Another Training Day

Matthew 5:17-48

Matthew 5:17-48

When Jesus began His sermon on the mount that is basically what He is putting His disciples through an extensive training seminar with each session building upon the session before. When He began with the Beattitudes , the first session, He was painting a picture of what His disciples would look like. In the second session He informed His disciples of the impact they would have on the world by being salt and light with salt enhancing the goodness of God, causing changes in peoples lives, and preserving by bringing people to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and light; always following its source, reflecting the Son light, dispelling darkness and revealing sin just by being a bright and shining light, and being a guide to those in need. Now Jesus has come to the third session of the training seminar and He is going to tell them why they make an impact. We will be in Matthew 5:17-48. We will be covering a lot of material so let’s pray get started.

Matthew 5:17-19 17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.[1]

Jesus fulfilled every aspect of the law. We need to understand before we go any further what Jesus meant by “the law”. (What do you think of when you think of the Law?) Most of us think of the law as the 10 Commandments, the ones that Moses went up on Mount Sinai to get directly from God. And just to chase a very meaty rabbit, the law is not spoken about here as the means of salvation. I’ll come back to what Jesus meant by the law in a minute but there is something we need to understand about the law. The law was never, never, never meant as a means of salvation. There is a teaching out that that says that God intended for man to never sin but they caught Him by surprise so He had to come up with a way to redeem them back from their sin (Plan B). So He devised a series of laws and ceremonies that if they performed them they could be proclaimed righteous and have salvation. But alas, man could not do that either and so God had to come up with another plan and He decided to send Jesus to be the sacrifice for man (Plan C). I need you to know this morning that this teaching is wrong. To believe this is to believe that, first God is not in control, and second that He is a liar. He is not in control because He keeps on having to come up with other ways to save mankind, and He is a liar because Revelation 13:8 says that Jesus is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the earth. Ephesians 2:8-9 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast[2]. It is God’s grace pure and simple that saves mankind. If that were not the case then Abraham has no hope of salvation, Job has no hope of salvation, Jacob has no hope of salvation and even Enoch who walked with God has no hope of salvation because there was no law when they walked the earth.

Romans 4:33 Galatians 3:6 James 2:23 all say that “Abraham believed God, and it wasaccounted to him for righteousness.” [3]

Romans 7 makes it clear that the 10 commandments are there to show man that he cannot keep them. The Sacrificial laws and the ceremonial laws are there to show God’s chosen people what their Messiah would do on their behalf. The salvation that has come to you by grace through faith is the same salvation that came to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Moses, David, Billy Graham, all those who have believed before us and all those who will believe after us. We have the benefit of having seen the Lamb slain, the Old Testament only got to see a likeness in the sacrifices. Yet all who are saved are saved by grace. I told you it was a meaty rabbit.

When Jesus talked about the law He was not just speaking about the 10 commandments. When a Hebrew person spoke about the Law of God he was speaking about all of the words spoken by God and revealed to man. Jesus is saying that He is there for the purpose of fulfilling all the spoken word of God and, after all, He is the Word of God.

Like I said earlier Jesus fulfilled perfectly every aspect of the Law of God. He kept the 10 commandments perfectly and by doing so fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread by being perfect and without sin.

He kept the dietary laws even though He said that it isn’t what goes into a man that defiles him but what comes out of his mouth.

He kept the cleanliness laws although He said that it was what a man does that defiles him not eating with unwashed hands.

Jesus was, is and will be the fulfillment of all the Sacrificial and Feast Day Laws.

He fulfilled the feast of Tabernacles by being Emmanuel, God with us, as John 1:14 says.

He fulfilled the Passover by being our Passover Lamb at His crucifixion, and the only way to receive His salvation is by entering through the blood.

He fulfilled the Feast of First Fruit at His resurrection on the third day conquering death.

He fulfilled the Day of Atonement by being the sacrifice that takes away the sin and being the scapegoat that carries the sin away never to be remembered again by God. Because of His sacrifice the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the people was torn from top to bottom, signifying that the work of reconciliation was accomplished by God, and not man, through Jesus Christ so that we could have access to the Most High God through the blood of Christ: It is finished.

There is only one feast left to be fulfilled and that is the Feast of Trumpets. One of these days and I pray very soon 1 Corinthians 15:52-57 says: at the last trumpet sound the dead in Christ will rise and corruption will put on incorruption. We will all be changed in the resurrection. And to that all the people of God say amen and amen.

Prophecies were fulfilled with His coming. Prophecies were fulfilled with His works. Prophecies were fulfilled with His death, His burial, and His resurrection. Prophecies of Jeremiah, Joel and Ezekiel were fulfilled at the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost with the law of God being written on the hearts of God’s people.

Jesus says that none of the Law, the Word of God will pass away without being fulfilled.

Then Jesus makes very clear that since the Law and the Prophets are so important there are consequences and rewards attached to breaking them and keeping them. Now I will not say that any sin is worse than another sin but Jesus does say “anyone who breaks even the least one of these commandments”. Simply put some sin has greater consequences here and now. But to break even the ones that you might consider the least or the least consequential you are setting yourself up as your own god deciding right and wrong which is the same sin that caused Adam and Eve to fall. If you are deciding yourself which laws to follow you will do all within your power to persuade others to do the same, like Eve did with Adam. If you have a desire to keep the Law and be obedient to God you will persuade others to do the same. I am not going to spend much time on the least and the greatest in the kingdom but suffice it to say that there are consequences to our behavior. We are supposed to be storing up our riches in heaven and that brings us our rewards when we are judged. What will your rewards be? And to put it very bluntly if you are always annulling the law of God then you need to understand that you are not storing up riches in heaven but instead the wrath of God for the Day of Judgment.

Read verse 20: 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.[4]

To understand this verse we need to look at who the Scribes and the Pharisees are and take a look at their righteousness. To make it simple I am going to put this in more modern terminology. The Scribes we could say are like those who write our tax codes, the folks in congress. They sit down and they write all kinds of crazy laws that it is impossible to follow and even more impossible to understand. The tax codes, read by the average man is gobble-di-goop. They write the laws and then they begin looking for ways to exempt themselves. They put the burden on the people and then exempt themselves from the law. The Scribes did much the same things. Jesus told them in Luke 11:46 that they make laws so burdensome yet will not even touch the burden themselves. The Scribes responsibility was to take the Law and copy it onto animal skins so there would always be a copy of God’s law. Over time the Scribes, because of their proximity and access to the Law became “experts” on the law. But not only the law but also on the Targum which was the Rabbi’s commentaries on the written law and oral traditions. So these Scribes would not change the law but expand the law, explaining it so that no one could say they didn’t understand. Here is an example. The Law commands the Jew to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy, not doing any common work on the Sabbath. So the Scribes had to define “work”. So they explained that if a beggar came to a man’s house asking for help and he reached into the door of the man’s house and took something out of the man’s hand he was guilty of working on the Sabbath. If the man in the house reached his hand out and the beggar took something from his hand they were both guilty of working on the Sabbath. If the beggar reached his hand into the man’s house and the man put something into the beggars hand they were neither one guilty of working on the Sabbath. Then they had to write laws defining the difference between taking and putting. They wrote commentaries as to whether it was legal for a tailor to carry a needle stuck in his clothing on the Sabbath.

In the illustration of the Scribes being the one’s who write the tax codes, the Pharisees would be like the IRS. The IRS is in the business of finding something you have done wrong. That is what most of the employees are trained to do. If the computer kicks your return out it is almost guaranteed they will find something wrong. The Pharisees did the same thing. Over and over again while Jesus was going about doing His ministry the Pharisees were following along behind Him auditing His behavior. If He didn’t wash His hands right they were after Him. If He healed a man on the Sabbath they were hounding Him. They burdened everyone with the letter of the law but they themselves did not follow the spirit of the law. In Luke 11:42 42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.[5]It was as if they would count out the grains of rice and every tenth grain set it aside as a tithe, while a starving man sat next to them and they refused to share what they had. The righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees was based on their own ability to keep the rules. They made rules to make sure they kept the rules. In keeping the rules they forgot God. Into this scenario Jesus lets His disciples know that their righteousness has to exceed this in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, or living in the presence of God in the here and now.

Then Jesus goes on to give examples of what exceeding the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees really means.

Verses 21-26:21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.[6]

The Pharisees say don’t murder but Jesus says that if you are counting on your own righteousness then that is insufficient. You cannot even be angry with another person for no reason. Not only that but to count on your own righteousness you can’t even belittle someone calling them empty headed or a fool. Jesus doesn’t just talk about your anger with someone else He even talks about others being angry with you.

How will this make an impact on the world through the law? Jesus made His statement about the Law and then fulfilled that law for one reason. He wants His disciples to know that we must make relationships right, right now. It is so “right now” that you need to not even leave your offering to God until the relationship is made right. But why is that so important? Several reasons: one reason; if you cannot confess your sin to another person and make the relationship right then what makes you think you can confess your sin and make your relationship right with God? Second reason; if you will not forgive someone else then you have probably not experienced the forgiveness that God has to offer you through His Son, and others will not see that forgiveness played out in your life. The third reason; our God is a relational God. He did not send His Son to die on the cross just because He was piteous of us. He did it because He loved you and He desired to bring you into relationship with Him. Nothing will impact people more than knowing you will do whatever it takes, on your part, to make a relationship right. After all that is what God did by sending Jesus.

Verses 27-30: 27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.[7]

I don’t think I need to dwell on the first part of this. I believe Jesus is very plain in what He said, what you dwell on is what you do and are guilty of. That can come in many forms, internet porn, television programs, romance novels, and relationships. Even if you do not fall physically you have let that consume your thoughts and your heart and taken the focus away from serving Him. I don’t want us to get caught up on the plucking out the eye or the cutting off of the hand. Jesus is plainly speaking in hyperbole. He overstating the obvious; remove yourself from the temptation. But how will that make an impact on the world? Simply put, when we get our hearts right our bodies follow. That is not just true when it comes to adultery but it is true of joy, of peace, of relationships, of money and when the disciple of Christ’s heart is right and his body follows it stands out in the crowd and makes an impact that can be felt.

Verses 31-32: 31 “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.[8]

I am not going to take the time to explain what Jesus said, it is simply stated. What impact will this have on the world if the disciples of Christ do all they can to remain married; that they have done everything possible to reconcile? I am not going to preach this morning about divorce. It is true that God allows divorce in the case of infidelity but as Matthew 19:8 says He allows it because of the hardness of our hearts. It is also true that God hates divorce and that too is because of the hardness of our hearts. What a great impact the disciples of Christ could have if the world saw those who have been hurt and mistreated in a marriage do whatever it takes to reconcile the marriage. They would know that God’s love is stronger than pain, and mightier than mistrust.

Verses 33-37: 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.[9]

This is not talking about profanity. This is not even really about taking the Lord’s name in vain. Jesus is simply saying let your word be enough. If you have to swear by something in order to keep your word you are looking for a way out of keeping your word anyway. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Let your word stand alone and then stand by your word. What impact will that have on the world? I remember a time when a man’s word was of more value than a contract. Million dollar deals went down on a handshake and now you cannot even buy a car without a contract. If a disciple of Christ says he or she will do something then that is what must be done. What impact will that have on the world? If people who do not know the Lord know that you can be trusted, they will be drawn to you because of your honesty. When they are drawn to you, you have the opportunity to tell them about the great work of Christ in your life.

Verses 38-42: 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 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. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.[10]

These verses are the simplest ones to understand what is meant. They are all self explanatory, don’t get even with someone who treats you bad, instead serve him. This is easy to understand but most difficult to do. When someone strikes out at you your tendency is to strike back (the internet sure hasn’t helped here). But then again if you go back to the description of what a disciple looks like and when your desire is to look like a disciple of Christ then you can see that you really have no choice. Blessed are the meek, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are the merciful. What an impact is made when the disciple of Jesus looks so much like Jesus that when he is being stoned like Stephen was that he says “Lord do not charge them with this sin”. When we refuse to get even but instead serve those who abuse or use us we are doing the ministry of reconciliation that we talked about last week. What an impact on the lost. Pray for me on that one.

Finally verses 43-48: 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighborand hate your enemy.’ 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. 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? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.[11]

Again these verses are self explanatory. But Jesus wanted to make sure that His disciples understood that it was their difference from the world that would make a difference in the world. The church today looks so much like the rest of the world that we are making little or no impact on them. We invite people to church who are good people, they’re our friends or relatives. We share our lives with our friends and our relative but those who are different, who may not act the way we act or who may have done something that we do not approve of or that we know their life is steeped in sin we simply stay away from. Well isn’t that what the rest of the world would do with them? If we only love those who are like us we are not doing anything that a person who is not a disciple of Christ can do. We will sometimes look at the life of people and when something bad befalls them we think to ourselves; “well they deserve that”. I am so thankful that my Lord Jesus Christ did not say and do the same thing with me.

What is the impact that the disciples of Jesus have? People will know that we will do whatever is possible, on our part, to make the relationship right. That is what God did by sending Jesus. When our hearts are right with our Lord our actions will follow. The world will see that Go’s love is greater than pain and mightier than mistrust. People will be drawn to you because of your honesty enabling you to impact them further. When we refuse to get even but instead serve those who misuse us we are doing the ministry of reconciliation. The difference in our lives is what makes a difference in the world. The disciple of Christ is required to keep the laws of God. Not so that he can obtain eternal life, that is not what the law will do. The disciple of Christ keeps the law of God because it makes him or her look more like Christ and that draws men, women and children to Christ. That is why we seek to have an impact on the world. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 5:17–19). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [2] The New King James Version. (1982). (Eph 2:8–9). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Ro 4:3). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [4] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 5:20). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [5] The New King James Version. (1982). (Lk 11:42). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [6] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 5:21–26). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [7] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 5:27–30). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [8] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 5:31–32). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [9] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 5:33–37). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [10] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 5:38–42). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [11] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 5:43–48). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.