Living In The Kingdom Part 8 Series

Living In The Kingdom Part 8

Scripture: Matthew 4:17; 5:21-26; 15:19; Romans 7:14; Mark 11:25

This morning we will continue with my series “Living in the Kingdom.” I want to thank Pastor Fulks for covering for me the last two Sundays while I was traveling. As I shared with you the last time I stood before you, this morning we will begin looking at how Jesus began to address the issues of the heart. It will become very clear during the remainder of this series that everything we deal will is related to what we hold or don’t hold within our hearts. In our verses today we will see how murder begins in the heart and how Jesus expands their understanding of the commandments to include anger in general. Now as a reminder, Jesus did not teach the law. He taught principles of the kingdom of heaven as we see in Matthew 4:17. “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Let’s begin our reading today at verse twenty-one of Matthew chapter five.

“You have heard that it was said by them of old time, ‘You shall not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. 22But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca’, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, ‘You fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.’ 23Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you; 24leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. 26Verily I say unto you, you shall by no means come out of there, till you have paid the last penny.” (Matthew 5:21-26)

As we look at these verses, I want you to see how Jesus contrasts what they have heard (“You have heard it said”) versus what He will be teaching them (“But I say unto you”). Jesus has already established that Moses and the prophets were still to be their rulers and not the scribes and Pharisees. In these verses, Jesus proceeds to expand on the law in some instances while also separating its true purpose from the corrupt and ungodly applications their religious leaders had placed on them. He did not add anything new, but addressed some of the abuses that had been taking place in how the Law was being interpreted and administered. In His sermon, Jesus shows the breadth, strictness, and spiritual nature of the law which made being obedient to it clearer. In these verses, He explains the law of the sixth commandment, according to the true intent and full extent of it. The sixth commandment says, “You shall not kill.”

Jesus begins this part of His message with “You have heard that it was said by them of old time…” He speaks to them who know the law, whose fore-fathers had Moses read to them in their synagogues every Sabbath-day. He tells them “You have heard that it was said by them” (or more accurately “said to them…”), to your forefathers the Jews, “Thou shalt not kill.” The Jewish teachers of the law were comfortable teaching the people what had always been taught through the generations. Based on their interpretation of the commandment, they taught that anyone who killed someone else would be in danger of the judgment, meaning that willful murderers were liable to the sword of justice, while unintentional ones to the judgment of the city of refuge (cities where a person who kills someone else unintentionally could flee to from those seeking vengeance.) During this time the courts of judgment sat in the gate of their principal cities. These judges were empowered to try, condemn, and execute murderers, so that whoever killed someone was in danger of their judgment. Their understanding and administration of this commandment was faulty because, first it suggested that the law was only external and forbid no more than the act of murder and addressed nothing of the internal anger and lusts (from which wars and fighting originates) that often causes the killing to happen in the first place. In their teaching of the law, the Jewish leaders believed that the divine law prohibited only the sinful act, not the sinful thought. They never looked at, evaluated, or taught the spiritual meaning of the commandment. Paul, while a Pharisee, was the same and also did not consider the spiritual meaning behind the law until he was saved. Divine grace led him into the knowledge of the spiritual nature of the law which he captured in Romans 7:14 where he wrote “For we know that the law is spiritual….” Their second mistake was to believe that the law was merely political and public, given for them, and intended as a guideline for their courts, and no more. Jesus let it be known that their interpretation of “His” laws were lacking.