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Matthew 5:33-45 Christ's New Commands
1
Transcript
CHRIST'S NEW COMMANDS
MATTHEW 5:33-45
Overview
SERMON ON THE MOUNT/PLAIN
- The lesson is taken from the first of five speeches delivered by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
- Recorded in Matt 5:3–7:27, which provides a condensed description of how a citizen of the kingdom of God should live.
- It has parallels with the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6:20–49.
Jason C. Kuo, “Sermon on the Mount/Plain,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
I. A WARNING AGAINST OATHES
I
- The first area of religious oaths (vv. 33–37).
- The Old Testament emphasized that God hated a false oath (Zech. 8:17) and that ‘It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay’ (Eccles. 5:5).
- To safeguard themselves in this matter, the Pharisees had devised elaborate formulae and were satisfied that these guarded their integrity.
- Whatever they vowed was pure, and the purity was safeguarded by the right formula (swearing ‘by the earth’ or ‘by Jerusalem’—v. 35).
- If, however, the oath was not kept, they could claim that they had not invoked the name of God and were therefore blameless.
- Jesus cuts through the hypocrisy of this and calls for integrity in all our speech.
Iain D. Campbell, Opening up Matthew, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2008), 46.
II. AN ALTERNATIVE TO REVENGE
II
- The area of retaliation (vv. 38–42).
- The principle of giving ‘an eye for an eye’ (known as the lex talionis) was part of the Old Testament case law which provided safeguards against damage to personal property and possessions.
- The problem was that the rabbis of Jesus’ day were misusing this provision of the Law; they had ‘extended this principle of just retribution from the law courts (where it belongs) to the realm of personal relationships (where it does not belong).
- They justified retaliation and the taking of revenge by a law that was designed to prevent just that.
- There are occasions when we must endure wrongful suffering (1 Peter 2:20).
- Jesus’ words are not a call to being absolute passiveness but to submission to God in every circumstance.
Iain D. Campbell, Opening up Matthew, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2008), 46–47.
III. JESUS' LAW OF LOVE
III
- Finally, Jesus deals with the topic of love for our enemies (vv. 43–48).
- The rabbis justified their attitude to Gentiles on the basis of passages in the Old Testament whose meanings were hidden away under layers of interpretation and addition.
- Jesus, however, cuts the ground from under any form of discrimination, citing as his authority the common goodness and grace of God, who makes the rain to fall and the sun to rise on both the evil and the good.
- It is the standard of our heavenly Father we are to reach, and it is his example we are to follow.
Iain D. Campbell, Opening up Matthew, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2008), 47.
APPLICATION:
IV
- Drive home the point that we should not assume that Jesus' commands here are unrealistic and unattainable.
- Instead help them to identify an area in their life, in which they fall short, and encourage them to employ the Spirit of God, in making their short comings realistic and attainable.
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