Matthew 5:21-32

So, murder, adultery, divorce, heavy stuff.

I can't say I have enjoyed studying this passage, not so much because of the serious and difficult

topics, but because of the reality of what these verses say and what they expose.

Because when I was asked if I would be able to preach on this passage, I had that kind

of, oh, I don't want to feeling that I recognize meant that I should probably do it.

You see, I'm pretty much a good person, or at least I'm not a really bad person.

I'm fairly respectable.

I've never murdered anyone.

I've never committed adultery.

But this passage says otherwise.

I am guilty.

So, it's not necessarily enjoyable to study, but it has been worthwhile.

And I trust it will be just as worthwhile for us as we look at it together tonight.

So, in this passage, we have the first three of six sayings of Jesus that start with, you

have heard it said.

And when we look at these verses, I feel that we need to do it in light of verse 20.

So, if you look back at that, you see that Jesus says,

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.

And I think that verse really sets us up for what Jesus says about murder, adultery, and divorce.

So, let's start with murder.

This is the sixth of the Ten Commandments.

And Jesus says,

Now, the Pharisees would have been totally on board with this.

This was one of the Ten Commandments.

They would have totally agreed with this.

And if they found somebody guilty of murder, then they would have been quite happy to make

sure that he was punished accordingly.

But Jesus goes on to say,

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,

Raka, and this is kind of a, seems to be a Hebrew or Aramaic swear word that kind of means

like empty-headed, you know, really sort of saying that that person is worthless.

Okay, if they say that, they are answerable to the court.

And anyone who says,

You fool, will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Now, I would like to say that this is not actually new.

If we look in the Old Testament,

we see that God has always desired this.

If we look at Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse 10, it says,

Jeremiah 17:10

I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind

to reward each person according to their conduct,

according to what their deeds deserve.

Okay, it's never just to mean about actions for God.

God cares about our desires and our thoughts.

If we think back to Cain and Abel,

okay, that very well-known story of the first murder,

the Bible tells us that Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.

But Cain also brought an offering,

fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.

The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,

but on Cain and his offering, he did not look with favor.

So Cain was very angry.

And his face was downcast.

Okay, here we see what's going on internally with Cain.

He's not murdered Abel yet.

He's not got there, but he is very angry.

And the Lord said to Cain,

Why are you angry?

Why is your face downcast?

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?

But if you do not do what is right,

sin is crouching at your door.

It desires to have you, but you must rule over it.

Okay, Cain has given this warning from God.

Okay, it matters what's going on in his mind.

Sin is out to get him.

He needs to be ruling over his thoughts

and bringing them in line with what God wants.

But he doesn't.

And we see Cain goes to his brother Abel,

tells him, Let's go out to the field.

And while they were in the field,

Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

If we let our thoughts of anger and hatred,

if we let these things build and grow,

then inevitably bad things will happen.

If we look at the many mass shootings that there have been,

there was another one just the other day.

Very often these are seen to be carried out by people who are filled with rage and hatred.

It all starts with thoughts and feelings.

Thoughts that will no doubt have started small and will have grown.

So what should we be doing?

Okay, and then, well, Jesus tells us that we should be making a priority of being reconciled to others.

Jesus places this even above offering a gift to God.

And notice in verses 23 and 24, the focus has shifted slightly.

It's not if you have something against someone.

It's if they have something against you.

And this harks back to verse 9 of our chapter,

which says,

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

We need to be asking ourselves,

have we wronged someone?

If we are to blame,

have we done what we can to be reconciled?

If not,

are we willing to do what we can

before we come back together next Sunday?

For Jesus, doing what we can

to fix our human relationships

is extremely important.

Then in verses 25 and 26,

we have some very practical advice.

Some very practical advice in a very literal sense.

It's better to stay out of court if you can.

Okay, the verses say,

Settle matters quickly with your adversary

who is taking you to court.

Do it while you are still together on the way,

or your adversary may hand you over to the judge,

and the judge may hand you over to the officer,

and you may be thrown into prison.

Truly, I tell you,

you will not get out

until you have paid the last penny.

And I'm sure most of us can think of stories

we've heard of

about people who could and should have

settled things out of court,

but instead went to court

and lost even more than they would have.

Perhaps you've heard of families

stories of families

who went to court over an inheritance

to get what they thought they should

rather than agree a compromise.

And what's happened?

Well, they've just lost everything in legal fees.

So this is practical advice

in a very literal sense,

but it also applies to us and God.

If we are not reconciled to God,

we will be judged

and thrown into an eternal prison.

It should be noted

that prisoners in Jesus' time

had no opportunity

to earn money in jail.

If they didn't have the money

to pay the fine,

they would not slowly

be paying it off in prison.

No, instead,

they would require someone else

from outside to pay.

And we'll come back to that thought

at the end.

Let's move on to adultery then.

Let's see how Jesus tackles

the seventh of the Ten Commandments.

And we'll see a similar pattern.

You have heard that it was said,

you shall not commit adultery.

Okay, the people he was talking to,

they already knew this commandment

and I'm sure they would have agreed with it.

But Jesus goes on.

But I tell you

that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully

has already committed adultery

with her in his heart.

Again, Jesus is talking

about obeying the spirit of the law,

not just the letter of the law.

If we think of David and Bathsheba,

we see how his sin will have started

with a lustful look.

One evening,

David got up from his bed

and walked around on the roof

of the palace.

From the roof,

he saw a woman bathing.

The woman was very beautiful.

And David sent someone

to find out about her.

When David saw Bathsheba,

if he had not had that lust,

that desire to have her,

then that would have been

the end of it.

But those lustful thoughts

took hold

and I'm sure you know

the rest of the story.

And today,

Jesus' words clearly speak

against pornography.

There is no way

we can justify thinking

that looking

and not touching is okay.

It is adultery.

Then Jesus gives us

some advice

in verses 29 and 30.

Now these are

not to be taken

as practical,

literal advice.

For he says,

if your right eye

causes you to stumble,

gorge 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 not literal advice.

Blind people

can still lust.

But it does show us

the seriousness

of the issue.

And it shows us

that we need to do

whatever we can

to stop our sin.

Are there places

we shouldn't go?

Things we shouldn't

watch or read?

Because they will

lead us to stumble?

If so,

what are we going

to do about it?

And really,

it is our desires

that cause us

to stumble.

It is the desires

of our heart

and our mind.

But if we

cut those out,

what's going to happen?

And again,

we'll come back

to that at the end.

So the last bit

of our passage then.

Divorce.

It has been said,

anyone who divorces

his wife

must give her

a certificate

of divorce.

But I tell you

that anyone

who divorces

his wife

except for

sexual immorality

makes her

the victim

of adultery.

And anyone

who marries

a divorced woman

commits adultery.

Some rabbis

in Jesus' time

essentially taught

that divorce

could be

for any reason

whatsoever.

Not unlike

today's laws

on divorce.

but Jesus

shows

the seriousness

of marriage

and divorce.

And he shows us

that Moses' law

should not be used

to justify divorce.

It was there

to put limits

on divorce.

Our desire

in marriage

should be

for it to be

lifelong

as God intended.

we shouldn't

treat it

as a simple

contract

that we can

cancel

if we feel

like it.

Again,

Jesus is looking

for people

to follow

the spirit

of the law

rather than

just the letter

of the law.

We should not

be interpreting

things

to suit

ourselves

and our

wrong desires.

So what can

we do

about all

this?

If we

know

that our

righteousness

cannot

surpass

that of

the Pharisees

and the

teachers

of the law

then

we know

we can't

enter

the kingdom

of heaven.

Jesus

showed us

it's

impossible

for us.

who here

could say

they're not

guilty?

This is

the bad

news

of Jesus

but thank

God

we have

the good

news

of Jesus.

His

righteousness

alone

surpassed

that of

the Pharisees.

He did

not hate

and condemn

people

even when

he was

hated

and condemned.

He

is the

faithful

husband

to an

unfaithful

people.

He

came

to reconcile

people to

God

and to

pay our

debt

to keep

us out

of prison.

So I

guilty

as I

am

I'm

putting

my

trust

in

Jesus

and

his

righteousness.

I'm

trusting

not in

what I

can do

but in

what he

has already

done.

His

death

paying the

price

so I

don't have

to.

His

resurrection

giving us

the sure

hope that

the price

has been

paid.

But having

Jesus

is not

a license

for me to

live however

I feel

like it.

We can't

neutralize

or correct

the Pharisees'

legalism

with license.

They are not

opposites.

Legalism

and license

are two

sides

of the

same

coin.

We can't

please God

by just

trying to

tick some

boxes.

Done that,

done that,

not done

that.

Instead,

God is

pleased

when we

are pleased

with him.

We need

Jesus

to be

transforming

us from

the inside

out,

giving us

the new

heart

and the

new

mind

that we

need,

creating

in us

the desire

to love

God

and to

love his

ways

and to

trust

that God's

rules

really are

the best

ways to

live.

Psalm 37

Psalms 37:4

verse 4

says this,

Take delight

in the

Lord

and he

will give

you the

desires

of your

heart.

may you

delight

in the

Lord.

May you

desire him

and his

ways

and may

he give

you

himself.

Let's

pray.

Lord,

we thank

you for

your word.

God,

no matter

how

uncomfortable

it may

make us

feel,

no matter

how difficult

it may

be to

swallow.

Lord,

we thank

you for

it because

we know

in it

there is

life

and there

is

goodness.

Lord,

I pray

that these

words we

have read

and thought

about

already

will bring

us

life.

And as

we discuss

things together,

Lord,

I pray that

you would be

with us

and you

would help

us

and you

would help

us to

help each

other.

Lord,

I pray that

we would be

fanning that

flame of

desire for

you.

And we

thank you for

Jesus and

all that he

has already

done for

us.

And I

pray that

our trust

would be

fully in

him.

We pray

this in

his name.

Amen.