?” (NASB).
Jesus said “your brother has something against you” could refer to anger or hatred by that brother or sister. Do you see what Jesus is saying here? Even if we hold no malice against that same brother, if he is angry or hates us, we are to do everything in our power to be reconciled to that brother. It doesn’t matter who caused the break in the relationship. God holds both responsible. You may think, “Well, I don’t know what I did or said that made them mad at me. I’m not angry or mad at them.” God says that is not the issue – reconciliation is. I like what pastor and author John MacArthur writes:
“True worship is not enhanced by better music, better prayers, better architecture, or even better preaching. True worship is enhanced by better relationships between those who come to worship. Worship may be improved by our staying away from church until we have made things right with those with whom we know our relationship is strained or broken. When there is animosity or sin of any sort in our heart there cannot be integrity in our worship” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 297).
1,000 years prior to Jesus Christ coming, King David wrote these words in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear” (NASB). And a few years before David, the prophet Samuel said this from God to King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams” (NASB).
Jesus admits that murder or killing is a great sin but He also says anger is too. That anger that seethes, boils, broods, resents, is bitter, refuses to forgive and forget. New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton writes this on this topic:
”This kind of anger is a dangerous emotion that always threatens to leap out of control, leading to violence, emotional hurt, increased mental stress, spiritual damage, and, yes, even murder. Anger keeps us from developing a spirit pleasing to God. We may not go to court because of our anger, but it does make us liable to judgment. While “judgment” in 5:21 referred to human court, in this verse it refers to divine judgment. During Passover, Jews brought gifts (referring to animal sacrifices) that they offered at the altar in the temple in Jerusalem. This “altar” stood in the Court of the Priests; the person bringing the gift entered this inner court to worship God and offer a specific sacrifice (these are described in the book of Leviticus). The Jews brought their gifts as a matter of course, as part of keeping God’s Law. But Jesus explained that those who come into God’s presence to worship must come with pure hearts, not hindered by broken relationships that they had the power to mend. Interestingly, this verse focuses not on the worshiper’s anger, but on the anger someone else feels toward the worshiper. Jesus explained that if the worshiper remembered someone’s anger against him or her, that person should leave the gift and go immediately to be reconciled to the offended brother or sister. Then he should come back to worship and offer his or her gift” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” pp. 92-94).
Jesus says our love for God and for other believers is more important than gifts brought to God. Look at the following Old Testament verses:
- Hosea 6:6, “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (NASB).
- Micah 6:6-8, “With what shall I come to the Lord, And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? (7) Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (8) He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you, But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” (NASB).
Jesus is going after the hypocrisy of the Jews and their religious leaders of His day. New Testament scholar William Barclay writes this:
“But two most important things have to be noted. First, it was never held that sacrifice could atone for deliberate sin, for what the Jews called ‘the sin of a high hand’. If someone committed a sin unawares, or was swept into sin in a moment of passion when self-control broke, then sacrifice was effective; but if a person deliberately, defiantly, callously and with open eyes committed sin, then sacrifice was powerless to atone.
Second, to be effective, sacrifice had to include confession of sin and true penitence; and true penitence involved the attempt to rectify any consequences sin might have had. The great Day of Atonement was held to make atonement for the sins of the whole nation, but the Jews were quite clear that not even the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement could avail unless people were first reconciled to their neighbors. The breach between human beings and God could not be healed until human beings could reconcile their differences. If someone was making a sin offering, for instance, to atone for a theft, the offering was held to be completely unavailing until the thing stolen had been restored; and, if it was discovered that the thing had not been restored, then the sacrifice had to be destroyed as unclean and burned outside the Temple. The Jews were quite clear that people had to do their utmost to put things right themselves before they could be right with God” (Source: William Barcaly, The New Daily Study Bible Series, “Matthew,” Vol. 1, pp. 164-165).
Questions To Consider
- Is there any brother or sister-in-Christ you know is angry with you? Have you sought reconciliation? If not, why? If so, what were the results?
- Is there any brother or sister-in-Christ you know you are angry with right now and you hold a grudge? When you think of that person, you loathe them and you desire to ruin them. Why are you choosing to disobey God knowing any worship you offer is rejected by Him?
- Jesus says that for any offering you make to God to be valid, confession of your sin, repentance of your sin, and attempt at reconciliation of your sin must take place first. We cannot be right with God until we are right with each other. Is it possible that some of your experiences is God pulling back His blessings and allowing other painful things to attempt to get your attention on this matter? Why or why not?
Scripture To Meditate On: Mark 11:25, Jesus said, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgression” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I really do want to be right with You. There are people I “murder” in my heart. There are people who I hold a grudge against. I understand that I cannot seek your blessings and forgiveness until my heart is right about them. Please help me do this. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly