A Message from Pastor Kaji

I have all kinds of good news. The Third Sunday of Lent brings us to the midpoint of the season. Fittingly, the word Lent means spring, and the forecast looks ready to cooperate with sunshine and TEMPS IN THE MID-60s. We all know that our neighbors will take this as their official sign to head straight to Central Park. You might, too. Come worship first, tho. Even if it feels like spring outside, we’re still making our way toward Easter! 

We’ll also “Lent” forward, if you will, this weekend as Daylight Saving Time begins, which means losing an hour of sleep but gaining evening sunlight.

In worship, we’ll hold this joy with the deep seriousness and sadness of our country at war. Jesus goes right there with us in this startling text about how we get to violence. We’ll be picking right up where we left off last week in Creation: standing in our truth, hiding nothing. 

Study Guide

To begin, I want to acknowledge that this is a *challenging text* (which is why in my 20 + years of ministry, I think I’ve never preached on it!) But, if you take the time to think about what Jesus truly is asking of us, it’s a challenge to which we can rise, with God’s help. With a little nerdiness, I think we can hold Jesus’ words in the light. 

The passage makes more sense if you remember that it’s part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Just before our appointed text, Jesus explains that he came not to abolish the law but to *fulfill* it. What does “fulfill” mean here? The Greek plerōō means to bring something to its full meaning. The way I read this, then, is that Jesus is bringing the intention, the fullness, to the laws. So our text brings fullness to the 10 Commandments’ interdiction against murder. Later in the chapter, Jesus calls the disciples to be teleios, a word meaning whole, harmonious. As I always say – quoting Jesus – the point of the law is to shape a life aligned by love of God, neighbor, and self. Jesus, then, fulfills the law by showing us The Way to a full, harmonious life.  

By starting with “thou shalt not murder”, Jesus is tracing violence backwards from the act of murder to what leads to it. Anger, contempt, and dehumanization can have deeply destructive consequences. For me, though, I find it most helpful to understand this passage by reading it backwards. If murder’s what we know we have to avoid, Jesus is giving us the other things to avoid so that murder never happens.

In other words, Jesus’ words here function as an intervention. When he says “if you remember” someone has something against you, the language he uses implies that it’s your conscience speaking, suddenly surfacing, while you’re waiting in line at the Temple to offer your sacrifice. In this way, the conscience interrupts even the most sacred ritual in order to prioritize reconciliation. When Jesus moves from accuser —> judge —> prison, he’s reflecting how unresolved conflict escalates if it’s unaddressed early on. 

The word typically translated “hell” here refers to Gehenna, the Valley of Hinnom, or “valley of slaughter” just outside Jerusalem. It’s a place, by Jesus’ time, believed perhaps to be associated with destruction & burning refuse. Importantly, I think it would be a mistake to associate it with the later medieval imagery of the hellfire of eternal damnation. Take a look at this map I had AI draw, below. In it, you can see the Temple (where the burnt offering would’ve happened) & the Gehenna ravine where, historically, people burned things, anciently in acts of violence (see 2 Kings 23:10). 

Because of this, when I think about how Jesus juxtaposes the fires of Temple sacrifice with the fires of Gehenna, I think he’s drawing on widespread biblical imagery where fire can represent both judgment and purification. Fire burns away falsehood, which Jesus hates. (Think about his harsh words for hypocrites.) It’s much more preferable to get rid of the lies well before fire’s necessary. Enter: Jesus. 

A couple other notes: the Aramaic street insult raka, which Dr. Gafney translates as “idiot” I like to think of as “moron” in our parlance. And the word “fool”, the typical translation, doesn’t quite carry the weight I read in the Greek word moré, which implies moral corruption. Put together, these words are really cultural acts of character assassination, which could get lost on us reading from a 21st c. lens.  

Taken together, this part of the Sermon on the Mount shows that the law fulfilled —> harmonious relationship between God, neighbor, and self. 

Questions for Further Reflection/Journaling:

1. Jesus traces violence back to anger, contempt, and dehumanizing speech.
Where in your life might small resentments or dismissive thoughts be quietly shaping the way you see someone?

2. Jesus imagines a moment when conscience interrupts even a sacred ritual and asks us to repair a relationship first.
Is there a relationship in your life where your conscience has been nudging you toward honesty, reconciliation, or a difficult conversation?

3. The Sermon on the Mount calls us toward teleios—a life of deeper harmony between God, neighbor, and self.
Where in your life right now do you feel most aligned with that harmony, and where do you sense tension that might be inviting your attention?

Can’t wait to see you in worship, church!