Sermon on the Mount - the Law

The Beatitudes are the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and set the foundation of Man’s need for dependence upon God, a prerequisite to receiving the Kingdom of God.  Before Jesus’ parables which describe the Kingdom, we have His sermon which speaks about the necessary conversion of the heart.  Those whom Jesus spoke to had the Law of Moses, but had not yet been born again of the Spirit of God.  Following Jesus’ discourse on Salt and Light, He speaks of the Law and that His life will fulfill its requirements.  He juxtaposes the legalistic practice of the Law with the spirit of the Law to show the over-reaching worth of the latter, planting the seeds of Kingdom-thinking.

Matthew 5:17 begins “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Jesus is not speaking about meticulously keeping Moses’ Law like the Scribes and Pharisees, or He would not have differed so often with their practices.  “When Christ came into the world He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. . . . I have come to do your will, O God.’” (Heb 10:5-7) Jesus fulfilled the spirit of the Law during and with His life and death, preferring His Father’s will over Judaism as practiced by the religious leaders of His time.  Until Jesus rose from the dead, not one word of the Law could be done away with, for it was God’s will that Jesus fulfill them all.  However, when Jesus died on the Cross, the veil of partition in the holy of holies was rent, and men no longer needed to provide animal sacrifices for their sins.  Instead of having a priest interceding on their behalf towards God, men had the opportunity to become a royal priesthood themselves (1 Pet 2:4-5).

Beginning with Matthew 5:21, Jesus compares the legalistic practice of the law with the spirit of the Law which God had intended when it was written.   Jesus introduces the concept that the heart is the key to men’s behavior, and that, by addressing the issues of the heart, sin can be avoided.  Concerning murder, if a man will deal with thoughts of anger, contempt and condescension, he will not be at risk to take another man’s life.  God spoke with Cain about his anger, saying “Why are you angry?  Why is your face down-cast?  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 master it.” (Gen 4:6-7).  Jesus is telling Man that he can master his sin by dealing with the issues of the heart.   James puts it this way; “ . . . each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (Jms 1:15). 

Jesus counters the devaluation of others by introducing the concept of reconciliation.  If a man will be sensitive to the urging of his conscience, he will acknowledge the offenses he has done towards others and will repent to them.  This means more to God than any gift we could leave at the altar.  By acknowledging our own sins we bear the fruit of repentance, and this helps us to master the sins of anger, contempt, and condescension. 

In speaking about adultery Jesus introduces the concept that our personal sacrifice, such as denial of the pleasure of lustful looking, is the key to our holiness.   If a man will prevent his eyes the evil desire of lust, sin will not become full-blown in his heart and he will not commit adultery.  Though we are free to look, if we use our freedom as an occasion for the flesh, we will be enticed to sin (Gal 5:13). When Jesus talks about cutting off offending body parts what He is really saying is that the sacrifice of denying ourselves some of our freedoms is better than exercising all our freedoms and committing sin.  Paul also illustrates this concerning regulating his own freedoms so as to not cause another to stumble (1Cor8:13).

In talking about divorce Jesus brings men back to the origin of marital union: love and honor.  When a man divorces his wife for reasons other than infidelity, and she marries, she will suffer the disgrace of being an adulteress.   What Jesus is saying to the man who seeks divorce is “Think about what you are doing . . . think about her future.”  Jesus is introducing the concept that a man should value his wife above the desires of his flesh.  In Malachi the Lord told the priests that He had turned his ear away from their prayers as a witness against them because He hates divorce (Mal 2:13-15)   Though we live in a time when divorces are easy, they are never to be done casually.

Next the Lord speaks about oaths.  Though words hold power, and indeed, the power of life and death are in the tongue (Prov 18:21), Jesus tells us that the power is not ours to enforce through what or by whom we swear.  Rather, we who speak are responsible for our own words and the keeping of them.  Therefore our “yes” should come to be as “yes” before whom we speak, and our “no” should come to be as “no” before whom we speak.

In talking about retribution, Jesus introduces the concept of coming to the offending person in the opposite spirit in which the offense took place.   Instead of doing to the person what they did to you, which was the law of retribution, Jesus asks us to do something good.  This is also the concept of light overcoming darkness, and good overcoming evil (Rom 12:21).  We bless instead of curse, give instead of take, and show kindness instead of striking back.

Once a man lays down his right to take retribution for the wrongs done to him, he can pray for his enemies.  “Pay-back” is the sixth point of the Law that Jesus addresses, asking us to love and pray for our enemies instead of hating them.  If a man will obey this message, his love, forgiveness and prayer for his enemy will become his new weapons of warfare.  Up to the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection a man’s enemies were seen as those men who wronged them.  After Jesus gave men the baptism of the Holy Spirit they saw that there was a spiritual force behind the men that hurt them (Eph 6:12), one that could only be fought with spiritual weapons (2 Cor 10:3-5).

Jesus brought the Kingdom of heaven, and of God near to men (Mt 4:17).  He planted the seeds of the Kingdom in men’s hearts so that it could be established there, and He and His Father could reign in men’s hearts.  One day all the kingdoms of the earth will become the Kingdoms of Jesus, and His faithful will reign with Him.  Until then, we have these precious scriptures, and others, which prepare our hearts as His abode.  Amen, come Lord Jesus.