You’ve heard it said Pt. 2 | Matthew 5:31-48

Introduction

When I was a kid my sister and I were walking through a grocery store and on the top of these peanut butter jars was a sticker that said “Get a free Reeses right now”. We thought this was incredibly nice of big peanut butter and each took a sticker.

We made our way to the front and handed the stickers over and got our free candy.

Now you may be thinking, “Michael wasn’t it obvious that you were supposed to buy the peanut butter to participate in the deal?” Well perhaps it was but do you remember the part of the story where it worked and we got our candy?

Yet still you may be thinking, “how old were you? where were your parents?” Well we met our parents up front after our “purchase” and before you think it I will just confirm your guess: we got in so much trouble. To our utter shame we had to go apologize and pay for the candy. Thankfully we did no jail time for our loophole crime.

It seems it’s in our nature to think of rules and laws like a fence in a yard. The yard is our freedom — contained and restricted — and we will go right up to the fence and even sit on it and think we are safe as long as we don’t come down on the other side. We are at our very core, rebels, everyone of us. How high above the speed limit can I go without getting pulled over? How much of a white lie can I get away with? How many sins can I hide.

We know nothing is hidden from God. But just like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day and the interpreters of the Old Testament laws, we live in willful ignorance until we are caught or exposed and we will point to our neighbor and say “well I’m not as bad as they are!” With this distorted perspective of law we will often look to God’s law and in the same sentiment of the religious leaders we ask “how much of the law do I have to obey to be righteous?”

Do you see how it misses the mark altogether? It reduces God’s law to impossible rules to follow rather than the way of human flourishing that comes, yes from the wellspring of God’s holiness but just as much so and simultaneously from the wellspring of God’s love. His law is good. His law is meant to help you, not to condemn you. His heart is for you.

See, a better analogy for rule and law would be instructions for how to operate an airplane. They are meant to keep you alive and well. No one in their right mind would think those instructions are a bad thing with holding our freedom to fall from the sky…

Yet we are all listening to the echoed lie of eden that begs an evil question in our heart - “what is God keeping from me?”

Today we see Jesus get after our hearts. My sister and I taking the candy bars was the result of a sin that took place back on that aisle when in our hearts we ignored that prompting that said “this is not the intent of the deal”.

So as we take a look at the second part of the “you have heard it said” statements we find

MPT: Jesus was teaching the transformative power of love and forgiveness, urging us to go beyond mere adherence to laws by embodying a spirit of compassion and reconciliation towards others.

This is the lens through which we will look at our passage today. Christ here is informing his listeners of what a Kingdom, where He is rightly on the throne, will look like. Where the love of God is made manifest in every citizen of that Kingdom.

So this is our big idea today-

MPS: Kingdom citizens are shaped by the love of God.

As we begin there are two things we should note. First is the order of Jesus’ points in our passage with the context of last week’s verses as well. Last week we covered, anger, contempt, and the obsessive desire of lust. It follows that divorce, dishonesty, and greed would follow.

Secondly, baring that in mind, it’s important for us to also understand that Jesus is not taking the law of the Old Testament and throwing it out, only to give us a new law — leaving us yet still hopeless of ever abiding by it sinlessly — no, Christ came to fulfill the law

Matthew 5:17 [17] “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. (ESV)

As we saw in his introduction to this section back in verse 17.

What Christ is doing here is giving illustrations of what it will be like in the new Kingdom - one where the law is not been abolished but fulfilled by the King of that kingdom! The King of the Universe Jesus Christ. He is going to make every bad thing come untrue in this Kingdom including the corrupt interpretation of his holy law.

Jesus is emphasizing the need for the earthly kingdom to be turned upside down and He would not do that with a new law because regardless of our actions — Jesus

John 2:25

[25] […] needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. (ESV)

A hardened and corrupt heart. And Jesus knew strict adherence to a law without genuine transformation of the heart inevitably breeds further defiance, owing to the callousness it fosters within.

So what then does it look like for Kingdom Citizens who are shaped by the love of God? We see first they will be a people of Integrity. Let’s look at verse 31.

I. People of integrity | 31-37

Divorce - hardness of heart vs. Steadfast Love

31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 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.

Jesus starts with two “you have heard it said” statements, one on divorce law and one on oaths and honesty.

Before we get to far into this, I want to tread lightly by prefacing this with a few thoughts. Firstly, divorce has touched many lives in this room in one way or another and we want to be clear from the start; as heavy as the topic is — as tragic as the ripples are that span generations — divorce, like any other situation in life, is not beyond the hope of the gospel of Jesus. Dallas Willard puts it like this:

“we must resist any attempt to classify divorce as a special, irredeemable form of wickedness. It is not. It is sometimes the right thing to do, everything considered.”_Dallas Willard

See, many have been shunned from the church, looked down upon, and far worse. Let me just be crystal clear. That is not the way of Jesus. In fact these words as we will see, hold profound hope and we will see that Jesus is so overwhelmingly for you, dear ones.

And can I just disarm any tension in the room now by saying, shame is not yours to carry. Jesus carried all shame to the cross. And this passage, as I said, is filled with hope and ultimately is about the love of God made known to us through Jesus.

So if the voice of condemnation begins to whisper in your ear today you can tell it in the name of Jesus to kindly shut up.

The Law that Jesus is referring to was originally given, primarily as a means to protect women of that day. Among the different rabbinical schools of thought, were different levels of strictness when it came to applying this law. Jesus held to the strictest one as we will see in a bit, but by and large divorce was widely practiced in that time by adhering to the law with the bare minimum letter to the law. Some would allow a man to divorce his wife if she burnt dinner. Some would allow him to divorce her if he saw a woman he found more attractive.

What did this mean, well for a woman it was a ruined life. The certificate of divorce did a few things for her. It meant that she could remarry, though that was highly unlikely to happen. It meant that her ex husband could not enslave her - he could not marry and divorce her over and again as some cultures would; basically making any marriage a joke.

Ultimately the intent of the mosaic law was protect women from being divorced on a whim. It was a grace extended because of the hardness of their hearts. Jesus points that out in Matthew 19 when the pharisees are trying trap him, ostensibly, in a political debate.

Matthew 19:7–8 [7] They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” [8] He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. (ESV)

Did you catch that? They phrase it “Moses command one to give a certificate” and Jesus says “allowed”. They pitted Moses command in the sense that he was commanding divorce. But Jesus denies this and points to the heart.

He would then point out the significance of marriage and God’s design. His design is that one man and one woman would join together and become one flesh. The two are never two again but one until their dying day.

💡 You ever have a dad, uncle, or perhaps just a bully take a bag of chips from you and ask “want more?” before he then smashes the chips? We all agree on the math and science of that - you don’t have more chips. You have crumbles and crumbs of what once was.

💡 God’s picture for marriage is like a rope chord. The culture says just cut it in half and now you have two. But God says, “no that is still one, severed chord — the two halves are not whole. You haven’t multiplied anything but have broken one thing.“

This oneness of course is a picture of the Gospel. It demonstrates the oneness Christ has with his bride the church. What a beautiful thing for our marriages to point to. That we can look beyond our individual wants - even in the hardest of times and say to one another, this isn’t about me or you or us but ultimately is telling the story of Jesus to the watching world.

God’s desire is that divorce would not happen.

This is not a condemning statement either, but a hard truth that too many of you know first hand — that divorce sets off catastrophic ramifications in the lives of so many — God says the two are no longer two but one and to divorce is to sever that one person. It’s irreparable damage for everyone involved this side of heaven. So though as we said, divorce is permissible — that permission is a grace and we should take seriously the things God takes seriously. We should understand the marriage covenant is not something to enter into or exit out of lightly.

The Gospel Coalition captured on video a conversation between John Piper, Don Carson, and the late Tim Keller. These men are talking about the covenant of marriage and I just had to share this that Tim Keller said.

“…it reminds a little bit of Stanley Harwas who says you always marry the wrong person. Which means, even if you think you're marrying the right person, marriage is such a big deal that once you actually get together, you start to change each other. And so, the basis of your marriage can't be the feeling. And the basis of your marriage can't even be, "We're just kindred spirits because your spirits will go in and out of being kindred." The thing that keeps it is the promise. I made a promise. I've made an appointment with you in the future to be your husband every year, every year…It's a covenant. _Tim Keller

See the heart of man then, and the heart of us now says “technically I haven’t broken God’s law”. We are prone to look for loopholes. Which is why Jesus next broaches the subject of oaths and honesty.

Truth with caveats vs. the call to radical honesty

33 “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.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

I hope we can begin to see the natural flow of Jesus’ thought pattern. Because then we can see, he is not ultimately talking about Anger, murder, lust, or divorce, but the heart of mankind. So we see a natural flow from Christ speaking of divorce — broken covenants — to speaking about promises in general.

See in that culture they heard that if you swore by something besides the name of God, you were not bound to uphold your promise. Yet again, half hearted or no hearted — cold obedience at a bare minimum would yield a world where no one is trusted. This is the adult version of pulling your hand from behind you revealing your fingers were crossed.

Jesus recognized their deceitful hearts. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer points out. Jesus saw the good thing - the oath - now consumed by the lie. In other words the deceitful intention of the heart would have a person just use an oath to trick or manipulate their neighbor into thinking they could be trusted.

💡 Part of being in your thirties is experiencing people older than you telling you that you’re not old and people younger than you saying you are. Another part of being in your thirties is having conversations about which mattress has the best warranty.

What if people made products that didn’t need a guarantee? Better yet, what if we didn’t need to posture ourselves in a certain light for people to believe our words?

So let me ask: do you say things depending on who you are around because you think that’s what they want to hear?

Another hard question - When you tell someone you will do something do you follow through? Are you dependable or would people avoid counting on you?

Jesus calls for radical honesty here. He says for people shaped by God’s love, a simple yes or no should do. He is also saying, in verses 34-36 that you’re offering things as collateral that don’t belong to you. You have no right to offer them as collateral. They belong to God all you have is your word and that should be enough.

Jesus is saying, truth is not malleable. There are not degrees of truth. He is saying people shaped by the love of God do not need flowery qualifiers to their words or ultimately their lives - He says people shaped by the love of God will be radically honest, uncomfortably vulnerable, and — in a cultural moment that has people saying truth is what you make it — people shaped by the love of God are authentic. They are genuine.

They can say “I am a child of the most high and therefore I have nothing to hide.” Nothing to hide, nothing to defend. I can be real about who I am because any accusation about me will only scratch the surface of the true darkness of my soul yet I have been bought by the precious blood of Jesus and because he stood in my place — he alone knows me fully as I am, He alone is my defender. I don’t have to hide behind pretense.

This person shaped by the love of God — when they say yes or no, you can believe them.

Jesus continues his natural flow. Kingdom citizens, shaped by the love of God will be people of integrity and next we see they will be people of love.

II. People of Love | 38-48

Disarming evil with generosity

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 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. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

Jesus now moves into a different sphere of humanity — yet another area where lackluster bare minimum obedience misses the mark of a transformed heart. By unpacking the original intent of the law, He will dismantle the worldly view of love and present something radically different.

See, the original law was about equal measures. These measures where handed down by a judge. But the culture had taken justice into their own hands and using technicalities to justify retaliation.

Right around here is where we hear the objection from others or even our own hearts: “yeah but we aren’t supposed to let people just walk all over us”.

That’s correct and it’s not what Jesus is getting at. Remember this is not the new Law replacing the old. This is kingdom citizens who being shaped by God’s love, would face evil head on and disarm it with generous love.

Jesus is not advocating for abusers. He is not saying, well when you’re being attacked just let it happen. This “slap” in Jesus’s time was a cultural insult. So Jesus is painting a picture here of how Kingdom citizens respond to personal offenses. They are not the type of people who retaliate on a whim but the sort of people who trust that God’s justice is perfect. They don’t need to take things into their own hands. Jesus says this Kingdom citizen will not only receive the insult peacefully, but is able to look past the offense to the human on the other side of it.

Jesus goes further still — past forced giving to radical generosity. Look at verse 42.

42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

(Notice there are no caveats to this statement. No “but don’t give them money because they will use it for alcohol” — not suggesting we don’t practice wisdom just pointing out that Jesus does not add qualifiers, he simply suggests that to be shaped by the love of God is to be radically generous)

Kingdom Citizens shaped by the Love of God are genuinely invested in the needs of others. They are ultimately not concerned with their needs because they have all they could ever need in God. They recognize what John the baptist says in John 3 to be true!

John 3:27 [27] John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. (ESV)

💡 Hear this illustration, not as a prescription but a description. But it would be like walking down the street and a thief holding a weapon says “give me your coat” and aside from your fear which would be reasonable, you have this strange voice in your heart saying “it is cold, maybe he needs it.” (Again, illustrating the heart not giving an example of what to do! If you are robbed, call the police.)

But Paul carries this same thought!

Romans 12:20 [20] To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” (ESV)

What Jesus and Paul are saying, is that you being shaped by the love of God, responding to this anxious aggression with a calm presence will either lead to disarming them with the confusion of your generous response, or to you being in Glory with God. Come what may!

If it sounds counter intuitive, good. It’s a kingdom not like ours. It’s a Kingdom where Christ reigns. In my preparation this week much of the help and clarity on this passage I owe to Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy. We will call this reading an excerpt rather than a quote. It’s a bit lengthy but it’s worth it. Hear what he writes.

Here we must once again recall the point about order: that we have already heard and received the word of the kingdom, and that anger, contempt, and absorbing desire have been dealt with so that our lives are not being run by them. If they occasionally test us still, that is very natural. But they do not control us and leave us unable to reliably and happily carry through with our sober intention to do what is good and avoid what is evil. This being so, when we are personally injured our world does not suddenly become our injury. We have a larger view of our life and our place in God's world. We see God; we see ourselves in his hands. And we see our injurer as more than that one who has imposed on us or hurt us. We recognize his humanity, his pitiful limitations (shared with us), and we also see him under God. This vision, and the grace that comes with it, enables the prayer: "Father forgive them, for they do not really understand what they are doing." And in fact they don't, as Jesus well knew when he prayed this prayer over his murderers. _Dallas Willard

And with this we are brought to the heart of Jesus’ teaching — what real love is.

Love the world’s way vs. Love without caveats

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 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.

Finally we arrive at the final “You have heard it said” statement. Jesus here denies yet another wrongful interpretation of the law. The Old Testament never said to hate your enemy. They had heard You shall love your neighbor and amended this with the caveat that your enemy was not your neighbor. Jesus says love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

He says kingdom citizens, shaped by the love of God will reflect the grace they have been shown. They know that God shows grace to all, so they cannot withhold grace from anyone.

Jesus closes this thought by pointing out that people shaped by the Love of God will look different than the world around them. As if that wasn’t clear enough yet. Look finally at verse 46.

People made perfect - Gospel presentation

46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus closes this section off with a verse that has been widely misinterpreted. The two most common errors are of course the extremes.

One error is to take it too lightly and presume that Jesus is exaggerating again to prove a point. The other is to take it too intensely that we must be sinlessly perfect. Both are wrong in that they once again assume wrongly that Jesus is giving new law. He is not.

He came to fulfill the law and we must remember what started this entire portion of His message.

Matthew 5:20 [20] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (ESV)

Jesus came to rescue all being led astray by the scribes and Pharisees. He gives this message as a great proclamation that says “That’s not what the kingdom is like!” This is the heart behind him flipping the tables in the temple and saying you’ve made my Father’s house a house of thieves.

No the Kingdom of heaven will be different. God is not just going to turn you into cold hearted rule followers! You are going to be a people made perfect!

O that the Spirit would illumine our hearts to see it. Can you see Jesus in every illustration he laid out?

Who would stay committed to the covenant of marriage, never leaving his bride the church but laying His life down for her. Who is the truth the life and the way? Who is the one who does not rely on His own testimony but that of His Father?

Who is the one who would have his tunic taken? Who is the one would receive unequal measures of justice on our behalf? Who would be insulted, accused, mocked, beaten and forced to carry a cross?

Who is the one who would walk that cross miles out of town to the hill of Calvary? Who would go further and carry our shame, our guilt, our sin all that way?

Who is the one that did not consider being God a thing to be grasped but came to earth to sinful beggars like us. Who is the one who would love His enemies to death and pray “Father forgive them”

His name is Jesus Christ the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

He fulfilled the law and went further to conquer sin and death. He rose from the dead and is alive today! He has saved us and is saving us and we will be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection!

Conclusion

In Willard’s chapter on our passage he concludes with a very helpful question. Is loving like this hard to do?

I love how he answers this because we are still, even after hearing this going to ask “What do I have to do?” When we should instead ask “What will we be like, the more and more we are transformed by His love?”

When Jesus hung on the cross and prayed, "Father, forgive them because they do not understand what they are doing," that was not hard for him. What would have been hard for him would have been to curse his enemies and spew forth vileness and evil upon everyone, God and the world, as those crucified with him did, at least for a while. He calls us to him to impart himself to us. He does not call us to do what he did but to be as he was, permeated with love. Then doing what he did and said becomes the natural expression of who we are in him. _Dallas Willard

Kingdom citizens are shaped by the love of God.

Application Questions

1.How can we cultivate a deeper sense of God's love in our lives, and how might this shape our interactions with others?

2. In what ways can we demonstrate forgiveness and reconciliation in our relationships, even in difficult circumstances?

3. How can we extend compassion and understanding to those who have hurt us or whom we find challenging to love?

4. Am I (are we) becoming more loving? Where can I see the love of God transforming my heart? What specific fruits are clearly from above and not my own posturing? (What would my community say about this?)