Matt 5:22b “Whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”

I love the fact that English translations never translate “Raca”… they leave it there in all it’s phonetic and scandalous glory, as a two syllable sound which could bring a person before the religious leaders. The word translated essentially means the same as “fool”, but in a different language (Syriac). It seems that the Jewish leaders of the day had made a list of the “7 Words You Can’t Say in Israel”, and “raca” was included.

So, what was Jesus’ point? The words essentially mean the same thing, but apparently Christ was pointing out some difference. The difference, in this case, was that, apparently, calling someone a fool in the common tongue was not as bad in the eyes of the Jewish leaders as using one of the “bad words”. Christ was pointing out the pietism that had crept into the thinking of the people, avoiding their dirty words, with little regard for their dirty hearts.

As Sarah wrote earlier, my son decided that since he’s not allowed to say “jerk”, that he’s going to still insult his sister by saying “JerP”. I laughed at it, but then realized how guilty we are of doing the same thing. How many of us “curse”, using the more sanitary “shoot”, “crap”, “nuts”, and the classic “Gosh Darn It!“, instead of the more powerful originals? How many parents will try to clean up the words coming out of the mouths of our children, rather than the heart that produced those words?

I find myself laughing at the rebelliousness of my children, not because their rebellion is funny, but because they’re rebelliousness is not as mature as mine. How hypocritcal am I when I “tame” the explatives, rather than repent for the heart that caused them?