The Law and the Heart

Matthew 5:21-26

a. Jesus confronts the Law (5:21)

b. Jesus explains the heart (5:22-26)

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. Jesus confronts the Law (5:21)

i. The importance of today’s context comes from verse 17. Remember that Jesus never came to say that He came to abolish the Law. Jesus’s purpose in coming was not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. This is why this section in verse 21 starts with Jesus confronting the Law. Immediately, Jesus goes and confronts the Torah. Jesus’s main concern is the Torah because that is what the Pharisees and the scribes were dealing with.

ii. Remember verse 20 where Jesus says that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees and scribes. Jesus makes mention of this because of their astute understanding of the Torah. Therefore, Jesus now confronts the Jews and the Torah.

iii. Jesus says in verse 21 that you have heard that the ancients were told. Right here, we understand that the people long ago were the Jews to whom the Torah was given. We understand that it was the OT saints.

iv. We must keep in the mind that the reason Jesus was going after the OT Law is because people were looking to the OT law, the keeping of it, as a means to validate and confirm that they were going to go to Heaven because of their keeping of the Law. But the problem with this system was that it was focused on a means to salvation outside of Jesus Christ. Therefore, when Jesus says that He came to fulfill, He was preaching that the Law leads people to Him. People die to the Law and realize that their salvation is unattainable, and therefore understand that the only means to salvation is through Him.

v. The Law is meant to kill us so that we might put our hope and our trust in Christ. This is the whole point of Paul’s argument in Galatians 3:24 where it says that the Law was the tutor that led us to Christ.

vi. So here in verse 21, Jesus is speaking to the Jews and He quotes the Old Testament Torah. Jesus is quoting the 6thcommandment and adds that if you do commit murder, you shall go to court for the breaking of the Law.

vii. What Jesus is doing here is setting the stage for the most practical aspect of the Law. We deal with people every day and Jesus is dealing with our relationships with others because this is something we will do for the rest of our lives. So the fact that Jesus explains the Law through this is very practical for us.

b. Jesus explains the heart (5:22-26)

i. So what is Jesus talking about here? Jesus starts with the adversative “but” to say that this is what you have been told, but I say to you. Jesus is elevating Himself to the same level as the Law. The Law says this, but I say to you means, I am explaining to you something that you didn’t understand about the Law. We must recognize that Jesus is not abolishing the Law here. He is not completely replacing the Law. Rather, what He is doing is explaining the Law differently than the way people understood it. Jesus is expounding the reality that murdering someone is not simply a do or don’t do thing. Rather, He is explaining the complexity of the human heart. Jesus is addressing the root issue and not the superficial issue.

ii. So Jesus says that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court. Then Jesus goes further by saying, that if you curse your brother, you shall be guilty before the supreme court and that you shall be guilty enough to go into Hell.

iii. These are astounding statements because I can assume that those who heard these words being preached would have realized, that everyone was guilty of this. Even as I read these words, I am confronted with the reality that there is nobody who can actually uphold the words that Jesus was preaching here.

iv. Here alone, Jesus addresses all of humanity and condemns all of humanity to this reality. There is none who are righteous and there are none who are free from this statement that Jesus makes here.

v. Everyone is guilty and everyone shall face judgment. This is the point that Jesus was making here to consolidate all of the human race to the same level. There are none righteous.

vi. Verse 23, so Jesus says so if you are presenting your offering at the altar, remember that your brother has something against you. This is such a practical statement because we tend to forget the importance of this. Jesus is saying that you can go on with your life and not apologize for what you did and when Friday evening comes, you can go to the altar to bring your offering. But as you are doing this, remember that your brother has something against you. What we see from this is, the presenting of this offering was a time of reflection. We can say that there was some type of repentance happening here. The emphasis is that we should take this with weight. Jesus’s emphasis is that if we have offended our brother or our sister, we should not be complacent but rather take it with weight. We should be thinking about it and it should weigh heavy on us.

vii. It should be so heavy on us that verse 24, we leave our offering before the altar, and first, be reconciled to your brother and then come present your offering. This presenting their offering is like our communion. It is a weighty moment in time. This is an astounding statement for Jesus to make considering what He is proposing here. Jesus is saying leave your offering here at the altar, go back home, reconcile with your brother and then come back to the altar and offer your offering with a clear conscience.

viii. What is astounding regarding this statement is that people would have to go to Jerusalem to in Solomon’s temple to offer their offerings. Sometimes, people would walk long distances up to 90 miles to offer this gift. When Jesus says leave your offering and go be reconciled, He is telling his audience that you should go back home walk the 90 miles back, reconcile then walk the 90 back. This is how serious it is.

ix. When people hear this, they think about going home and they will say I’d rather not because it is inconvenient but Jesus’s statement here is exposing our hearts and at the same time, explaining the urgency of reconciling with our brother.

x. If we learn from the Talmud, (The Talmud is the primary source of Jewish religious Law and Jewish theology) we learn about something called Karbanot. This word in Hebrew means sacrifices or offerings but it comes from the root word korban which means to draw close.

xi. But the importance of this is 3 basic concepts of Karbanot. The first aspect is of giving. A korban requires the renunciation of something that belongs to the person making the offering. When people offer this offering, they are giving their sin away from themselves.

1. Another important concept is the element of substitution. The idea is that the thing being offered is a substitute for the person making the offering, and the things that are done to the offering are things that should have been done to the person offering.

a. Notice this point. The thing that is done like a burnt offering, when they offer this, they understand this should be them when they burn these offerings.

2. The last concept is the idea of coming closer. The essence of this sacrifice is to come closer to God.

xii. When we think about these principles, these are the same elements to the Gospel that we hold so dear. What do I mean by this? I am talking about imputation. We impute our sin, we give away our sin to Christ and in exchange, this is what we call the beautiful exchange, we give our sin to Christ and He gives us His righteousness.

xiii. When we think about the second concept, the element of substitution, it is the same principle in Christian doctrine where Jesus Christ dies as our substitute. He died so that I would not have to suffer the wrath that He suffered.

xiv. Lastly, the idea of coming closer to God is the whole purpose for everything in the Christian life. The reason we pray, we read our Bibles, we repent, is to draw closer to God. This is the whole essence of the Christian life. So for Jesus to say this, this is a huge statement.

xv. As I read this statement, I was thinking about why is Jesus saying this? Verse 25-26 tell us that we should make friends quickly so that they don’t turn us in and we are thrown into prison. Again, this goes back to verse 22 where Jesus says if you are guilty, it is guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

xvi. I was thinking about why this statement is so significant. What is Jesus really saying here? Jesus is exposing our hearts. He is making it clear to us that being angry with someone is not simply an outburst but a much larger internal issue. Why is being angry with someone bad? Don’t we all do it? Yes. But what is wrong with it? Because it tells us that there is a bigger problem. Anger is an outburst after a person reaches a certain point. It is when we can’t handle it and we need to let it out. This shows a much deeper reality. The outburst is not the problem. These are many reasons why this person bursted out.

xvii. One of the lessons that I have learned and have been thinking more about is this idea of reconciliation. We are very bad at reconciling with others because we don’t want to reduce ourselves. What do I mean by this? We don’t want to be under someone else’s mercy. This is why many people can apologize for being wrong. Why? Because it still doesn’t affect their dignity. But we don’t like to ask for forgiveness because now we are at their mercy. If they choose not to forgive us, we have to constantly ask and do something to earn their forgiveness. The problem is we have a wrong understanding of God’s forgiveness. When we say that God has forgiveness us, He has forgiveness us in the sense of the sin that we committed, He has completely forgiven us of our guilt and shame. But as the last concept in Karbanot, when we offer to God, the whole purpose is to become closer to God. When we are forgiven by God, we should not just say we are forgiven and move on with our lives. No, we should live under His mercy. We should ask for forgiveness, know we are forgiven and strive to draw closer to God. Drawing closer to God is to live the way He would want me to live. What would that look like? To live a life that conforms to the preaching of the Sermon on the Mount. It is not to say that we will be perfect or should be perfect, but our desire to live this way, that is what God is wanting of us and as we strive to do this, He will give us the power to be conformed to the image of His son by renewing our minds that we would offer our lives as living sacrifices.

xviii. It is not enough just to say I am sorry please forgive me. We need to ask others for forgiveness by asking them, will you forgive me? Why? Because it makes us small. It causes us to live under the mercy of somebody else. We give them control over us and that is something we don’t want. But the other side of it is that we give people the ability to learn to forgive.

xix. One of the great lessons I have learned from this is that learning to forgive is hard. The way people understand it is, I apologized, now you have to find it inside of you to forgive me. You have to do it and it’s your fault if you don’t forgive me because I apologized. This is not what Jesus is teaching here. Jesus is teaching us to go offer our offerings after we have reconciled. Reconciled is making sure that the person who has something against us, no longer has something against us. How does this happen? We talk and listen to them. It’s not simply telling them that they are sorry. It is allowing them to forgive us and work through it. How is that done? When we allow them to forgive us.

xx. By doing this, we are allowing people to learn how to forgive. We are teaching them by working with them by listening to them that I understand what you are saying and I apologize for not understanding at that time.

xxi. True reconciliation can’t happen if both parties don’t listen and both parties help the other person to forgive. Forgiveness is not a one sided issue. Forgiveness requires both parties. Look at Jesus. He forgave us by sacrificing His life on the cross. How do we forgive? We sacrifice our dignity for the other person. In both instances, forgiveness requires sacrifice and without sacrifice, there can not be forgiveness.

3. CONCLUSION