The Talk You Keep Putting Off
"“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,' and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”"
— Matthew 5:21-24
Jesus was teaching on a hillside in Galilee, three days' walk north of Jerusalem. Sacrifice happened in one place only, the temple in that city. Picture a farmer who has saved for a lamb and walked it south for three days. Turning around meant three days home, a week of lost work, and the road south again. It also meant crossing a packed temple court with empty hands while hundreds watched. In his language, "brother or sister" covered any neighbor, not only your own family. Every town had a bench of twenty three elders that tried killings. He put a man's temper in front of that same bench. Jewish teachers later put the same rule in writing. The Day of Atonement covered what a person owed God, never what he owed his neighbor. Peace with a neighbor was not counted as made until the neighbor himself said so.