Deo Gloria
Sermon for February 12, 2023
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Matthew 5:21-37
Theme: Jesus Makes the Impossible Possible!
Has this ever happened to you: You thought you did really well on a test—“Yeah, aced that one”—only to find out later, when you got the test back, that you bombed it? I know it’s happened to me. I remember feeling really good about a math test once, only to find out later that I had forgotten to take half the test. Or maybe it was a paper you wrote. You thought you wrote an awesome paper, one that would blow your professor away and lock up an “A” in that class for sure, only to discover later that you had misread some of the professor’s instructions and had bombed it big time. “Man, and here I thought I had done so well!”
Believe it or not, the same thing happens in the spiritual world. The same thing that happens in earthly classrooms happens in God’s classroom. Sometimes people have the same misconception about how well they’re doing on the entrance exam for heaven. They think they are knocking it out of the park. They think they can pass or have passed the test with flying colors. But here’s the problem: In order to get into heaven you need to score a perfect score. You need to be perfect, just like God. You need righteousness, not imitation righteousness or mere outward righteousness—real righteousness.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law were people like that. They thought they had aced it. They thought they were perfect. As far as what God demanded in his law and expected of his people, they thought they had done it all. Remember the parable Jesus told about the Pharisee and the tax collector? Remember what the Pharisee said? “God, I thank you that I am not like all other men—robbers, evil doers, adulterers…. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get”(Luke 18:11,12). “If anyone is righteous, we are,” the Pharisees thought.
And that’s what most of the people thought as well. The people looked at the Pharisees and teachers of the law as the most religious and most righteous people in the land. If anyone is going to make it into heaven, the Pharisees will.
But they were badly mistaken. Remember what Jesus said in the last verse of last Sunday’s sermon text? “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven”(v. 20). It was a shocking statement. “Jesus, are you kidding? Unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law…? That’s not possible.” And you’re right, for us it is impossible, especially when you begin to appreciate the true nature of God’s law.
God’s law was never aimed simply at our outward actions. Oh, the Pharisees thought is was. And sometimes we fall into that kind of thinking too: that all God is concerned about is our actions. But the truth is God is just as concerned about our words and even the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. This is the point Jesus is making in the next 16 verses, the verses of today’s text. The people needed to understand that God’s law applied to more than just the outward actions of murder or adultery or wrongful swearing. It applied to their thoughts and feelings as well. Jesus drives this home with a number of examples.
He starts with the 5th Commandment:
You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, “Raca,” [which is a term of contempt], is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell.(vv. 21+22)
Most people, the Pharisees included, thought they had kept the 5th Commandment if they had never actually committed a murder. Perhaps we think that way too. “Sorry,” Jesus says. “That’s not the case at all. The 5th Commandment applies to more than just the outward action of murder. It also applies to the thoughts of our hearts.” Have you ever hated someone, then you are murderer. You have broken the 5th Commandment. In fact, if you have ever been angry with someone and called them a derogatory name—“Leave me alone, you jerk-face”… Have you ever called your brother or sister a jerk-face? Then you have broken the 5th Commandment and are in danger of the fire of hell. So how are you doing on the test so far? I know I’m not doing so well.
In verses 23-26 Jesus digresses a bit in order to emphasize the importance of settling matters with others and not leaving things unresolved. First he says that if we come into God’s house to worship and there remember that someone has something against us, we should first go and settle things with that person and then come and worship him. You see, when things are unsettled between you and someone else, when there are hard feelings between you and someone else because of something you said or you did, it not only interrupts your relationship with that person. It also interrupts your relationship with God. You can’t worship God in spirit and truth when your spirit is still bothered or troubled by something you said or did to someone else. First go and apologize, then come and worship. That’s what God says.
Perhaps some of you really shouldn’t be here this morning. Where you really belong is at your neighbor’s house or your friend’s house or your brother’s house apologizing. Now I’m not going to ask that you get up and leave. I know you would feel more than a little embarrassed. What I would suggest, though, is that after the service is over, you go and take care of the matter as soon as possible.
Jesus says that it’s also good to settle matters with others for practical reasons: so you don’t end up in court or in jail. If you egged somebody’s house, go apologize, and even volunteer to wash the siding on their house. If you accidentally broke their picture window playing football with your friends, go apologize and offer to pay to have their window replaced. It’s a lot better than ending up in court or in jail or on probation.
In v. 27 Jesus returns to the main point and begins a second illustration, this time focusing on the 6th Commandment:
You have heard that it was said, “Do not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.(vv. 27+28)
Again most people, the Pharisees included, thought that if they had never had an affair, they had kept the 6th Commandment. Perhaps you have thought that way too. “Sorry,” Jesus says. “If you have even looked at a woman lustfully, you have already committed adultery with her in your heart.” If you have looked at pornography on the internet, then you have broken the 6th Commandment. If you have commented to your friends how hot a particular girl at school looks because she’s wearing particularly tight clothing that day, you have broken the 6th Commandment. If you’ve said it or you have thought it, in God’s eyes you have done it. Do you see what Jesus is saying? God and his law are not merely concerned about our outward actions, but about what’s going on in our hearts as well.
And the same thing applies to divorce. It’s the spirit of law that matters, not just the letter of the law. In Jesus’ day they had easy divorce laws. Does that surprise you? In his day, if a man wanted to divorce his wife, all he had to do was write her a note that said, “I divorce you.” No hearing in front of a judge, no lawyers, no custody battles, nothing. But that didn’t make it right, at least not in God’s sight. The only reason for which God permitted divorce is marital unfaithfulness. And that’s still the case today. (Yes, I recognize that desertion and abuse can be legitimate reasons too, but that’s it.) So sure, you can go to court and get a divorce for just about any reason now days; but does that make it right? God knows what your real reasons are, even if nobody else does. And he’s the one you’re going to have to answer to.
And the same applies to oath-taking or swearing:
Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.” But I tell you, Do not swear at all; either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No”; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.(vv. 33-37)
In order to understand what Jesus is talking about, you need to know a bit more about the situation. Back in Jesus’ day they had twisted what God had said about taking oaths. Yes, if you made an oath in the name of the Lord, you had to keep it. And if you didn’t, it was a sin. If, however, you made your oath in the name of something else (heaven, for example, or earth or Jerusalem—“I swear by the holy city of Jerusalem that I will pay back what I owe you next week”–) in that case you could break your oath and it wasn’t quite as serious, since you hadn’t make it in the name of the Lord.
“That’s just a bunch of bologna!” Jesus says. “Do you really think it matters what you swear by, whether you swear by God or by the city of Jerusalem or by your own head? Of course not. The important thing is that you’re honest and that you keep your oaths.” In fact, Jesus says that there really is no need to swear at all. Just be honest. Just let your “Yes” be “Yes and your “No,” “No.”
“Hey, you know my friends and I—we were up ice fishing on Lake Mile Lacs last weekend and you should have seen the walleye I caught. It was this big!”
“Yeah, right.”
“No really! I swear!”
What he really meant to say was “Not really. I lied.” And guess where that lie came from? From the devil himself.
So how did you do on the test? If we’re honest and take an honest look at our thoughts and our words, and yes, our actions too, we’d have to admit that we have failed, that we have failed miserably. Being righteous, obeying God’s commands in our every thought and word and deed isn’t just tough. It’s impossible.
But before you get too discouraged and quit the class or do something else rather foolish, let me reassure you that it isn’t hopeless. You can pass the test. In fact, you already did; or should I say, Jesus did. The real righteousness that you and I need in order to pass the entrance exam and get into heaven Jesus supplies. Jesus makes the impossible possible.
Jesus was, first of all, holy and perfect. He was righteous. He never hated anyone. He never called his enemies jerks or made fun of them behind their backs. The thought never even crossed his mind. In spite of what has been portrayed in certain books or movies, Jesus never had romantic relationship with Mary Magdalene. He never even fantasized about doing so. Jesus’ thoughts toward women were always pure. And as far as swearing goes, Jesus did swear once; but that was in the one situation in which you and I are permitted to do so: in court. And under oath Jesus told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Jesus obeyed God’s law, not just in his outward actions, but in his thoughts and words and attitudes as well. Jesus was righteous; perfectly righteous for me and perfectly righteous for you. As the Bible says, he is our righteousness.(Jeremiah 23:6)
What is more in love Jesus also paid for all the times you and I weren’t, all the times we called our brothers and sisters bad names, all the times we hated other people, all the times we imagined going to bed with our boyfriend or girlfriend or the girl who sits in front of you in chemistry class, all the times we chose to swear in order to back up our lies, rather than simply being honest and telling the truth. Yes, Jesus paid the bitter price for each and every one of those sins, every violation of God’s holy law. He suffered death and hell, in your place and in mine, so that we might be forgiven.
And besides all of that, Jesus also gives us new hearts. “Anyone who is in Christ,” the Bible says, “is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”(2 Corinthians 5:17). By the working of his Spirit, Jesus makes us new on the inside. He gives us new hearts, hearts that want to obey his will, hearts that not only don’t want to murder someone else, they don’t want to hate others either. Jesus gives us loving hearts. Jesus gives us pure hearts, hearts that don’t even want to think about going to bed with another man or woman unless, of course, it’s our spouse. Jesus gives us honest hearts, hearts that want to tell the truth and that’s it. Jesus gives us righteous hearts, hearts that recognize that they are truly righteous and holy in God’s sight because of Jesus, and hearts that want to stay that way, forever.
So guess what? You passed the test after all. That real righteous that you need to get into heaven, the kind of righteousness that even the Pharisees didn’t have—is yours thanks to Jesus. Jesus makes the impossible possible. Amen.