Jesus teaches about anger
21 Jesus then said, ‘You know the commands that God gave to your ancestors: “You must not murder anyone. Anyone who does murder will stand in front of a judge. The judge will punish him because he has done a wrong thing.” 22 But what I now say to you is this. Anybody who is angry with his brother will have to stand in front of a judge. If someone calls his brother by a bad name, he will have to stand in front of the Jewish leaders. They will judge him. But if someone says to his brother, “You are a useless fool,” that person deserves punishment in the fires of hell.
5:22‘Brother’ probably means any friend or other person that you know.
23 Maybe you go to the temple to give your gift to God. You take it to the altar. But then you remember that your brother is angry with you. 24 You must leave your gift there in front of God's altar. First you must go and find your brother. Tell him that you are sorry. Then you can both become friends with each other again. After that, you can return to the altar and give your gift to God.
25 Also, somebody may say that you have done something wrong against him. He may take you to stand in front of the judge. You should quickly try to agree with this person. Decide with him how to make things right again. Do this even while you are going with him to the judge. If you do not do that, the judge may agree that you have done a wrong thing. Then he will give you to his officer. His officer will put you in prison. 26 I tell you this. You will remain in prison until you have paid all the money, even the last small coin.’
Jesus teaches about bad thoughts
27 Jesus then said, ‘You know what God's command says: “You must not have sex with anyone who is not your husband or your wife.” 28 But what I tell you is this: A man may look at a woman who is not his wife. And he may want to have sex with her. In his thoughts he has had sex with her, so he has done a wrong thing. 29 If your right eye causes you to do wrong things, then you should take it out. You should throw it away. Yes, you will lose one eye. But it will be much worse if you keep your whole body and God throws you into hell. 30 Also, if your right hand causes you to do wrong things, then you should cut it off. You should throw it away. You will lose one hand. But it will be much worse if you keep your body in one piece and go to hell.’
5:30Jesus is saying that sin brings bad results for people. His disciples must think carefully about what causes them to do bad things.
Jesus teaches about marriage
31 ‘ God's Law also says: “Any man who wants to send his wife away must give her a letter. This letter must say that they are no longer married.” 32 But what I tell you is this: A man must not send his wife away except for one reason. He may only send her away if she has had sex with another man. If he sends her away for any other reason, he has done a wrong thing. He has caused her to have sex with another man, who is not her husband. Also, if a woman has left her husband, another man must not marry her. That is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife.’
Religion based on keeping rules is dead religion. The religious Jews had 613 rules that they tried to obey in order to please God! Of course, they failed every day. So Jesus chooses just three obvious commands from God in the Old Testament. Three very serious ones. Murder is forbidden. Adultery is forbidden. Divorce is forbidden.