2.6.10. 2.2.2025 Matthew 5.21-48 Interior Motives

Start:

    Entice: My goal is to be a good exegete of scripture and an accurate preacher of what the Bible teaches.

    Some things are easy to understand but are hard to do. Others, confusing but doable. It is key to not confuse hard to do, with “I don’t want to do.” Ultimately my job is to point you to Jesus whose voice and perspective are authoritative.

       Let’s begin with the last verse of today’s text

Matthew 5:48 ESV

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

       This verse can be daunting because it seems to expect the impossible. It is the conclusion of Jesus’ instruction about properly balancing the interior and exterior life of faith. No. It is not easy. It would be wrong for me to even imply that it is. It is also not impossible. Again, it would be wrong for me to imply it is. Jesus asks us to do hard things that take, focus, work, and engagement. He requires us to think through our spiritual life, both its internal formation and its external expression. Let me read the text, and then we will discuss it.

Matthew 5:21–48 ESV

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 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. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 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. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 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. 30 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. 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. 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. 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. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. 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. 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.

    Engage: There are two initial responses to this text that are both incorrect.

       The first response is Guilt.

I can’t do that so I’m in big trouble. Either I violate the letter of the law, the spirit of the law, or both.

       The other response is Pride.

I do all these things perfectly, I have lots of awards, I am not a sinner, and you are.

       While each of these responses are “natural” each misses the point. Jesus is teaching us the relationship between New-covenant Kingdom values and Old-covenant values. Old-Covenant values were universal for Israel. You were born into it. Kingdom values are voluntary. You are not born into the Church, you decide to follow Jesus; you must be born again.

    Expand: He has called disciples, to follow Him. It is here in the SOM that He begins to outline the nature of discipleship and the kind of commitment needed to be a Kingdom person. The primary difference is where it all begins. Jesus starts not with externals…but internals. He doesn’t begin with our actions but with our hearts.

    Excite: Jesus describes Kingdom-living from the inside out. How we treat one another as an outgrowth of faith and a mark of transformation.

Explore:

In this difficult passage Jesus wants to examine our hearts.

Expand: Jesus compares the external and internal impacts of our actions preparing us for the life-changing experience of being included in His Kingdom. His thinking comes down to two central truths.

Body of Sermon: First, …

    1  Actions Disclose the Heart.

       1.1  Actions are Specific and contextual.

       1.2  Actions are Public and “irreversible”.

           1.2.1   Once you commit adultery, lie, murder, retaliate, or steal…you can’t undo it.

           1.2.2   You can pay the consequences, make amends, apologize, or experience punishment but once you do it, it is did.

       1.3  Actions can be Mandated but not recommended.

           The old proverb “10 commandments not 10 suggestions”.

       1.4  Actions are Enforceable but not transformational.

Actions can be addressed throughout our entire life and our heart may remain the same. So, next Jesus reminds us that

    2  Attitudes Determine the Heart.

Jesus wants to remind us that “not doing” something is no guarantee that we are actually becoming what He wishes us to be. Kingdom living is different. Kingdom living can change our heart.

       2.1  Kingdom living is deliberative.

           2.1.1   Even in this text Jesus teaches us to make distinctions, to clarify intentions, to compare and contrast alternatives.

           2.1.2   Kingdom living motivates us to turn to Jesus who empowers our own conscience, thus enabling us to overcome our own sinful nature.

    Next,

       2.2  Kingdom living is personal.

           2.2.1   It does not objectify and victimize.

           2.2.2   It can never be selfish.

       2.3  Kingdom living is “sacrificial”.

             Kingdom living sacrifices its own rights becoming responsible for mercy and grace.

       2.4  Kingdom living is revolutionary.

Shut Down

    As hard as this passage seems, Jesus is setting the stage for a significant part of Christian theological thinking in the rest of the Gospels and the NT.  When Paul writes that love “…Does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;” (1 Corinthians 13:5 ESV) He is extending the tradition that began with Jesus.

    Empire is built upon strict rules which must be obeyed. Empire relies on threat, force, bribery, manipulation, and intimidation. Those who insist on doing evil deeds are driven into the darkness while others cower in fear. The prospect is not grace or mercy, but justice.

God has chosen to make grace the highest virtue in the Kingdom and mercy it’s most personal expression.

When people look at a text like this and describe Jesus’ words as impractical, they simply demonstrate that they have chosen the wrong side and are embedded in Empire rather than Kingdom.

   Jesus bids us to follow Him, not because we are perfect but because HE is. He allows us to walk with Him to change our hearts knowing that right action will come from a heart remade by God’s own merciful grace. It is in the Kingdom on the road of discipleship that you and I are reborn. Is it fair? NO. Praise be to God!