Some difficult words from Jesus on a difficult subject...

At the church where I serve, we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled Jesus uncut. During this series, we are spending our time together looking at perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached, which is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. During this series, we are going to see Jesus reveal the true nature of what God demands of humanity in order to experience a right relationship with Him and what it truly means to obey the message and teachings of the letters that make up the Bible. And during this series, as we see Jesus uncut, our hope and prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in a way that enables us to wrap our heads, hearts, and hands around the lifestyle that Jesus calls us to live as one who is living in a right relationship with Him. 

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this famous sermon that Jesus preached, called the Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded for us in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew, we are going to discover another timeless truth from Jesus uncut. So, let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Matthew 5:31:

"It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE';

As Matthew continues to give us a front row seat to this famous sermon that Jesus preached, we see Jesus quote from a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the Old Testament called the book of Deuteronomy. However, to fully understand why Jesus would quote this section of the book of Deuteronomy, we first need to understand something about what was happening in the culture of Jesus day and the context in which the book of Deuteronomy was written.

In Deuteronomy 24:1-4, we see the Lord, through Moses, address the issue of divorce that had begun to occur among the Jewish people. You see, during the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day, divorce was purely a male prerogative. During the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day, a divorce did not require a legal hearing. Instead, a divorce was simply the husband’s decision.

During the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day, Jewish law made no provision for a woman to initiate a divorce and a woman had virtually no say in any divorce. In addition, during the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day, women did not have the economic opportunities that they have today and were far more dependent on men for financial support and for survival.

Thus, if a woman found herself being divorced, her only options were to return to her parent’s home, become the husband of another man, or live in poverty. And because of the cultural context during the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day; and because of the divorces that were occurring during the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day, the Lord addressed the issue of divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1-4.

While Jesus only quoted a section of these verses, the Jewish people listening to Jesus would have been familiar with the entire passage. Let’s look at the entire passage together, beginning in Deuteronomy 24:1-4:

"When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, ² and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, ³ and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, ⁴ then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

Here we see the God explain to the Jewish people that since they were already getting divorces, which went against God’s design for marriage, which is a covenant relationship between one man and one woman for one lifetime, then this was how they were to handle the issue of divorce. The Lord explained that if a man decided to divorce a woman, he was to write out a certificate of divorce to give to her.

This certificate of divorce was designed to protect the woman from any additional legal action against her by her former husband. The former husband could not accuse her of committing adultery if she was to be remarried, because he was the one who instituted the divorce. The Lord then explained that if the woman who was divorced remarried another man, and her second husband either divorced her or died, the first husband could not remarry her.

However, did you notice why the Lord said she could not remarry her first husband? The Lord explained that she could not remarry her first husband because she has been defiled. The word defiled was used in the language that this letter was originally written in to describe what happened when adultery occurred.

You see, the Lord viewed the woman’s remarriage after the first divorce as being similar to adultery in that the woman would be engaged in sexual activity with someone other than her first husband. So, if the woman remarried a man and then the second husband either divorced her or died, the first husband could not remarry her because he would be committing adultery with her, as she had entered into a marriage relationship with another man.

Thus, the Lord was establishing restrictions on the already existing practice of divorce that was occurring among the Jewish people so that divorce would not become too easy and abused so as to create a legalized form of adultery. However, the Jewish people of Jesus day had twisted and manipulated the Lord’s words through Moses in such a way that made it easy for people to get a divorce.

The Jewish people of Jesus day did what we all have a tendency to do, which is to only quote a part of what the message and teachings of Jesus have to say in order to justify behavior that may go against what the message and teachings of Jesus have to say. Thus, the Jewish people would only quote the first part of the passage in order to justify getting a divorce for any number of reasons.

Now for those in the crowd listening to Jesus sermon, no one would be surprised at Jesus words here because they had heard this phrase used in order to justify divorce. For those in the crowd listening to Jesus sermon, no one would disagree with Jesus words here because they had heard this phrase used in order to justify divorce.

For the Jewish people it was a common and accepted principle of the day that people would use this phrase to justify getting a divorce. However, what the crowds listening to Jesus were not prepared for was what Jesus had to say next. We see what Jesus said next in verse 32:

but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Now to fully understand the impact and weight of Jesus words here, we first need to understand what Jesus means when He uses the phrase “except for the reason of unchastity”. when Jesus uses the word unchastity here, this word is used to describe any unlawful sexual activity that goes against God’s design for sexuality, which is sexual activity between one man and one woman for one lifetime in a covenant marriage relationship.

And so often we focus on this little phrase, which is known in church mumbo jumbo talk as the exception clause, to be able to justify getting a divorce. However, this phrase is not the point that Jesus is trying to make here. Jesus point is not when someone is able to get a divorce. Instead, Jesus point is that regardless of whether or not a woman had committed adultery, for a man to divorce her is to portray her as an adulteress who becomes an adulteress if she remarries.

In addition, Jesus points out that the person who marries a divorced woman, regardless for the reasons for the divorce, commits adultery. Jesus point is that both the divorced wife and her new husband are guilty of adultery. Jesus point is that everyone in this scenario is guilty of adultery.

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in the crowd listening the Jesus words. Can you imagine what the response must have been like? Can you imagine the body language? The facial expressions? Can you imagine the pushback?

Maybe you find yourself pushing back. Maybe you are wondering, questioning, or even challenging Jesus words here. If we could have a conversation out at the courtyard coffeehouse, the conversation would sound something like this: “Really? Does Jesus actually think that people are guilty of adultery if they get divorced and remarry? Does Jesus actually think that a person who marries a divorced person is guilty of adultery? So, what is Jesus point here?”

If that question or pushback is running through your mind, I want to let you know that those are fair questions. And my response to that question and pushback is this: Once again, Jesus here is taking an external commandment and is internalizing the true meaning of that commandment. Jesus here is revealing the true intent of this commandment as given by God.

But what if Jesus is making a greater point than the issue of divorce? What if Jesus is using the issue of divorce as an opening illustration to address an even deeper spiritual issue? And if that is the case, if Jesus is using the issue of divorce as an opening illustration to address an even deeper spiritual issue, then what is the deeper spiritual issue?

Friday, we will see Jesus reveal the deeper spiritual issue…

The seriousness of sexual selfishness...

This week we are looking at a part of perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus preached, which we know today as the Sermon on the Mount. Tuesday, we looked on as Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 5:27-28 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Jesus statement, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: You have heard that is was said “you shall not engage in sexual activity with someone other than your spouse, but I say to you that everyone who takes in the sight of someone else’s wife with a strong desire to have sex with her or whoever looks at a woman who is not your wife with a strong desire to have sex with her has already had sex with her in their heart."

We discovered that Jesus is addressing the temptation that we all face, which is to look at the message and teachings of the letters in the Bible as though they simply address external behavior. Jesus here is addressing the temptation that we all face, which is to make our lists and charts for what we believe is spiritual and what we believe meets God’s standard of obedience, while missing the reality is that our lists and standard looks nothing at all like God’s standard. Jesus here is taking an external commandment and is revealing the internal realities that drove God's true intent behind this command. Jesus here is revealing what true obedience to this commandment as given by God would look like.

And it is here that we see Jesus reveal for us a timeless truth about the true nature of what it means to obey the message and teachings of Jesus and the true nature of a lifestyle that is living a right relationship with Jesus in that we are guilty of adultery when we desire sexually what we are not committed to relationally.

You see, once again, Jesus is confronting us with the timeless reality that our words and our actions are the overflow from what is going on inside of our hearts. And because of that reality, we are guilty of adultery when our heart desires something sexually that goes against God’s desires for our sexuality.

We are guilty of adultery because Jesus is not simply concerned with our external behavior. We are guilty because at the end of the day Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition. Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition because Jesus knows, and human history has shown, that eventually what is in the heart will spill out. Human history has shown us that when we desire something sexually in the heart, that desire will ultimately spill out into the sexual activity that occurs in a hotel room or a bedroom.

And because of that reality, as Jesus continues His sermon, we see Jesus reveal how we are to respond when what spills out of our heart reveals what is inside of our heart when it comes to desiring sexually what we are not committed to relationally. So, let’s look that response together, beginning in Matthew 5:29-30:

"If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ "If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

In verse 29, Jesus makes a seemingly strong and shocking statement: “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you;” Now when Jesus uses the word stumble here, this word literally means to cause on to experience a downfall. Jesus here is basically saying “if your right eye causes you to selfishly rebel sexually, then tear it out and throw it away from you”. Jesus then explains that the reason why someone would take such seemingly strong action was due to the fact that it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

And if that was not strong and shocking enough, Jesus doubles down on His statement in verse 30: "If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” As we discovered last week, when Jesus refers to hell, he was pointing the crowds to a place called Gehenna. Now Gehenna was the place where the Jewish people of Jesus day believed that God would exercise His final judgment.

In other words, Jesus is explaining that it would be better for a person to lose the part of their body that was causing them to selfishly rebel against God sexually and still be able to live in relationship with God than have all of the parts of their body, only to be in a position where they could be judged worthy of the eternal punishment that one would experience from God in Hell. Now your natural reaction to Jesus statement here is “Dave is Jesus serious here? I mean, you don’t actually believe that Jesus is literally saying that we should pluck out our eyes or chop off our hands in they cause us to rebel against God. I know that there are some legal systems that do such things, but are you saying that Jesus would want us to do such a thing?”

 So is Jesus literally saying that we should cut out our eyes or chop off our hands if they cause us to rebel against God? The answer to that question is a resounding no. And there are two reasons why the answer is no. First off, just because a person only has one eye, that doesn’t mean that a person couldn’t still commit adultery with their other eye. Just because a person only has one arm, that doesn’t mean that a person couldn’t still commit adultery with their other arm.

Second, Jesus has just explained that we are guilty of adultery when we desire something sexually that we are not committed to relationally. And that desire for something sexually for something that we are not committed to relationally has nothing to do with one’s eyes or hands; that desire has everything to do with one’s heart. You see, Jesus is not being literal here.

Instead, Jesus is using an exaggerated metaphor to reveal the seriousness of selfishness and rebellion in the area of sexuality and its ability to cause people to reject the message and teachings of Jesus and experience salvation. You see, the area of sexuality is the area where people are most likely to either compromise or totally reject the message and teachings of Jesus.

The message and teachings of Jesus on sexuality is often pointed to as a reason why people reject the message and teachings of Jesus as a whole. And the message and teachings of Jesus on sexuality is often rationalized and justified away in a way that results in compromise by those who say they are followers of Jesus.

Jesus uses this exaggerated metaphor to reveal the reality that anything that would cause someone to fail to follow Jesus and live in a right relationship with Jesus must be removed or eliminated at all costs. Jesus uses this exaggerated metaphor to reveal the reality that the danger of selfishness, rebellion and sin, especially selfish rebellion in the sexual arena, requires drastic action to avoid such selfishness, rebellion, and sin.

You see, how we handle our bodies in the sexual arena really matters to Jesus because, at the end of the day, Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition. Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition because Jesus knows, and human history has shown, that eventually what is in the heart will spill out. And, as Jesus points out in this part of His famous sermon, we are guilty of adultery when we desire sexually what we are not committed to relationally.

So  here is a question to consider: What do the desires of your heart reveal about how you are handing your sexuality? Are you guilty of desiring something sexually that goes against God’s desires for our sexuality?

Are you guilty of undressing with your eyes someone who walks by who you are not committed to relationally in marriage? Are you guilty of watching online porn to satisfy your sexual desires with someone on a screen who you are not committed to relationally in marriage? Are you guilty participating in sexting or snapchat images of others who we are not committed to relationally in marriage? Are you guilty of using tinder as a means to satisfy your sexual desires with someone who you are not committed to relationally in marriage?

Because, as Jesus points out, if that is the case, we are guilty of adultery.  We are guilty of adultery because Jesus is not simply concerned with our external behavior. We are guilty because at the end of the day Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition.

Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition because Jesus knows, and human history has shown, that eventually what is in the heart will spill out. Human history has shown us that when we desire something sexually in the heart, that desire will ultimately spill out into the sexual activity that occurs in a hotel room or a bedroom...

We are guilty of adultery when we desire sexually what we are not committed to relationally...

At the church where I serve, we just started a brand new sermon series entitled Jesus uncut. During this series, we are spending our time together looking at perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached, which is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. During this series, we are going to see Jesus reveal to the crowds listening to His sermon, and to us here today, the true nature of what God demands of humanity in order to experience a right relationship with Him and what it truly means to obey the message and teachings of the letters that make up the Bible.

And during this series, as we see Jesus uncut, our hope and prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in a way that enables us to wrap our heads, hearts, and hands around the lifestyle that Jesus calls us to live as one who is living in a right relationship with Him.  This week, I would like for us to jump into the next section of this famous sermon that Jesus preached, called the Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded for us in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew, where we are going to discover another timeless truth from Jesus uncut. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Matthew 5:27:

"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY';

As Matthew continues to give us a front row seat to this famous sermon that Jesus preached, we see Jesus quote from a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the Old Testament called the book of Exodus. As we discovered last week, in the book of Exodus, God used a man named Moses to deliver the Jewish people from slavery at the hands of the nation of Egypt. 

After spending over 400 years living as slaves in a nation that worshipped a multitude of false gods, the Jewish people had been delivered from slavery by God and were now a free people. However, while free from slavery, the Jewish people were not free from the influence of living in a culture that worshipped other gods instead of the One True God. And because of that reality, in this section of the book of Exodus, God began to enter a covenant relationship with the Jewish people as His chosen people. In other words, God and the Jewish people agreed to enter a committed relationship with one another that was based on the fulfillment of various promises and responsibilities.

God promised the Jewish people that they would enter a special relationship with Him as His treasured people that would live lives that were distinctly different from the other nations of the world in that the Jewish people would be wholly devoted to God and God alone. As part of that special relationship with God, the Jewish people were to live according to a set of principles that would establish them as being distinctly different from the other nations of the world. As a result of this special relationship with God; as a result of living their lives according to a set of principles given to them by God that would result in them living lives that were distinctly different than the world around them, the Jewish people would be the vehicle that He used to reveal Himself to the world around them.

In Exodus 20, God began to give these principles to Moses, who would in turn deliver these principles to the Jewish people to follow. The entirety of these principles were referred to by the Jewish people as the Law. The Law contained the list of commandments that revealed to the Jewish people God’s nature, God’s character, and the type of nature and character that humanity would need to possess and display in order to live in a right relationship with God. The first set of these principles we know today as the Ten Commandments.

Here, we see Jesus quote from the seventh of the Ten Commandments, which is recorded for us in Exodus 20:14. In Exodus 20:14, God commanded the Jewish people “You shall not commit adultery". Now, to commit adultery is to engage in sexual activity with someone other than one’s spouse. Now for those in the crowd listening to Jesus sermon, no one would be surprised at Jesus words here. For those in the crowd listening to Jesus sermon, no one would disagree with Jesus words here.

For those in the crowd listening, it was a common and accepted principle that a person who engaged in sexual activity with someone other than one’s spouse would certainly be guilty of breaking this commandment. However, what the crowds listening to Jesus were not prepared for was what Jesus had to say next. We see what Jesus said next in verse 28:

 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Now to fully understand what Jesus is saying here, we first need to understand a few things. First off, when Jesus uses the word look, this word conveys the sense of taking in the sight of something. This word conveys the sense of observing something so as to take it all in. This word would be used to describe someone who scans the horizon at the Grand Canyon so that they could take it all in the sights of the Canyon. 

Now that leads us to the second thing that we need to understand, which is what Jesus means when he uses the phrase with lust for her. This phrase refers to having a strong sexual interest and desire for another. The final thing that we need to understand is what Jesus means when he refers to the heart. In the culture of Jesus day, the word heart was used to refer to the center and source of one’s emotions, wishes and desires.

Now with all that background information in mind, let’s jump back to Jesus statement. "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Jesus statement here, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: You have heard that is was said “you shall not engage in sexual activity with someone other than your spouse, but I say to you that everyone who takes in the sight of someone else’s wife with a strong desire to have sex with her or whoever looks at a woman who is not your wife with a strong desire to have sex with her has already had sex with her in their heart.”

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in the crowd listening the Jesus words. Can you imagine what the response must have been like? Can you imagine the body language? The facial expressions? Can you imagine the pushback? Maybe you are here this morning and you find yourself pushing back.

Maybe you are wondering, questioning, or even challenging Jesus words here and if we could have a conversation, the conversation would sound something like this: “Really? Does Jesus actually think that thinking about having sex with someone is that same as having sex with someone? Does Jesus actually think that desiring to have sex with someone is that same as having sex with someone? I mean Jesus can’t really be serious here. After all, to think about having sex with someone is not remotely the same as actually having sex with someone. After all, to desire to have sex with someone is not remotely the same as actually having sex with someone. So, what is Jesus point here?”

If those question or pushback is running through your mind, I want to let you know that those are fair questions. And my response to that question and pushback is this: Jesus is addressing the temptation that we all face, which is to look at the message and teachings of the letters in the Bible as though they simply address external behavior. Jesus here is addressing the temptation that we all face, which is to make our lists and charts for what we believe is spiritual and what we believe meets God’s standard of obedience, while missing the reality is that our lists and standard looks nothing at all like God’s standard.

Jesus here is taking an external commandment and is revealing the internal realities that drove God's true intent behind this command. Jesus here is revealing what true obedience to this commandment as given by God would look like. And it is here that we see Jesus reveal for us a timeless truth about the true nature of what it means to obey the message and teachings of Jesus and the true nature of a lifestyle that is living a right relationship with Jesus.  And that timeless truth is this: We are guilty of adultery when we desire sexually what we are not committed to relationally.

You see, once again, Jesus is confronting us with the timeless reality that our words and our actions are the overflow from what is going on inside of our hearts. And because of that reality, we are guilty of adultery when our heart desires something sexually that goes against God’s desires for our sexuality. We are guilty of adultery when we undress with our eyes someone who walks by who we are not committed to relationally in marriage.

We are guilty of adultery when we watch online porn to satisfy our sexual desires with someone on a screen who we are not committed to relationally in marriage. We are guilty of adultery when we participate in sexting or snapchat images of others who we are not committed to relationally in marriage. We are guilty of adultery when we use tinder as a means to satisfy our sexual desires with someone who we are not committed to relationally in marriage.

We are guilty of adultery because Jesus is not simply concerned with our external behavior. We are guilty because at the end of the day Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition. Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition because Jesus knows, and human history has shown, that eventually what is in the heart will spill out.

Human history has shown us that when we desire something sexually in the heart, that desire will ultimately spill out into the sexual activity that occurs in a hotel room or a bedroom. And because of that reality, as Jesus continues His sermon, we see Jesus reveal how we are to respond when what spills out of our heart results in us desiring sexually what we are not committed to relationally.

Friday, we will look that response…

How to respond when what spills out of our heart results in us being guilty of damaging another’s heart...

This week, we are looking at a section of perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached, called the Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded for us in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew. And it is in Matthew 5:21-22, as Jesus talked about the issue of murder, that we see Jesus reveal for us a timeless truth about the true nature of what it means to obey the message and teachings of Jesus and the true nature of a lifestyle that is living a right relationship with Jesus. 

And that timeless truth is this: We are guilty of murder when what comes from our heart damages another’s heart. We talked about the reality that our words and our actions are the overflow from what is going on inside of our hearts. And as the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon stated in Proverbs 4:23 “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.”

And because of that reality, we are guilty of murder when we respond to our desires being blocked in a way that damages another. We are guilty of murder when we respond in anger either to the wrong things or in the wrong way in a way that damages another. We are guilty of murder when we angrily verbally bully another, whether that verbal bullying is face to face or on social media, in a way that damages the heart of another. We are guilty of murder when we angrily speak in a way that disrespectfully slanders another person in a way that damages the heart of another.

We are guilty of murder because Jesus is not simply concerned with our external behavior. We are guilty because at the end of the day Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition. Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition because Jesus knows, and human history has shown, that what is in the heart will eventually spill out.

And because of that reality, as Jesus continues His sermon, we see Jesus reveal how we are to respond when what spills out of our heart reveals what is inside of our heart in a way that results in us being guilty of damaging another’s heart. So, let’s look that response together, beginning in Matthew 5:23:

"Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

Again, to fully understand the significance of Jesus words here, we first need to understand a few things. The first thing that we need to understand involves how the Jewish people worshipped God during this time in history, which was referred to as the Jewish sacrificial system. In the Jewish sacrificial system, there were two times every day that sacrifices were made to God for the sins of the people, one early in the morning and one in the in the late afternoon at 3 p.m.

The sacrificial offerings involved animals who were offered as a substitute to pay the penalty for acts of selfishness and rebellion that had been committed against God. In addition, the Jewish people would offer up what were referred to as burnt offerings. The burnt offerings were expression of worship and thanksgiving to God. Also, it is important to understand that, during this time in history, there was only one church; and that church was the Temple that was in Jerusalem. So, every Jewish person would travel to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, where they would offer up acts of worship on an altar to the Lord.

Now that leads us to the second thing which we need to understand, which is where Jesus was preaching this sermon. Jesus was preaching this sermon on an elevated area near the Sea of Galilee in the Northern part of what was known as the Jewish nation. That is why this sermon is known as the Sermon on the Mount. Now the distance from where Jesus was preaching this sermon and the Temple in Jerusalem was approximately 80 miles. For the average person, the journey between the Temple in Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee would take approximately one week to complete.

So, Jesus here is basically saying “If you are down in Jerusalem at church and you are getting ready to worship God and then remember that you have wronged your neighbor because of the reality that something came out of your heart that damaged their heart, leave your act of worship at church, make the eighty-mile trip from Jerusalem back to see your neighbor. You need to first make the eighty-mile trip from Jerusalem back to see your neighbor in order to do what needs to be done to make sure that you restore a sense of harmony and normalcy back to your relationship with your neighbor. Then, after restoring a sense of harmony and normalcy back in your relationship with your neighbor, then make the eighty-mile trip back down to Jerusalem and worship God.”

Jesus here is telling a parable, which is an earthly story designed to reveal the deeper spiritual truth that the reconciliation and restoration of relationships really matter to God. Jesus uses this parable to reveal the reality that our response to damaging another’s heart is to make great effort to restore harmony and normalcy back to the relationship we have damaged. Jesus hammered this point home with a second parable in verse 25:

"Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. ²⁶ "Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

In this second parable, Jesus paints a scenario between a person who has had a charge brought against them because they wronged another. Jesus explained to the crowds listening that the person who has had a charge brought against them because they wronged another should make every effort to settle the case and right the wrong that they had committed against the person who was taking them to court before seeing the judge.

Jesus that warned that failing to take such action would result in a hearing before the judge where they would most certainly be found guilty of wrong and experience a harsh punishment for their wrong. When Jesus uses the phrase “you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent” He was reinforcing the reality that failing to make great efforts to restore harmony and normalcy back to the relationship that has been damaged will result in the loss of everything that a person has.

You see, reconciliation, a restoration of harmony and normalcy in our relationships, really matters to Jesus because, at the end of the day, Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition. Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition because Jesus knows, and human history has shown, that what is in the heart will eventually spill out. And, as Jesus points out in this part of His famous sermon, we are guilty of murder when what comes from our heart damages another’s heart.

So, with that in mind, here is a question to consider: What do your words and your actions reveal about what is going on inside of your heart? Are you guilty of responding to your desires being blocked in a way that damages another? Are you guilty of responding in anger either to the wrong things or in the wrong way in a way that damages another?

Are you guilty of angrily verbally bully others, whether that verbal bullying is face to face or on social media, so as to damage the heart of another? Are you guilty of angrily speak in a way that disrespectfully slanders another person so as to damage the heart of another?

Because, as Jesus points out, if that is the case, we are guilty of murder.  We are guilty of murder because Jesus is not simply concerned with our external behavior. We are guilty because at the end of the day Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition. We are guilty because we are speaking and acting from anger instead of love…

We are guilty of murder when what comes from our heart damages another’s heart...

If we are honest, when it comes to having a relationship with God, we often are tempted to make our lists and charts for what we believe is spiritual and what we believe meets God’s standard of obedience, yet so often the reality is that our lists and standard looks nothing at all like God’s standard. So, at the church where I serve, we are spending the weeks leading up to Easter in a series entitled “Jesus Uncut”.

During this series, we are going to see Jesus reveal to the crowds listening to a famous sermon the He preached, which we refer to today as the Sermon on the Mount, the true nature of what God demands of humanity in order to experience a right relationship with Him. During this series, we are going to see Jesus reveal for us the true nature of what it means to obey the message and teachings of the letters that make up the Bible.

During this series, we will see Jesus uncut, as He reveals the lifestyle that should mark a person who is living in a right relationship with Him.  So this week, I would like to look at a section of perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached, called the Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded for us in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew, beginning in Matthew 5:21:

"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER ' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'

As Matthew gives us a front row seat to this famous sermon that Jesus preached, we see Jesus quote from a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the Old Testament called the book of Exodus. In the book of Exodus, a man named Moses had been used by God to deliver the Jewish people from slavery at the hands of the nation of Egypt.  After spending over 400 years living as slaves in a nation that worshipped a multitude of false gods, the Jewish people had been delivered from slavery by God and were now a free people.

However, while free from slavery, the Jewish people were not free from the influence of living in a culture that worshipped other gods instead of the One True God. And because of that reality, in this section of the book of Exodus, God began to enter a covenant relationship with the Jewish people as His chosen people. In other words, God and the Jewish people agreed to enter a committed relationship with one another that was based on the fulfillment of various promises and responsibilities.

God promised the Jewish people that they would enter a special relationship with Him as His treasured people that would live lives that were distinctly different from the other nations of the world in that the Jewish people would be wholly devoted to God and God alone. As part of that special relationship with God, the Jewish people were to live according to a set of principles that would establish them as being distinctly different from the other nations of the world.

As a result of this special relationship with God; as a result of living their lives according to a set of principles given to them by God that would result in them living lives that were distinctly different than the world around them, the Jewish people would be the vehicle that He used to reveal Himself to the world around them. In Exodus 20, God began to give these principles to Moses, who would in turn deliver these principles to the Jewish people to follow.

The entirety of these principles were referred to by the Jewish people as the Law. The Law contained the list of commandments that revealed to the Jewish people God’s nature, God’s character, and the type of nature and character that humanity would need to possess and display in order to live in a right relationship with God. The first set of these principles we know today as the Ten Commandments.

Here we see Jesus quote from the sixth of the Ten Commandments, which is recorded for us in Exodus 20:13. In Exodus 20:13, God commanded the Jewish people “You shall not commit murder”. Now, to commit murder is to knowingly and willingly act in a premeditated fashion take the life of another. You see, the letters that make up the Bible makes a clear distinction between killing and murder. From the perspective of the letters that make up the Bible, there is a significant difference between a person whose actions accidentally cause the death of another, which is defined as killing, and a person who plots and plans to take the life of another, which is defined as murder.

In addition, Jesus quoted from another section of the Law, which is found in Deuteronomy 5:17: “Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.” Jesus here is reminding the crowds listening to Him that the person who knowingly and willingly plots and plans to take the life of another will be required answer for their actions and will be held accountable for their actions. Jesus is basically saying here “Whoever knowingly and willingly plots and plans to take the life of another will certainly be found guilty before the court”.

Now for those in the crowd listening to Jesus sermon, no one would be surprised at Jesus words here. For those in the crowd listening to Jesus sermon, no one would disagree with Jesus words here. For the Jewish people it was a common and accepted principle that a person who knowingly and willingly plots and plans to take the life of another will certainly be found guilty before the court and would be punished by the court. However, what the crowds listening to Jesus were not prepared for was what Jesus had to say next. We see what Jesus said next in verse 22:

"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Now to fully understand the impact of Jesus words here, we first need to understand the concept of anger and then define some terms. When Jesus talks about being angry here, He is referring to an inappropriate anger towards another person.  A great definition of anger is that anger is an emotional response that occurs when a person's desires are blocked. Think of the last time you were angry. What caused you to be angry?

In almost every case, we experience anger because we had a desire for what we wanted to be doing or to have happen, but that desire was blocked by some person or some experience. Our emotional response to that desire being blocked by someone or something is anger. The issue of anger is further complicated by the reality that, far too often, we tend to not get angry at things that should make us angry while at the same time get angry at things that should not make us angry. I mean we can blow a head gasket over a waiter messing up our order in a restaurant while not being the least bit upset when multitudes of women are taken advantage of through human trafficking.

The letters that make up the Bible command followers of Jesus to make sure that they respond in anger to the right things and respond in anger to the right things the right way. And we see this principle modeled by the life of Jesus. Jesus never sinned, yet He went into the temple and turned over the tables of the moneychangers not once but twice. Jesus responded in anger to the right things and responded in anger to the right things the right way. Here, however, Jesus is referring to a person who responds in anger either to the wrong things or in the wrong way.

Jesus then provided three examples of responding to anger to the wrong things or in the wrong way. First, Jesus states that whoever is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court. Now when Jesus uses the word brother here, this word actually refers to one’s neighbor. Jesus point here is that anyone who responds in anger to their neighbor for the wrong things or in the wrong way will certainly be found guilty before the court and will be punished by the court.

Jesus then provided a second example of responding to anger to the wrong things or in the wrong way: “and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court”.  When Jesus uses the phrase “good for nothing”, this word, in the language of the day, was a quasi-expletive in the culture of the day to call one a numskull or fool. This phrase was a term or abuse or put down in the culture of the day that related to a lack of intelligence. This phrase was a type of verbal bullying.

Jesus point is that anyone who angrily verbally bullies another, whether that verbal bullying is face to face or on social media; anyone who verbally abuses another so as to demean and degrade another will certainly be found guilty before the supreme court and will be punished by the supreme court. When Jesus refers to the supreme court, He was referring to the Sanhedrin. Now the Sanhedrin was the senate and Supreme Court of the Jewish nation. The Sanhedrin comprised the political, judicial, and religious leaders of the Jewish people that formed the governing body for the Jewish people. These were the most powerful people in the nation gathered together in one room. In our culture today, this would be the equivalent of having the members of the house, senate and the justices of the Supreme Court together to pass a judgment of guilt on another.

Jesus then provided a third example of responding to anger to the wrong things or in the wrong way: “and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” In the culture of Jesus day, the phrase “you fool” was used to speak disrespectfully about a person by claiming that they were an immoral or godless person. This phrase was used to speak slanderously of another person in hopes of damaging their reputation.

Jesus point is that anyone who angrily slanders another person will certainly be guilty enough to be sentenced to go into the fiery hell”. With this phase, Jesus was pointing the crowds to a place called Gehenna. Now Gehenna was the place where the Jewish people of Jesus day believed that God would exercise His final judgment. In other words, Jesus is proclaiming that those who angrily slander others are in a position where they could be judged worthy of the eternal punishment that one would experience from God in Hell.    

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in the crowd listening the Jesus words. Can you imagine what the response must have been like? Can you imagine the body language? The facial expressions? Can you imagine the pushback? Maybe you are here this morning and you find yourself pushing back.

Maybe you are wondering, questioning, or even challenging Jesus words here and if we could have a conversation, the conversation would sound something like this: “Really? Does Jesus actually think that gossip, slander, or even verbal bullying is the same thing as murder? I mean Jesus can’t really be serious here. After all, to shoot someone with a gun in the heart on purpose is not remotely the same as simply being angry and saying things out of that anger that slanders, disrespects, or demeans another. So, what is Jesus point here?”

If those questions or pushback is running through your mind, I want to let you know that those are fair questions. And my response to that question and pushback is this: Jesus is addressing the temptation that we all face, which is to look at the message and teachings of the letters in the Bible as though they simply address external behavior. Jesus here is addressing the temptation that we all face, which is to make our lists and charts for what we believe is spiritual and what we believe meets God’s standard of obedience, while missing the reality that our lists and standard looks nothing at all like God’s standard. Jesus here is taking an external commandment and is internalizing the true meaning of that commandment. Jesus here is revealing the true intent of this commandment as given by God.

And it is here that we see Jesus reveal for us a timeless truth about the true nature of what it means to obey the message and teachings of Jesus and the true nature of a lifestyle that is living a right relationship with Jesus.  And that timeless truth is this: We are guilty of murder when what comes from our heart damages another’s heart. The timeless reality is that our words and our actions are the overflow from what is going on inside of our hearts. And as the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon stated in Proverbs 4:23 “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.”

And because of that reality, we are guilty of murder when we respond to our desires being blocked in a way that damages another. We are guilty of murder when we respond in anger either to the wrong things or in the wrong way in a way that damages another. We are guilty of murder when we angrily verbally bully another, whether that verbal bullying is face to face or on social media, in a way that damages the heart of another. We are guilty of murder when we angrily speak in a way that disrespectfully slanders another person in a way that damages the heart of another.

We are guilty of murder because Jesus is not simply concerned with our external behavior. We are guilty because at the end of the day Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition. Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition because Jesus knows, and human history has shown, that what is in the heart will eventually spill out.

And because of that reality, as Jesus continues His sermon, we see Jesus reveal how we are to respond when what spills out of our heart reveals what is inside of our heart in a way that results in us being guilty of damaging another's heart.

We will see Jesus reveal what are response should be on Friday...

Striving toward a standard that isn’t God’s standard...

This week, we have been looking at a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew, where Jesus made a statement that provides for us a timeless goal that we should strive towards, both as individuals and as a church.  Wednesday, we looked on as Jesus painted for the crowds listening to Him a word picture to describe what the world should see when they come into contact with His followers. Jesus explains to the crowds listening to Him that those who follow Him are the light of the world.

Jesus painted this word picture to explained that, as the light of the world, followers of Jesus are to reveal and reflect Jesus and help provide the guidance and direction necessary for people to be able to navigate life here on earth. After providing this word picture what the world should see when they encounter His followers, Jesus provides two additional images to challenge the crowds listening.

First, Jesus reminds the crowds listening of a timeless reality that they were all too familiar of: a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  A city that is located in an elevated location can be seen from miles away. In Jesus day, this would especially be the case after the sun set. In the pitch black darkness of the desert of Israel, the light of an elevated city would be seen for miles and miles.

Jesus then provided a second word picture, this time of a lamp that would be used to provide light in a home. Jesus used this word picture to explain that for the light to fulfill its purpose to reveal, display, and to provide the opportunity for those in the house to navigate an otherwise dark environment, the light needed to be in the right position.

After painting these two word pictures, Jesus challenged the crowds who were listening to live their lives in such a way that the world around us may see their good works and glorify God who is in Heaven. Jesus here is calling the crowds listening, and us here today, to reveal and reflect Christ by how we love and serve the world around us. Jesus calls His followers to engage the world by loving and serving those who God has placed around us.

The church is the only organization that does not exist for the sake of its members. The church has been divinely designed to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world. And God places the local church in distinctive environments to be distinctively different. God has placed City Bible Church in Bullhead City to be a city within a city that loves and serves those around us.  And when we love and serve others in a way that reveals and reflects Christ, the result is that we glorify God in Heaven.

And that is why we believe and are focused on the goal that God has given us at the church where I serve to be a city in a city that is striving to reveal and reflect Christ as we love and serve the city. We believe that as we live life together in community with a focus on engaging those in this city in a way that reveals and reflects Christ by loving and serving those in the city, we will be the vehicle that God uses to advance His kingdom mission and bring Him glory.

Today, I would like for us to look at what Jesus had to say next, because it is what Jesus had to say next that will set the stage for the sermon series that we will be engaging in as the church where I serve in the weeks leading to Easter. So, let’s look together at what Jesus had to say next, which Matthew records for us in Matthew 5:17-18:

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Now to fully understand what Jesus is communicating here, we first need to understand what Jesus is talking about when He refers to the Law and Prophets are. The Law and the Prophets were how the Jewish people referred to the Old Testament. Jesus explained to the crowd “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets”.  

Jesus point was that He did not enter into humanity to set aside or put an end to what was written in the Old Testament. Instead, Jesus explained that He entered into humanity to fulfill what was written in the Old Testament. Jesus did not enter into humanity to bring a new teaching that would override what was previously written. Jesus entered into humanity to explain and reveal what was written in the Old Testament really meant. Jesus entered into humanity to show humanity what it would look like to actually live out what the Old Testament taught in our day to day lives.

But notice that Jesus did not stop there. Jesus continued by stating that “until Heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke from the Law will pass away until it is fulfilled.” But what does that mean?  The phrase “heaven and earth pass away” was what we would call today a slang term that conveys a sense of permanence. If Jesus was making this statement in the language we use in our culture today, this statement would have sounded something like this:  “Hell will freeze over before anything that is written in the Old Testament will come to the place where it no longer matters”.

Jesus point was that the teaching and the demands of the Old Testament to God’s people would never lose its significance. But not only would the teaching and demands of the Old Testament never lose its significance, Jesus also explained that every word of the Old Testament was important and would be fulfilled.

Jesus did not come to advocate a cut and paste spirituality where we can pick and choose which verses of the Bible we will follow. Jesus did not come to advocate a buffet style Christianity; “I like that portion, but I’ll not take any of that”; Jesus came to reinforce the reality that every word, every commandment, every demand that God makes to His followers in the Old Testament was from God and God’s expectation was for members of His kingdom community to follow every one of His demands. 

You see, Jesus wanted to make sure that readers of His message throughout history would clearly understand that every word and every demand from God to His followers has eternal significance and eternal importance. Jesus then hammers this point home with what He says next, which Matthew records for us in Matthew 5:19-20:

"Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Here we see Jesus explain to the crowds listening, and readers of His sermon throughout history, that whoever annuls even the smallest of God’s demands of His followers and teaches others to do the same would be called least in the kingdom of Heaven. The word annul conveys the sense of doing away with something or releasing someone from an obligation. Jesus point is that anyone who does away with or releases others from following God’s demands is least in the kingdom, while those who keep them are great in the kingdom.

You see, for Jesus, the issue is obedience to the entire Old Testament teaching. And it is here that we see Jesus reveal for us the reality that obedience matters. For Jesus, the one who is disobedient to God’s demands is least in His kingdom. But what does Jesus mean when He says to be least in the kingdom of Heaven? To be least in the kingdom communicates the sense of being of low esteem in God’s eyes and an unworthy representative of the kingdom.

The one who is obedient to God’s demands, in contrast, is great in the kingdom; they are highly esteemed in God’s eyes and viewed as a worthy representative of the kingdom. Jesus then hammered the importance of obedience home to the crowds listening by explaining in verse 20 that “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, they would not be able to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.”

Now when Jesus uses the word righteousness, He is referring to a quality of character and behavior that represents being right with God. In other words, this idea of righteousness conveys the sense of meeting God’s demands so as to experience a right relationship with Him. Jesus here is revealing the reality that obedience matters because obedience determines entrance into the kingdom. Jesus point is that in order to be right with God so as to be able to enter the kingdom of Heaven, a person’s character and behavior must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

To fully grasp the significance of Jesus statement here, we first need to understand who the scribes and Pharisees were. The scribes and Pharisees were the most respected and revered people in Jewish culture. They were the religious leaders of the nation. In the culture of the day, these were the spiritual superstars.

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in the crowd as Jesus is preaching this sermon. What would be going through your mind at this point? I don’t know about you, but I would be thinking “but Jesus, those guys are really spiritual. There is no way that I can be more spiritual or obedient than those guys”.

And that was Jesus point. That is exactly what Jesus wanted them to understand. You see, the problem was that the religious leaders of the day had taken God’s demands of His people and set a standard for what constituted obedience that wasn’t God’s standard. These leaders believed that in order to be right with God, one had to keep the list of rules that God had given His people, called the Ten Commandments. In addition, these religious leaders added over 600 additional rules and regulations that they believed would make one right with God, if obeyed. So the people of Jesus day were striving toward a standard of obedience that wasn’t God’s standard.

How often do we do the same thing? We make our lists and charts for what we believe is spiritual and what we believe meets God’s standard of obedience, yet so often the reality is that our lists and standard looks nothing at all like God’s standard. So, as we lean into a new year, we are going to lean into a new series entitled “Jesus Uncut”.

During this series, we are going to see Jesus reveal to the crowds listening to His sermon, and to us here today, the true nature of what God demands of humanity in order to experience a right relationship with Him. During this series, we are going to see Jesus reveal for us the true nature of what it means to obey the message and teachings of the letters that make up the Bible. 

During this series, we will see Jesus uncut, as He reveals the lifestyle that should mark a person who is living in a right relationship with Him…