Blog•
on February 16th, 2011•
Fidelity in Marriage and Honesty in Speech
Matthew 5:31-37
The discussion of adultery and purity naturally leads to the question of divorce. This subject is highly controversial and touches people’s deepest emotions. Perhaps the deepest hurt a heart can experience is the one experienced in an unhappy marriage. Jesus is absolutely clear that God’s design for marriage never included divorce. These two verses in 5:31-32 must be taken together with 19:3-9, where Jesus further develops this idea, when the Pharisees asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
In those times there where two major Rabbinical Schools in Jerusalem competing: the School of Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai. Shammai took a very conservative position against divorce, and Hillel embraced a very liberal position, interpreting Deut. 24:1 as being “any offense,” including a burnt meal, or not being as beautiful as other woman. The Pharisees (all men!) were obviously attracted to Rabbi Hillel’s position, but wanted to hear Jesus’ position. However, Jesus displayed an interest with the divine institution of marriage, rather than how and when to dissolve it: He didn’t answer their question, but through a counter-question, Jesus referred them back to the original design back in Genesis 1:24 “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” This biblical definition implies that marriage is both exclusive (“a man … his wife”) and permanent (“cleave” or “joined to his wife). Jesus commented on these two aspects: First, “So they are not longer two but one flesh;” Second, “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Thus marriage, according to the One who invented this institution, is a divine institution by which God makes permanently one two people who publicly decided to leave their parents in order to form a new unit of society and then “become one flesh.”
The Pharisees countered with the question, “Why then, did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” This is similar with Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, as He pointed that the Scribes and the Teachers of the Law laid their emphasis on the giving of the certificate of divorce, and called it a concession of Moses, but the original purpose of God: “But from the beginning it was not so.” The Pharisees took divorce and remarriage lightly, but Jesus took it very serious and, with only exception, He called all remarriage after divorce adultery.
Jesus continues to address the issue of truthfulness when He stated, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all…” Some people think this prohibits them from taking oaths in a courtroom, or from taking an oath of allegiance, but they are misinterpreting Jesus. It must be observed that the Old Testament allows people to take oaths, even in God’s name (Deut. 10:20). Even in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul calls upon God to be his witness. God Himself swore not to send another flood (Gen.9:9-11), swore to send a redeemer (Lk. 1:68), and to raise His Son from the dead (Ps. 16:10, Acts 2:27-31).
All of these swearing and oaths were designed to encourage truthfulness or to bring solemnity to an announced truth, but by the time of Jesus walking this Earth the Jews have built a sophisticated legalistic system of oaths. For instance, a Rabbi declared (in Mishnah) that you are not bound if you swear by Jerusalem, only if you swear toward Jerusalem (read Matt. 23:16-22). These oaths no longer foster truthfulness, but weaken the cause of truth and promote deceit, so Jesus simply abolished all the oaths.
The real question here is truthfulness, and for the follower of Christ to say “Yes” must mean “Yes” and saying “No” must mean “No.” Christians claim to have the truth and to follow Him who is the Truth (John 14:6). In our conversations truth must be our compass. Many of us stoop to telling stories with a certain slant to make our point more emphatically or to present ourselves in a more positive light that the facts would allow.
Blog•
on December 3rd, 2010•
Jesus’ Examples of Fulfilling the Law – Matthew 5:21-47
With an unmatched authority, Jesus has made Himself the pivotal point of the history of humankind. The Old Testament pointed toward Him, and now, in His Person, the Kingdom of God has arrived and shows how the Old Testament teaching is validated and has continuity in Himself and His teaching.
Jesus illustrates the concept of the righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees through six examples that are presented in form of a contrast between what “was said” and Jesus’ own more demanding ethics. The formula with which Jesus’ demand is made is a constant, “But I tell you.” It is important to observe that Jesus did not contrast what He said with what the Old Testament “has said”; Jesus contrasted His sayings with what “it was said,” perhaps by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, as understood by them through their human tradition.
Murder, Anger, and Reconciliation – Matthew 5:21-26
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment’.” The explicit Old Testament command was the sixth of the Ten Commandments. Those who took a person’s life were to appear before a court and judged. However, in verse 22, Jesus reveals an important principle: the actual committing of murder is only the outward manifestation of an inward attitude which is itself culpable, whether or not it actually issues in the act of murder. “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ [an Aramaic term of contempt =’stupid’] is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
This is an unusually strong statement, claiming that those guilty of despising anger are guilty enough to go to Hell! In other words, Jesus Hehhhrelates anger with murder, and we need to let His words sink in and impact our conscience. Some commentators discern an ascending scale of severity in the description of different levels of anger, from a non-specific “judgment,” to the more specific trial by the Sanhedrin, to the final extreme of “hellfire” (R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, 200). But the clear understanding from Jesus’ words is that ordinary insults betray an attitude of contempt which God takes extremely serious. The effect of the saying is to be found not in one’s individual offenses and the assigned punishment to them, but in the cumulative rhetorical force of a series of daily scenes, attitudes, and expressions that affect the inner person.
Some may say that Jesus Himself got very angry in certain occasions, and He called the Pharisees, “You blind fools” (Matt.23:17). He also was “angry” with those contesting His right to heal on the Sabbath day (Mark 3:5), but He was driven by a “righteous anger” that can be only possessed by a righteous God! Only a perfect and sinless being like Jesus was in the position to experience this form of “sinless” anger against sin, injustice, and hypocritical religiosity. But He never reacted in self-defense, when He was mocked, insulted, and injured: “When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).
In this passage Jesus teaches against unrighteous anger: we are quick to get angry when we are personally affronted and offended, and slow to be angry when sin and injustice takes place around us. This unrighteous anger affects our relationships “with our brother” and many times has its source in a sense of personal superiority towards others. Jesus teaches us to purge ourselves of any thought of superiority that leads one to devaluate others. In God’s eyes all humans are precious, as precious as the blood of His beloved Son, Jesus.
In verse 23 Jesus brings in discussion the person who comes before God to perform his religious duty but who has offended his brother. Jesus insists it is more important to be reconciled with his brother than that he discharges his religious duty: forget the worship service and pursue reconciliation, and only then worship God! Men have a tendency to substitute ceremony for integrity, purity, and love, but Jesus cannot accept that. Ceremony, regular attendance, and giving will never produce a clear conscience! We need to strive to make things right.
Further, Jesus talks about one who defaults on his debts, which back in those days could be thrown in a debtors’ prison until the debt was paid in full. And, of course, while in prison they could not work, and their debt would remain unpaid! Jesus’ point is that judgment is looming and justice will be done. Personal conflicts can often be resolved if dealt with quickly. But if we just put off dealing with them, the older they get, the bitterer we become!
If we have Christ’s righteousness, we will not only refrain from the shedding of blood but will develop hearts that are liberated from the things that are the cause of murder, namely, contemptuous anger. We will be sensitive about our attitude toward others. And when we are guilty of offending another, let’s decide now that we will confess our sin to those whom we offended. Reconciliation is the key that opens the heavens and grants us access to God!
Adultery and Purity – Matthew 5:27-30
The basic treatment of the Seventh commandment in verses 27-28, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” is in principle the same as that of the sixth (vv. 21-22): the visible and punishable act of adultery forbidden by the commandment is only the outward expression of an inward desire which is, in this case, adultery “in the heart” – and therefore liable to the same punishment (which was also death).
Our society came a long way from the explicit prohibition on adultery. As of 2005, approximately 5 million couples / 10 million individuals were cohabitating in the USA. Many modern thinkers affirm then legitimacy of adultery, if there is consensual love. However, as our society, often mockingly, moves away from the seventh commandment, Jesus moves in the opposite direction: He is not content with merely a formal adherence to it. Rather, on His own authority He is underscoring the purity of the heart toward which this law points. By labeling lust adultery, Jesus has deepened the seventh commandment in terms of the tenth, the commandment against covetousness.
This is not a prohibition of the normal attraction which exists between young, unmarried men and women; it is the deep-seated lust which consumes and devours from within, the imagination that attacks and rapes, which mentally contemplates and commits adultery. Mental infidelity leaves one completely guilty. For the Christian man, it is not the first, casual look at a woman; it is the second look that swells with lust and feeds his imagination. Jesus knows well the human heart and He puts His finger on the problem: sexual sin is always preceded by sensual fantasies! Just think of King David and Bath-Sheba… We, men, could all ask, not without shame, “Which one of us is not an adulterer?” It is indeed a constant battle with our eyes, with our hearts, and with our thoughts!
What we all need is the attitude described by Jesus in 5:29-30, “If your right eye causes you to sin, 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 sin, 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.” Some have taken this language literally, like Origen (195-254), who castrated himself so that he would not be tempted. But that misses Jesus’ point, because if I gouge my right eye, I would still be looking and lusting using my left eye. Even blind, a twisted mind can still mentally sin!
What Jesus taught is what is called “spiritual mortification.” John Stott explains, “If your eye causes you to sin, because temptation comes to you through your eyes, then pluck out your eyes. That is, don’t look! Behave as if you actually plucked out your eyes and flung them away… If your hand or foot causes you to sin, because temptation comes to you through your hands (things you do) or your feet (places you visit), then cut them off. That is: don’t do it! Don’t go! Behave as you … were now crippled and so you could not do the things or visit the places which previously caused you to sin.” (Sermon on the Mount, 89)
Jesus is telling us that anything that stands between us and Him must be torn out or cut off and thrown away. These are drastic measures but absolutely needed to protect our spiritual health. Half-baked measures will not do the job. A wise man or woman will appropriate Job’s approach as he explained in Job 31:1, 7, 9. But above everything else, we must recognize the absolute necessity of the Holy Spirit, without whom we cannot mortify our flesh (Cols 3:5). Willpower alone will not do the job: Romans 8:13 reminds us that God gave us the ultimate power in this universe to help us pursue His holiness.
