Murderous Words

Matthew 5:22 NIV: “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.”

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about the power of words and especially the harm of verbal attacks. Thankfully, our society now acknowledges that verbal abuse exists. We also understand that the damage is just as injurious as physical abuse.

And yet… because the wounds inflicted aren’t readily seen on the outside, people excuse, tolerate, ignore, and put up with verbal abuse far longer than they should.

Jesus, being well ahead of his time, knew just how destructive verbal abuse was. In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount, he identifies verbal abuse as paramount to murder. In this passage, he has just reminded his audience that murder is a means for judgment. The interjection of “But” directly challenges us to go further than the obvious. He starts with anger, but this isn’t your typical “I’m annoyed that there is a line at the check-out.” This is being enraged and looking to punish someone.

To help clarify the type of anger he’s talking about, Jesus adds, “Anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court.” Raca is an Aramaic word (the language Jesus grew up speaking), and it was a contemptuous insult, meaning someone was worthless. It was a demeaning, offensive, verbal attack, and Jesus warns us not to speak to others in this way.

If we are still confused about the power of our words, he adds another example: “And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” The Greek word used here is moros, which is where we get the word moron and means the same. This is calling someone stupid or an idiot.

To be clear, remember all of these warnings are directly related to the opening statement about murder. Murder is wrong, verbal abuse is wrong, and demeaning speech is wrong!

In this week’s art piece, I wanted to remind us of the damage caused by words that humiliate, harass, insult, belittle, denigrate, and frighten others (including online comments and offensive things we say to friends). Maybe if we could see the injury, we’d change how we communicate.

Finally, if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of verbal abuse, may I just say how sorry I am? Please know that no one deserves to be treated in such a way.