In the previous two sermons we have handled verses twenty and twenty one, if not thoroughly, I hope at least sufficiently to stress to the hearer and reader that what we have before us is a faithful record of the Lord of the universe, the one who spoke all things into existence, the one who has absolute right and reign over His creation, making some outlandish demands and declaring His own authority to do so.
He places Himself in a position to refute the most influential teachers and religious authorities of the day by saying ‘you have heard…but I say to you’, and this is prefaced by His assertion that if we have any hope at all of ever seeing Heaven, it will only be as a result of our righteousness exceeding that of some of the most tenaciously and faithfully religious people in all of history.
Now the reason I open with these statements and bring these, verses 20 and 21 back into the picture at this juncture, is because they constitute the front bracket, so to speak containing a section for which the closing bracket is equally if not even more outlandish to our human ears and minds.
He tells us as the ultimate authority on Heaven and heavenly things that our righteousness must be above any that men have demonstrated in the course of their religious practices and daily lives, and ends it with the shocking command to “…be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”.
My final offering to you in explaining why I begin this way and why I call these verses, 20 and 48 ‘brackets’ (even though they are not presented as such in the narrative), is that verse 48 begins with the word, ‘therefore’, indicating that the things Jesus has said between verse 22 and 47 are meant to teach us what sort of life and behavior ought to mark our paths in this world as opposed to the thin veneer of religiosity that the Scribes and Pharisees have fostered upon us and demonstrated for us as though they were the final authority in these things.
When I began to ponder my approach to these verses and how I would present them I was reminded of a short film I saw years ago that demonstrated the techniques Walt Disney used to animate his first full length picture, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”.
Wanting to improve on the two dimensional nature of cartoons, he had his artists draw the background on one sheet of the clear plastic they were using, then the characters and other objects on another sheet laid over the top of that, then the foreground, such as trees and shrubbery on another sheet, laid over the top of the others.
That is not a technical description of how it was done, by any means, but I’m sure you get the idea. When they were done and the pictures were put to film the animation had a 3d look so it actually seemed that the characters were passing between trees and behind buildings; that they were in front of one another or behind one another and so forth.
I remembered that documentary I saw years ago as I began to think this sermon through, because it seems that is what Jesus was doing.
Putting down one layer; one part of the picture, then coming and laying down another one over that, like transparencies on an overhead projector, until in the end He has the whole picture as He intends for it to be viewed.
So that is how I want to cover this portion of Matthew 5. First a brief overview, then a sharpened focus, going over each part to be clear on Biblical teaching concerning these various issues, then a wide shot, taking in the whole picture and seeing the end result.
OVERVIEW
First then a brief overview; and this is the part that will most overlap with the previous sermon, which I mentioned would happen.
In this portion we have the six-time repeated words, ‘you have heard, but I say to you’.
In brief, the spirit of the Law is more important than the letter of the Law.
Jesus wanted His hearers to have their eyes opened to the legalism of the Pharisees, which comes up far short of righteousness. In fact, the more legalistic it gets, the farther it gets from true righteousness.
Some years ago, how long I can’t remember now, there was an article in the newspaper one Sunday that talked about modern day orthodox Judaism.
It was an interesting article because it first explained why the Jews do not work on the Sabbath and how over time they have diligently constructed ways to avoid breaking that rule.
One example given was that one Jewish man had invented a way to hook up appliances in the home, and also the lighting, in such a way that they would go on and off at preset times during the Sabbath, turning lights on and off, cooking meals and so forth, so that no human hand would have to be employed in the accomplishment of those things on the day set apart for the Lord.
Turning on a light switch, cooking a meal, operating an elevator and many other things may be construed by some as work, therefore they had to be avoided.
Now don’t ever think that this same sort of rule-making doesn’t go on in the church. The church has for so long focused on the externals and debated and ruminated over the petty non-essentials that she has convinced the unchurched world that this is why she exists.
To the world outside the church being a Christian means doing this, not doing that, criticizing anyone who does or doesn’t, and pretty much just disagreeing with everyone who is not Christian, no matter what the present topic of discussion is.
This is not because the Church is always wrong about what she allows or disallows, and not because of what she chooses to decry. It is because the focus so often stays on the surface; the non-essentials and never quite gets down to the essentials; so busy focusing on the letter of the law that the spirit of the law is neglected, therefore, the letter becomes all important and Christians spend their lives on a churchy merry-go-round. “Do-Don’t-Don’t, Do-Don’t-Don’t, Do-Don’t-Don’t, Do-Don’t-Don’t…” and either forget or never learn that there is anything deeper or more spiritual to learn about their Christian experience.
The irony of it all lies in the fact that if my religion consists of things I should do or not do, then along with that package will come a disclaimer for the times that I fail in those efforts.
The sin nature is like a burglar in your life, folks; it always leaves itself an escape route.
So we have the Pharisees saying, ‘Don’t commit murder, because you could wind up in court and in deep trouble’. ‘Don’t divorce unnecessarily, but if you really feel you have to, make sure you do it legally so no one gets stoned to death or goes starving, and so forth.
You see, legalism is hard and yet easy. It allows me to criticize others for not following the rules and yet allows me a way out when I do not.
In reality, says Jesus, none of that is going to get you anywhere. Because the simple truth is that after you’ve gathered at your conventions and rehashed the finer points of doctrine and settled on what’s ok and what’s not and couched your beliefs in new modern terms so you can continue to effectively communicate them to the ears of the movers and shakers, the bottom line is that you will still be unacceptable to God.
So what’s it all for? What does it matter how far it gets you if it doesn’t get you to heaven?
SHARPENING THE FOCUS
Now we lay a new transparency down over the first and begin to build upon this next dimension of the picture.
I won’t comment a great deal on each of these issues Jesus addresses; we’ll just let Him speak to us and not try to justify His words.
I think it was Spurgeon who, when asked why he didn’t spend more time defending the Bible said, ‘You don’t defend a lion, you just let him out of the cage’.
“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”
Who or what constitutes our ‘brother’? Well, Jesus said that His brothers and sisters were those who do the will of God. Matt 12:50
Now let’s not get tripped up here. We’re not let off the hook if we think some Christian near us is not doing the will of God, so we get to despise them and call them names. My point in bringing this up is that within the scope of the church of Jesus Christ we are one another’s brothers and sisters. So He at the very least was including other believers.
Does that mean we can consider those outside the church worthless and unworthy of love? Not if you listen to anything else Jesus says about loving our neighbor and preaching the gospel.
Do you begin to see what the real issue is here? The first thing we want to do when we read these words is figure out how to weasel out of owning any blame.
Jesus, by what He said in verse 22, has very effectively said, ‘you’re all guilty and deserving of hell’. THAT’S the point!
Yes, He gives instruction here that is very clear and helpful in understanding our God. If you have a problem with a brother, don’t bother bringing your offerings and sacrifices to the altar until you’ve made things right. If you can’t get along with the brother next to you, who is in the same boat as you, a sinner needing salvation and sanctification, then how can you claim to have a relationship with One who is infinitely better than you?
Sure, we could do an entire sermon on each of these things. Probably a sermon on each verse as we go through. But I’m keeping it simple because Jesus made it simple. Don’t avoid murder just to stay out of the court system, but because the love of God is poured out in your hearts and you pour it out on your brethren and there is therefore no place for hatred or bigotry in your relationships.
Ok, moving right along…
YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. Well, that’s very easy for some, and harder for others. So if I don’t commit adultery because I’m not interested in sex, does that make me better than the guy who has a problem with lust and is drawn into it and gives in to his temptations?
No, it just means in that regard I’m fortunate. I may have problems with other temptations. Stealing, for example. Cheating in business. The womanizer I mentioned above may never have stolen so much as a piece of bubble gum in all his life.
So Jesus says the problem is in the heart. Abstinence doesn’t make you Godly. It is a lot more likely to make you prideful.
I wonder how many ‘good men of the church’ have boasted decades of fidelity to their wives, but have mentally had sex with every waitress who has ever approached their table.
Bottom line. Any man who has ever in his life looked at a woman and wanted to have her physically, outside of the bounds of marriage that is, and every woman who has watched a man walk across the room and dreamed about being in his arms in a private place, has committed adultery.
So drop the pride that you’ve always denied the temptation to sexual sin. You’re already guilty.
Jesus’ advice? Whatever is in your life that appeals to your lusts, get rid of it. I don’t need to go into a list here and a long explanation of what He means in these next verses. You’re not stupid. He’s just saying here what Paul said later to the Romans (6:21). You’re not slaves to sin anymore, but slaves to righteousness. So why entertain the things that result in death?
Next, the divorce issue. The very first thing we want to do is look at where Jesus says, ‘except for the reason of unchastity’ and say ‘Yes! Jesus gave us an out! It’s not much, but it’s a start!’
Ok, maybe that’s not what comes to your mind. Maybe that’s for the womanizer I mentioned above.
Maybe the first thing that comes to most minds is our favorite argument for situational ethics. Well, in my case… or I knew a couple… or what about the woman in our church who… etc.
This wasn’t the “JESUS OF NAZARETH SEMINAR ON THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE”. It’s the Sermon on the Mount. He didn’t go into detail so we’d always be able to draw a line and say who is on the right side and who is not.
He said, if you send your wife away for any other reason than the fact that she’s fornicating, you sin. Because she is now going to have to find someone else to take care of her and that will force her into adultery, since anyone marrying a divorced woman commits adultery.
Why is that? Because the institution of marriage, ordained by God, was a representation of Christ’s relationship with His church. When you violate that union, you vitiate that type of Christ and His bride, the church.
He didn’t say that specifically here, but that is the case. He did not say more. So why do we take these verses and turn them into a debate?
My wife was listening just the afternoon prior to my coming to write this portion of this sermon, to the radio program “To Every Man An Answer”.
If you’re not familiar with that program, the host and his guest pastors take calls from people with Bible questions and they give them an answer.
On this particular day my wife heard a woman caller say that she had a friend who had been divorced and had recently remarried, and then she heard a teaching or read this portion of Matthew (I don’t know the exact details of the call) and it raised some questions in her mind about her present circumstances.
She went to her pastor about it and he told her she should leave her present husband because she was now committing adultery with him.
The wise counsel she received from the radio host, I’m happy to say, was that she should find another church.
Listen, folks. God hates divorce. Like any sin, which He also hates by the way, if we confess it to Him He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Whatever your present situation is, married, divorced, remarried, rejoice in God’s forgiveness, follow His admonition to go and sin no more, and go on serving and glorifying God in your life and your marriage or your singleness.
That goes for the divorce issue, and it goes for the hating your brother issue and the adultery of the heart issue and the things that follow.
Like I said, this was not meant to be a seminar on marriage; it was to contrast the teaching of the Pharisees and their legalistic religion with the spiritual truth of God and the way to right relation with Him.
So we move on.
Don’t make false vows. Jesus wasn’t condemning the taking of vows or giving of oaths. It is approved in many places in scripture.
What He was warning against was the taking of frivolous vows. Of swearing so many oaths over nonsensical things that when it comes time to swear over something important no one is likely to take you seriously.
Have you ever known someone who lies so much that saying ‘I swear, it’s true’ is a daily phrase for them to utter?
And don’t take oaths over things you have no authority or control over. “I swear by my great grandfather’s good name!” What the HECK does THAT mean?
You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Well this one should be obvious. Even the laws of our present day democracy won’t let you go knock some guy’s tooth out because he just knocked yours out.
But more than that, it’s not enough to hold back revenge. We’re supposed to love them sacrificially.
Now let’s make sense here. Jesus isn’t saying that we should lay down and let someone stomp on us. He was speaking to people who would occasionally be called upon to carry something for a Roman soldier or an official passing through. Jesus was telling them not to resist authority, but to respond to them with patience and love.
What comes next explains why.
God loves all equally and so should we, to show ourselves to be His children.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
So, He says, ‘love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’. Now tell me, can any one of us do that apart from the Spirit of Christ, who loved us and delivered Himself up for us?
If you say yes then you can add lying to your list.
THE WIDE SHOT
So now we lay down the last transparency to get the full picture and we come to the closing bracket and try to make some sense of this.
“Therefore, you are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
This is why I chose to treat this entire section of chapter 5 in one sermon and not attempt to break it down in little pieces. If we want to do that we can go to any of the very excellent commentaries that have been written, as they go verse by verse and in some cases spend a great deal of time on one single issue.
But when I come to verse 48 and read the way Jesus ended this portion of His sermon, what strikes me is that no matter how carefully we exegete every word of verses 22 through 47, no matter what our arguments or defenses are, no matter our denominational stand on any one of these admonitions of His in this chapter, in the end we are told that in order to see Heaven our righteousness must exceed that of the religious and our perfection must be a Godly perfection.
Therefore, whether a speaker on these individual things is ranting maniacally or gently and intelligently building his case step by reasonable step, when Jesus cuts in and says, “you are to be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect’, the speaker can only stop mid-sentence and say, ‘Oh. Well, there you have it then”, and stand with hands hanging at his side.
While we’re picking these things apart in an effort to discern how we can be right with God, and really deep inside just wanting to be righter than the other guy, what Jesus is ultimately telling us is that we cannot.
The Pharisees and Scribes thought to be right with God through the keeping of the Law, and they were really very good at it. They even took it to extremes in order to avoid walking on the edge.
Paul was able to claim honestly that he was, according to the Law, blameless so far as the keeping of it was concerned.
So if Jesus says our righteousness must exceed theirs that means righteousness cannot be attainted to by the keeping of the Law.
Which means righteousness cannot be attained to by being the best Southern Baptist we can be, or the best Lutheran or Presbyterian or even the best Christian we can be.
Which means the person who has never murdered is no closer to heaven than the murderer, if he or she has ever despised a brother or sister or spoken ill of them.
Which means the person who has never divorced is no closer to heaven than the one who has, by virtue of their faithfulness in marriage.
Which means the person who has never broken a promise is no closer to heaven than the chronic liar.
Which means the most humble and forgiving person in personality is no closer to heaven than the pugilistic drunk, and the ‘love everybody, why can’t we be friends’ peace-child is no closer to heaven than the guy who hates his neighbor because his dog peed on his new grass.
So what are we left with? Where has Jesus led us up to this point? Well, I believe He has led us to the most important verse in the Sermon on the Mount.
I believe it is pivotal. He has described the Christian, He has talked about the influence the Christian ought to be in the world, and He has clearly taught being a Christian is not just another sect of a Law-based religion.
The Christian is one who will gain heaven because he is perfect as God is perfect, and the only logical conclusion to that declaration is that it must be a work of God that makes that come true.
The best thing we have, the only thing we have, to know what God justly expects and demands for righteousness is the Law. So if that won’t get us there, then we have to let our hands drop to our side, shut our mouths, and let God do the perfecting.
When do we then become perfect?
Well, positionally, we already are as born again believers.
”For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Heb 10:14
That means if you are a believer in Christ, the moment you turned from sin and confessed Christ as your Savior based on His sacrifice for you, God declared you to be perfect in His sight. Because now you stand before Him, positionally, not in a righteousness attained to by your effort and merit, but the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ. You are perfected, for all time. And all eternity.
Does that mean you are perfect and sinless now in practice? No. Otherwise He wouldn’t have said that a Christian hungers and thirsts for righteousness, and He wouldn’t go on in chapter 6 to teach us in our prayers to say ‘forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors’.
There is a process going on. You are a work in progress. God sees you as the finished product like Michelangelo envisioned his finished work trapped inside a block of marble, and He is in the process of chipping away the unnecessary and harmful and hindering parts.
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil 1:6
So we’re just on a plane ride to Heaven? Take a padded seat and sit back and watch the movie?
No. Remember, Jesus put his signature on the Law and the Prophets and said they will be fulfilled to the last punctuation mark and the last stroke of the pen.
We are to desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus and it’s the Law and the Prophets and now the New Testament epistles that give us our marching orders. Not to BE right with God, but because we ARE right with God.
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”
You see Christians, when we muddle through verses 22 – 47, picking them apart and trying to figure out just when we’re justified in doing certain things and when not, we are only following the example of the Pharisees and Scribes.
That’s exactly what they spent their days doing; debating the finer points of the Law and interpreting and reinterpreting the prophets so they could both discern and teach how every detail of Jewish life should be led in order to be a good Jew.
The very point Jesus was making was that it is an exercise in futility to do that, since the only way we’ll see Heaven is by perfection. The only way to achieve that, is to ‘…repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38
Then, let the process begin of making you look just like your heavenly Father.
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”
Wow. The command to be perfect is a whole lot less stressful when we’re letting Jesus do the perfecting, huh?
Now in closing just let me assure you that my treatment of these verses in Matthew 5 is in no way an attempt to avoid addressing the tough issues.
I know that the divorce issue is very large in the Southern Baptist organization and the debates rage on at every level. But a study of what the Bible says about marriage and divorce and remarriage requires a systematic study that begins in Genesis and ends somewhere in the New Testament epistles.
I have approached verses 31 and 32 the way I have for the reason already stated; that Jesus was exposing the uselessness of Pharisaical debates in the light of the truth that no imperfection will see the streets of Glory.
So whatever your station in life, whatever your present or past circumstances that moulded your existence into what it is today, my admonition to you, my encouragement to you is that you examine yourself in light of your spiritual relationship to God, and do not go on to finish your day without knowing that you are one whom God has declared right with Him through your expressed faith in the shed blood and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.
If you are confident of that relationship, then you can rest in His own declaration that you are perfected in His sight positionally, and His promise that He will continue the work of perfecting you practically until the day He takes you home and you see Jesus face to face.
These other questions are important, and people struggle with them; but they are not among the essentials and quite frankly I don’t think any of us is wise enough to answer them all correctly and finally. God’s wonderful grace is deep and wide, friends, and at the end of the day we can all lay down our Bibles and our commentaries and our compasses and our long list of situational ethics and just rejoice that His grace is greater than ALL our sin.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” II Cor 13:14
