BT19: In Matthew 5:22, Jesus says that one who calls a brother a fool is in danger of hell-fire, yet He calls the Pharisees fools in Matthew 23:17-19. How do you explain this apparent contradiction?

The Greek word used for "fool" in Verse 22 is "moros", which means foolish, impious, or godless. In this passage, Jesus was speaking in a progressive fashion about one's inappropriate attitude towards a brother. First, He said that judgment awaited the person who was angry at his brother without a cause. Next, He said that to say "Raca" to a brother, which was a kind of derogatory expression, would be grounds to bring that person before the Sanhedrin Council. Lastly, He said that calling a brother a fool would put the speaker at risk of hell fire.

According to Matthew Henry, during this time in Jewish culture, there were three degrees of capital punishment for an offender of the law, and each form was a little more brutal than the others [1]. The first was beheading, and the lowest court pronounced this punishment. The second form was stoning, and the Sanhedrin carried out this one. The third was to be burned in the valley of the son of Hinnon, and this form of capital punishment was considered to be the most severe. Most likely, Jesus was not actually pronouncing literal doom on the person who called his brother foolish. He was much more likely speaking in these terms because His Jewish listeners would have been familiar with their own progressive judicial system. They would have understood the progressive significance of each form of wrongdoing against a brother.

In Matthew 5:22, Jesus was warning against wrongfully speaking negative things to a brother or about a brother. He warned against being angry at a brother without a cause, and this mentioning of being angry without a cause suggests that the other two offenses of that verse were probably also done without a cause. Matthew 5:23-24 advises a person to be reconciled to his or her brother, and this would be especially appropriate if the brother was not the one at fault. In comparing this passage to Matthew 23:17-19, no conflict or contradiction exists between these two passages because Jesus was not wrongfully calling the Pharisees foolish. He was and is omniscient, and He knew that they really were fools and hypocrites, whereas mortal humans can be and often are mistaken.

An additional aspect of these passages is that Jesus has already been declared the judge of the world and of humanity. II Corinthians 5:10 says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." People do not have the authority to call others fools, but Jesus does.