Matthew 5:38-42

Rachel Workman: I don’t have a comment on today’s reading.

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John Burnett:  ³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take your ^[a]shirt, let him have your ^[b]coat also. ⁴¹ Whoever ^[c]forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.  Verse 39 gives us instruction to not sin by seeking revenge.  We should always leave that up to God because vengeance is mine says the LORD.  Considering all things belong to God and He gives us what we need, I can understand where he says to give to those who need to borrow.  To those who would sue us, give more because God will give us more if we need it.  Verse 41 has to be where “going the extra mile” comes from.

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Mike Grimm:  ⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ God’s purpose behind this law was an expression of mercy. The law was given to judges and said, in effect, “Make the punishment fit the crime.” It was NOT a guide for personal revenge, (Exodus 21:23-25; Leviticus 24:19, 20; Deuteronomy 19:21). These laws were given to limit vengeance and help the court administer punishment that was neither too strict nor too lenient. Some people, however, were using this phrase to justify their vendettas against others. People still try to excuse their acts of revenge by saying, “I was just doing to him what he did to me.” ³⁹ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. To many Jews of Jesus’ day, these statements were offensive. Any Messiah who would turn the other cheek was not the military leader they wanted to lead a revolt against Rome. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ⁴¹ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

When we are wronged, often our first reaction is to get even. Instead Jesus said we should do good to those who wrong us! Our desire should not be to keep score, but to love and forgive. This is not natural—it is supernatural. Only God can give us the strength to love as he does. Instead of planning vengeance, pray for those who hurt you.

Matthew 5:33-37

Rachel Workman: 33 “You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’[n] 34 But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. 35 And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. 36 Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. 37 Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

Keeping your word must have been something that Jesus valued. I think we should get back to place that we also value our word.

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John Burnett:  ³³ “Again, you have heard that ^[a]the ancients were told, ‘^[b]You shall not ^[c]make false vows, but shall fulfill your ^[d]vows to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or ^[e]by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is ^[f]of evil.  I promise to not make promises that I cannot or will not keep.  A promise unkempt is nothing more than a lie and all liars will have their part in the lake of fire.  This liar however, has been saved by the amazing grace of Jesus Christ and His gospel.

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Allen Michaels:  ³³ “Again, 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.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

Here Jesus was emphasizing the importance of telling the truth. People were breaking promises and using sacred language casually and carelessly. Keeping oaths and promises is important; it builds trust and makes committed human relationships possible. The Bible condemns making vows or taking oaths casually, giving your word while knowing that you won’t keep it, or swearing falsely in God’s name. I hate when I hear somebody say “I swear to God.” They have no idea what they are saying. Oaths are needed in certain situations only because we live in a sinful society that breeds distrust.

Jesus told his followers not to use oaths or vows—their word alone should be enough (see James 5:12). Can we be called people of our word? Truthfulness seems so rare that we feel we must end our statements with “I promise.” If we tell the truth all the time, we will have less pressure to back up our words with an oath or promise.

Matthew 5:27-32

Rachel Workman: 27 “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’[j] 28 But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your eye—even your good eye[k]—causes you to lust, 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. 30 And if your hand—even your stronger hand[l]—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 be thrown into hell.

31 “You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’[m] 32 But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.

There's a lot in these verses. But what speaks the loudest to me here is Jesus is concerned about what's in your heart. The first act in committing a crime is thinking about doing it. Nothing ever happens until we think about it happening.

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John Burnett:  ²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 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. ²⁹ If your right eye makes you ^[a]stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you ^[b]to lose one of the parts of your body, ^[c]than for your whole body to be thrown into ^[d]hell. ³⁰ If your right hand makes you ^[e]stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you ^[f]to lose one of the parts of your body, ^[g]than for your whole body to go into ^[h]hell.  There is not a more damning verse for men in the Bible than this passage.  Jesus, by including a man’s thought life as sin and that he violates one of the ten commandments is setting the bar so high (perfection) that He is the only one that achieves it.  Hell will be full of men because of the lust of the eyes.  What is amazing is that Jesus died for these sins and Romans 1 makes me think that sexual sin was the majority of sins that put Him on the cross.  It is with great thanks that I don’t have to cut off a hand or pluck out an eye because Jesus took two nails to His hands, one in His feet and a spear in His side to wash these sins away.

³¹ “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; ³² but I say to you that everyone who ^[i]divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a ^[j]divorced woman commits adultery.  Another area where God’s grace is amazing.

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Allen Michaels:  ²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. The Old Testament law said that it is wrong for a person to have sex with someone other than his or her spouse (Exodus 20:14) But Jesus said that the desire to have sex with someone other than your spouses is mental adultery and thus sin. Jesus emphasized that if the act is wrong, than so is the intention. To be faithful to your spouse with your body but not your mind is to break the trust so vital to a strong marriage. Jesus is not condemning natural interest in the opposite sex or even healthy sexual desire, but the deliberate and repeated filling of one’s mind with fantasies that would be evil if acted out.

Acting out sinful desires is harmful in several ways: (1) it causes people to excuse sin rather than to stop sinning; (2) it destroys marriages (verses 31-32); (3) it is deliberate rebellion against God’s Word; (4) it always hurts someone else in addition to the sinner. Sinful action is more dangerous than sinful desire, and that is why desires should not be acted out. Left unchecked, wrong desires will result in wrong actions and turn people away from God.

²⁹ If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ 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.

Jesus was speaking figuratively. He didn’t mean literally to gouge out your eye, because even a blind person can lust. But if that were the only choice, it would be better to go into heaven with one eye or hand than to go to hell with two. We sometimes tolerate sins in our lives that left, unchecked, could eventually destroy us. It is better to experience the pain of removal (getting rid of a bad habit or something we treasure, for instance) than to allow the sin to bring judgment and condemnation. We must examine our lives for anything that causes us to sin, and take every necessary action to remove it.

When you look at the sexual sins listed in Deuteronomy 22 it says that if a married man is illicitly involved with another woman, then they are both to be stoned. That is the end of it! Adultery is a grave sin that requires capital punishment.

Divorce

³¹ “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² 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.

Divorce is as hurtful and destructive today as in Jesus’ day. God intends marriage to be a lifetime commitment (Genesis 2:24). When entering into marriage, people should never consider divorce an option for solving problems or a way out of a relationship that seems dead. In these verses Jesus is also attacking those who purposefully abuse the marriage contract, using divorce to satisfy their lustful desire to marry someone else. Are our actions today helping our marriage grow stronger, or are we tearing it apart?

Jesus said that divorce is not permissible except for unfaithfulness. This does not mean that divorce should automatically occur when a spouse commits adultery. The word translated “unfaithfulness” implies a sexual immoral life-style, not a confessed and repented act of adultery. Those who discover that their partner has been unfaithful should first make every effort to forgive, reconcile, and restore their relationship. We are always to look for reasons to restore the marriage relationship rather than for excuses to leave it.

Matthew 5:21-26

Rachel Workman: 21 “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ 22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell. Yikes, this includes me. I am guilty I deserve judgment and condemnation. But because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross my slate has been wiped clean.

23 “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. This is still good advice. Advice that I don't follow very often.

25 “When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny. There is no better day than today to get things right with God. Putting it off until tomorrow could cost you your salvation. We are not promised another day on this earth.

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John Burnett:  ²¹ “You have heard that ^[a]the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be ^[b]liable to the court.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be ^[c]guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘^[d]You good-for-nothing,’ shall be ^[e]guilty before ^[f]the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be ^[g]guilty enough to go into the ^[h]fiery hell. ²³ Therefore if you are presenting your ^[i]offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your ^[j]offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your ^[k]offering. 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 ^[l]cent.

Jesus’s standards are perfection and I see a lot of language that I have used in my lifetime.  If we are angry at our brother, we are guilty of murder in our heart and in the eyes of God.  Unless of course you belong to Jesus, then all the Father sees is Jesus’s record on your account.  Jesus is the only one who lived a perfect life and kept the law to this high standard.  Without His imputed righteousness we are guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.  We are to also be reconciled to those who we have wronged.

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Allen Michaels:  ²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

But when Jesus said, “But I tell you,” he was not doing away with the law or adding his own beliefs. Rather, he was giving a fuller understanding of why God made the law in the first place. For example, Moses said, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13); Jesus taught that we should not even become angry enough to murder, for then we have already committed murder in our heart. The Pharisees read this law and, not having literally murdered anyone, felt righteous. Yet they were angry enough with Jesus that they would soon plot his death, though they would not do the dirty work themselves. We miss the intent of God’s Word when we read his rules for living without trying to understand why he made them. How often do we keep God’s rules but close our eyes to his intent?

Killing is a terrible sin, but anger is a great sin too because it also violates God’s command to love. Anger in this case refers to a seething, brooding bitterness against someone. It is a dangerous emotion that always threatens to leap out of control, leading to violence, emotional hurt, increased mental stress, and spiritual damage. Anger keeps us from developing a spirit pleasing to God. Have you ever been proud that you didn’t strike out and say what was really on your mind? Self-control is good, but Christ wants us to practice thought-control as well. Jesus said that we will be held accountable even for our attitudes.

My posting today proves what a hypocrite I really am. The entire time I typed this I have been dealing with an employee that just annoys the he11 out of me. People who think that there is no such thing as a stupid question have never met this guy. Of course, this is the exact situation that Christ constantly places me in so I better start dealing with it as Christ wants me to.

²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

Broken relationships can hinder our relationship with God. If we have a problem or grievance with a friend, we should resolve the problem as soon as possible. We are hypocrites if we claim to love God while we hate others. Our attitudes toward others reflect our relationship with God (1 John 4:20).

²⁵ “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. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

It is our practical advice to resolve our differences with our enemies before their anger causes more trouble (Proverbs 25:8-10). Even small conflicts mend more easily if you try to make peace right away. In a broader sense, these verses advise us to get things right with our brothers and sisters before we have to stand before God.