Matthew 5:21-26

The Law & the King

Pray

Intro

√ The law & the King

In our study last week we found that Jesus began a series of examples to prove beyond any doubt that no one can be made righteous by the Law…

…not even the Pharisees!

Because God judges us by what is in our heart!

While we might be able to keep all 613 commandments of the Law, and the traditions of the Pharisees…

…we’re still guilty before God because our very nature is sinful!

That’s bad news!

The Good News is that Jesus claimed that He would fulfill the Law for us!

And, that by trusting in Him we would be made righteous by faith…

…instead of works.

This morning we pick up Jesus’ sermon as He presents the evidence against us that proves His accusation that we’re all guilty of sin.

Ex. A prosecuting attorney

Presents each piece of evidence as an…

“Exhibit”

…for the consideration of the judge and jury.

The rest of chapter 5 is devoted to the King’s case against Mankind to prove that we’re all lawbreakers…

…even the Pharisees who kept the letter of the Law, but violated the spirit of the Law.

Ap. Beware lest you, like the Pharisees, make a law where God never intended one to be made!

Ex. “L” and her experience

The Letter of the Law (vs. 21)

Matt. 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’

√ The Letter of the Law

Jesus begins by saying…

“You have heard that it was said to those of old”

In fact, He will repeat that phrase 6 times in this section of His sermon. Understand that Jesus is not contradicting the Law…

…rather, He is rejecting the traditional interpretation of the Law by the religious leaders.

The Pharisees and Sadducees would correctly quote the Law…

…but they would miss the point of the Law (God’s heart).

That is, they were masters at keeping the letter of the Law…

…but failed to please God because they missed the spirit of the Law.

So, Jesus sets out to prove that the righteousness taught by the Pharisees cannot save anyone by showing us the contrast between…

A. What the Pharisees taught (“you’ve heard…)

B. What God’s true intent of the command is (“but I say…)

Ex. Healing on the Sabbath

One of the major points of contention between Jesus and the religious leaders was over the question of whether or not it was permissible to heal on the Sabbath.

The Pharisees said that it was not permissible because to heal a person constituted “work” and that would violate the commandment of God.

But, Jesus said that it was okay to heal on the Sabbath because the Law was given for the benefit of people.

So, while the Pharisee might boast that they kept the law to the smallest letter…

…they were still guilty of law breaking because they missed the spirit of the law, that is, the intention of God’s heart in the giving of the commandment!

The Spirit of the Law (vs. 22)

Matt. 5:22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, “Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

√ The Spirit of the Law

Note that Jesus begins this section by saying…

“But I say to you…”

That is, He is rejecting the teachings and traditions of the elders and offering to the people an alternative teaching that He claims reflects…

…the intent of the commandment given by God!

Ex. You can understand why the religious leaders hated Jesus so much!

In their minds He was an…

Uneducated peasant

Of questionable parentage

A threat to their position and power

Didn’t treat them with the respect they felt was deserved

Therefore they took offence at what Jesus taught, even though it was the Truth!

√ Murder

The commandment that Jesus deals with first is the commandment of God in Exodus 20:13…

“You shall not murder.”

The Pharisees correctly taught that murder was wrong, but they failed to accurately reflect the intent of the commandment.

They said that murder consisted only of the act of taking someone’s life.

But, Jesus said that the commandment extended to the internal attitude of the heart!

Therefore, to be angry with another person without cause is to be a law breaker because anger is the attitude that leads to murder.

Ex. Cain and Abel

Gen. 4:6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?

Gen. 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

The anger in Cain’s heart led to the act of murdering his brother Able.

Thus the Lord warns him to deal with the anger in his heart…

…lest sin take advantage of that anger and lead him to murder.

Taking it a step further, the Lord tells us that even using a derogatory name for another person demonstrates that a person has a sinful heart and is…

…headed for hell!

Ex. Raca and fool

“Raca” means…

“You empty one” or “worthless one”

“Fool” means…

“Fool” J or “Idiot” or “Moron!”

Good thing that there wasn’t a tape recorder in our car this week or we’d all be convicted and headed for Hell!

Ex. The little boy to his dad

“How come the idiots only come out when you’re driving?”

So, the point that Jesus demonstrates is that when we apply the spirit of the Law as our standard for righteousness…

…we’re all guilty!

What then should we do?

First, we’re to trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins and to grant us His righteousness.

Second, we’re to deal with the wrong attitudes of our heart instead of ignoring them as the Pharisees did.

Vs. 23-26 tells us how to deal with hateful attitudes.

The Practice of the Law (vs. 23-26)

Matt. 5:23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,

Matt. 5:24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Matt. 5:25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

Matt. 5:26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

√ The practice of the Law

Because we live in a Fallen World, and have a Fallen Nature, we are going to have conflicts with other people. There will be times when we’re…

Angry with someone

Offended by a brother or sister

Prejudiced toward another

…all of which demonstrate the sinful attitudes of the heart that Jesus says violate the intent of God’s commandment.

So, what should we do?

Jesus tells us how to practice the Law of Love, which fulfills the spirit of the commandments!

Ex. Love one another

Matt. 22:37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

Matt. 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.

Matt. 22:39 And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Matt. 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Paul, the ex-Pharisee tells us…

Rom. 13:10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

So, when we recognize a wrong attitude in our heart toward someone else we’re to seek reconciliation with that person…

…regardless of whether you’re innocent or guilty!

Verses 23-24 the person at the altar is the innocent party.

Verses 25-26 the person being taken to court (Sanhedrin) is the guilty party.

In both cases the instruction of the Lord is that it doesn’t matter whose at fault…

…both brothers are encouraged to take the first step to reconcile the conflict.

Ap. Just do it!

All too often we make the mistake of assuming that it’s the other person’s responsibility to make things right.

“I’m not going to ever talk them again until they tell me their sorry!”

Good thing that Jesus didn’t take that view with us! Rather, He offered forgiveness to us before we even realized that we had sinned against Him!

So, if you’ve been…

Hurt

Offended

Wronged

…by someone and you can’t forgive them, then take the first step and seek to reconcile the relationship.

That is, “just do it!”

On the other hand I’m convinced that most of the time we get angry with people it’s not over real offences, rather, its over perceived offences!

Ex. People offended because we asked two couples to dinner!

So, it’s important that we first look at our own heart and with the Lord’s help make sure that it is a real offense.

Then, if we can’t forgive them…

…then we need to seek to reconcile the relationship.

Second, we need to apply the Lord’s instructions with wisdom.

Ex. There are some people who are simply not mature enough to reconcile anything!

So, you have to discern the value of addressing the issue with that person.

That is, if you have a good chance of having a constructive conversation that leads to real reconciliation…

…do it!

On the other hand, if you’re observation of the person leads you to believe that they won’t listen to anyone and that the conversation will only makes matters worse…

…chose to overlook the offense.

The mature believer…

Prov. 19:11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression.

The point is that we want to be careful not to make a “law” where Jesus never intended us to make one.

That is, we aren’t under a law to try and reconcile every real or perceived offense that we experience.

Rather, we should seek to reconcile the offences that are serious in nature.

Ex. Let Grace guide you

That is, when you’ve been offended by someone, before you approach them ask yourself…

“Is this behavior normal for this person, or is this behavior an exception?”

That is, if the behavior is part of a behavior pattern…

…then you’re dealing with a character issue that probably needs to be addressed.

On the other hand, if the behavior is unusual for this person…

…then they may just be having a bad day! In such cases I would go with Proverbs 19:11 and overlook the offense.

Close

√ The Law & the King

In our text this morning Jesus has proven again that no one is righteous apart from faith in Him. While we might keep the letter of the Law…

…if we fail to keep the spirit of the Law then we’re guilty of breaking all of the Law!

Therefore, we look to Jesus to provide us the righteousness that we can’t earn…

…and, we surrender our heart to the Lord that He might change us to become like Him.