As religious people, it is so easy for us to feel pious and righteous when we hear of all the horrible, ungodly things done in our world. We can smugly think to ourselves, "Thankfully I don't do those things!" Jesus shatters all of our smugness. He tells us that he wants our righteousness to exceed that of the Pharisees and teachers of religious law in his time. He really means it. The next several verses will drive this point home. The character of heart described in the Beatitudes is now demanded of disciples in our everyday lives. There's no room for smugness when Jesus tells us that angry hatred, slanderous gossip, or shaming speech puts us in the same category as murderers. His point? Murder starts in the heart and works its way out. Hatred and murder are part of the same continuum — different by degree, not by kind.