A Fresh Look at the Sermon on the Mount Pt.2

Yesterday, we discussed the importance of looking at Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in its totality. It is ironic that we who proclaim Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords often do not accord to him the same respect for His rhetorical skills as we would Billy Graham or Max Lucado. Instead, we look at this sermon as if Jesus were reading a grocery list full of scattered, random thoughts. This is obviously an erroneous method of interpretation. No, Jesus spoke here in a clear, unmistakably organized fashion, declaring a clear thesis and providing multiple supports for his claims. We established the thesis in the previous post; Jesus here wants to accentuate two main ideas: First, that His followers were to be the "preservatives" of a rotting world, a light in a world of darkness. Second, Jesus accentuated that He did not come to contradict the law, but to fulfill it. He makes it abundantly clear that His grace is not a license to ignore God's calling. In verses 21-48, He will expand on this idea.

In this, the body of Jesus' sermon, He uses the rhetorical technique of contrast. He begins a series of thoughts with "you may have heard," referencing the teachings of Moses, and then contrasts them with "but I say to you," in which Jesus tells us what He really wants from these teachings. Again, Jesus has stated clearly that He has not come to destroy the law, so this passage cannot be taken as Jesus contradicting any of the law of Moses. Rather Jesus here is showing us the spirit of these laws which had been diluted over generations into merely legalistic guidelines. Jesus wants His followers to forsake seeking the "letter" of the law like the Pharisees, and begin to grasp the full intent of His commandments.

In this passage, Jesus teaches about three main subjects: how we should treat our brothers and sisters in the church, how we should treat our spouses, and how we should treat our neighbors. It's important to note that Jesus could have spoken about any number of Mosaic commands, but He chose these. Let's look at the first section, how we are to treat our brothers and sisters.

Jesus begins this section by referencing the clearest commandment in all scripture: do not murder. This is perhaps the least debated point in all of God's word. Even those who deny the existence of Jehovah God would be in agreement with this commandment. Jesus says, however, that's not enough. It's not enough only to follow the letter of this command. We must, he says, follow it in spirit. He illustrates that by extending this commandment not just to cover the taking of a physical life, but for "character assassination" as well.

As many have experienced, the old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is one of the biggest lies ever put forth. Words hurt. They injure, maim, and sometimes even kill. They can cause lasting damage. Here, Jesus tells us that if we are in the habit of assassinating the character of our brothers and sisters, we are as liable for "hell fire" as if we had physically murdered them.

Then Jesus goes on to present what I believe is a revolutionary thought, one that we really need to take a closer look at in our day. He says if you have a problem with your brother, don't come and worship me until you've settled that problem. We can take a couple of very important conclusions from this. First, Jesus is telling us that our relationship with Him is not just a dyad, nor are our relationships with one another. Our fellowship with one another is triangular. I cannot fellowship with God without having healthy relationships with my brothers and sisters. Similarly, I cannot have healthy relationships with my brothers and sisters without a relationship with God. We are part of an inseparable system, much like the Trinity itself. Jesus goes so far with this concept as to imply that worshipping God while in conflict with our brothers and sisters is a worthless exercise. He strongly intimates here that our offerings to God are not acceptable while we are still in conflict with our brothers and sisters.

I ask each of you today: what does this say about the nature of today's divided church? Are we even able to worship God "in spirit and in truth" while living cut off from our fellow believers?

In our next discussion, we'll look at Jesus' teachings about marriage and divorce, another source of great contention in the church.