We have just had a general election in this country. The incumbent won our riding. We wish him all the best in the next term: May it be as productive as the previous one. I really appreciate having an MP in this riding who supports the Army and comes out to our events – the day before the election even, he came out to the Bread of Life dinner. Before that he was at our Pillow fight: Fight against Hunger, and Christmas kick-off last year and he did a number of kettle shifts. We also joined him for a carol sing last year at the arena and more.
I mention all of this political stuff because we are continuing our look at Matthew 5 and Jesus’ speech that is often referred to as the ‘Sermon on the Mount’. This is a very political text and it is not dissimilar to many political speeches we have heard over the last 40 days and nights. In the spirit of election night reporting, I will play the part of the pundit today, analyzing Jesus’ address to the crowds.
1. The Introduction: Playing to His Base
First Jesus’ addresses His base supporters in the introduction to his speech which we now call the ‘beatitudes’. His base is made up of people who are marginalized under the current social order. They are the disenfranchised: the poor in spirit, those who are mourning and need comfort, the meek who are trampled upon, those who desire righteousness but are frustrated with their current state and feel empty inside, those who are questioning why they bother showing mercy to those that keep taking advantage of them, those whose motives are right but may be tempted to give into being as underhanded as their foes, those who make peace but may sometimes or secretly want to just let the other guys have it. Jesus tells His base – Don't give in! Keep it up guys! When I am in power you will be comforted, you will be filled, you will see justice. Keep on working, keep on fighting, Jesus tells his supporters, because great is your reward when we are victorious. Jesus says great is your reward in Heaven (Jesus' constituency, which is coming to earth). Jesus tells His base supporters ‘keep fighting! We will prevail and you will be satisfied.’
2. Accusations from His Opponents
Next, after playing to His base, Jesus, like many contemporary politicians, addresses people’s spoken or rumoured criticisms of Him. It seems that some people have accused Jesus of threatening to destroy the values and traditions of their society. The Law was a central part of their culture and practices and it seems like some of his opponents (and probably some of His followers as well) have accused Jesus of taking all the traditional Judean values and the Law and tearing them up. Jesus denies this - sort of - He denies this like a brilliant politician – because then he elaborates. He says that the Law won’t disappear until… everything is accomplished. Then he turns on some of His political opponents. His two closest rivals at this stage in the campaign: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. These are the Law and Order parties. Both of these parties have seats in the Sanhedrin. They are furious that someone might threaten their culture and values and get rid of the Law. To this, Jesus says he is not going to abolish it… as long as it is still useful. Jesus also says that unless people are better at obeying the law than the Pharisees and Sadducees it is no longer useful. He says that as long as the Law is any use we will leave it in place but he alludes quite transparently that its usefulness is coming to an end and He goes on to explain how his opponents have misused or misinterpreted the Law so that it is indeed useless and now its days of being useful are nearly done.
3. You have heard it said (times six)
Jesus gives six examples in three categories of how his opponents and their predecessors have misused the Law and its disastrous results. He does this through a series of six ‘you have heard it said’ statements.
3a. You have heard it said… do not murder. (Verses 21-22)
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 [sibling] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to [another], ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Jesus’ point here is important. He is saying that drawing the line at ‘do not murder’ as the Law has been interpreted by his opponents and others, is way too far from the right place to draw the line. You will never stop people from murdering people by drawing the line there. Jesus says you need to try to not even get mad at someone. He says as it stands now if you call someone ‘Raca’ they can take you to court but really if you get so angry that you call someone a 'fool' you may be in danger of becoming angry enough to even commit murder or some other such thing worthy of hell - (the word for hell here is Gehenna which refers to the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem which was famous for its incessant fires and may have been built on an ancient pagan site in order to defile it as well; Gehenna became an image of torment, of hell)[1]
Jesus then gives us an extreme scenario. Some of those listening to Him may have even laughed (albeit a little nervously) as he explained the following to them.
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.
The people Jesus is speaking to are probably a three day walk from the Temple. Jesus tells them that if you walk all that way for three days with a goat or another animal, or walk all that way and buy a goat or another animal and then realize that someone is angry with you or has something against you. Jesus says...leave the goat there (and hope it doesn’t walk away or get stolen) while you walk three days back to your home, make things up with the person and walk 3 more days back to the Temple again hoping that your goat hasn’t wandered off or gotten stolen![2]
There is no way this could happen, of course; the offering would not still be at the Temple when they returned and no one would do that return trip right away anyway. Jesus is attempting to make His point in a way that people will remember it. It is better not to let things get out of hand than to push everything to the limit. It is better to solve your problems at the early stage before they get out of hand.
Jesus then moves onto his second of six, ‘You have heard it said’ statements. This one would be as significant as murder in people’s –particularly women’s - eyes. And this one is related to the next two very closely: One builds upon the next, answering anticipated questions and clarifications. The next three actually are timely in relation to the John MacArthur, Beth Moore, ‘Go Home’ controversy this past week. It isn’t about women preachers (The Salvation Army has always had women preachers) but it is about how we should treat each other and specifically how men should treat women. The Coles Notes version of the next three pericopes is this: Men,
- Do not cheat on your wives
- Do not divorce them and cast them aside
- You made a sacred vow to her now keep it!
3b. You have heard it said… do not commit adultery
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. 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.
Just like with murder, Jesus says drawing the line at adultery is just wrong. That will not help anyone and it may not actually stop anyone from committing adultery anyway. Devastating Sin is like a cliff overlooking a thousand foot drop that itself is situated at the bottom of a mountain. If, while skiing down the mountain, you stop any time before you plunge over the cliff you will be fine but the problem is that the further you travel down the slope, the more difficult it is to turn back.
With this in mind, Jesus says do not even put your skis on when you see the peril. He is even more vivid than that. He -exaggerating to make his point again!- says if you can’t stop looking at women in that way, pluck out your eye! It is better that than to have your whole self thrown into hell (notice that it is the man in this scenario who plummets into hell). Again the word for hell here is Gehenna - the flaming pit of refuse that is not extinguished. This is quite an image!
But Jesus does not leave it here. He goes further! He further defines this adultery that can pull us into hell and he comes right out and tells us how to avoid it with his next, ‘You have heard it said’ in his speech.
3c. You have heard it said… anyone who divorces his wife...
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 adultery, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
This is a neat little passage that is simple and to the point and has been misquoted, misunderstood, and misapplied ad nauseum in our culture and society - at least in my lifetime, since Canada liberalized its divorce laws in 1972. What it says is this: if you divorce a woman you make her a victim of adultery unless of course she has already made herself a victim of adultery. (The word for adultery here in Greek refers each to the perpetrator and the victim).[3] It then says that by marrying a divorced woman you make her as much a victim of adultery as any of the other scenarios. This passage isn’t saying that divorce is only okay in instances of adultery... as you have heard it said. This passage is saying that if you have relations with someone other than your spouse (male or female), you commit adultery: that is what adultery is. Jesus is saying this to elaborate on what he already said about adultery - stop before you even think about it. It is not worth it! Gehenna awaits! He then explains it even further. The marriage oath is supposed to help stop divorce and adultery.
3d. You have heard it said… do not break your oath...
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.
So what about the marriage oath? Jesus already said that people are taking it too lightly. Jesus doubles down on this. Jesus says, ‘people aren’t keeping their oaths!’ That is all part of this adultery and divorce that we are talking about. Jesus says, it is time for people to stop finding ways to try to get out of their marriage and other oaths through tricks, details and loopholes. I tell you the truth; you need to just start doing what you say you are going to do! Stop always looking for a way out of everything! In a world where people can’t even be trusted to do tomorrow what they say they will do, how can they be trusted to even make sacred vows in the first place! Jesus says, if you can’t even be trusted with seemingly unimportant promises how can you be trusted with sacred vows? Jesus says: instead of trying to get out of promises, you need to do the opposite: treat everything you say as a sacred oath!
Jesus is appealing to women as well as men in his speech here. Women were quite vulnerable. Single mothers were in a very difficult situation then and there. Single mothers are in a very difficult situation here today too. How does one both spend all their time earning money for their family and spend all their time taking care of their family? That sounds like no-win choice when you are alone! Jesus is saying we need to take care of vulnerable people. If we commit to our spouse for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, we should do it! Jesus is all about perseverance, sticking to it, and sticking up for the vulnerable. That is why Jesus says ‘no’ to divorce and ‘no’ to adultery. Not to punish divorced people, No! Quite the opposite: Remember the Samaritan woman at the well? Remember the woman caught in adultery who was brought to Him? Jesus’ words here are not to castigate victims but to protect all people from the vulnerability and destruction that can come from divorce and more.
Jesus, having signed off on this, now moves onto another contentious issue. The last of his six ‘you have heard it said’s.’ These relate to what he opened with: murder: Jesus speaks about hatred and vengeance. This also relates somewhat to the over the top hatred we have heard spewed in and around Christian community this week with the John MacArthur Beth Moore ‘Go Home’ controversy and also the venom I have heard around politics this past week. I think I have heard more hate this week – especially in the west - than I did during the 40 days and nights that this election was making waves from seas to sea to sea.
3e. “You have heard it said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’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.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.
And
3f. “You have heard it said, ‘...hate your enemy’
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
These last two points relate directly to vengeance, violence, and hate. These are important to the next part of Jesus’ speech which we are not going to look at today but they also conclude the ‘you have heard it said’ section of Jesus message the same way as He started it: addressing violence that is running rampant not only in society but also in people’s hearts again as we have seen in the news and on social media this week.
Jesus says that we do need to stand up to injustice. Jesus also says, we need to avoid the trap of being tricked into hating our opponents, which merely continues the cycle of violence and hate, and puts everyone in jeopardy.
Here is an analogy I have used before and I will use again: There is a new Star Wars movie coming out very soon. There is a pivotal moment in the famous Star Wars movie franchise where Darth Vader is trying to turn Luke from Good to Evil, from the Light to the Darkness; how does he try to do this? He tries to do this by making him hate. He tells Luke that only his hatred can destroy his enemy: this is a lie of Darth Vader and this is also a lie of our enemy, the Enemy, the devil. In the real world, hate cannot defeat evil; hate can only become evil. Hate is what turns a good person, bad; it is love, Jesus’ love, which redeems us.
Martin Luther King Jr said, “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” “I have decided to stick to love...Hate is too great a burden to bear.”[4]
This is what the Gospel is about: as we love God we will stand up for the vulnerable, forgive and love each other, even loving - as the Officer covenant commits us - the unloveable.
If you haven’t been so charitable or loving this week to people of different regions, politics or theological perspectives, I invite you to break free of that hate. Let Jesus save you from it. If you want forgiveness, Jesus offers it unconditionally and if you need to forgive someone today, I invite you to come to the front now, pray in your seat or pull someone aside after the service. Jesus wants us all to be free to love him and each other. Jesus wants us all to elect to be a part of His Kingdom and His Kingdom is a Kingdom of Love and Forgiveness.
Let us pray.
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[1] The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, ‘1067: Gehenna’ (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1995).
[2] Cf. NT Wright, Matthew for Everyone Part 1: Chapters 1-15 (NT for Everyone: Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 44.
[3] The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, ‘3431: Adultery’ (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1995).
[4] Martin Luther King Jr, A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr (Ed. James M. Washington (HaperCollins: New York, NY, 1986) and A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
See also:
Captain Michael Ramsay. Genesis 11:9-12:1, Matthew 5: The Means are the Ends. Presented to Corps 614 Regent Park, Toronto, 31 July 2016. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2016/07/genesis-119-121-matthew-5-means-are-end.html
Captain Michael Ramsay, Matthew 5:1-16: A Spoonful of Blessings. Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 04 January 2015 and Alberni Valley Ministries, 29 September 2019. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2015/01/matthew-51-16-spoonful-of-blessings.html
Captain Michael Ramsay, Matthew 5:17: Government Contract. Presented to Swift Current Corps on 30 May 2010. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/05/matthew-518-government-contract.html
Captain Michael Ramsay, Matthew 5:18: Disappearing Act! Presented to Swift Current Corps 16 May 2010. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/05/matthew-518-disappearing-act.html
Captain Michael Ramsay, Matthew 5:43-48: Love Your Enemies. Presented to 614 Warehouse, 05 February 2017. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2017/02/matthew-543-48-love-your-enemies.html
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