What Did He Say?

Matthew 5:21-22
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder,' and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement'. "But I say to you that whoever is angry at 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."
Matthew 5:27-28
"You have heard it said to those of old , 'You shall not commit adultery.' "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Matthew 5:31-32
"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."

A major part of Jesus' ministry on earth was teaching and preaching the good news of the kingdom of heaven. Crowds gathered to hear this simple carpenter expound the gospels with authority. His teaching was unlike the scribes and somehow interpreted God's intentions more clearly to their hearts.

Jesus had explained that He did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them. In fact, He warned of the dangers of breaking the Law and teaching others to do so; for one who did so, would be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.

Often He would begin His teaching by saying, "You have heard..but I say to you..." and often what followed that simple formula rocked their world. In essence, He said I know you know not to murder, but did you know that God is not pleased with your excessive anger and contemptuous speech? Did you know that God is not happy with your prideful disregard for others? Were you aware that God is looking,even, as you bring your gifts to the altar when you have a breech with a brother or sister? He taught that God expects His children to go and reconcile with their brother or sister and then come back and fellowship with Him. He went on to teach that it was best to quickly agree with your adversary.

Jesus went on to say that He knew that Moses had allowed divorce because of the hardness of their hearts, but that was not God's original intention for man. God wanted marriage to be a monogamous, lifelong union of intimacy that remained unbroken.(Matthew 5:31-32)

Jesus knew that they had heard that adultery was wrong, but Jesus said that not only was the sexual act of unfaithfulness to the marriage covenant wrong, but to even lust after a woman, who was not your own wife, was an act of adultery of the heart.(Matthew 5:27-30)

Jesus taught in Matthew 5:33-37 that he knew that they had been taught not to swear falsely, but that an honest person ought not to have to make an oath at all, in order to be believed . Their word should be so binding and their integrity so well known that if they said something, people knew that it was the truth.

Jesus went on to say that they had heard that "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" was acceptable but that they should not seek revenge but rather seek peace, even if they had to humble themselves before their adversary. He let them know that an eye for an eye was a concession to keep them from killing someone for an infraction; it was a way to constrain their blood lust. However, God's way was different.

Every time Jesus taught, He showed the intentions of God. He helped them to see that God was not just concerned with an outward appearance of piety, but that He was interested in their motives and the intentions of their hearts. God wanted them to live by the Law of Love and so live out the Law of Moses.

As the crowds listened, I am sure that they were made aware of how far short they fell of pleasing God and how utterly incapable they were of living at this high standard without the help of God. I would like to think, that they, like you and I, begin to realize their need for a Savior and to believe in Jesus Christ and His teachings of the Kingdom of heaven.

Jesus' teachings of the kingdom of heaven are in radical opposition to the ways of the world and we are no less astounded when we hear Him say, "I know you heard that...,but I say..." For whenever we truly hear the voice of the Lord, we are made aware of our shortcomings and of His perfection. Whenever we truly hear what God intends for our lives and compare it to our finite wisdom and understanding of how to live for Him, we are brought to a place of gratitude that Jesus loves us, in spite of us, and that He died to forgive us of our sin. Thank God for His infinite patience and faithfulness towards us. Praise the Lord, that Jesus fulfills the Law and that in Him we are complete. He says follow Him. What do you say?