Everything You Know Is Wrong, Part 2

Matthew 5:17–19 NIV

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Now, the person who takes even these small commands lightly, someone who sets them aside- they still make it to heaven.

Jesus is placing a really high emphasis on honoring even the smallest thing that came through the law.

This isn’t contradiction - we don’t practice the sacrificial system, for example. But the reason WHY is important.

Some parts of the law were meant to show us how we couldn’t do it without Jesus

Hebrews 7:27 NIV

Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

This is part of what Jesus meant by ‘I am here to fulfill the law’. So things may not look the same - but every purpose that God set out to accomplish with the law, they will all be accomplished.

Jesus constantly blasted the pharisees for overburdening the law onto people.

Remember - they weren’t holding people just to the law - they were holding people to their interpretation of it.

Sabbath - great example. Designed for rest - became an object of great rules and burdens via the pharisees interpretations.

But here’s a scenario.

STORY - KIDS - constantly telling them to Stop bugging each other. So they start pushing that boundary, seeing how close they can get to it.

They may be obeying the letter of the law - but they aren’t taking the point seriously. We want our kids to treat each other kindly, they’re seeing how far they can annoy.

The pharisees did the same thing.

They worked really hard to not cross those lines - and they made that entire process a burden and a weight on everyone involved. But they missed what God wanted them to actually do and be - and why.

The pharisees wanted laws. God wanted lifestyle change.

Pharisees built laws upon laws. They were more concerned about not crossing a line, than being the kind of person who didn’t have to worry about crossing that line.

Their question was, ‘how far down this road can we walk before we’ve gone too far’, instead of asking themselves, ‘how can I be the kind of person that doesn’t go down this road to begin with?’

This series is called ‘everything you know is wrong’. Jesus gives two big examples to consider how we’re approaching this topic of rules versus lifestyles wrong.

Murder and adultery

It seems like ‘don’t kill people’ and ‘don’t cheat on your spouse’ are on the easier list of things. Jesus picked some pretty easy things to not struggle with.

But what does it look like to be the kind of person that isn’t even on those roads? To have the kind of character that God wanted to create?

And here’s my challenge

If this were so easy and obvious- Jesus wouldn’t need to deal with it

I assume that, if Jesus is saying something that’s really important to him and I think it’s obvious - maybe i’m missing something. So I dig deeper.

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.

The world says, ‘Don’t kill people’. Jesus says, to get off that road -

don’t even be angry at people

There’s a lot you can do BEFORE you get to the point of murder. (EVER SEEN ALADDIN 2?) You can hate, you can reject. You can push away. You can shame someone, isolate them.

Jesus is asking - do we REALLY think God is cool with how much hatred and rejection we can feel towards somebody else, so long as we don’t cross the murder line?

Is ‘do not murder’ God’s way of saying, ya absolutely, treat each other like trash - just don’t cross this one line, i have a thing about that one?

Or is God saying, every life is sacred, every person is created by Him, and we need to honor and love every one of them?

For Jesus, this is all about ACTUALLY taking God seriously. So here’s a tough question:

Do we act like we believe that God sees our hatred and anger in the same way we see murder?

When it comes to anger, we make excuses. It was something we were reacting too. It was justified. It was in the heat of the moment.

Murder, though - we draw a harder line. It was wrong. He went too far. That’s an evil thing to do.

Jesus is smart. He knows what the real issue is.

Do not murder is often in our nature.

‘Forgive without limit’ isn’t. Resist your anger isn’t.

And the lack of love,forgiveness and mercy is what the problem really was about. Whether it leads you to murder, or simply to anger - Jesus wants to fix that issue.

This is so important to Jesus, that He says, if on your way to give an offering, stop and fix this first.

That’s drastic. Imagine if your concept was, I can’t go to church until I’ve sat down with this person and made things right.

Next, adultery.

Matthew 5:27–30 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.

This is the same kind of line as anger. ‘Do not commit adulterty’ can often turn into ‘how much can I get away with, without actually crossing that line’.

And Jesus knows that.

Now, disclaimer - Jesus isn’t saying to actually mutilate ourselves. He’s saying,

Allowing sin into your life is more serious than cutting off your own hand

That’s very radical.

Nowadays, I think we’d rather cut off our hands than our cellphone data - and maybe that’s the body part we need to lose.

When it comes to stuff like adultery, we can draw hard lines. But how far down the road are those lines?

Instead of saying, ‘how far is too far’, what would our treatment of adultery look like if we said, ‘What do I need to do to not even look in that general direction?’

I guarantee you, the answers you come up with feel like cutting off your own hands.

Jesus blasted the pharisees for thinking they could undress a woman in their mind, and stand before God and claim purity. He rejected the idea that they thought they could hate, indulge their anger, call someone a fool and think that they were doing the right thing that God wanted. THAT is not taking God seriously.

The direction of our hearts determines the contents of our life

Jesus also blasted the pharisees on this one.

Matthew 12:34 NIV

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Both of these issues - murder and adultery - jesus says, it’s the direction of your heart that matters here. For sure, don’t kill people, and don’t cheat on your spouse - but also try to not even let your heart face the direction of anger, or lust.

We DO need to be concerned about our sinfulness. But we want the lines to be farther back than where we are.

We want the line to be at murder. I can hate and be angry, so long as I don’t kill them. Jesus says, the line’s at anger.

We want it to be at adultery. We can indulge our mental fantasies, so long as we don’t act. Jesus says, you’ve already crossed that line once that thought even enters your head.

If we took that seriously - that’s scary. And if we wanted to fulfill everything that God came to do and teach - we’d make drastic life changes.

And that’s why Jesus’ warning in verse 20 - Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

He says, you think the pharisees set a high bar - God set it even higher.

But

Our righteousness is not manufactured by our effort. It’s gifted by our Saviour.

And that’s why we give our lives to God, and we live every day for Him.

Romans 3:21–24 NIV

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

We can’t make our own righteousness. We can only accept God’s, freely given to us in Christ through His sacrifice. But accepting it requires a lifestyle change - we have to take it seriously.

Because remember - God isn’t here for laws. He’s here for lifestyle change. He doesn’t call you to a list of rules - but the life that He has for us will take work, and dedication, and commitment.

We invite you to make that commitment with us today.