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The Small Catechism:
The Eighth [Commandment]
You are not to bear false witness against your neighbor.
What is this?
Answer:
We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations.
Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.
The Large Catechism:
The Eighth Commandment
Introduction:
Context:
I.
The False Witnesses Open their Mouths
A. Seeking false testimony against Jesus
It is ironic that the council who represented God’s people, the people who had God’s Law given to them, were blatantly disregarding them.
They knew this Commandment to not bear false witness by memory, but they proceeded in their evil plot.
i.
That they might put him to death
a. Their motives were hateful (… and selfish/prideful)
b.
They were judging their brother (when this was not their job)
c.
A neighbor is not to judge a neighbor.
If you find out about someone’s sin you must not tell it to other people.
Scripture clearly tells us that we must go directly to the person who has sinned and make it known to them so that they may have opportunity to repent and be restored.
If they will not listen to you then you take two or three other witnesses and bring it to them.
Finally, if they persist in their sin, they are to be brought before the congregation or the proper authority so that they may be judged appropriately.
If you do not tell the person directly, they have no opportunity to repent.
You also ruin their reputation.
This is not
d.
Luther explains in the Large Catechism that only people who are in an office of authority can judge.
If you are a parent, a judge, a police officer you MUST judge.
This is your duty as an authority.
ii.
But they found none
a.
He was innocent.
They did not even have a legitimate reason to be against him.
He had done no wrong against them.
b.
They were wrong.
They were the ones who were disobedient and yet they were seeking to condemn Him.
c.
They were attacking the reputation of an innocent man.
This is obvious with Jesus, but it also happens every time you speak against your neighbor when you do not have accurate information or you make assumptions.
d.
Their pride and hatred for Jesus drove them to search for something to hold against him.
iii.
though many false witnesses came forward
a. Conflicting Testimonies: Mark 14:56 “For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.
b.
The punishment for false testimony in a capital trial and in Roman Law was execution.
The Sanhedrin or Council was being frustrated in their wicked plans.
They could not use these conflicting testimonies because their plot would be exposed and the case against Jesus would be thrown out.
They didn’t care if the stories were true.
They just wanted to get a testimony that would lead to a Jesus death even if it was false.
B. False Testimony Found:
i.
At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’
”
ii.
Mark 14:57-59,
57 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’
” 59 Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.
a.
It was considered a capital crime to destroy a sacred place, scholars point out.
They thought that this was a serious enough crime to bring against Jesus so that Pilate would give them the death sentence that they desired.
iii.
What Jesus actually said,
John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”
21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
a.
He was referring to His body, not the 2nd Temple building in Jerusalem (which “was an empty shell” -Ylvisaker)
b.
Even though the accusation was false, two witnesses agreed and so it was a case that the Sanhedrin could make against Jesus before Pilate.
iv.
Error or a Lie?
It has the same result.
a. Luther’s explanation of what to do if you find out about someone’s sin.
c.
The Devil is in the business of using half truths.
They sound like they are true.
(ex.
Adam & Eve; temptation of Jesus).
He is the Father of Lies.
It is the work of the Devil to tear down your neighbor and ruin his reputation.
The Devil wants your neighbor to suffer and to despair.
He delights when you follow him by gossiping.
Satan loves it when you slander your neighbor behind his back.
When you gossip and slander you are doing the work of the Devil.
d.
God, on the other hand, wants to protect your neighbor and to restore him to repentance.
Remember the Psalm we read earlier, Psalm 140.
It says, “I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy.”
II.
Jesus opened not His Mouth
A. He had plenty he could have said...
i.
He had plenty He could have said… about his innocence
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