out of court settlement

Matthew 5:21-26

Jesus introduces this section in the same way that he will introduce the next five topics: "you have heard that it was said..." This indicates that Jesus' beef is not with the Law itself but with the oral tradition and traditional interpretation of the Law. In this section he tells his audience that their interpretation of "do not murder" is too narrow - that the spirit of the law is all about how we treat each other and our attitude toward each other. He speaks in three specific areas: the words and attitudes in our family relationships, worship and civil suits. He compares murder to anger (some manuscripts say, "angry without cause") and saying "raca" to saying "you fool." It would have been shocking to his audience who thought they had finally figured out all the rules and traditions surrounding the law and then Jesus comes along and adds more stuff for them to obey. Yet Jesus' teaching cuts through all the crap and gets to the heart of the matter - he's not just adding more oral teaching around the Law, he's revealing the heart of the Law: treat your brother and sister with the respect, diginity and honour that is due to them as someone created in the image of God. That's the reason that murder is wrong and life is sacred.
Jesus also echoes the OT prophets when he tells his audience to make sure things are right between them and their brothers and sisters before offering their sacrifice or gift in worship. This shouldn't have come as a surprise to Jesus' audience because the OT prophets had been saying this for years: God hates your religious practices (the very practices God told them to practice) because they've missed the point of obedience and doing what is right outside of the temple as well as inside it. Jesus says very clearly that making sure things are right between me and my brothers and sisters is more urgent than offering my gift at the altar. I notice that he doesn't say, "don't offer your gift" but "go and make it right, then come offer your gift." The point is to make things right, not to stop worshiping.
I find this passage rather convicting: I've definitely been angry with a brother or sister (even with the added stipulation of "without cause") and defamed them by calling them names and calling their reputation into question (verbally or even in thought). I haven't placed the same urgency on reconciling with them that Jesus does. Obviously Jesus values humans very highly because they have been created in the image of God. As a follower of Jesus, I must do the same.