Love Beyond Limits
The Gospel Journey • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Scripture Reference: Mat 5:33-48
We want to welcome everyone out to Allons Baptist Church this morning. It is so good to have each and every one of you here with us today.
Can we take a moment to welcome our visitors, as well as those who are watching with us online? Thank you for coming and thank you for tuning in!
Context
Context
With God’s help, we are going to attempt to finish out Chapter 5 of Matthew today. We are walking through the Sermon on the Mount, and the end of Chapter 5 deals with 6 things that Jesus addresses concerning the Law.
Throughout the ages, the true meaning of the Law had been lost, so Jesus here is challenging their understanding of it. He does so by saying, “You have heard that it was said…” and then He presents a law based upon their understanding of it. But then He follows that up with “But I say unto you…” and presents that same law in the fullness of what God meant when He gave it to us.
Today, we are going to be dealing with three different topics: Oaths (swearing), Retaliation (Vengeance), and Love (True Godly Love).
In all three of these areas of focus, Jesus is going to Dare us to be different. That is the title of the message today, “Dare To Be Different”.
In other words, what Jesus says in these verses is going to challenge us. It is easy to read some of this stuff and kind of have the attitude, “Yeah, but...”
And really, that is exactly what happens a lot of times. These verses almost seem counterintuitive to what we practice today, and they are definitely counter-cultural to what we experience today. But a challenge is just that. If something is challenging, it is not easy, it is not simple, and it is not normal for us. It is meant to push into deep thought. It is meant to cause us to sit back and truly evaluate our standards of living.
So let’s dive in and see how Jesus dares us to be different.
Content
Content
Proclaim Pure Promises
Proclaim Pure Promises
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’
34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
The first area of focus that Jesus chooses is that of swearing. By swearing, we do not mean cursing, but actually swearing. It is when we take an oath to do something.
In doing so, most people will use those very words, “I swear”. Sometimes we will use different words. Instead of “I swear”, many today will say “I promise”. Regardless of the words used, the act is still the same.
At the root of the matter, swearing is done to build confidence in others. We could simply leave off the “I swears” and “I promises”, but somehow it seems to add emphasis to what has been said. Or at least it is perceived to.
During Bible times, there were two different kinds of swearing: a bound swear and an unbound swear.
A Bound Swear
A bound swear was an oath taken in the name of God Himself. To do so was to tie God to the oath, making Him a partner, so to speak, to whatever was being said. To make a bound swear was viewed as just that… it was binding. If the thing sworn in the name of God turned out to be false, or it was not accomplished as promised, severe consequences could be the result.
An Unbound Swear
An unbound swear was an oath that omitted the “name of God”, but most often still used some type of sacred language like “by heaven”, “by earth”, “by Jerusalem”, “by my head”, or some other significant thing. Though it was still frowned upon to break one of these oaths, it was not considered to be as binding as one bound to the actual name of God.
This helps us to understand why Jesus uses some of these exact phrases here in this set of verses.
He first alludes to the common understanding of oath taking, “You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.”
23 That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.
Their understanding of oathtaking seemed to be grounded in Scripture, but as with most of the other laws, they had found ways to either use the law to their advantage, or to use the law to condemn others unjustly.
For instance, certain religious leaders would take oaths in the name of God that bound them to service at the temple. Though this may seem honorable on the outside, it also caused them to live in sin because their oath negated one of God’s other laws, which was “Honor thy Father and Mother.”
Part of honoring one’s parents is stepping up to help care for them and their property once they were unable to do it for themselves anymore. But these priests were saying that they couldn’t go work the farms, tend to the animals, raise the crops, work on the house, etc. because they had taken a vow in the name of God that had to be kept.
This sinful act became known as the Law of Corban.
9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God),
12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother,
13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
In this text, the religious leaders are refusing to financially help their own parents because it was “their duty” to give it to God.
Once again, they insisted that this practice was Biblical, but yet they had placed their own interpretation of it above the intended meaning. Another example is Matthew 23.16
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’
And again…
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—
But Jesus pressed on by saying, “Yes, but read verse 5…”
5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
So in His response to their twisted practice of keeping oaths, Jesus responded, “But I say to you, do not swear at all… But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’, ‘No’. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”
Jesus tells them that to swear at all is a dangerous thing, because man has no power or authority over the universe. Heaven and earth both belong to the Lord. Jerusalem is the city of God, not the city of man. And even to swear on your own life is futile, because it belongs to the Lord.
According to Jesus, saying anything more than just yes or no was to fall into the trap of Satan, because to do so was to operate with pride in your heart. In other words, He is saying in a nice way, “What gives you the right to swear on something that belongs to me?”
He is teaching us that the character of man is far more important than his words. Words only have as much value as the one who says them.
When a man says he will do something, his word should mean something. He shouldn’t have to swear to make it more believable. If he does what he says he’s going to do, that ought to be enough. Matter of fact, Jesus tells us to do any more than that is to cross over into sin.
We are not to attempt to step into the domain of God and control the outcome of things. Let’s let God be God and simply perform to the best of our ability, knowing that many things in this life are completely outside of our control.
Practice Radical Restraint
Practice Radical Restraint
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
The second area of focus for Jesus was that of retaliation. As before, He begins by stating the common understanding of their day, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’.”
This Law is directly quoted from the Old Testament:
22 “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
23 But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,
24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
19 ‘If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him—
20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him.
18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother,
19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you.
20 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you.
21 Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
As we can see, the concept of “eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth” is grounded in God’s Law. But upon closer examination, what you find is in all of these instances where it is stated, God is instructing in matters of civil law. In other words, these principles were never intended to be exacted in one’s own personal matters, but rather through the governing authorities.
The passage in Deuteronomy says that “the judges shall make careful inquiry...”
The passage in Leviticus comes from an instance where a man is brought to Moses for judgment.
The passage in Exodus comes from when Moses was talking to God Himself and God is explaining how Moses must judge accordingly moving forward with the people.
But as with all of the other laws we have seen, the religious leaders had profaned the natural meaning of the text to support their own personal vendettas. This law had been perverted to support personal vengeance against another, which was never the intent. God created governing authorities in Moses’ day to handle such matters, and the law was given to make sure that vengeance didn’t go to far. Though we might not want to admit it, getting even is rarely the goal, we want to get more than even. We want to prove a point in vengeance. These laws were given to make sure that did not happen. The judgment was that whatever injustice had been performed against a person, shall be brought upon the guilty in exact measure, making sure the judgment was just.
Knowing that the law of God was being perverted by them, Jesus now offers commentary on what this should look like. Matthew 5.39
39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
“But I tell you not to resist an evil person.”
The original word that is translated resist here means to oppose, or stand against. This is a personal term. Jesus is not condemning self-defense. He is not saying that we are not allowed to defend ourselves or out families. When you keep this in context, He is saying that exacting personal vengeance against an evil person is wrong. God has not given us the authority to do such things. If something has been done wrong against us, we are to take the matter to the proper authorities and let them do what God intended for them to do. To handle it personally, is to sin against God.
“But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”
Once again, this does not mean that we are unable to defend ourselves. A closer look at what is being said reveals just that.
Notice first that this is a slap, not a closed-fist punch.
Also notice that it is a slap on the right cheek. This means the slap would either have to come from the weak hand of the offender, or from the backside of his strong hand.
The idea here is not to cause harm, but to incite or bait someone into a violent exchange. Furthermore, it is an attack upon one’s dignity. It is meant to devalue a person, to insult them, or to embarrass them.
We also know that this type of attack can be done without actual physical harm. You can attack someone’s dignity, or try to embarrass them just by using words.
Jesus is telling us that we should not retaliate in such instances. Most of the time, to retaliate in such instances means to get even. This means we would return their insult with more insult. But to do so would be sinful. He is telling us not to let others lead us into sin. We are not to stoop down to that level.
40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
If someone was sued in Bible times and they did not have the money to pay the fine, clothes could be offered as payment.
First, we have to understand that if a fine is being issued, then the person being sued is actually in the wrong. This is not saying that if we are unjustly sued, but rather that if we are justly sued. If we have done something wrong and someone sues us, then we should not only be willing to pay the fine that is owed, but even more than what is required to make things right. We should be willing to admit our faults, and make whatever payment is necessary to clear things up.
41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
Roman law gave a soldier the right to force a civilian to carry his pack for a milion, a Roman mile, which was slightly shorter than our modern mile.
Not only did this right cause an inconvenience to whoever had to carry the pack, it was also considered a shameful act. The fact that a Jew had to relieve a Roman soldier by carrying his pack, when the Romans were the ones who were oppressing the Jews was an act of shame. No Jew wanted to be related with a Roman on any account.
The point is that when we are asked to be of help to someone else, even when our traditions tell us we are not supposed to like those people, we should be willing to do whatever we can to help another person. The fact that He says we should willing to go two miles, which is double what was required, means that we should not only be willing to do it, but also that we should not be angry or resentful about it.
42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
As Christians, we often forget that nothing truly belongs to us. Everything we have is a gift from God and all things belong to Him.
Once again, this text has been misapplied throughout the church to mean that we are to give everything away to others, or that we should tell anyone and everyone yes, even if we know it is scam.
That is not what Jesus is saying. Matter of fact, the best thing we can do for others sometimes, is tell them NO. We should also use sound judgment in doing so.
The idea of this text is that the person asking for help has a genuine need. If someone is truly in need, we should be willing to let go of whatever we have to help them. Even if they are unable to return it, or repay it, if we are in a position to help, we should do so.
Perfect Love Personified
Perfect Love Personified
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Lastly, and the thing that ties all things together, Jesus addresses the issue of love.
This tradition of the religious leaders was only partially found in the Old Testament.
18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
If you do a search throughout the whole Bible, you will not find a single place to where God tells us to hate our enemies. What it does say is that “those who hate us” which is a reference to our enemies is under His control.
19 Consider my enemies, for they are many; And they hate me with cruel hatred.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me.
7 “Also the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.
So in response to their current understanding of the Law, Jesus says:
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father 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.
Jesus says that it is not our responsibility to punish our enemies. That is God’s domain. God has called us to treat everyone with love. We are responsible for keeping ourselves close to God and being the person that He has called us to be. This means that we are not to treat others as they treat us, but better.
When someone curses us, we are supposed to respond in love. When someone hates us, we are supposed to respond by doing good to them. When someone spitefully uses us and persecutes us, we are to pray for them.
Why? you might ask… because that is exactly what God does. Verse 45 says that we are to do this so that you may be sons of your Father 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.
If we are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we must treat others as He would.
As He hung upon the cross of Calvary, He looked up to heaven and said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” He responded to their evil with love.
He then adds sound reasoning to this explanation:
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
He says, “I dare you to be different.”
If you only love those who love you, you are no better than your enemy. If you speak to those you like only, you are no better than your enemy. In essence, this is a challenge of our character. He is saying that if we operate just like those who hate us, then we are just like those who hate us. In this regard, we are the enemy.
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
I dare you to be different. As a child of God, we are to mimic Him in all we do. It is counter-cultural. It is not normal. It may even be considered weird or crazy.
But… it is Biblical. It is to be like Jesus.
Commitment
Commitment
