The Obedience Jesus Wants

Intro

Last week my good friend and mentor Nick Campbell continued us in our series through the sermon on the mount. and the section he led us through is a transition section. Where Jesus moves from talking about our benefits and roles in the kingdom of God to showing that by His life, death, and resurrection he is bringing purpose and fulfillment to the law. He is showing us that Christian discipleship requires a greater righteousness.

and to show what that means, what it means to fulfill the law, he is going to give us 6 examples of what that greater righteousness looks like in the real world. Today we are going to look at 3 of them. he isn’t about to give us a bunch of hypotheticals, and situations that may or may not apply to us. Jesus is about to get hyper practical by giving us examples on what it looks like for us as citizens of the kingdom of God to live under the law that Jesus fulfilled. He is presenting that law in a way to us that makes it impossible for it to be dumbed down to a list of rules that don’t represent true obedience. This is crucial for us to understand. Jesus isn’t after your submission to a list of rules, He is after your heart. He wants you to walk so closely with him that even your heart is obedient to him. Lets read these practical ways Jesus shows us what that looks like.

Matthew 5:21–32 NIV

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Every one of the statements Jesus makes starts with you have heard it said, or it has been said. And they would have certainly heard these laws presented, they would have memorized them. They were the foundation of their justice system, religious system, and where they found their identity as Israelites. but now Jesus is taking what they learned their whole lives and showing them the purpose of it now that they were followers of him.

1. Jesus Shapes Hearts Before He Commands Hands.

Jesus in this section is showing us just the act of obedience isn’t enough, Jesus is taking the law deeper by showing that he wants our heart, our motives to be in obedience as well.

The Jews at this point were pretty good at obeying a list of rules, by they missed the point. They view the rules as something God imposed on them. Not as the way to align their hearts with God’s heart and be close to him. It was blind obedience.

Which to be clear is a good thing. There are lots of things that when we start out we obey blindly and its a good thing. If you have ever seen the original karate kid movie which was one of my favorite’s growing up. probably because the main character’s name is Daniel. one of the most famous parts of the movie is when Daniel is eager to learn Karate from his teacher Mr miagi. but instead mr miagi gives him two towels and tells him to wax on wax off. and Daniel reluctancly obeys waxing his car for days. until he finally gets upset and goes to mr miagi and says I don’t understand I’m done. and Mr miagi then shows him that all that blind obedience has led to his arms becoming strong and also taught him the muscle memory to deflect punches and kicks from his attackers.

From that moment on Daniel’s hands and his heart and motives were clear on why he was doing what he was doing it was like a light bulb turned on. This was the wax on wax on moment for the disciples. Jesus is saying you have been trying to obey these rules blindly all your life but now I am telling you why. it is so even your heart will be in line with the father in ways you never thought possible. and they would see that it was all because of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. They had been taught to only worry about if their hands were obeying. Jesus is now showing them that their hands will follow their heart

Matthew 5:21–24 NIV

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

Jesus says you have heard it said don’t murder. Pretty good advice. But he takes it further saying anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgement. the word brother He uses here means others in the community or other believers. This doesn’t mean you get a free pass to hate non Christians. It simply means that when you as believer who has received forgiveness. Who has experienced God’s anger and wrath towards you be held back by the act of love that Jesus displayed on the cross. and then you choose to harbor hate towards others who have experienced the same. It is the exact opposite of living like Jesus and the life that he wants for you.

2. A Heart Full of Hate Can’t Worship.

God is after the obedience of your heart not just your hands. If I hate someone so much that when I see them I just want to punch them in face, I smile when I hear something bad about them, I bring up their worst qualities or things they’ve done. Could you honestly stand before God and say hey atleast I didn’t kill them. is that obedience? Does that sound like you are becoming more like Christ and living out the beatitudes or the fruit of the Spirit no.

No because God isn’t looking at us as believers and asking did they technically follow the ten commandments. He is looking at our hearts and asking are their hearts becoming more like mine. If your heart is full of hate toward others. even those who deserve it by the world’s standards. How can your heart be becoming more like God’s.

In 23 and 24 God shows how serious he is about believers not harboring hate towards each other.

He says if you are offering a gift at the altar and you remember someone has something against you. They have cause to be angry at you he says to leave and go reconciled.

Jesus is telling you to leave church. How crazy is that. because God knows you can’t have a true act of worship with your hands when your heart is full of hate, or you know you’ve wronged someone and not tried to make it right.

Matthew 5:27–32 NIV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

These two practical ways to live in the kingdom flow together. cause they relate to the heart behind how we should handle marriage relationships in the kingdom of God.

Just like with murder Jesus starts out you shall not commit adultery. again good advice. Even the world would say that makes sense.

But Jesus here is deepening our understanding of the law. and the command to not commit adultery was wider than just the act of sexual immorailty. Jesus is showing us that any and every sexual practice that is immoral in deed is immoral also in look and in thought. Looking and fantasizing, will lead your heart farther your spouse and farther from God just like actually committing the act will.

so what do we do about it? how do we live with that knowledge, how do we lead our hearts towards our spouses and towards God. and get caught up in all the world pushes us to lust after what we know will position our hearts away from our spouses and God? We do what Jesus told us to in this passage.

3. Sever the Source of Sin.

Jesus says if your eyes are leading you away gouge them out. If your hand is leading you away cut it off. In other passages he says something similar about feet if they are leading you away. the command is clear. Whatever is leading you towards lust get rid of it.

Take drastic measures to avoid temptations to sexual sin.

If what you look at on your phone is leading your eyes to lust. Get accountability software or get a flip phone.

If the movies and shows you watch are leading you to lust after the people on screen stop watching them.

If you’re married and have a relationship at work with the opposite sex that is getting too close. End that relationship.

If the places you go are putting you in situations to lust stop going there.

If you can’t stop yourself from looking at people at the gym stop going there, buy a treadmill for your house.

If you know when you get around a certain friend group they are going to put you in positions that will lead you astray. Don’t go out with them.

Whatever the situation here is the bottom line. When you take drastic measure to avoid sin. People won’t get it. They will say things like, you really haven’t seen that movie? you really don’t have that app? You really won’t go out with us. and it will feel like you are missing out and that’s because you will miss out on things the world thinks are important.

but Jesus is showing us it is better to forgo some exeriences this life has to offer in order to experience the fullness of the life Jesus offers.

It is better accept some cultural amputation in this world to gain a heart that is fully in line with God’s.

To conclude this section Jesus speaks on a topic that has affected every single person in this room. Everyone in here has either been divorced, has parents who are divorced, inlaws that are divorced, kids that are divorced, or friends that are divorced. I know many strong Christians who I look up to that have been divorced. So what do we do with Jesus’ word’s here.

A couple of things that will help us understand is first that this was big debate for the people who were listening. Some religious teachers were saying you could divorce your wife you didn't like her cooking. and others were saying only if she’s unfaithful.

Men were throwing their wives away without a certificate of divorce which would allow her to remarry for any reason and ruining their lives. So these words from Jesus that sound harsh towards women at first glance were actually words of protection for divorced women one of the most at risk people groups of their time.

Jesus unlike Jewish law which required divorce if there was unfaithfulness. Jesus did not require divorce so that reconcilaiton could happen but he did permit it.

What do we do with all that. God hates divorce. He hates that because of sin the institution of marriage often fails to be the picture of his unending love towards us that he made it to be. But God in his love acknowledges it as part of the reality of living in a broken world. Just like murder, and anger is a result of living in a broken world, just like lust and adultery result from being in a broken world. And God in his love doesn’t just acknowledge this reality but shows us how to live in his kingdom with these realties.

God hates murder, he hates when we hate each other, he hates adultery, he hates lust, he hates divorce. He does not hate you.

If you are divorced here today. God loves you, He has a plan for you, and he is not done with you. You are not failure. You are not worthless, God doesn’t make junk. and if you are a part of the kingdom of God. You have been made righteous and set apart.

Conclusion

Throughout this whole section Jesus is calling not just our hands but our hearts to obedience. He wants the obedience of our hands to flow from a heart that is line with the fathers. Where is your heart today? have you grown up in church trying to do all the right things but its felt like a chore because your heart’s not in it?

Maybe its because you never gave your heart to Jesus and trusted in him for salvation.

Maybe your hear today and you a Christian but you’ve been going through the motions. you’ve been showing up but your heart is lusting after its own desires instead of God’s and you are tired of where its leading you. and you need to come down and tell God the things that you need to cut out of your life.

Maybe today you are harboring hate for another Christian and you know you cant move forward in your walk with Christ while carrying that hate. Come repent of that before God this morning, and leave church today and go make it right with that person.