Matthew 5 :21-26 Jesus Higher Application of the Law concerning Murder.

Mat 5:21  "You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT MURDER', and whoever commits murder will be answerable to the magistrate.

Mat 5:22  But I say to you that every one who becomes angry with his brother shall be answerable to the magistrate; that whoever says to his brother 'Raca,' shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and that whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the Gehenna of Fire.

Be reconciled first.

Mat 5:23  If therefore when you are offering your gift upon the altar, you remember that your brother has a grievance against you,

Mat 5:24  leave your gift there before the altar, and go and make friends with your brother first, and then return and proceed to offer your gift.

Do it post haste

Mat 5:25  Come to terms without delay with your opponent while you are yet with him on the way to the court; for fear he should obtain judgement from the magistrate against you, and the magistrate should give you in custody to the officer and you be thrown into prison.

Mat 5:26  I solemnly tell you that you will certainly not be released till you have paid the very last farthing.

As an Introduction to Matthew 5:21-48 under the heading, “Applying the Law” Leon Morris says, “Jesus understanding of keeping the law meant a great deal more than making sure the letter of the law was not infringed. 

For Jesus it was important that the deeper implications of what God had commanded be understood and put into practice. He brings out with reference to specific commands that the Pharisees had no difficulty in keeping in a literal sense. He shows that in each case a principle is involved. When this is understood, keeping the commands is far from the simple thing that the Pharisees understood. He is not abrogating the law but exposing the limitations of the way some provisions in it were understood.

He was lifting the Law's demands to a much higher level.

Application to Murder. Matthew 5:21-26

Mat 5:21  "You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT MURDER', and whoever commits murder will be answerable to the magistrate.

Notes:

You have heard In an age when many were just oral listeners who could not read, Jesus was mentioning what the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law had said.  This little phrase could be translated, “It was said by men of old”.  Note below : “But I say to you”.

“You shall not murder”but whoever commits murder [has committed murder  - aorist tense] will be subject to the judgment {answerable to the magistrate.WNT}.[will be brought to trial in a local court - Leon Morris] This is the way the passage was understood. There could be a reference to the Great white Throne Judgment of the Last days. All murderers will be accountable.

Mat 5:22  But I say to you that every one who becomes angry with his brother shall be answerable to the magistrate; that whoever says to his brother 'Raca,' shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and that whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the Gehenna of Fire.

Notes:

But I say to you -- sets Jesus emphatically over against this view of the Scribes and Pharisees.

We need to remember who Jesus is and what He is, acknowledging that He has the authority to issue directives which rank with the honoured law.

Barnes: But I say unto you - Jesus being God as well as man Joh_1:1, Joh_1:14, and therefore, being the original giver of the law, had a right to expound it or change it as he pleased. Compare Mat_12:6, Mat_12:8. He therefore spoke here and elsewhere as having authority, and not as the scribes. It may be added here that no mere man ever spake as Jesus did, when explaining or enforcing the law. He did it as having a right to do it; and he that has a right to ordain and change laws in the government of God must be himself divine.

that every one who becomes angry with his brother WNT…. KJV[without a cause]

Anger, or that feeling which we have when we are injured, and which prompts us to defend ourselves when in danger, is a natural feeling, given to us:

1. As a proper expression of our disapprobation of a course of evil conduct; and
2. That we may defend ourselves when suddenly attacked.

becomes angry G3710

ὀργίζω orgizō Thayer Definition:

1) to provoke, to arouse to anger

2) to be provoked to anger, be angry, be wroth

It seems here that an alternate reading would be: “That everyone who provokes his brother to anger without a cause would face the law courts…….”.

When excited against sin, it is lawful. God is angry with the wicked, Psa_7:11. Jesus looked on the hypocritical Pharisees with anger, Mar_3:5. So it is said, “Be ye angry, and sin not, 

Eph_4:26. This anger, or indignation against sin, is not what our Saviour speaks of here. What He condemns here is anger without a cause; that is, unjustly, rashly, hastily, where no offence has been given or intended. In that case it is evil; and it is a violation of the sixth commandment, because “he that hateth his brother, is a murderer,” 1Jo_3:15

Brother here is another male man. It is impossible to limit the sense here to male sibling.

shall be answerable to the magistrate.WNT [shall be in danger of the judgment] ASV

that whoever says to his brother 'Raca,' shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin;

Raca :G4469 ῥακά rhaka (Aramaic transliterated into Greek)

Thayer Definition:

1) empty, i.e. a senseless, empty headed man, [stupid idiot - Herschell]

2) a term of reproach used among the Jews in the time of Christ

The Third form :and that whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the Gehenna of Fire.

Note:

Bruce says: ‘Raca’ expresses contempt for a man’s head =you stupid!.  But ‘fool’ G3474

μωρός mōros ‘O Moron’ Thayer Definition: 1) foolish 2) impious, godless

Bruce ‘mōros’ expresses contempt  for his heart and  his character   of the person