Love One Another                                     Kathleen Maples

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

 If we are the light of the world, we need to be careful that we are not allowing the works of the flesh to dim our light. I did some checking on this word "raca" for I'd never heard it outside this Scripture. This is what the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says of the word "raca":

   Raca means "empty, vain or worthless fellow, a term of contempt; fool; simpleton, expression of scorn and anger toward another culminating in abusive and defamatory language.

"Christ condemns the use of disparaging and insulting epithets as a supreme offense against the law of humanity, which belongs to the same category as murder itself. It should be added, however, that it is the underlying feeling and not the verbal expression as such that constitutes the sin. Hence, our Lord can, without any real inconsistency, address two of His followers as “foolish men” Luke 24/25.  (ISBE)

When I checked the King James Dictionary, it defined "raca" as senseless, vain, empty-headed. Smith's Bible Dictionary said it was a term of reproach, derived from the Chaldee word, reka, meaning worthless. Another said it meant worthless, good-for-nothing.

 So people, who in their anger, definitely need to watch what they say and how they talk to someone. James warned the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. When people get angry, and if they look on another with the feeling of anger and contempt, thinking they are any of the above.  Jesus called them fools in Luk 24:25, because they were so full of unbelief, but he had no malice of heart toward them. So it seems that if you look on another as inferior, as useless, with anger and disgust in your heart for the person, and say they are worthless, good for nothings, that you better take heed to this scripture, and repent quickly.

Verse 35: the earth is God's footstool, interesting reference:

Nahum 1:3 and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

 Mat 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Mat 5:42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Now this verse sometimes is hard on our flesh to obey. Especially if the asker is someone we are tired of hearing from, or if they are asking a hard thing. Too often, in church, we get set in our ways, and when called upon to do a service we think little of, such as, watching the nursery, and minding the little children, while others participate in worship and hearing of the speakers and singers, many do not want to and will not. We need to consider the Lord said we are to humble ourselves, and take the lowest seat. There is something very humbling about taking care of children. We get selfish and want things our way, but we need to understand, the Lord used children to teach a lesson on humility and meekness to this disciples. I believe he frowns on this kind of response. Or if someone is asking us to run an errand and we don't want to but are able to. I don't believe this just refers to money. But our time. Our energy. Our possessions. Our compassion. Showing concern for someone else's welfare, and good, not our own.