Jesus Raises the Bar

Intro

We are going through the sermon on the mount. And at the beginning of the series, I said to keep your eye out for two themes throughout this series.

The first is upside down thinking. Because we are selfish, sinful people, we naturally think one way. But God tells us that we need to think differently. And a lot of time, it seems upside down.

The second is Jesus looks at the heart. He raises what we naturally think we should do.

This week, we are going to look at the different areas where Jesus raises what we naturally think, and says that He cares more than our actions, but the heart.

Anger

Matthew 5:21–22 ““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.”

In verse 21, Jesus talks about murder, and it’s wrong. We would agree. But Jesus says that “Everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.”

1 John 3:15 “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer…”

We often think anger is a “lesser” sin, but Jesus talks about how serious it is.

Lust

But anger isn’t the only thing Jesus addresses.

Matthew 5:27–28 ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

In verse 27, Jesus talks about adultery, which we once again agree that it is wrong. But Jesus says that lust is committing adultery in their heart.

We often think “Oh, this is okay. Because it doesn’t hurt anyone.”

Jesus doesn’t just care about what you do. He cares about your heart.

Oaths

Jesus once again rises the bar in verse 33. He talks about oaths, which is basically saying “This is true, and if it is not, may God deal will me or punish me.”

Obviously we should take those seriously.

But Jesus raises the bar.

Matthew 5:37 “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”

Jesus doesn’t just care about your oaths or promises. He cares about every word that comes out of your mouth.

One of the things that drive me crazy is when someone says “It’s just a little white lie.” Jesus says it isn’t.

We need to define sin how God defines sin.

We often try to live life with a list of do this, don’t do this. And that is our measuring stick.

I often have that, “At least I haven’t done that.” We like to compare ourselves to others.

But Jesus says this is what we need to do.

We sometimes think that “This is okay, because it’s a small sin.” or “This isn’t hurting anyone, so it’s not that bad.”

Jesus wants all of you.

Jesus wants your heart.

He wants all of you. Not part of you.

He cares about your thoughts.

Doing dishes, but only cleaning the outside.

The “minor” things are major things.

Jesus cares about your heart.

Jesus cares about the little things you say and do.

Is there an area of your life where you need to change the way you look at it?

Questions

Why do you think Jesus cares so much about what’s happening in our hearts — not just our actions?

Are there sins that we tend to think are “lesser” sins?

3. What’s one area of your life where it’s easy to look good on the outside but harder to give Jesus your whole heart?