The Value of Human Life - Matthew 5:21-26

Good morning.

It's good to be with all of you.

It is always such a privilege to gather together, to worship together, to sit under God's Word together.

So let's take out a copy of God's word.

Let's all turn to Matthew 5, where we are going to be continuing our series in the Sermon on the Mount.

And last week we saw how Jesus talked about how he came to fulfill the law

And in talking about fulfilling the law, he was pointing to the fact that he came

to accomplish the purpose to which it pointed

to bring it to completion by doing all that it commanded.

But it isn't just that he will do everything that is required of it

By perfectly obeying the law, he would shows us what it really looks like to follow God’s commands

He doesn’t just show us the letter of the law, he shows us the spirit of the law.

And over the next few weeks we are going to hear from Jesus what it looks like to truly follow God’s commands as his kingdom people.

Now before we get into the text, I want you to think about things that are valuable, maybe carry some value or people ascribe value to them

And think about what you do with them when they are no longer valuable to you.

A set of golf clubs that never gets used anymore, so you get rid of them

A dress that you bought for a single event and will never wear again, so you sell it or donate it.

When it doesn’t have any value, you discard it.

Back when I was a teenager, and I finally started making my own money and buying things that I wanted to buy, I thought that that coins were inconvenient.

Paid with cash and would get coins back in my change.

And I despised carrying coins, and so the only change that I would carry was quarters

And so when I got any other kind of change, I would throw it in the trash.

I literally threw money away

[Don't worry, I don't do that anymore]

What's the point?

The change actually carried value. It actually had a monetary value,

but because I didn't see the value. I discarded it as being worthless.

And the sad reality is that we don’t just do that with things and inanimate objects.

The sad reality is that in our society today, when we no longer see a person as valuable to us or we no longer see a relationship as valuable to us, we discard them.

Someone believes differently than you in the political arena, and so you just cut off the relationship.

I hear people talk about how they think that the world would be a better place if certain people just didn’t exist.

And the clearest picture of this is Abortion

Seeing another human life as less valuable or as inconvenient to what I really want, so I can just discard it.

It is a sad, awful reality in the world that that is really at root, a denial of the inherent value of every human life

But in the kingdom of God, people are not disposable.

In the kingdom of God, people have inherent value, and how we treat one another communicates what we think about that value.

And Jesus is going to show us in our text this morning what it looks like to truly one another

To not treat each other the way the world does

But to treat one another the way God intends

So let’s give these words our full attention

Matthew 5:21–26 ESV

“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.

These are God’s words for us

Big Idea: Kingdom people must value one another. [7:00]

If we are going to live in the kingdom of God,

if we’re going to be people who are marked by following Jesus,

Jesus is telling us here that to to follow Him,

to truly value one another is so much more than just not killing people.

Truly valuing one another is actually rooted in how we view each other

And so we need to have the right view of people.

And the right view of one another starts with a right view of the value God gives each person.

Genesis 1, God creates men and women in his image, which means he made them to be reflections of himself.

Mankind is the only creation with this quality

So people are set apart from creation for a special purpose, to reflect the God of all creation

And since God made them for this purpose, every human life has value.

And so when you and I value one another, we are not just valuing people.

We’re honoring God and the purpose for which he created us.

And the opposite is also true

When we discard relationships because we devalue them

When we discard people from our lives because we have devalued them

We are not just devaluing one another, we are blaspheming God by saying some who are meant to bear his image aren’t worth as much as others

And so if we are to be people who are living in the kingdom of God, we must value one another.

[Bridge question] What does that look like?

When we value something, we prioritize certain things to preserve what we value

Our priorities show what we value most

What are the priorities that we need to have that show that we value one another?

Jesus is going to show us three priorities that we need to have.

And if we will prioritize these things, we will be valuing one another as Kingdom people

So we’ll do it like this. We’ll say…

Kingdom people prioritize…

Compassion over contempt (v. 21-22) [10:00]

Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’”

He's quoting two different passages

Exodus 20 - You shall not murder

Ex. 21, Lev. 24 - Punishment for murder is death.

Jesus is saying, “That is the letter of the law.”

And he is upholding it.

“That’s good”

But here's the deal: Someone who only cares about external righteousness, will say something like,

“I'm a good person. I've never murdered anybody and since I haven't killed anybody, according to this command, I’m righteous.”

That was easy

And Jesus is saying, “Not so fast…”

The issue of murder is first a heart issue, and the issue in your heart is what you think about other people.

And it is those thoughts that we need to get clarity on so that we understand why Jesus says what he is about to say

So let’s go on a field trip back to Gen. 4.

And just before chapter 4 is Genesis 3 - That might sound obvious, but I say it to point out an important fact: Gen. 4 is part of the same literary unit as Gen. 3 - They are meant to be read together

And in ch. 3, we see the serpent deceive the woman, convincing her to disobey God

And together, Adam and Eve rebel against God’s command and they bring sin, death, and brokenness into the world.

But God makes a promise in v. 15 in ch. 3 saying that an offspring of the woman will come to crush the serpent's head.

So as readers, we are now looking for this child.

When is he going to show up?

Ultimately, we know this points to Jesus, but Eve, as we will see, thought the fulfillment would come much sooner.

Look at Genesis 4:1: "Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.’"

Cain means, “Obtained”

She has a son and names him, “I got him!”

She believes Cain is the promised child.

I got the son God promised me

The one who is going to fix everything

But then she has another son.

Verse 2: “And again, she bore his brother Abel.”

Well if Cain means, “God gave me the son I was waiting for”, what does Abel mean?

Abel comes from the Hebrew hevel, meaning worthless, insignificant, meaningless

What does that tell us?

Eve, living under sin’s brokenness, sees one son as valuable and the other as insignificant.

Imagine how that shaped their upbringing, their identities, their relationship. 

And do you think that impacted how Cain viewed Abel?

Absolutely

But when they bring their offerings to God, everything flips.

Verse 4: "The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard."

And what is Cain’s response?

Verse 5: "So Cain was very angry, and his face fell."

Why?

Cain lived his whole childhood with a name that said “Valued” so he saw himself accordingly.

Abel had a name that said, “Worthless” and that is how Cain saw him

“I’m the valuable one. I was meant for significance. Abel is nothing—how could God accept him over me?”

And this is the progression Jesus warns us about in Matthew 5:

Pride fuels anger. (I’m more valuable than him. Why was he accepted and not me? )

Anger fuels contempt. (He is beneath me—worthless!)

Contempt fuels dehumanization. (He doesn’t deserve God’s favor!)

Dehumanization fuels destruction. (I must eliminate him.)

Cain murdered his brother because he devalued him in his heart first.

And Jesus, in Matt. 5, is saying: “You may not physically murder, but if you harbor anger and contempt, you are walking in the footsteps of Cain.”

You see, contempt is seeing someone as worthless to me

It is to reduce their value in my eyes

And because I see you as lesser, I can treat you however I want.

Murder is, at base, a statement of the lack of worth of a person.

Jesus is saying that when you are angry and have contempt toward another person, it is the same sin.

We should all be back in Matt. 5 now…

Look at v. 22

Matthew 5:22 ESV

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.

I want you to see what's happening here.

Jesus gives three examples of ways that we show contempt toward others, that they do something we don't like, or they say something we don't like, and the response is anger

Anger = Rage that seeks harm

Righteous anger vs. this anger

Righteous anger is when i am angry about something that is wrong and it drives me cry out to God for justice

Sinful anger, this anger, is when I am angry that something is not how I want it to be and so I take things into my own hands

Or I just hope something bad happens to you

This anger is what my wife Jeannie refers to as an “Adult tempter tantrum”

I didn’t get my way and now you’re going to pay

Insult = Aramaic word that means “worthless; good for nothing.”

I show contempt when I start saying things about you that communicate just how little I think of you.

“You fool” - Greek word that we get “Moron” from.

You don't know anything. You're empty headed.

All three of these are forms of contempt.

Listen: They all reveal what is in my heart

And those thoughts and words reveal that I have a heart of murder because I have belittled you in my mind.

[Practical examples]

When a when a husband complains about his wife because he sees her as an obstacle rather than a support

When a when a wife belittles her husband constantly telling him all the things that he doesn't do right.

When parents talk down to their children

Young people, this applies to you too

When you talk bad about your parents or talk back to them because you don’t value their influence in your life

When you talk about your in-laws in a way that not only demeans them, but then also is a burden to your spouse

When you have nothing positive to say about your boss or your employees

Those are all forms of contempt that reveal that in my heart, what I actually think is that you're worth less than me

That is contemptuous… And Jesus is saying it is murderous.

Who do you have contempt toward today?

How have you talked down to people lately?

And what does that say about the value that you think they have?

We must take it seriously… because Jesus that the consequence of that contempt is judgment.

[Consequences]

Jesus lists three consequences that go with those three example

He says if you’re angry and have contempt, you will be liable to judgment

That's the judgment of capital punishment from Ex. 21 and Lev. 24.

If you kill, you will be killed.

“Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council” - That is the court that would carry out the sentence.

“Whoever says, ‘You fool’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” - The perfect justice and judgment of God

These aren’t three different punishments - All three of the consequences are pointing to receiving the death penalty for murder.

So what is he saying?

He is saying, whether you kill with your hands, your heart, or your words, its the same sin so the punishment is the same.

Condemnation.

And when i live with this kind of contempt, I show that I am not living in the kingdom of God, but living in the kingdom of the world.

The world says:

You should be angry

You should insult people

You should demean people if they if they don't do what they should do

You have every right to treat them like garbage, cut them out of your life, slander them behind their backs, ruin their lives if they don't do what you want.

That's what the world says.

But in God’s kingdom, we don't show contempt.

We show compassion.

Compassion is the opposite of contempt.

Compassion is when I see your value despite the circumstances.

That even though I didn’t like what happened, I won’t let it cause me to see you differently or to lessen your value in my eyes.

I know that what you did right there wasn't okay, but I see you past it.

I see you beyond what's going on right now.

I love you more than the thing that went wrong

I love you more than I love being right

I love you more than getting my own way

I love you more than this situation.

The opposite of murder is giving life

The opposite of tearing down is building up

The opposite of contempt is compassion

Because I value you as a brother or sister, as a fellow image bearer, made by God, imbued with immeasurable worth, I will treat you like it.

Let me just ask you, What has marked you relationships lately

Contempt? Or compassion?

Do you treat people based on if they meet your expectations?

Or do you treat them based on the God whom they reflect?

If we are to be a people who one another we have to be a people who prioritize Compassion over Contempt. 

Next, kingdom people prioritize:

Restoration over ritual (v. 23-24) [23:00]

We had to spent the majority of the time on v. 21-22 because that is the actually explanation of what it looks like to follow the command “Do not murder.”

Now Jesus gives two situations to apply the command to.

The first one is in v. 23-24

Matthew 5:23 “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,”

Jesus starts with “So” - that’s the that's the Greek word for therefore, which means what he's about to say is directly connected to what came before it.

The logical connection is: Your brother or sister has something against you because of your anger and your words

This isn’t: They are upset with you because you stood up for what is right.

It is you did something hurtful that in some way devalued them.

You somehow showed them contempt.

And you need to make it right.

It is very easy to think that we are honoring God with our lives when the rituals of our life match Scripture

I go to church

I give to the church and toward the mission of God

I serve in the church

It isn’t that those things don’t matter - They absolutely do

It is that if I am doing those things while simultaneously being showing contempt toward others, I am not honoring anyone except myself.

This is why John says in 1 Jn. 4, that “if anyone says ‘I love God’ but hates his brother, he's a liar.”

You cannot treat people in a dehumanizing way, all the while saying that you are elevating God.

To truly honor God by doing the things that we are called to do, I must also value the people I do them alongside of

Does that make sense?

The prescriptions for our lives in Scripture are absolutely essential

But to only care about doing the things is to be a pharisee

True righteousness that exceeds the Scribes and Pharisees cares about relationships too

And so Jesus is saying that if you are offering your gift at the altar and you realize that your brother has something against you, that you did something where he is rightly bothered…

Look at what he says, “leave your gift there, before the altar and go, first, be reconciled to your brother”

Jesus is speaking in Galilee, and you would offer your gift in Jerusalem.

And sometimes you would do it only once a year, and it was a long walk to Jerusalem from Galilee.

A 91 mile walk. It would take approximately 4 days to make the journey.

And so you would take your sacrifice all the way to Jerusalem, and then you would stand in line all day, and Jesus is saying:

“After all that, when you get to the front of the line and you're next, in that moment, you realize your brother or sister has something against you because of something you said to him or her, or a way that you reacted in your anger, that sacrifice will be worthless. That offering will be meaningless.”

Often, because it is inconvenient or awkward to pursue reconciliation, we think

“He’ll get over it”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal”

“If he wants to talk, he can reach out… but I don’t want to stir up old stuff.”

“I just want to focus on what I am doing for God and leave that in the past.”

Jesus is saying “No, that is the wrong mentality.”

To value one another in that moment, what I need to do is say,

“I want my worship of God to flow from my heart, and so I must not harden my heart against my brothers and sisters.

I need to go make it right.

And when I have, then I go back and do the thing for God

You see how Jesus concludes it - “and then come and offer your gift.”

Listen, I want to make sure you hear me:

Our liturgy and the things we do to worship God matter

He doesn’t say, forget about the gift.

He says, make sure you are right with people… and then still give the gift.

but when as I sing, I realize that there is a person across the sanctuary that has bitterness toward me because of something I've done,

If I'm carrying out external activity that is prescribed in Scripture,

and I realize that there is something wrong between me and another person because of something that I've done… I need to go make it right.

[EXAMPLES]

Communion

What do we say every time we take communion? Don’t do this if you are living in conflict with God or in conflict with others

Jesus paid for our reconciliation, so be reconciled to one another

Singing - Lifting hands, but remembering how I hurt him

Go apologize and then sing together

“Oh, it will be awkward….”

You know what is more awkward?

Giving a worthless offering to God because I’m too proud to be restored to my brother.

This is why God says through the prophet Hosea, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”

A sacrifice from a hard heart is no gift

We don't do, “oh, He'll get over it.” No, that's not for you to decide.

We don't do, “oh, well, if he really understood, he wouldn't be bothered.”

No, that's not for you to decide.

The fact of the matter is something that I did, did hurt that person, and it's up to us to value their humanity and make it right.

So let me I'll just ask you point blank: Are there people you're avoiding?

You are avoiding being restored with because you just want to focus on the ritual?

Are you taking comfort in the doing of religious activity all the while ignoring the harm that you've done to another person?

Let's let's be restored to one another,

so that those things that we do in worship to God can be truly meaningful as they flow from a transformed heart,

as we prioritize restoration over ritual.

And third, kingdom people prioritize…

Humility over hostility (v. 25-26) [33:00]

Jesus doesn't act like those who follow him can never do anything wrong.

He acknowledges that, in fact, there will be times where we absolutely are in the wrong.

Look at verse 25 “Come to terms quickly with your accuser.”

The word there is adversary.

So this is a this is not the same situation as v. 23 and 24

He's giving a second illustration of how to not murder in our hearts, this time with an adversarial person, not a not a brother or sister, but someone who's actually against you

“come to terms quickly with your accuser while you're 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 penalty.”

What's he doing there?

He's saying, “Hey, there are times where you're totally in the wrong, and if you were to present your cases before an arbiter, that arbiter, that judge, would decide in favor of your accuser.”

So often, it's so easy for us to explain away our actions

and make excuses for our actions and our words,

when, in reality, because of our anger,

we legitimately wrong them,

and then they bring that accusation to bear on us.

And Jesus is saying, in those moments, the way you value one another is through humility, not hostility.

Hostility says:

“I'm going to defend myself.

I'm going to explain why you don't have all the details.

I'm going to make sure that you know that there are certain things you don't know.

I'm going to say, Well, if you were in my shoes, you would have done the same thing.”

No, that's all hostility.

That's all pushing back against the accusation that someone is rightly bringing to me, and it denies that person’s value because it says

“You feeling hurt is actually up to whether I'm gonna permit you to feel hurt and I'm not going to permit you to feel hurt so you don't get to be hurt.”

No, that devalues, that is hostile.

But humility says:

“Hey, help me understand what I did wrong, because I see that I hurt you.”

Whether I meant to or not, I see that I hurt you, and that was wrong.

I didn't value you as an image bearer of God.

I didn't value you the way that I should have as a brother or sister.

I treated you according to the worth that I placed upon you.

That was wrong.

Help me to see you, your value, and how I wronged you.”

You see, the person who values others doesn't wait for judgment to force them to make it right.

They own whatever they can own, and they are proactive in making it right.

And that takes humility.

See the hostility leads us to:

Minimize the hurt by saying I didn't mean it

Dismiss feelings, by saying, “You're being too sensitive”

Cover up harmful words by saying I was just joking.

Humility means that I own whatever I can own to make it right.

I won't minimize your hurt. I'll validate it.

I won't say I didn't mean it that way. I'll say, I can see how what I said hurt you and I should never have said that.

I won't dismiss their feelings by saying you're being too sensitive, I’ll be sensitive to the feelings you express.

We won’t let the inner-lawyer rise up within us to argue the case

We will listen, we will seek to understand

Nothing says, “I don’t value you” like refusing to admit any wrong.

But the opposite is also true

Nothing says, “You have value” like owning how I was wrong for your sake.

You remember what Jesus said back in v. 9 - “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons and daughters of God”

When you and I are guilty of devaluing other people,

the thing that will show that we are the sons and daughters of God,

the thing that will show that we truly are living for the kingdom of God,

is that we don't try to justify ourselves,

but we make peace by prioritizing humility over hostility.

[CONCLUSION]

Jesus gives us three priorities:

Compassion over contempt

Restoration over ritual

Humility over hostility

Listen: The fact of the matter is that all of us who are following Jesus by faith have been reconciled to God.

Though we were in the wrong, he acted first

He sent his son Jesus to live perfect obedience, to perfectly fulfill the law.

Jesus went to the cross, having lived a perfect, sinless life and died in perfect, substitutionary death, paying the penalty for our sins.

He did all of that to reconcile with us.

So we then, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 have a ministry of reconciliation

that we don't diminish the humanity and the value of another person

We were made in God’s image, and he valued us to reconcile to us

Let’s value one another and in so doing, follow Jesus as we live in his kingdom.

Because Kingdom people must one another.

Amen.

[40:00]