The Sermon on the Mount: You have Heard That it was Said
Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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We are going through The Sermon n the mount - Jesus’s most famous sermon.
This is a collection of some of Jesus’s best teachings, which he would teach time and time again as he traveled throughout the land.
It is then presented in the way that Jesus gave it to His followers.
This message is specifically for those who want to Follow JEsus
He started with the Beatitutdes, blessed ways of living that he wants his followers to follow
Promoting Humility, Mercy, Compassion, peace, purity,
He then says that such people are like salt and light, - important for help heal the world, and guide the world to Jesus. That such people would immediately be recognized as Followers of Jesus.
Now Jesus turns and talks about his Role:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus Did not come to get rid of the Law - The Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, nor the Prophets - Which is the rest of the Old testament.
Anyone who says “that’s old testament we don’t need to worry about that” is WRONG!
Now as Christians we are not bound by the laws of the Old Testament Because Jesus fulfilled them, but they still illustrate things that God desires.
The Law shows us that it is impossible to come to God by our own merit, we need a savior.
And Jesus then says, if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven you have to be more righteous than the pharisees.
THe Pharisees were the most righteous people there were, they followed the law to the letter, and often added laws to help them from breaking any of the rules of the old testament.
Jesus then goes into a series of sayings from the Old Testament and explains how they are the bare minimum for living a righeous life, and a truely righteous person would go beyond these rules:
lets look at these 1 at a time:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
You shall not murder, one of the 10 Commandments.
Jesus agrees, murder is bad, but what is the root of Murder? - Anger.
Angry with your brother
Like Cain and Abel, first brothers, first murderer and first murdered man
THen look at Jesus’s command here.
if your brother is angry with you, don’t offer a sacrifice but be reconciled with your brother first.
It is more important to God that you make peace with those who are angry with you than for you to come to church and worship him.
We’ve been going through the book of Genesis on Wednesday nights, a couple weeks ago we saw Jacob reconcile with his brother Esau, Jacob had to do that before he could return to where He first encountered God and worship God there.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
Jesus adressess another one of the ten Commandments: Do not commit adultery.
Adultery is bad, what is the root of Adultery, Lust
A truley righteous person would attempt to avoid looking at people they are not married to with lust.
THis is acutally something God addressed in the 10 Commandments: You shall not covet your neighbors wife.
Jesus then takes it further with an extreme example of what a righteous person should do: If you look at someone with lustful intent, poke out your eyes.
Now obviously he doesn’t mean this literally.
If you keep ending up in situations where you cannot fight the temptation, avoid those situations, cut them out of your life.
“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Following up on adultery, Jesus explains that divorce is also no better than adultery.
The old testament allows for divorce.
But a truley righteous person would not even consider it.
And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Divorce separates what God brought together. Just like adultery.
God permitted it in the old testament, and there is grace
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Do not Swer falsely but perform to the lord what you have sworn
THis comes from a command in Leviticus where God says, “if you swear by my name, I will hold you accountable”
Jesus says that if you are truly righteous you wouldn’t need to swear an oath in order to convince people that you are honest. Besides oaths lock you into hard situations
And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.”
If JEphthah just agreed to fight and didn’t swear a vow he would not have had to sacrifice his daughter.
Jesus says If you are truthful simply saying what you mean is the best way forward.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Eye for eye and tooth for tooth is a just system, that God commanded for Courts to carry out just punishment,
Jesus says in your own daily life, it is better to not seek retaliation but rather to seek peace, be merciful, and be generous
If someone hits you, dont hit him back, allow him to hit you again
If someone sues you in court give them more than what they were seeking.
ROman soldiers could command civilians to carry a load for exactly one mile, Jesus says to offer to carry it two miles out of your way.
This is seeking a way where instead of seeking justice for yourself you generously give of yourself, selflessly.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Here Jesus points out a way that one of God’s commands from the old testament had been falsely interpreted. In the Old testament God only commands the people to Love their Neighbors as themselves.
The Rabbis had since interpreted that it would be okay to hate your enemies.
Jesus Says that is wrong!
And the Old testament agrees
“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.
He says to pray for your enemies.
It is easy to love people who love you, a truly righteous person will also show love to the people who don’t love him back.
He Points to God, God loves everyone! He loves all of the people he created, most of them don’t love him back.
Jesus calls his followers to be Perfect!
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Church we cannot be perfect by our own strength, nonw of us are able to not be angry when we are wronged, or to seek forgiveness when someone wrongs us, we are not able to pull out our eyes when we look at something in sin, we dont have pperfect relationships that always end happily ever after, we aren’t always capable of being honest enough to the point where people can take us at our word, We want justice for ourselves when someone hurts us, its not easy for us to turn the other cheek, and I am sure we all have people we hate as our enemies.
WE ARE NOT PERFECT
We cannot acheive perfection without Jesus.
See we cannot be righteous in and of ourselves
We should try.
Jesus is the one who came to fulfill the law, so that we might be saved not through righteous perfection, but through his grace.
See righteousness through the law (the old testament) is impossible, and Jesus spent this part of his sermon explaining how a truly righteous person would live, the Law of the Old testament is the bare minimum.
But Jesus fulfilled the Law, it has been acomplished, and now we live by his mercy and his grace.