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,
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
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.