Next Part Sermon on Matthew 5:1-48
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Do not think that I have come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil (Mat 5:17).
Now, the law required death for disobedience. Jesus came to fulfill the law by dying for our disobedience. He came to fulfill the prophets where Isaiah said, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we've turned every one of us to our way; and God laid on him the iniquities of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). He came to fulfill the law and the prophets. I haven't come to destroy it; I've come to fulfill it. And that is why Paul the apostle wrote, "Christ is the end of the law to those that believe" (Romans 10:4); because he has brought us into a new relationship with God that involves our faith in Jesus Christ as the basis for our righteous standing before God for he fulfilled the law. He did not come to bring an end to it but to fulfill it, and he fulfilled the requirements of the law for us, dying in our place.
For verily I say unto you, Until heaven and earth shall pass, not one jot or one tittle shall in any wise pass from the law, until it is all fulfilled (Mat 5:19).
Now the jot and the tittles were the little punctuation marks and so forth that were placed there, just in the Hebrew letters, those small, little marks that give the a, the vowel pronunciation. "Not one jot or tittle will in any wise pass until it is all fulfilled."
Whosoever [he said,] therefore shall break one of the least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Mat 5:19).
Now, one day Jesus was asked the question, "What is the greatest commandment?" And Jesus answered correctly, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength and with all their mind". And Jesus added, "And the second is just like it; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself". And he said, "in these two are all the law and the prophets"(Matthew 22:36-40). This is a summary, a very short summary of all of the law and the prophets; love God with all your heart, love your neighbor as yourself.
Paul the apostle said, "For love is the fulfilling of the law and he who loves has fulfilled the law"(Romans 13:8). Now the law was given in negative: thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not. Jesus turned it around to the positive: "thou shalt love the Lord thy God, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" and therein is the fulfilment.
[And] if a man would teach others to break the commandments, he will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but he who teaches those to keep the commandments shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Mat 5:19).
But then Jesus said something that must have absolutely blown their minds, for he then said, For I say unto you, That unless your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven (Mat 5:20).
Now that must have been a tremendous shock to his disciples, because as far as they were concerned, no one was more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees because that's all these men live for. And these men were constantly displaying how righteous they were by the types of robes that they wore, by the types of borders around their garments and all. And just by their action, they had special little actions in their prayers and all that really indicated a tremendous depth of righteousness.
I mean, these are the guys that Jesus said, "you strain at a gnat"(Matthew 23:24).
Why would they strain at a gnat? Because the law said, you're not to eat anything with blood. And so you'd see a Pharisee out on the corner putting his finger down his throat and gagging and straining and pushing and trying to throw up. You'd say, what's wrong? Oh I was running along and this gnat flew in my mouth. He strained to get rid of the gnat, because of course he didn't want to eat any meat that wasn't first of all thoroughly bled and kosher. And now Jesus is saying you gotta be more righteous than those guys if you're going to enter the kingdom of heaven. But these guys were practicing righteous constantly, this righteous standard of the law.
But then Jesus goes on to illustrate what he meant by that, for he tells them
Now you have heard that it was said by them of old time (Mat 5:21),
You see, the disciples could not read Hebrew. They only knew what the law said by the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees. The common people did not know the Hebrew language. When they came back from Babylon, they spoke Caldean. Aramaic was the common language of the time of Christ, and Greek, but Hebrew was only for the scholars. Therefore, they really couldn't read the scriptures in their own languages, in their own language. So they had to depend upon the scribes and Pharisees teaching them and thus "Ye have heard that it hath been said" (Mat 5:21), you have heard that it had been said, it has been said.
And Jesus gives here five of the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees concerning the law, as they were interpreting it and as they were teaching it to the people. And Jesus shows how, first of all, how they were teaching it and then he declares what was intended when God gave it. And the basic difference between the way they were teaching it and the way God intended it to be was that they were teaching it as purely a physical thing to be fulfilled in a physical way. And Jesus is declaring that God intended it to be a spiritual thing, governing the spiritual attitudes of man and that God is more interested in your attitude than he is the actions.
Now there are many people today who are trying to be so careful in their actions but their attitudes stink. And God is interested in the attitude from which actions spring. And thus, what a person does can be thoroughly disallowed by the attitude in which he's doing it. A person can be doing all kinds of magnanimous works for God in the church, just busying himself and doing so many marvelous things around the church, but his attitude can be bad. And God totally disregards the things that the man is doing because of the attitude in which he is doing it. God is far more interested in the attitude in your heart than the actions of your outward life.
And they have been interpreting the law to govern the actions of man, where God intended the law to be speaking to the attitudes of man. Thus, in the way that they were interpreting the law, they were able to fulfill it. But in the way that the law was originally intended, because it was intended to govern the spirit of man, the law was actually intended to make the whole world guilty before God and to show man's guilt. But rather then their reading the law and feeling guilty before God, seeking the mercy and the grace of God, they were so interpreting the law as having fulfilled the law, and thus being very pompous and very righteous and very critical of everybody else. And they were interpreting the law so that they were having this tremendous attitude of self-righteousness and pride looking down then upon everybody else.
And it was manifested, as Jesus said, when the Pharisee went into the temple and said, "Oh Father, I thank you I'm not like other men, for I fast and I pray" and you know, he's telling God all of his good things. And Jesus said there was a sinner that went into the temple and he wouldn't even lift his eyes toward heaven but with head bowed he just smote on his chest and said, "Oh God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:11-13).
And Jesus said he went away justified and forgiven. Where the first guy, you know, his prayers meant nothing to God. Now, that's because they were interpreting the law in a wrong way, only to govern the outward actions of man and not to deal with the spirit of all.
And as you see Jesus making the contrast, he first of all teaches it as they were teachers or shows us how they were teaching it, but then he shows the original intent of the law. And thus, as we see the original intent of the law, we are all made guilty before God.
First of all,
[You've been heard] You have heard that it was said by those in the old times that Thou shalt not kill (Mat 5:21);
Actually, literally, thou shalt not murder.
And whosoever shall murder shall be in danger of the judgment (Mat 5:21):
Now doesn't the law say that? Yes it does; thou shalt not murder. That is the law. Then why did Jesus have any controversy with that? You know what God intended when he said that? You know what constitutes the violation that thou shalt not murder? Not just taking a club and beating the guy over the head until he's senseless, not just putting a chokehold on him until he can't breath anymore, not running your sword through his heart; but Jesus said,
I say unto you (Mat 5:22),
This is what they've been teaching you, but this is what I say, this is what the law was intended to say.
That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment (Mat 5:22):
You see, it is this ungoverned and unreasonable anger that leads to murder. Now you may have an ungovernable, unreasonable anger but you may have been able to control it but you go around constantly seething, constantly angry, boiling inside. Jesus said, hey, you violated that law already in your heart, in your spirit. But because you've never taken a forty-five and blown a guy's brains out, you go, well man, I've never murdered. You know I feel pretty righteous you know. And yet all of this horrible anger can be boiling inside of you.
Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca (Mat 5:22),
That is, you vain fellow.
shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if when you are bringing your gift to the altar, and you suddenly remember that your brother has ought against you; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift (Mat 5:22-24).
Now, in geometry I learned that the shortest distance between two points was a straight line. And that may be true in geometry but not necessarily true in your getting to God. Quite often in our approach of God, bringing to the altar our gift, the most direct approach to God is not a straight line but it is by an offended brother. Go first, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.
Now he said,
Agree with your adversary [readily] quickly, while you are in the way with him; lest at any time your adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver to the officer, and you will be cast into prison. Verily I say unto you, You will not come out until you have paid the uttermost farthing (Mat 5:25-26).
Of course he's referring there to the debtors' prison and all. So, get along with people, love people.
Now you've that it was said by them of old times, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Mat 5:27-28).
Now the first part, a lot of you can just, you know, square back with self-righteous and say, well, I've never committed adultery. But when Jesus interprets it as God intended it, "But I say unto you, whosoever looks about a woman to lust after her, commits adultery in his heart", then suddenly the chest is sucked in and we think, wow. That desire constitutes guilt in the eyes of the Lord.
And you see the difference where the way Jesus was interpreting it; it made us all guilty before God. The way they were interpreting it, it made them very pompous and self-righteous. But the way Jesus was interpreting it; it makes us all guilty. And that's exactly what the law was intended to do, to make the whole world guilty before God, so that we would not seek to come before God in our own righteousness but that we would seek that righteousness that God has provided for us, that we might have that standing before God in the righteousness before God, in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So the law was a schoolmaster to drive us to Jesus Christ.
Now Jesus said,
If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of your members should perish, [that your whole] rather than that your whole body should be cast into hell. And if your right hand offends you, cut it off, cast if from you: for it is profitable for thee that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell (Mat 5:29-30).
Now, let me say that interpreting the Sermon on the Mount or the words of Jesus Christ, that we must take care in interpreting, because if our interpretation of a passage makes the passage ridiculous then we have the wrong interpretation. And in noticing this, "if your right eye offends thee, pluck it out and cast" he's not speaking literally of just plucking out your eye and throwing it away because through that eye you looked at a gal and you go "ooh eee" you know, that'll be nice. Because even if you plucked out your right eye and cast it from you, you still got your left eye. If you're a thief, pickpocket, use your right hand, it offends you, cut it off. If that were literal, you'd develop the skill in the left hand.
So he's not talking literally of plucking out your eye or cutting off your hand but he is just trying to show to you, because to every one of us, the thought of plucking out our right eye is a very repugnant, repulsive, oh you know, I shudder at that. Eeew, that gives me the chills thinking of plucking out my right eye or taking and running my hand through a band saw. Eeew, you know that gives me the chills thinking my hand lying there on the table with a saw, picking it up and stuffing it in my pocket, you know. And it's repugnant to me, the thought is repugnant.
But Jesus, by this, deliberately speaking of things that are so repugnant to us, is just seeking to show the importance of entering the kingdom of heaven. And in reality, the most important thing for any of us, more important than a whole body, more important than having all the members of my body intact is that I enter into the kingdom of heaven. And I need to have that kind of primary emphasis in my life, the kingdom of heaven is the greatest goal, the greatest desire, and thus should bring into my life the greatest sacrifices. And I should not be concerned with what sacrifice I may make in a temporal way because I am seeking the eternal kingdom of heaven.
Now the third illustration he said,
It hath been said, That whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, except it to be the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery (Mat 5:31-32).
Now the issue of Jesus and divorce is a very interesting issue and it is one that is very relevant for today because of the high incidence of divorce. And under the law it said if a man be married to a wife and he finds an uncleanness in her, let him give her a writing of divorcement. In those days, the woman really did not have many rights. If her husband wanted to divorce her, he could divorce her but she could not divorce him. There was no provision for a wife getting a divorce from her husband, but the husband could get a divorce. And they began, as they do today, to interpret the law.
You know how that our laws have been so interpreted now by the courts that they become more liberal all the time. So that if the officer, when he arrests you does not have a probable cause to search you, but without the probable cause he searches you and finds in your possession a forty-five and ballistics tests prove that it was the gun that was used to murder that man just down the street, and you have the man's watch and wallet in your pocket and all; but the officer didn't inform you of your rights or he didn't have probable cause of searching you, you can get off free because we so interpret the law.
In fact, I saw the other day when they let a guy off free because he wore jail clothes when he was on trial and it gave a presupposition of guilty, though he was guilty and they had all the proof to prove that he was guilty. Because they did not let him wear a business suit when he stood before the jury but he was in jail attire, they set him free. The liberalizing of the law through interpretation.
Now, this law of divorce had been extremely liberalized through interpretation. What did the law constitute that he finds an uncleanness in her? And there was one school of rabbi's under Hallel who interpreted that very strictly as being he found that she wasn't a virgin when he married her. But the other school of rabbi's had begun to liberalize that law to the extent that if you found an uncleanness and your wife can constitute that she just didn't fix your eggs the way you like them in the morning, and that would be an uncleanness in her. I don't like the way she cooks. Here, you're through, woman. Writing of divorcement. And they just write out the divorcement and hand it to her and she had no alternative. I mean, he did that, she was gone, she had no recourse, she was out.
That's why this custom of dowry became popular. For dowry was actually alimony in advance. It was paid to the girl's father and he would keep it for her in case her husband ever put her out, then she's got her alimony already set. He paid it before they got married. Dowry is really alimony in advance. Not such a bad deal when divorce is so easy and so liberalized.
So this is the background, a very easy divorce. Just give her writing of bill of divorcement. Any excuse, any uncleanness and that can mean anything; didn't like the way she combed her hair, didn't like the way she looked in the morning when she first woke up, and so they had so liberalized the divorce law. And so Jesus is going back more towards the original. But we'll get more into this when we get to the seventeenth chapter or the nineteenth chapter when we look at the law of Jesus and divorce, because Jesus does then begin to amplify it there a bit. And we'll not cover it tonight fully but we'll wait till chapter nineteen.
Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by those of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Don't swear at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is God's footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because you cannot make one hair white or black (Mat 5:33-36).
That was before Clairol.
But let your yes be a yes; let your no be a no: and whatever is more than this is deceitful (Mat 5:37).
Now Jesus is talking about that deceitfulness of being able to say no, though it sounds like yes or saying yes when you really don't mean yes. Basically, Jesus is saying you should be a person of your word. You should not have to take an oath. You should not have to swear to the truth that you are declaring. "I swear on the Bible. I'm telling you the truth, man". Well, you only have to do that if you are basically an untruthful person and nobody trusts you.
But you should be a person of your word. And when you say yes, you should mean yes and when you say no, you should mean no. Let your yes be yes and your no be no and don't get into these long deceitful kind of well, I would be very happy to do it and I'll tell you what. I'll pray about it brother. But you're really saying no, I really don't want to. I have no intention of doing it but I don't want to tell you no because it may offend you. But Jesus said be a person of your word; if you say yes, mean yes; if you say no, mean no. Anything that is more than this is just deceitful to cover up the truth.
Now you've heard that it had been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth (Mat 5:38): But let me explain the way they were teaching this law. First of all, this law was not given to the common people. This came under the law when God was instructing the judges concerning their judgment in the cases that were brought before them, and there should be equity meeted out from the judges. And he uses the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth to show that when you judge, make the judgment equitable. Make the judgment fitting the crime. Let the judgment be fitting the crime that was committed. Let it be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
So he's just talking about equitable judgment, but it is addressed to the judges, not to individuals. In that portion of the law he is instructing judges, how they are to judge when they are sitting in the judgment seat. But they had begun to interpret it in a personal way and they had liberalized it so it was, you know, now to you, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But not only were they teaching an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth as the possible judgment, but they were saying that it is an obligation.
Now, even today in many of those families, you have these futile things going on; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth thing, and these feuds go on for generations. You know, they killed a member of our clan, we're going to kill a member of their clan. They beat up a member of our clan, we're going to beat up, and we're duty-bound, we're honor-bound. And they looked at it as something of which you were duty-bound and honor-bound to do, and it was a violation of honor if you didn't take the eye for and eye or a tooth for a tooth. They were really, you know, go at it, go get it; you're honor-bound to do it. But Jesus said, ah, not so. First of all, it doesn't have a personal vindictive within it but it is something that the judges were to meet out equitable judgement.
But Jesus said,
I say unto you, don't resist those that are evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (Mat 5:39).
Now, there are those who take this resist not evil as a case against police departments but that is a ridiculous, foolish interpretation, and thus, it is not the correct interpretation because Jesus didn't say anything that was ridiculous and foolish. Again, he's talking to us and just saying we aren't to be seeking vengeance for ourselves.
Whosoever smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have the cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him two (Mat 5:39-41).
In those days, the Roman soldiers could compel you to carry their backpacks a mile. Under Roman law you could be walking down the road and a Roman soldier come to you and he had his backpack on and all he would say, Carry this thing for a mile, and you had to do it under Roman law; you had to carry the thing for a mile. And of course, the Jews hated that yoke of Roman control and government. They were talking rebellion. And boy, it used to really gull them to have to carry that load for that Roman soldier for a mile.
Jesus said, "Look, if they compel you to go a mile, go two". Think of what opportunity you'd have to witness to him in the second mile. He'd wonder, hey you're different man. What's going on here?
Give to him that ask, and he that would borrow from thee don't turn away. Now you have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those that hate you, pray for those which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, he sends rain on the just and the unjust. (Mat 5:42-45)
God treats all men alike whether good or bad, gives rain to the good and bad people, causes his sun to shine on good and bad people; God isn't partial in these things. So be like your Father which is in heaven. Bless those that curse you, pray for those that despitefully use you, love your enemies. "Now I say," Jesus said; this they say, this is what I say.
Now, as I pointed out in the beginning, the way they were interpreting the law, the people could feel self-righteous because they were keeping the law. But the way Jesus interpreted the law they were all guilty. Now, as you look at the way Jesus is interpreting the law, do you feel righteous or guilty? And thus you see the true intent of the law was to govern over the attitudes of man. And when your attitude was wrong before God, you were guilty before God and you should then be seeking God's forgiveness and God's help. But it's all in the way that they were interpreting the law and the way the law was intended, intended to govern the attitudes of man.
Now Jesus concludes:
If you only love those that love you, so what? [It's no big deal.] don't even the rank sinners do the same? (Mat 5:46)
You know, it's no big deal if you just go around loving all those that love you, Oh I love you people so much; big deal. You love me? So, it's only natural that I love you. But Jesus said, If you only salute your brothers, [you only greet your brothers] what do you more than others? (Mat 5:47)
If you're only friendly and kind and helpful for those that you know, those that are your brothers, then what are you doing more than anybody else? If you are only loving those that love you, what are you doing more than anybody else?
Now, the inference here is that as a Christian you should be doing more than anybody else and if you're not doing more than anybody else then how can you really boast to being a Christian? The whole question is what are you doing more than the person who is not a Christian? You should be doing more. And if you only love those that love you, you're not doing any more than anybody else. If you're only greeting those that greet you or only greeting your brothers, you're not doing any more than anybody else. If you're friendly to those that you know and all, you're not doing any more than anybody else.
Then comes the capper, and if you haven't felt like a sinner yet; Jesus said,
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Mat 5:48).
So, strike one. I didn't make it. I've come far from making it, therefore, I need help. And thank God he has provided that help that I needed through forgiveness through Jesus Christ through his shed blood for me.
We'll wait until the next session to go on with six and seven because we'll never make it. There's so much to be said, and if the Lord comes before we get there, I'll wave at you across the room as we are sitting at the feet of the Master learning more and more of God's love. For God, through the endless ages to come shall be revealing unto us the exceeding richness of his love and grace towards us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What a glorious day that will be when we all stand before him complete in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless, that's "be ye perfect"; that's just the way He's going to present you before the Father. Isn't that neat? Not because I am perfect, but because I am perfect in Him. The Bible says the fullness of the godhead bodily dwells in Christ and you are perfect in him. It's the same Greek word that is used here; "be ye therefore perfect", same Greek word.
You are complete or you are perfect in Him. To present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding love. That's just how he's going to present you when you stand before God, complete in Jesus Christ. Only the grace of God can do that for us. You see, the law of God condemns us all to death. But Jesus said, "I came to fulfill the law" thus He died for us. You see, the whole section here now as Jesus is speaking about the law. I didn't come to destroy it, I came to fulfill the law and the prophets, and that he did in his death for us who are guilty because the law is spiritual and I am carnal. And thus, the law condemned me. Paul said when the law came, sin was revealed and I died. It destroyed me. It condemned me to death because I was guilty.
So if you are reading the law in such a way, as you feel very smug and self-righteous say, well, I'm not like other men. I've never done those horrible things, look again. What is in the attitude of your heart, that's what God is looking upon. For man may look on the outward appearance but God is looking upon your heart, and that's what God is interested in tonight, a heart that is broken before him. A heart that grieves over its own sin and iniquity, a heart that hungers and thirsts after God, for they will then be filled with that mercy of God and they will become pure, the pure desire of their hearts for God and for the things of God. Praise the Lord.
Father, we just thank you for the guide to life, the lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path, that we might walk in thy path of righteousness for thy namesake. Thank you Father again, for this privilege of being here tonight and sharing in thy Word. And now Lord, may thy Holy Spirit be with us as we go, watching over, keeping.
And Father, we know not what the day is going to bring forth but in the midst of the turmoil that is now engulfing the Middle East, midst of the bombs and the artillery and rockets, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Oh God, we pray more that thy kingdom will come and thy will shall be done here on the earth even as it is in heaven, where men will no longer be killing and destroying men through hatred, greed and war. If where we might all sit down beneath our own vine and fig tree and live in peace in thy kingdom in the world that you desire for us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
May the Lord be with you, give you a beautiful week. May you be filled with the power of his Holy Spirit and may you indeed walk in love, that kind of love that comes from God that overcomes every obstacle and barrier that is built up against it. May you truly love those that hate you and do good unto those that despitefully use you and thus truly demonstrate the traits and the qualities of the children of the kingdom, in Jesus' name.
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