Raca (Racca, Raka, Raqa) is Forbidden

If you wonder what Jesus meant when He said whoever says to his brother "Raca," that person will be "guilty" through judgment (NASB, 1977), wonder no more.

Jesus promised there's nothing hidden that won't be known, meaning there's nothing He hid in His word that the church would not one day understand.

And thank God, today, for understanding in Jesus.

For a very long time, faithful people have knocked, asked, sought, and found keys to understanding Bible messages whose meanings weren't clear to us. Decades of prayer and seeking answers alongside speakers of ancient languages, has helped bridge divides between people. When Christians have worked together with Aramaic and other translators in modern times, the result has been more souls saved for Jesus and much stronger understanding by the church.

So some us are thankful, today, to understand a Jesus word (an expression of hell-bound hate) that puzzled translators for the longest time: Raca! I spit on you, you worthless person!

In Jesus, although we forgive when there's that kind of malice or hatred, that kind of hate does have consequences.

In fact, Jesus specifically said, as an example to us today, that that kind of malice can subject a soul to a guilty verdict by a high court (Matthew 5:22).

Think about it: If only spitting on a person in contempt is subject to judgment by Jesus's standards, what about hate crimes today? (Maybe that's why a man on death row in Texas, in 2021, has wanted a pastor to lay hands on him in prayer, were he to be executed: Maybe he realized both consequences and the ability to repent and have faith for eternal life in the Lord.)

Trusting in Jesus now, we understand hate often is an action. Yet someone may say, I only spat on somebody. That's not like shooting somebody dead.

Let's challenge that person, today, to think about Moses, who killed someone in course of trying to break up a fight. If a bystander had seen what Moses did and had walked up to the slain body to spit on it, who would be guilty of absolute malice: Moses or the one who had the heart to spit (or even to pee inappropriately)?

Sometimes, today, we ought to recognize God allows some things to happen, only in order to expose problems that have to end.

After all is said and done, no matter how much forgiveness, Jesus has the last word: Contempt, without any repentance, is forbidden.

So, stop. And just repent.

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