You Have Heard it Said but I Tell You- Do Not Murder

Sermon: FCC Marianna 2-20-2022 SOTM - "You've Hear it Said, But I Tell You: Do Not Murder" Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26 Today we continue our survey through Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. Remember, surveying the Scriptures is the idea of digging into the Word, examining what ends up in our hands, then sifting through it to find the nuggets of truth and wisdom that the Holy Spirit is sharing, and storing those things away for further examination later on. The Sermon on the Mount is divided into distinct parts: * the Beatitudes * the Believers' impact on the world * Jesus' rejection of old teaching and practices * Jesus' calling to the Listener. Last week was our first look into this third section of the Sermon on the Mount: Jesus' rejection of old religious teachings and practices and His explanation of the new standard of righteousness that He was setting for His followers. We examined Jesus' claim that He did not come to destroy the Law but to be the fulfillment of it. We examined how we were condemned before the Law with no hope- we were giving to die for breaking God's Law. And then Jesus stepped in and fulfilled the Law's requirement of our deaths- we guilty lawbreakers- by being an innocent substitution dying in our place. Now, because of His death, we are covered in His grace and expected to live out His higher standard of righteousness, to be a shining example of Jesus to the world, not out of fear of the Law or some further required payment, but out of a desire to love, honor, and glorify our Lord and Savior. Read Matthew 5:21-26 here: Pray here! So today we begin our examination of Christ's rejection of the Law and His introduction of His new higher standard of righteousness. I say rejection, but this is not an outright rejection, as if Jesus was saying "This Law is wrong." The way the Church and the religious elites have misused the Law is rejected by Jesus, for sure, but this rejection is more clearly understood by Jesus as "not being comprehensive enough." Jesus begins this breakdown of the Law by saying, "You have heard it said... but I tell you this instead." He tells us, "Here is the Law and here is my standard to make it more comprehensive. The command is good for you to follow, but My standard will make it much more real in your life as you seek after My righteousness." Main point: Jesus fulfilled the Law, set us free from the cost of the Law, in order that we might begin serving His higher standard. Again, Jesus declares that He didn't come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. He doesn't reject the Law- being a follower of Jesus doesn't somehow make it okay to go and kill someone or to keep on sinning- Jesus frees us from the fear of the Law so that we can be free to serve His more important comprehensive standard. This is one of the most amazing aspects of Jesus' ministry: He established Himself as not just a miracle worker, not just as a religious teacher, but as "one who had authority, and not as the scribes." (Mark 1:22) Remember, at this point, aside from John the Baptist and the miracles that Jesus had performed, God had been silent to the nation of Israel for over 400 years since the last minor prophet: Malachi. The people have been ruled in religious and social matters by the scribes and the pharisees- it was very much a dark age for Israel. The people had little access to true teaching and have been forced to follow all the extra rules that the Pharisees had added on top of the Law. Their lives were weighed down by the extra rules and the lack of communication from the Father. And then these cousins from Galilee show up on the scene. There was something new, fresh, and exciting on the religion scene. John attracted attention because of His crazy outfit and lifestyle, but then his teachings began hitting home with people- he was preparing them for the coming Messiah, their heart's greatest desire. Next, Jesus shows up, doing miracles and speaking in parables. He quickly attracted loads of disciples and followers, some roadies just hanging out for the ride and others interested in healings and other miracles. People were amazed at the power that He held and delighted in seeing miracles performed; people came from villages all over and neighboring countries for a chance to find healing for themselves or their loved ones. But this Sermon? This is something different altogether. Jesus begins preaching and teaching in a way that astonishes those who hear it. Jesus not only brings a new perspective about life and faith, but He presents it with the authority of someone who has a real, living connection with the Living God- something that hasn't been experienced in over 400 years! It is very difficult for us to comprehend what this Sermon must have been like to experience firsthand by a first century Jew. We read this 2000-years removed, knowing what happens next because we have the luxury of having the entirety of the Scriptures in our hands. The majority of Jesus' audience likely never had held any of the Scriptures. Some may have held portions of Scripture in synagogue if they had some education, but the majority had likely only ever had the Scripture read at them. And here Jesus is, quoting Scripture at them with authority and then actively redefining it before them, criticizing their way of thinking, but doing it in such a loving, approachable way that I imagine no one, outside of the Pharisees, even gave it any thought. Six times, Jesus quotes the Law, only then to substitute His own higher standard. He authoritatively explains the inadequacies of what they had been taught about the Law and then gives them correction out of His own wisdom. And no one had ever heard anything like Jesus' teaching before. He was His own authority and His teaching was as much about introducing His new standard to the world as it was about introducing Himself as the source of the Law: the Messiah. Where teachers of the Law would never express an opinion about the Law unless he was supported with quotations or references from great teachers of the past or the Prophets, Jesus had no need to do this. He was His own authority- and the people could tell this to be true. That's why people were astonished: they were in jaw-dropping amazement at what Jesus was teaching. And then He introduces His new standard for His followers and the amazement grew. Point #1 You have heard it said, "Do not murder," but I tell you... Matthew 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment." -Jesus' first reference to the Law is a big one, one that man has struggled with since Cain murdered Able: Do not murder. It's a pretty straightforward; there is no culture in the history of the world where murder is looked upon as a virtuous trait. The Jews would have been very familiar with this command of the Law: -"Whoever strikes a person so that he dies must be put to death." (Exodus 21:12) -"If a person schemes and willfully acts against his neighbor to murder him, you must take him from My altar to be put to death." (21:14) -"Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty." (23:7) There may have even been some confusion as to why Jesus would include this command in His sermon; no one was arguing that murder was wrong. -It should be noted that God's command here in the Law is not "Do not murder," rather than "Do not kill." Taking someone's life in self-defense, acting as a soldier for one's nation, or in an accident of some kind did not result in the breaking of the Law. The act of murder is done with a level of intention, of premeditation, with some level of malice. And murder merits judgment. We see this idea reflected in our modern justice system: we have varying levels of consequence for taking someone's life, but in most states (the sane ones, at least) taking someone's life in a premeditated, calculated manner (the first degree) will result in the loss of your life, either through the death penalty or through life imprisonment- you lose your right to life when you purposefully murder another person. -But here Jesus introduces His new standard: not only must you not murder others, you must also not even harbor hate, anger, or malice in your heart against someone else. And I very purposefully use the word harbor, because there will be thoughts that pop into your head and you determine what you will do with them. Will you give them safety and let them grow? Or will you push them away and get rid of them? Discuss: Have you ever been in a frustrating situation and have had a terrible image, maybe of harming someone you're disagreeing with, pop into your head? And you're like "Woah! Where did that come from!?!" That is the enemy depositing that temptation and hoping that you will dwell on it and allow it to grow into something bigger. James tells us this way in James 1:14-15: "But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death." -Do you get now why we are so often instructed to put off our old self and to take on Jesus instead? Your flesh doesn't want to follow Jesus! Satan doesn't want you following Christ's new standard! He wants you dwelling on anger and malice until it turns into something darker and eventually into sin and death. That is why the new standard of Jesus is: you must not even dwell on anger, hatred, and malice. It's natural to get upset at things, but you've got to not let it affect your internal attitude. Sometimes we have this tendency to follow the letter of the Law without having the correct attitude about the Spirit of the Law. That's where the religious community was at during Jesus' ministry, this idea of "Well, at least I didn't kill anyone." Doesn't matter where my attitude is, doesn't matter that my heart is black with hatred and malice toward my enemies, just as long as I technically kept the letter of the Law. Jesus replies: "Nope. In this Kingdom of God you must do more than just refrain from literally murdering others. You must not even have murderous thoughts. You must not even harbor hateful thoughts toward others." Jesus traces the act of murder to its source. Murder springs out of malice, which comes from hatred, which comes from anger. Jesus' higher standard involves keeping your mind and heart clear of the temptation that leads to sin, that will eventually lead to death. Point #2 Unrighteous anger is in danger of judgment. Matthew 5:22 "But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, 'You fool!' will be subject to hellfire." -There are three forms of unrighteous anger that Jesus warns about. We mostly try to justify these kinds of unrighteous anger, but only righteous anger is justifiable- only anger that is centered on defending God's honor or defending a person who is being wronged or being harmed. 1. The first case of unrighteous anger comes from a person who is harboring anger with his brother without cause, the cause being the righteous exemptions that we just discussed. This goes way beyond simply being upset with someone, this holding on to anger without justification, or holding a grudge of some kind. Most of us can find some reason to try to justify our anger over personal wrongdoing, but this anger, or the retaliation that it inevitably leads to, is never right. Remember, there is nothing that someone can do to me that I should be unable to forgive, because God has forgiven me for my rebellion against Him. So, my holding something against my brother is wrong and puts me in danger of judgment. 2. The second source of unrighteous anger comes in moving beyond anger to insults. -In Jesus' day, people used the term "Raca," an Aramaic term that meant "Empty one" as an insult, as a word of contempt and abuse, literally stating that you feel the person is worthless or void of value. We have many words in our day that are much worse, but for the Jews in Jesus' day, "Raca" was a drastically inappropriate, hurtful thing to unload at someone. It took aim at their character; it was a hateful thing to say to someone, even in the heat of an argument. Jesus states that using such a word in an argument, especially in such a hateful manner, is worthy of judgment before the Sanhedrin; in our Church setting today, this would be the equivalent of bringing someone before the Elders of the congregation and them potentially being dismissed from the local Body. 3. The third source of unrighteous anger moves beyond insults into leveling a curse at someone. Now, this is not simply using curse words, which can be bad enough in any particular context. Translators put this as "You Fool!" or "You moron!" both of which seem drastically underwhelming for the severity that Jesus is referring to here, but whatever the word is, the idea here is of a curse against someone's life. It is a curse that completely dismisses someone's value, that declares that you feel they should be dead, and that calls on God to consign them to hell. This is much heavier than simply calling someone a moron. But Jesus is clear here: anyone who would curse another is worthy of hell itself. -Do you see the progression here? Do you see the wisdom that Jesus teaches here? Where the Pharisees added layers upon layers to the Law in an attempt to stay away from sinning (Don't murder - Don't kill - Don't own a weapon or tool that could be used to kill), they said nothing about the attitude or position of the heart, which could be a festering mess of anger, resentment, and malice that could snap at any time. In contrast, Jesus says, "That's good that you want to stay away from sinning, but you're going about it the wrong way. More than putting up road blocks to keep yourself away, you've got to get your heart right first. It's good that you haven't murdered anyone, but if in your heart you really want to, then that's just as bad. If you're not dealing with that anger, then it is likely to grow until it becomes hatred and malice; then in your heart, you might as well have murdered someone. And on a practical level, you're then just one bad argument away from snapping and it actually happening." Jesus' higher standard here is highlighting how anger contains the seeds of murder, that abusive language contains the seeds of murder, that cursing language contains the seeds of murder. The progressive heightening of the crime comes with progressive levels of punishment, but one thing is very clear: none of these should be found in the heart of a Disciple of Jesus. Jesus is clear here: we are to avoid being guilty of murder by never allowing the roots of anger to take hold in our hearts. Point #3 If your heart is not acceptable before God, your gift will not be acceptable before God. Matthew 5:23-26 "So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you're on the way with him, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge, the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown in prison. I assure you: you will never get out of there until you have paid every penny." -Here is a shocking truth this morning: God does not want your worship, your sacrifice, or your offering if you have an unworthy heart. Jesus is clear: if you have something against your brother or they have something against you, you need to go an make peace and amends before coming and trying to worship. God desires unity in the church and will not accept the worship of a Believer who is sowing division. The Apostle Paul reaffirms this in his first letter to the Corinthians: "Therefore, whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the Body and Blood of the Lord. So, a man should examine himself; in this way, he should eat the bread and drink the blood." (1 Cor. 11:27-28) If someone has something against you, make amends. Be quick to admit you are wrong and make things right. If you don't you are likely to cause the other to be angry and to have feelings of resentment- not something that a Believer should be the cause of. Do you best, we are reminded by Paul in Romans 12:18, to live at peace with everyone. If you don't, your sin will eventually catch up to you- and the consequences will be far greater than a little humility to make amends with someone else. Closing Question: What does this mean for you? You can go your entire life and never murder someone, but if your heart is dark with anger or hatred, then you're in a bad place and you need to let God help you let that go. You don't want to get to heaven and say, "Look at me, Jesus, I never once killed someone!" and for Him to reply: "But you harbored anger and hatred. You really wished that that person would die. And it kept you from ever being truly effective for the Kingdom." Remember, this is not a salvation issue for the Believer, but it is a Kingdom issue. This is one of the commands that Jesus referred to last week. Will you keep it well? Then you've got to keep your heart clear of anger and malice. Invitation: If you have something burdening your heart, some anger that you are not letting go of, or maybe some concern that you know someone has something against you but you've unable to make amends, I encourage you to take some time and come up here- let's pray about it. Honor God by getting your heart right where it should be. Don't let your heart will filled with things that could grow into worse things, things that could bring judgment on you, things that could keep you from truly worshiping or truly being effective for Christ.