Law & Grace - Matthew 5:21-32 The Law true & deep - Part I
Matthew 5:21-32 · Vern Peterman · Jul 3, 2011
Law & Grace, No. 25
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926239455630

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

As we begin here today, I just want to kind of get our context. This is actually message 25 in our series on Law and Grace. What we've begun doing here in recent weeks is to study the book of Matthew, and we'll proceed through the entire book of Matthew as we move along and likely carry into the next year even with that. We three Sundays ago began a study of what's called the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7.

This Sermon on the Mount took place at the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee. And here are some of the labels of the places there. Capernaum, whom many of you have likely heard of there, is shown on the map. This is the Mount of Beatitudes on the northwest corner. And they call it a mountain. As we mentioned before, those of us who have a background in Colorado have to adjust our thinking. This is the Mount of Beatitudes, which is below sea level, and it's certainly not a 14er.

There's a picture from that area looking down upon the Sea of Galilee, and then here is the scene during a springtime when the grass is nice and green and things are soft and gentle. So, as we mentioned last week, kind of the quick introduction goes like this, roses are red and violets are bluish, and all of those listening to Jesus are Jewish. Right? Okay.

We want to get the context, and first of all the context is the Law of Moses was given to the people of Israel some 1400 plus years earlier. They will in the future all be empowered by the Holy Spirit, every single one of them, to know and live out the Law of Moses in the coming earthly reign of Christ. But we in the church, however, in our co-death with Christ, that is, we have been identified with Christ in His death, have died to the Law of Moses. Died in relationship to the Law of Moses. Why? We are empowered so that as we walk in the Spirit, Christ's life lives in and through us.

This is the message of Galatians 2, 19 and 20. So that's the context so we'll be looking at this week and next week this larger passage Matthew 5 21 through 48 and we're calling it the law true and deep frequently people will hear this passage and they'll think oh these are the teachings of Jesus and yes they are but they are the teachings of Jesus in the land of Israel to the people of Israel who are and will remain under the law And so what we see here is this set of patterns. Jesus will tell them, you have heard that the ancients were told, and this is a phrase that the rabbis would often use as they spoke to fellow Jews there in the land of Israel. You have heard that it was said, was another way that Jesus introduces his statement.

Or more simply, it was said. One of those three ways precedes each of the sections here in the rest of chapter 5. But then he says, but I say to you. And so he goes and clarifies, he elaborates, he corrects, as the case may be. And we'll go through and find out how that works out.

Now, previously in the passage we looked at before, The scribes and Pharisees were put as the standard. Jesus told them, you must have a righteousness higher than theirs, which put people in shock. But the reason was the scribes and Pharisees nullified the law.

How did they do that? They would reduce its application. They would add to its application. They would modify it. They would work ways around it. And we'll go into what some of those ways are as we proceed. in our study of the book of Matthew. Nonetheless, in whatever way, they were doctoring the law. And Jesus said, ah, ah, ah, ah. Not that. You've got to take it exactly as it is. Jesus made the law of Moses apply to the whole person.

Not just the outside. The inside, he said. all the way from the heart and including the thoughts in every outward expression, even the relationships between fellow Jews, which they would call brothers, right? Between fellow Jews and the relationship with God. It includes all the heart, all the person, all the body, and all relationships including those with God.

That's what Jesus was underscoring. Jesus quotes an Old Testament passage or two, then includes in what he subsequently says those laws that require a heart level and even a relationship compliance. Jesus quotes an Old Testament passage, In each of these, along with one of the traditions that have been added to the Law of Moses, he corrects the tradition by taking the application deeper or in some way taking it back to the original Law of Moses.

In some cases, both. Jesus also says something in each of these statements that his listeners will find shocking. As a matter of fact, one of the things that I have said as I've studied through this, if I haven't seen the shocking statement, I don't understand it yet. It is every time he says some answer to these things that he says the ancients said or has been said, every time there's a shocking statement. Let's find out what he means by that. Jesus used hyperbole. It has nothing to do with analytic geometry. So you can relax. He used hyperbole.

What is that? That's an exaggerated statement. for the sake of emphasis and also memory. Things that you would never forget because they're so intense. What do I mean by that? It's important to understand since literalism will lead to dangers and more. If we take things literally and don't see the hyperbole, we'll think that we're going nuts. Let me show you. Pluck out your eye will be one that we'll see in this passage. That's hyperbole. How do we know it's hyperbole? Because none of the disciples, so far as we know, plucked their eyes out.

So, that would be one example. Another one, cut off your foot or some other body part. Matter of fact, you have to be careful. If you don't understand this is hyperbole, you could take this way too far. So it's very important that we understand that this is an exaggeration. He's using deliberate exaggeration to get the point across and to have people memorize, remember what he said.

The beam in your eye is another example, right? Or to put it another way, let me get that speck out of your eye as you have the beam in your own. So these are the examples of hyperbole. We're going to continue to see not just these but other instances of it as we go through these passages. It's important to recognize hyperbole in order to draw the wrong conclusion and not spend all of our days at the emergency ward. So that will be important as we go through this. Jesus used the word for hell, including in this very passage here. It's somewhat unique in that it's translated hell, but it in fact, the Greek word is called Gehenna. It's rather, somewhat unusual anyway.

The name comes from the Valley of Hinnom, a valley just south of Jerusalem. That place had a fiery history, in fact for centuries in Old Testament times, and in Christ's own day. In Old Testament times, that valley just south of Jerusalem was a place of burning of infants to the pagan god, Molech. Ominous thing. This was the pagan tradition of the culture before the Jews moved in, and unfortunately, some of the Jews adopted the practice. In the New Testament times, that very same location, no longer used for sacrifices to Molech, was used for burning trash, and also whenever someone would be, for example, crucified, but no one claimed the body, they'd throw the body in there. Animal carcasses were thrown in there and dumped. Gehenna, by New Testament times, had become a figure of speech for hell, this constantly burning, smoking, smelling, trashy place.

Now, so here in Jerusalem was the location of it. Here's a kind of an oblique view of Jerusalem. It shows you the Kidron Valley and the Hinnom Valley. This is the valley right here in the south end of Jerusalem where this trash dump was located. here's what it looks like now the trash has been cleaned up thankfully so in Matthew 5 21 through 22 you've heard that the ancients were told you shall not commit murder whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother should be guilty before the court whoever says to his brother you good for nothing should be guilty before the Supreme Court that is the Sanhedrin and whoever says you fool should be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell this is the Gehenna that we referred to So Jesus says here that the heart is where the offense first takes place. No, it's not the place where the physical murder takes place. No, it starts in the heart. That's where he places the original offense. It is even enforceable to the lowest and even into the highest court, the Sanhedrin. Exodus 2013, where the Ten Commandments were listed, says, you shall not murder. Well, that was evident outside of the body and obvious, objectively observable.

But Leviticus 19, verses 17 and 18 put it this way, you shall not hate. Now we're talking about the heart, right? You shall not hate your fellow countrymen in the heart. You may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." So the law not only mandated the external behavior, but it mandated the condition of the heart.

That was to be dealt with just as severely and just as intensely. He even made hateful expressions that diminish either the personal or public value of another Israelite to be a capital offense. between offering a sacrifice and resolving a wrong against another Israelite, resolving the wrong was the higher priority. What do we mean by that?

Here in Matthew 5, 23 and 24. Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you. Notice something here. This isn't you have anger against him, but you have caused him to have anger against you. See the difference there? So there's not only an issue with, do I have anger, but an issue with, have I caused that other person to have anger?

Ah, he says, how seriously do you take that? Well, I'll get around to it, right? No, he says, leave your offering there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. Here is the place in the temple where you would take the offering. They would have the sacrifices going on there, and you'd be waiting there to present your offering to the priests. It's that place where he says, if it's there that you're presenting, and then remember that your brother has something against you, go reconcile and then come back.

Guess what? Who is he talking to but people from Galilee? To present a sacrifice meant you took a four or five day trip from Galilee down to Jerusalem where you could present the sacrifice. If you are there presenting the sacrifice and there, remember, and have to go reconcile with your brother, how far might you have to travel to reconcile? Four or five days back up to Galilee.

Leave your sacrifice for the better part of a week. And walk for a few days. He says that's more important than finishing the sacrifice. And then come back after you've reconciled and finish your sacrifice. He was telling them that is so important that you've got to make that the priority. Not going through the sacrifice. Reconciling with the brother. And then you can go home.

Verses 25 and 26, 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. Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

The principle here is the faster the resolution, the better. In the court system of that day, a person might have to travel side by side with their opponent at law in order to appear before a judge at the same time. Traveling right along with the person that you're having a legal interaction with. How about that?

Jesus said it's far better to settle the matters quickly and to make enemies into friends quickly than to draw out the conflict any further. If you can, don't even walk the distance with them. Get it resolved before you get there. This harmonizes with what we've studied some months back in 1 Corinthians 6, 1-8 regarding lawsuits between believers.

Fits with it actually fairly well. Here are some general principles, and you know what I mean by general principles, right? Okay. The general principles are these. Prefer resolution of conflicts sooner rather than later. Lean toward avoiding financial and legal hazards rather than getting your pound of flesh. Place the resolution of matters for which you are at fault in some way as high priority. Resolution, high priority. Especially if you're at fault in some way. And finally, place the honor of the Lord's name as the highest priority.

Avoid being the cause of someone else wanting a pound of your flesh In verses 27 through 30 Jesus said this 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 Verse 29, if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you. There's the hyperbole, right? It is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 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 the whole body to go into hell.

You see, the Law of Moses not only prohibited adultery, the outward act, But it also forbade a man to covet another man's wife. The law itself pointed to the heart issue. Deuteronomy 5.21, and that's not the only place. Both were capital crimes. Jesus said that the adultery offense is actually the same as the coveting offense. The only difference is it is externalized. But the heart problem is the same both ways.

We're going to soon see here, I mean today, What God has in mind for us in the church that isn't just a don't do it. It's one thing about the law. We have said in the past there are 613 laws in the law of Moses. 365 of them are things not to do. But what we'll see in the New Testament teaching goes way beyond a list of don't do this and don't do that. In Matthew 5, 29-30, Jesus uses some obvious hyperbole to emphasize how seriously sin must be dealt with.

Pluck out eyes, cut off body parts, right? But for us in the body of Christ, quite fortunately, God performed heart surgery already. He did an intensive operation on those of us who believed. If you're a believer here today, it's a done deal. God already did it. So rather than plucking out our eyes or cutting off hands, we were crucified with Christ. Scripture makes that clear. So that we died to the sin source. The place where sin originates, we died in relationship to it. Did it go away? No. We died in relationship to the sin source. Romans 6, 1-14 would certainly spell out that truth alongside Galatians 2, 19 and 20. We have here on your handout there, on side 2, this slide from Romans 8, 1-4. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Does that sound radically different from all the moral hazards that you've seen so far in the Sermon on the Mount? There is no condemnation.

What? How is that possible? For the law, and we'll spell that out, that is the principle, the way things work, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. You see, the law is concerned with, be careful about that line, do not cross it. Because the other side of that line isn't just a line, it's a cliff. That's the problem with the law. It says, don't cross the line, or else. Or else death.

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set you free from that. For what the law of Moses could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did. What the law of Moses couldn't do, you are not told you'd better do it. God did it already. Done deal.

Sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. Does that mean you have the law written on your heart? No. It means that the righteousness that the law requires gets satisfied by the life of Christ living in and through you. That's the difference.

It is not our best efforts to be a good Christian. I don't recommend that you try to be a good Christian. Why would I say such a thing? Because God doesn't recommend it. God does not ask that you try to be a good Christian what he says is don't worry I've taken care of everything let my son's life be living through you so Matthew 5 21 31 through 32 says this, it was said whoever sends his wife away let him give her a certificate of divorce 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. Whoa. So, is divorce just adultery? Some have taken this verse to mean that a believer just cannot get a divorce under any circumstances, that a remarriage is simply out of the question. However, that ignores the rest of God's Word. This is a contracted statement, and it's in the context of the culture. We won't take the time to go through it all.

I will very quickly say this, that during New Testament times, there had begun the century before A system in Israel where you could choose which court you went to. You went to one court where they asked you why you wanted a divorce. That was the court of Shammai. The other court that most people chose, they didn't ask why you wanted a divorce. Do you want one? Good. Here it is. No questions asked.

So the problem was people were getting divorces that were not valid. That's what Jesus said in Matthew 19. He explains that. So people were getting invalid divorces. And then when they wanted to get married, guess what? The other court that asked you why you wanted a divorce would accept the divorces from the court that didn't. So both courts were contaminated.

Here's the difference that it makes and here's why this is a shocking statement It's a shocking statement because if you are committing adultery guess what the penalty was Because you had an invalid divorce and then remarriage if you committed adultery the penalty was death, but nobody was recognizing it as that and priests who would go serve in the temple and were committing adultery, Jesus was saying, and then going to serve in the temple. And no illegitimate offspring from an illegal marriage could receive any inheritance. And nobody who was the product of that illegal marriage could go into the temple to offer sacrifices. The entire sacrificial and inheritance system of all of Israel was messed up. That's why this statement shocked them. The law of Moses did allow for divorce for cause, and Jesus said that Moses allowed it. Matthew 19.

On the cabinet to the right as you exit this room, and on the Holy Hills website for this lesson, you'll find a three-page supplement that deals more in the details of this divorce and remarriage issue. But I'd rather not focus on that for the time being. You see, under grace, what does God intend in marriage? It's not, where is the exit? It's not defining what's allowable. How do I get out of this legally? Under grace, the exit is nowhere in view.

Now, I'll grant you, men and women are different. Men are rather simple, and yes, women are a bit more complicated. And I'll grant you that. But nonetheless, and we've presented this before, Ephesians 5, 25-32 spells out four kinds of love. four different kinds of love that the husband is to have for his wife.

You know in this entire passage and spelling out all the different kinds of love there is not one mention of divorce or what are the reasons I can get out of this. Why? It's not focused on where is the exit and where is the failure and how do I get out of this. It's focused on a marriage that is based on the eternal romance of Christ in the church. It's not looking for the line. It's not looking for, be careful, I don't want to step over it. It's looking for a marriage that is based on the eternal and untouchable romance of Christ and the Church.

A wonderful and marvelous thing. No exit. No failure. An amazing love. That's what it targets. So as we look at this passage here, I want to make a rather simple contrast. The law, as Jesus has been presenting it, and he will continue through the rest of the chapter, focuses on where's the line. And I'll admit, Jesus makes it tough by focusing on the heart. That's tougher. And he says, even it comes to not causing my brother to hate me, and that is tough. But still, it's the law, and it's the question is, where's the line? When am I guilty? When have I sinned? When should I die? It's all about what you do and don't do. That's the law. The law of Moses. 613 laws. 365 of them, like the number of days in a year. Things not to do. Don't do this. Don't do that. That's the law.

Grace, on the other hand, is about what God has done and who Christ is. Why do I say who Christ is? Because there are two ways, two ways that grace makes the difference. One, it matters who Christ is because you have been placed into Him. You are in Christ. As Paul puts it in Romans and Galatians, you've been baptized, immersed into Christ. You are in Christ as a believer. But the other part of that, and here's the other reason why it matters who Christ is, is that He's in you. You in Christ, Christ in you. Grace is so much different from the law. Are you looking for the line? No. I'm looking for Christ. I'm not beholding the line, I'm beholding Him. I'm not looking for the edge of the cliff, I'm looking at my Lord. Huge difference.

Law or grace, the line and the cliff or our Lord and Savior. We're going to be remembering what the Lord has done for us in the moments here. But what a wonderful thing to look at what God has done, who we are in him and who he is in us. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that as we look at this passage, we can certainly see some valuable principles. We can see even some ethics that is admirable, but as to how it's done, how it's motivated, how it's accomplished, we thank you for your most amazing grace. We thank you for that. We thank you that Christ is in us and we are in him. We thank you in Jesus name. Amen.