I knew a woman who stopped for a few drinks every night after work to let traffic die down, then drove home, about a 45 minute drive in lower mainland traffic. She would say, “I’m fine, I’ve never had an accident and there are never any roadblocks on my route home. It’s not like I am some staggering drunk who can’t work or function in life”.
A few months later a drunk driver hit and killed her 8 year old daughter while she was walking on the side of the road coming home from school. The person who killed her daughter was a successful respected female lawyer who ironically worked with family services on child abuse cases, she’d had had a few drinks at lunch. When she blew into the breathalyser she was just at the legal limit .08.
We gave the woman who was grieving the loss of her daughter a portable breathalyser to take to work and she went and had the usual drinks she would have after work, and she blew .18, more than twice what the lady who killed her daughter had. She never drove after drinking again, but for much different reasons than before her daughter was killed. She now knew the Spirit, or intent of the law which was to keep everyone safe.
Christ was very concerned with correcting the interpretations of the Law that the scribes and Pharisees were peddling through many centuries of interpretation and tradition. When the Israelites were captive in Babylon they had ceased to know their native Hebrew language and now spoke Aramaic. However their Scriptures were still in Hebrew so only the studied religious leaders knew what they said.
This is very similar to what the Roman Catholics did up until fairly recently. The priests read scripture only in Latin and no one could understand it so they were free to interpret any way they wanted. Like the Pharisees, men then added to what Scripture said. Over time both the Jews and the Catholics were not hearing the Law as God gave it, but as a representation of it as their interpretation and traditions made it.
The protestant reformation was helpful in that it gave the Bible back to the people rather than just to the priesthood. Like the Jews, the Catholics were told that they had to believe in the sacraments to be saved, and that apart from the church and priesthood there was no salvation. Of course when people had access to the Bible the leaders had to back off on these traditions, at least publicly.
Jesus didn’t want people acting on the Pharisees view of the Law, he wanted them to have the truth of the Law of Moses based on God’s word. And with his “I say unto you”, as God incarnate, Jesus trumps all other authority including Moses himself.
These six examples in chapter 5 are speaking of principles for external relations with other people. We’ll see in chapter 6, the examples refer more to our internal relations with self and God.
This first commentary is about anger and what to do with it. Remember I said last week that each of these directives from our Lord exemplify the kind of love God is looking for. The love that characterizes his nature as perfect, agape love.
Because Jesus is the perfect Son of God, he doesn’t need instructions on how to live it out in the world, but we do. The rest of the Sermon on the Mount is God giving us instruction on how to love like him and therefore fulfill the greatest commandment. These are not just instructions though, they continue to be mirrors for the Christian, specifically, am I loving as God wants me to?
Here’s how the Pharisees had taken the zing out of this Law. They taught that if you literally commit murder, you will go before the courts and be judged (nothing unique in that). They also snuck in there "angry without cause". None of the best translations based on findings of older manuscripts include this, it was added somewhere to let people off the hook. It’s easy to say we have good reason to be angry isn’t it?
This was a negative interpretation, don’t do this and all is well. Nothing about the Spirit of the law or the judgment of God. So let’s look at what Jesus says about anger. We can summarize it like this: anger with a brother is the same as murder when I look at the heart, insulting a brother is as much of a sin as shooting him in the head. And if you don’t reconcile right away, you are going to rot in the prison called hell because reconciliation is the only way out.
We often think of this passage when we come to communion, and it sort of applies there if we call taking communion an act of sacrificial worship. But more than that, I think the Spirit of this verse is that any kind of worship, including prayer is unacceptable to God until we offer reconciliation to the person that has something against us.
Notice this is not about our forgiveness of others, rather it is the recognition that someone has something against us, whether it be justified or not, we are then to take initiative to reconcile. Literally that statement “be reconciled” means that you are the channel to thoroughly change this situation.
This is a hard passage, because he starts by saying, if you are angry with someone you are literally committing murder in God’s eyes, and then that if someone else is angry with you, whatever the reason, I want you to go make the situation different before I will even accept your worship.
Now I want to point out as I will with all of these how they correspond to the beatitudes. This one in particular refers to verses 5, 7 and 10, meekness, mercy, and peacemaking. Remember meekness was really never fighting for your rights and letting God dole out justice, and obviously mercy has to do with forgiveness even if undeserved.
If we are meek, merciful and peacemaking, we are given mercy and we inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. If we aren’t we go to jail until we are. And these here are a couple examples for you.
What about Lust? Now adultery is bad enough isn’t it, and that is rampant in the world and unfortunately even in the church. But here Jesus ramps it up.
It’s not just about actually being with a man or woman you aren’t married to, but even if you look at another person with the intent or desire to be with them, you are guilty of this sin. Just because you may not act on it doesn’t mean it isn’t in your heart. I often hear that thinking about it is not sin unless you act on it. There may be some truth to that, but it doesn’t seem to be what Jesus is saying at least with this sin.
OK, so he gave instructions about anger, what does he say about this one. If you can’t keep your eyes off the things you lust for you should probably gouge your eyes out. If you can’t keep your hand off what you lust for, just hack that baby off. It’s better than going to hell.
What a statement about the seriousness of sin. Of course he doesn’t really want us to dismember our bodies, but he is clear that if that’s what it takes to stop lusting, you need to take it that seriously, do anything to stop. If you don’t, you are likely going to hell. Now the Pharisees have a loophole for this one too.
Because if it says your right hand or right eye makes you sin, cut it off or pluck it out, but you still have the left hand and eye to sin with. There have been movements in the church who took this command literally, but you see, even lopping off body parts will not prevent sin in the heart.
Here we see great parallels with verses 6 and 8, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and being pure in heart. If our heart lusts, it is not pure and we will not see God. If we are not hungering and thirsting for righteousness, to be holy, sinless, we won’t be satisfied in this life or the life to come. Do whatever it takes to be holy and righteous and pure. It matters to God.
We just talked about adultery, now what about divorce? Again he starts with “you have heard it said”, in other words here’s what Scripture and your interpretation said before, now I as the great authority am saying, you can’t just get off the hook by giving your spouse a certificate of divorce, that doesn’t reflect the heart at all, you said you loved that person and made an eternal covenant with them in front of me. No, if you divorce them for any reason other than infidelity, you cause both of you to commit adultery.
Now I’ve been asked, what about if my spouse just leaves and there’s nothing I can do to make them come back. My answer is, isn’t that infidelity? Isn’t he or she choosing something or someone else over you? It may not be sexual now, but chances are it will be if you’re not living as married people. In that case its not you divorcing your spouse and sinning, it would be the other person. Do everything as far as it depends on you.
Now is this directed only at men divorcing their wives?
Not necessarily. In that culture only men could be granted divorce, and they would come up with any lame reason, usually because they lusted after someone else, and thought that if they at least gave the wife a certificate of divorce, that would be Ok and their wife could marry again and not get stoned to death for adultery.
That was the penalty for adultery back then and women could not legally get a divorce from their husband. So today it goes both ways whether wife or husband is applying for divorce.
But what about the statement if you marry a divorced person you commit adultery. Well I think that still applies. If a person is divorced other than on the grounds of adultery as defined previously, yes, they are not blessed by God to remarry and they are sinning against him. Whether they have a certificate or not.
So again let me summarize, if your spouse dies, if they cheat on you, or if they leave you and will not reconcile ever, divorce is acceptable only under these conditions and you may remarry as long as your new spouse is either never married, widowed, or the same criteria applies to them if divorced. Anything other than that is breaking this commandment. Here we have examples of verses 6, 8, 9, and 10. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness, being pure in heart, being peacemakers, and being persecuted for righteousness sake.
You shall not swear falsely. In other words never swear on anything, never take an oath in normal conversation. What about when I’m in court and I have to be sworn in? Well, that’s something you have to do because the authority is telling you to, but in your heart you should know that you don’t need to because you will be honest whether or not you swear on the Bible.
Doesn’t this make sense? For one, how many people have sworn even on their mother’s grave, but still break their oath. Isn’t that what everyone who initiates divorce has done? When you promise something you better mean it in your heart because if you don’t and you break your word even in the smallest thing, you are breaking the commandment. This is directly related to verse 8, being pure in heart or having integrity. It’s also just a simple reflection of the Commandment, Thou shall not lie.
Now Jesus closes this section with a couple of real heavies that obviously relate back to the first one about anger. Don’t retaliate when someone hurts you, and love your enemies. Here again we see meekness, mercy and peacemaking.
Let me put the examples into modern times here. If anyone steals your car, give them some gas money too. If someone takes you hostage for a week, spend another week with them even after they let you go. If someone comes to beg you for something or wants to borrow something, just give it to them.
Come on, you can’t be serious Jesus. Well probably not. Just as he doesn’t want us to dismember ourselves but uses that as a hyperbole, he’s probably doing the same here. But look at the spirit or heart of this. Can you be so selfless that you can give away what you have trusting that God will provide? Can you focus on the person who cheats you enough that you help them rather than punish them, trusting God to keep you safe and dole out the justice? This is the teaching to become dead to self.
This passage is really entirely about faith in God and the life to come. The things of this world including my very life are nothing compared to knowing God and what he is going to provide for me.
And I am so like Jesus that my purpose is more to help others find salvation than to even keep my own life. And remember this is only for converted Christians in their personal relationships. This is not general pacifism.
This goes right into the next one about loving your enemies. Now the key thing to pick up here is again how we are supposed to be completely different from others who do not follow Christ. All people are the same in terms of their need for salvation, and if you only love those who love you and treat you well, how are you any different from any other selfish person without Christ.
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. Is that not exactly what Jesus did when he was sent to the cross, or Stephen when he was stoned to death. These people are just in the dark like you and I once were. They need us to be salt and light in their lives if they are going to have a chance. Always remember, who we were didn’t cause God to save us, who He was did. We need to have that same attitude.
Now what about this very difficult closing verse, “You therefore, must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. We have to start with this word perfect or teleios, which literally means the state of completeness. Isn’t that exactly what the beatitudes and all this Sermon on the Mount is getting at?
Here is the perfected or completed Christian. This is what they look like, this is what God is making you when you truly give your life to him. And most importantly in all of this, Jesus shows no doubt that we can be this. You are, you are, you are, you must be.
There’s no hoping in those statements, just a convicted fact that this is what my Father is going to make of you when you have really given your life up for him as I Jesus have. Why am I so sure? Because he did it to me, a man born under the Law with all the temptations just like you.
Do you see that’s why he had to come as a fully human person, with all the spectacle? Could God have done all this sacrificing behind the scenes? Of course he could have, but he sent Jesus to show that sin and death can be overcome by the power of the Spirit of God in a human being. Now do as my son did, because I have made it possible for you.
But let me caution us here. The Law of God, and all these ethical instructions in the Bible must never be seen as a end in themselves. The Pharisees and scribes and even Paul before he was converted, looked at the Law in a very restricted manner and said, “Well, I’m not guilty of any of these things, therefore I’m all right with God”.
According to Jesus that’s not how to look at the Law, as a code of ethics to be kept to keep you right with God. When you go to bed at night you don’t just ask yourself if you have committed murder or lied or lusted, and then thank God if the answer is no. Rather ask yourself, has God been supreme in my life today? Do I know Him better? Was my goal today to honour and glorify Him? Look at it positively not just negatively.
Have any of my thoughts, desires, imaginations, or impulses been unlike Christ? Just like we can make the Law a mechanical code of rules and regulations, we can do the same with the Sermon on the Mount - that seems to be our natural tendency. These are not rules though but illustrations of principles.
Now that actually makes them bigger than if they were just specific rules because as a principle we have to apply it to all of our life. It’s about knowing the heart of God, wanting the heart of God, and then living the heart of God through our love for Him and intimacy with him.
This is kind of hard isn’t it? One minute we’re being told to obey the commands, the next breath we’re told not to live by rules and regulations. Let me try to illustrate.
Many people drink and drive, and they are breaking the Law even if they don’t get caught or have an accident right? Now I could obey that law perfectly all the time but if I’m texting while I drive, I have missed the intent of the drunk driving law which is what?
To create a safer environment for all people on the road? Why then do I obey this law, because there’s a sign that says so, or because I don’t want my license taken away? No, because I want to keep the roads safe knowing that alcohol is a major factor in accidents. Why don’t I beat my wife? Because it’s against the law, or because I love her?
Does that make more sense? You know we used to have a Christian fish decal on the back of our car and other Christians would say to us, “I would never do that because I speed so much it would be a bad witness”. I wanted to say to them, “All the more reason to get a fish so you stop speeding.” They didn’t get the intent of the law.
Do Christians have to obey the speed limit or the drinking and driving laws, no, but if they don’t they are breaking one of man’s laws. We may not be too concerned about that even though we are to respect those in authority over us.
But there is a Law of God in that, if we do break these laws we are breaking one of God’s laws if we think of it as loving others when we drive safely. It’s not about just us, but also every other person on the road. Do we love them enough to want to keep the laws which were put in place for people’s safety even if we don’t necessarily agree with them?
So we’re not to simply tally up how good we’re doing at following the rules and then take a deep breath if we haven’t broken any. We are to examine our hearts. Do I want to keep this Law? Why do I want to keep this Law? Is it because I love God and therefore desire to please Him?
Is it because the main Law to love him and all other people is foremost in my heart? Is it because it would break my heart if my Father in Heaven was dishonoured by my thoughts and behaviour?
Have you ever had that experience where you disobeyed your parents and you didn’t cry because you thought you were gonna get it, but because you could see how much you disappointed or hurt them?
Obedience is important, but it’s only really meaningful to God if it’s done from a place of love and not fear or self-centeredness. That’s why Jesus says 3 times in John 14 that it is your obedience that shows you love me, or in other words because you love me you trust me and that makes you obey me. Not because you’re going to get punished or rewarded.
But we will all fail at times, do not think you’re not a Christian if you’re not fully living all of this out.
Can you? I believe Jesus is saying yes. But He also died on the cross and said that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Don’t use that as an excuse not to try though. Yes we receive this comfort, but don’t presume upon that comfort, rather let yourself feel your own broken heart that you are not more like Christ. Rejoice in your salvation, but mourn over your imperfection and desire to be different.
Take some time this week to reflect on that. Where do I relax the law and the commandments because I can, because I won’t get caught, or I don’t think they’re that important or relevant? God sees your heart, and these laws are important to him.
Look at your motives. God doesn’t want reluctant compliance, he wants trusting obedience because you know who he is and you love him.
Let me close with two of the most famous passages for those people of God before Christ and after. Psalm 1, “Blessed (or completely satisfied) is the person whose delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night”. And the very first verses of the longest book dead in the middle of the entire Bible, Psalm 119, “Blessed (completely fulfilled) are those who walk in the law of the Lord.
Is that your attitude and experience? Delight in (love) the Law. Meditate on it, focus on it all day and night, then walk in it, do it? Remembering that His word is actually him. Love it, soak it in constantly, and obey it. That is when you will be blessed.
