Christ's exposition of the sixth commandment.
Matt. V. 21, 22. Ye have heard that it was said hy^ them of old time, Thou shalt not Jcill; and ivhosoever shall kill shall he in danger of the judgment : hut I say unto you, that whosoever is angry ivith his hrother without a cause shall he in danger of the judgment : and whosoever shall say to his hrother, Raca, shall he in danger of the council : hut whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall he in danger of hell fire.
GENERAL statements, and general invectives, rarely carry any conviction to the mind : they must be supported by an induction of particulars, before they can produce any material effect. Assertions without proofs will be taken for calumny ; but, when supported by fact, they will bear down all opposition. The assertions of our blessed Lord, indeed, needed no confirmation ; because " he knew what was in man ;" and because his miracles were a sufficient attestation to his word. Yet even He condescended to substantiate his accusations by appeals to fact.
He had intimated that the Scribes and Pharisees both did and taught many things contrary to his revealed will : and he had declared, that unless we have a better righteousness than theirs, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. To evince the truth of his charge, and of the declaration founded upon it, he shews, that they had grossly perverted the sixth commandment : which on that account he proceeds to explain.
Let us consider,
L His exposition of this commandment — -
The commandment, '*Thou shalt not kill," was one of those proclaimed from Mount Sinai, and written by the finger of God himself on tables of stone ^. An order was afterwards given, that the crime of murder should be invariably punished with the death of the offender''. These two were by the Pharisees joined
* It should rather be *' to." See Whitby on the place, b Exod. x\. 18. <= Numb. xxxy. 30, 31.