Chapter Fifteen:
Jesus Moves On - Faith unmatched - John's question
Hope for billions - Forgiveness - Women disciples
The Unpardonable sin - Jesus' real mother, brothers and sisters
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Wednesday, January 21, 2026
NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE STORY-- GOSPELS #15
NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE STORY-- GOSPELS #14
Chapter Fourteen:
The Great Sermon on the Mount (part two)
Continuation with Jesus' Sermon on the Mount And Jesus went on to say: "Take care! Don't do your good deeds publicly; to be admired, because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give gifts to someone in need, don't shout about it as the hypocrites do - blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone, don't tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you." We also need to be careful in understanding what Jesus was MAINLY getting at here. In a great many cases it is just not possible to give to someone, especially if it is a large gift, without someone knowing, and then the possibility they tell others about your kindness. If you are famous in the public eye, it will be even harder to give to others in a secret way. And if you are famous and give huge amounts to charity then it is harder still to "do it in secret." The founder of Microsoft and the famous "Windows" nearly everyone in the world uses on their computers, Bill Gates, is one of the very wealthiest men in the entire world. He must be among the top half dozen wealthiest people on the planet. It has been said that he "gives away" more money in any single year than the total revenue of some "countries" of the world. You do not hear about his charity giving very much at all, so Bill Gates, for being a famous man, has done a pretty good job of keeping his "good deeds" to himself, without any loud publicity about it. He lives in a large and relatively expense home, but when you see him on TV he is dressed very modestly, even casually, and you would never think to look at him that he is one of the top six most wealthy persons in the world. The main thing Jesus was getting at here is that we be humble, quiet, laid-back so to speak, in our good deeds giving. That we have an attitude of doing it yes, helping others when and where we can, and how we can, but doing it all in relative quietness, with no big blaring sounds of announcements to the neighborhood, town, or world, that you are "giving to others." Many in Jesus' day were doing just that. They were literally hiring people to blow trumpets in the churches and on the street corners to get the attention of people, and then having it shouted out they were doing such and such good deeds. Most of these people Jesus knew (because He knew the hearts of people, could see into their heart and know their motives) were hypocrites, play-actors, pretending to be someone they really were not. Their religion was all about "acting" a part, pretending, putting on an outward show to make people think they were so righteously in tune with and walking in the ways of the Lord. The truth was they were anything but true God fearing and humble children of the Father. Jesus taught that we should do good deeds to others, but in doing them, to be humble and try to do them all as much as possible without anyone knowing about it. Jesus turned His attention to the subject of prayer, another religious deed that had been greatly abused by certain ones, to again make people think they were "very religious." "And now about prayer. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on the street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go off by yourself, shut the door behind you in your room, and pray to the Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you openly. When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by repeating their words over and over again. Don't you be like them, because your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him! Pray after this manner: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored and praised. May your Kingdom soon come. May your will be done on earth as it is being done in heaven. Give us our daily requirements. Forgive us our sins, just as we forgive those who have sinned and done evil against us. Lead us not into trials and temptations, but deliver us from the evil one. For your is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen " Jesus' instructions on some points of prayer are pretty simple and straightforward. You are to pray basically in private. Now that does not mean a husband and wife cannot pray together. In marriage two become one as ordained by God way back in Genesis chapter two. It does not mean congregations cannot get together and pray. We have examples in the book of Acts (that we shall see in detail much later) where the Church of God did meet and have times of prayer together (usually under some severe trial that was upon them or some of their members). What Jesus is addressing here is our regular basic everyday prayer life. It was to be a private matter, not something that was done on the street corners and with the attitude of "look everyone, I'm so godly I'm praying, you can all see then I'm so religious." Some were performing their prayer life exactly like that, making a it a big public production. Again, Jesus knew their hearts and they were in the main religious hypocrites so He said. Our prayer life is mainly to be a personal, done in privacy, and the Father who then sees in private, will reward us "openly" as it is in the KJV translation. We are also not to use vain repetitions. Our prayers are to be from the heart, not something like reciting a poem and maybe doing it over and over. As Jesus said there are some religions that teach only through a set repeating of certain words can their prayers be answered. That was not the case with the Father, Jesus explained, for He knows our thoughts and needs and requests even before we begin to pray. Of course that does not mean we should not pray. It is a lot like an earthly father (or mother also) knowing the needs and desires of his or her children (what they would like for their birthday, and that sort of thing), but still wanting their children to talk about it them to them. Jesus then went on to give a basic outline of prayer. There maybe many other things we can pray for and talk to our heavenly Father about, but here we find some of the very basics that should be a pretty regular part of our prayers. The supreme God in heaven is "our Father." It is clear from reading all the Gospels that Jesus taught a "family" relationship between the Himself and the Father and us. That we were all part of one large heavenly family, with the Father God being the supreme head in authority, but still our Father, with all that a "father" is within a family unit. Wonderful and glorious it is that God is our "father" and we are His sons and daughters. We need to honor and praise our Father in heaven and honor His name, just as we should try to honor the name of our own earthly family. We need to be always full of praise, thanking God for all the wonderful blessing we have, both spiritually and physically. Stop for a moment now, put this study to one side for a little while and think of some of the many good things you have. Then praise the Father for them. Make this meditation and praise a part of your regular prayer life. Praying for the coming Kingdom of God should be a constant priority. If you have read about that Kingdom and how it will govern the entire earth one day, as related by all the Old Testament prophets. If you understand what that age will be like, and you reflect on the evil, sorrows, pain, hardships, wars, sicknesses, of today's age, then you will want to cry out for God' s Kingdom to soon come, to deliver this world from Satan and all his wrong ways, and to see the knowledge of the Lord filling this earth as the waters cover the sea beds. You will want to see God's will done on earth as it is being done in heaven. You will want to pray that the Lord's children will stay faithful, and be a light of doing God's will to all around them. You will want to ask for help from God via His Holy Spirit to love and obey His word, His will, His commandments. Yes, it is okay and fine to ask our heavenly Father for our daily needs. He knows we are physical human being that need physical things each and every day in order to live our life. It is "daily" needs we need to ask for, not to amass stock-piles of "goodies" for a time far into the future. It is not wrong to have a nest-egg or two (the book of Proverbs teaches us that) but praying that the Lord will grant us what we need (and that could be spiritual, emotional, as well as physical) for each day, as the day comes, is the focus in this basic outline of prayer from Christ. We are to remember we are sinners, and to ask for forgiveness, as we forgive others for sinning against us. Notice, it is being forgiven, asking to be forgiven, AS, in like manner as, we forgive others who do wrong to us. Just a few verses down below this prayer outline, Jesus said, "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." Kind of plain would you not say? We must be willing to forgive others, if we expect our Father in heaven to forgive us. Sometimes others come to us asking for us to forgive them, when they acknowledge they have done us wrong. Sometimes, they have done us wrong and cannot see that they have or will not admit they have. We still must have forgiveness towards them, at least within ourselves, a kind of "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do" attitude, as Jesus did when surrounded by those who nailed Him to the cross and wanted to see Him dead. Letting go and forgiving someone does not mean you are a sitting duck for them to trample all over you again and again. But it does mean you "let go" and are not having sleepless nights over the matter, or figuring out how you can "get back at them." Having this kind of forgiving attitude towards human beings means that you will sure obtain forgiveness from the Father in heaven when He needs to forgive you for your wrong doing towards Him. We need also to pray that God will not lead us into temptation. Hummm, a little hard to understand for James was inspired to write that God does not tempt any man (James 1: 13). God does not try to break us down by He Himself putting a snare or trap into sin, in front of us. But He does allow sin to be around us. He does allow Satan and the demons to do their evil work. He does allow various trials, test, and troubles to come our way. The best way to understand what Jesus was saying, is I think, to ask God that He will lead us "out of" trials and tests that could lead us to sin. To ask God for wisdom (James chapter one again) in dealing with life situations, for the ability to be corrected and to learn from life the lessons we need to learn, and then after learning them to not fall into the same errors again. We ask God for all this, and so in granting it to us, He is leading us out of the sore trials that can come our way, and throw us into a real mess. We ask Him for help from the ways and influence of the evil one. For the evil one is always there like a roaring lion sneaking about searching for whom he can devour (1 Peter 5: 8). One of the great ways to stand up against the devil and not be slain by him is to do as the apostle Paul said, put on the whole armor of God. We can pray for help to do just that . We finally once more give our heavenly Father praise and honor and glory, for He indeed has the power and the glory for all things, and certainly to answer our petitions. His is the Kingdom that is in heaven and that will one day come to this earth, which we can be a very part of for all eternity. Another tool that has always been used by the people of God to obtain victory, spiritual strength, and closeness to the Lord, is that of physical "fasting" - going without food and water for a period of time. Jesus now instructs on this matter. "And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad face: for they change their faces in different ways that they may appear to people to be fasting. Truly, they have all the reward they shall get. But you, when you fast, put on hair cream, and wash your face, be in your physical appearance so people will not know you are fasting. But your Father which is invisible to you, but sees all secret things, He will reward you openly." Moses fasted for 40 days (Deut. 9: 18); Elijah also did the same (1 Kings 19: 8); Esther fasted (Esther 4: 16); David fasted (Psalm 35: 13); and Jesus fasted for 40 days (Mat. 4: 2). Fasting had always been apart of the life of God's people. Jesus here did not say "if" you fast, but "when" you fast, taking it for granted that His followers would fast. It was to be done again without public notice, in fact in such a none noticeable way that people would not know they were fasting. This was quite opposite from the way many in His day practiced fasting. They wanted people to know, and went far out of their way to make sure they knew they were doing it. All to put on the false face that they were super religious. They had their reward of acclaim from the public, but their practice of religion got no higher than the ceiling with God. But the Father knows the heart, and He can see when His children serve Him, even if the world does not, and He will reward them, sometimes even in an open way in this life time. If not in this life then surely in the age to come, in His Kingdom. For most people to fast more than three days without food or drink will be beyond them. Then you can fast for half a day, missing one or two meals. Our time should be spent in prayer, Bible reading, and meditation, when we fast. The whole purpose behind it is to get close to God. Physical treasures. As we live in a physical world and must have certain physical things to sustain us, Jesus had to speak on this subject also. "Store not for yourself physical treasures on this earth, where moths and bugs and rust can eat them up and destroy them, or where thieves can break in and steal them from you. Store your treasures in heaven, where it really counts, and where they will never become moth eaten or crumble away with rust, and where they will also be safe from thieves. Where your true treasure is there will be your heart also. Your eye of the heart and mind is the lamp of your body. A pure eye lets in the sunshine into your life. But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, oh, how deep indeed is that darkness you have! No person can two serve masters. For you will hate and despise the one while you love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and disregard the other. So in like manner you cannot serve and be slave to God and at the same time to physical money and goods. So I am telling you, don't be overly anxious and worried about everyday life - whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Does not life consist of more than food and drink and clothing? Take a look at the birds. They do not need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to Him than the birds. Can all your over anxious and fretful worries add a single moment to your life, or food to your stomach? And why be fretful about your clothes and what you shall put on from day to day? Take a look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't sit and fret about their clothing. Yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as the lilies are. And if God cares so wonderfully about flowers that are here for only a short season and then they are gone, do you not think He will care for you even the more? Oh, you that have so little faith! So do not fret and be overly concerned about having enough food or drink or clothes. Why be like those without God who indeed are concerned about such things? Your heavenly Father already knows all the physical things you will need in order to live, and He will provide these needs for you from day to day if you will first of all seek His righteousness and make being a part of His kingdom your primary concern in this life. So do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring enough of its own problems and troubles. Today's troubles are enough to be concerned about without added what may or may not come tomorrow" (Remember I am paraphrasing Jesus' words). The Bible is a complete book and we must read it all and take into discernment all parts of what God teaches us on any particular subject. The book of Proverbs, as well as elsewhere in the Gospels and other parts of the New Testament, show us that it is not wrong to be wise in this physical life, to have some put away for a rainy day as they say. Jesus, we shall see, also taught us to be good stewards of all the physical things we have. God does not want us to be spendthrifts, lazy, living with a "oh, I couldn't care less" attitude, and sponging off other people as if everyone owns us a living. There are so many passages in the Bible that show that a Christian is to work (if he/she at all can), not to be a "lazy bum" to put it bluntly. To take care of his own (as the apostle Paul once said), to be a responsible person, one who uses and actually increases with what God has given him to use. What Jesus was saying then, in the light of all the totality of the word of God, is that our life, mind, heart, thoughts, should not be wrapped up in the physical things of this life; how we can get more and more, how we can stockpile more and more material goods. We are not to be consumed, anxiously concerned and fretting over making sure we have huge amounts of more than enough to live on. This is true what I'm about to tell you. I once met a man who had been away for a four day week-end, and he had not slept at all, for he was on some course that went through the nights even, teaching, teaching, and still more teaching. I was amazed when he told me this and he could see it in my facial expression. "Oh, that is nothing!" he exclaimed, "I was once in California on a 7 day course and we never slept for 7 days, the teaching continued day and night." Then in a matter of fact manner and with absolute sincerity and meaning every word, he said looking me straight in the eye with a cold serious face, "Hum, I want to be a millionaire." Jesus on the other hand said your heart, your mind, your life, should first of all be seeking God's righteousness and His Kingdom. That, He said, should be the most important mission in life for you. As we have seen, Jesus taught that to serve Him, sometimes we would have to part with certain physical things, maybe a job, or a person once close and dear to us, and there may comes times we would wonder how we were going to have the physical things we need in this life just to continue living. When we read through the letters of the great apostle Paul we find that sometimes he was in great need of the physical things in life, but God always helped him through and provided for him, not always as much as he may have personally wanted, but enough. Jesus was saying and telling us that we need faith, we need to trust our heavenly Father. He knows what we need for each day, so trust Him to provide it for you, seek first His righteousness and His Kingdom, and be assured God will give you your needs for the day. BE CAREFUL HOW YOU JUDGE Jesus said, "Do not judge unfairly, that you be not judged unfairly. For others will judge you as you judge them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in the eye of your brother or sister or friend, when you have a log in your eye? How can you even think of saying, 'Friend, let me help you get the speck out of your eye,' when you cannot see past the large log in your own eye? Hypocrites! First get rid of the log in your eye; then perhaps you can see clearly to get rid of the speck in your friend's eye." We know from the rest of the New Testament, that to discern right from wrong, to judge the righteousness or sin of an act or way of life that someone may have done or may be living, is not wrong. We can see from 1 Corinthians chapter 5, that Paul said he had judged the matter of an unrepentant sinner in the congregation at Corinth, and told the people of the church there that they also needed to judge the matter. Jesus on another occasion, said of Peter, "You have rightly judged" (Luke 7: 43). And at another time said, "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgement" (John 7: 24). So, it is evident, Jesus was here in Matthew chapter 7 telling us that we need to be very judicious, circumspect, guard, mindful, attentive, on how we judge others and their actions. We need to be careful not to jump to wrong conclusions. We need to have all the facts on the situation. And we also need to be able to look into ourselves and see our faults, weakness, errors, before we start to bring down the hammer on the faults of others. It is very important that we always remember and apply the words of Paul as found in Galatians 6: 1-3. The Gospel writer Luke gives us a few more words that Jesus said in this context of judging righteously and correctly (Luke 6:39,40). To be able to judge righteously means you must become like the One who is the holy righteous judge of all people's hearts and minds. The disciple is never above their teacher, and everyone who aquires the full teaching of their teacher, will be like their teacher. In this instant Jesus was talking about the children of God becoming like God in righteous judgment. If they did not then they were still as blind men, and would be leading and teaching others to follow that blindness, and hence blind men would be leading blind men. Such blinded ones would both fall into the ditch as they tried to lead each other in the wrong ways of judging and condemning sin and sinners. Then another key that is required to unlock the door of righteous judging is what Jesus went on to add in verses 41,42 in Luke chapter 6 (also in Matthew). It is the key of first being able to examine yourself, look at yourself honestly, admit to yourself your errors, sins, and where you miss the mark at times. You must first be able to see the log of sins in your life, if you are going to be a true effective and helpful judge of errors and sins in other people. By doing this in your life, you will be humble in how you try to help another with their problems of sin, and weaknesses of the human flesh. It is not wrong to convert a man from the error of his way (see James 5:19,20), but it must always be done in the context of what the apostle Paul was inspired to tell us must be the context of such righteous judging (see Gal.6:1-3). BE CAREFUL HOW YOU HAND OUT YOUR TREASURES This may shock some people, but Jesus taught that sometimes it is not prudent to give out the holy and fine pearls that God gives us, to other people. "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the pigs, for they may simple trample what you give them under their feet, and even turn and beat you up" (Matthew 7: 6). Sad to say, but some out there are so against and so hate the holy and fine pearls of God, that they will only laugh at them, disregard and immediately trample them under their feet, and some may get so violently upset at what you are trying to give them, they will literally try punching you out. We need wisdom in ascertaining the heart and mindset of people towards what we know as the holy things of God. Wisdom to know when and where and with whom, to share such holy things. EFFECTIVE PRAYER AND REQUESTS Jesus also knew that praying or requesting something from the Father in heaven, was not always answered the first time, but it would be answered and you would receive that which is best and good for you. "Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find it. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you." The original language of the New Testament shows that Jesus said it this way, KEEP ON asking...looking....knocking... Jesus continued, "For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks finds. And the door is opened to all who knock. You parents, if you have children and they ask you for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they should ask you for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Of course not! If you being sinful people know how to give good things to your children, how much more then will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him." God the Father loves His children. He wants the very best for them. He will give us that which He knows is good for us. Sometimes, as James told us, we may ask amiss (James 4:3), so of course we will not receive. The apostle John was inspired to give us two other conditions in order to receive from the Father. "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight" (1 John 3: 22). And, "And this is the confidence we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us" (1 John 5: 14). So we see that the "whatsoever we ask" must be according to His will. We may not receive the good gift from above (James 1: 17) immediately. So as Jesus said, we must keep on asking. Later we shall see where Jesus gave a parable especially to teach that God's people must not faint, but continue in prayer, supplication, and request, and the Father will, in His time, answer and give. DOING GOOD TO ALL PEOPLE How should live our basic day to day lives as we mingle and converse with other people? Jesus told us how. "Therefore all things whatsoever you would that people should do to you, do you even so to them, for this is the summary of all that is written in the law and the prophets." Most of us like to be treated by others in a nice respectful, even kind and helpful manner. So, said Jesus, we must likewise treat others in the very same kind and respectful manner, for this is what God has taught from the beginning, this is what in the overall way, the Old Testament was teaching through its many laws, commandments, statutes, and precepts. THE NARROW GATE - ANOTHER SHOCKING STATEMENT Oh, some of the teaching and statements that Christ made are truly shocking and in many respects quite the opposite of what a lot of theologians of the Christians religion today tell you. A lot of them preach that it is as easy as falling of a log to get as they may say "to heaven." Jesus taught exactly the opposite! Listen to this! "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the NARROW gate. The highway to destruction is BROAD, and its gate is WIDE for the many who choose the EASY WAY. But the gateway to eternal life is SMALL, and the road is very NARROW, and ONLY A FEW EVER FIND IT." Coming to Christ in repentance (knowing and acknowledging you have sinned, that you are a sinner) may be relatively easy (but many today who accept Christ as their Savior don't even know what sin and repentance is), but that is just the beginning of the road to salvation, we must continue to walk its path, to "grow in grace and knowledge" as Peter wrote (2 Peter 3:18) and we must make our calling and election sure by doing the things Peter listed in 2 Peter 1: 3-11. We must "endure to the end" as Jesus said in Matthew 24: 13, and then we shall be saved into the Kingdom of God. Yes, Jesus knew there was much more to "being saved" than just "giving your heart to the Lord" as many preach today. The fact is, you can think and argue with all the arguments in the world, but the words Jesus spoke here are CLEAR and SIMPLE - the road to eternal life is NARROW, the doorway to enter is SMALL, most in this life will not walk that narrow way, and only the FEW in this age will enter the Kingdom. FALSE PROPHETS AND FRUITS Jesus warned us that many would come along telling you they were Christians, telling you they knew Christ, accepted Him as Savior, telling you they were speaking in His name (Mat. 24: 4-5), but they would be deceivers. Here He says: "Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart and eat you up. You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You do not pick grapes from a thornbush, or figs from a thistle bush. A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. So, every tree that does not produce good fruit is eventually chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, the way to know and identify a tree or a person is indeed by the kind of fruit that is produced." Jesus is speaking in a very personal way here, of personal fruits, the way of life, that people live. He is not speaking about people who have large numbers of other people following them, as fruit. There have been some very evil men down through the centuries, such as Hitler, in the 30s and 40s who had hundreds of thousands devoted to him and his cause and desire to rule the world. Having people follow you is not what Jesus was talking about at all. It was the personal fruit of the person in their day to day lives, how they lived according to the way of the Lord, and how they lived in relation to others, as taught by the Word of God. Jesus continued: "Not all people who sound religious are godly. They may refer to me as 'Lord, Lord,' but they still will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. The decisive and pivotal issue is whether they OBEY my Father in heaven. On judgment day many will tell me 'Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, and even cast out demons and evil spirits in your name, and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply to them, 'I never knew you. Go away; you that continued to work lawlessness. '" There it is again, from the very lips of Jesus Christ Himself, from the one that many claim to know and follow and believe in as Savior of the world. Many want to have Jesus as Savior but will NOT BELIEVE what He said and taught. He clearly said you can have His name, call yourself a Christian, do all kinds of seemingly "good" things in His very name, yet on judgment day He, Jesus, will not know many of these people. He will tell them He never walked with them, never lived in them. He will tell them to depart from the Kingdom, and the main reason He gives is that they were LAWLESS! They did not do what He had just said above, OBEY the Father in heaven. They were not within the laws, commandments, statutes, and precepts, of the Father. They did not live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Mat.4: 4). They did not do what Jesus had already expounded previously in this sermon on the mount as we covered in Matthew chapter 5: 17-20. To ensure a place in the Kingdom Jesus went on to say, "Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is like a wise person who builds a house on a good solid rock. Though the rains and storms come in mighty torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it will stand and not fall because it is built on rock as a foundation. But anyone who hears my teachings and ignores them is like a foolish person who builds his house upon the weak and shifting sand. When the rains and floods come and the wind blows hard against that house, it falls with a mighty crash." Believing and obeying what Jesus taught is just as important as believing in Him as personal Savior. The two go hand in hand, like a horse and buggy, like a car must have a steering wheel and tires as well as a motor, to correctly move along the correct road, so too, the whole life of a Christian must consist of believing ON Jesus and believing IN Jesus, believing and obeying what He taught. As one famous hymn says, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." Matthew then records: "After Jesus finished speaking, the people were amazed at His teaching, for He taught as one who had real powerful authority - quite unlike the lawyers of the law called scribes." Jesus had finished His sermon on the mount. .......................... Written September 2002 |
NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE STORY-- GOSPELS #13
Chapter Thirteen:
The Great Sermon on the Mount (part one)
JESUS' CHOICE OF THE TWELVE The time had come for Jesus to call and start a special group of disciples from within His larger body of followers. This was something new and different from what John the baptist had done with his disciples and indeed different from what Jesus had done so far in His ministry. He was about to choose a special 12 disciples, and as they were going to be chosen for some different work and gospel commissions for the then present and into the future, from what the other disciples would do, it was very important that He chose the twelve with much thought and prayer. Jesus went up into the hills alone to pray as He often did at other times. He continued all night in prayer. This decision of which twelve to pick for His inner circle of close disciples called for all night prayer and meditation. Jesus set us an example in all things He did. There could well be times in our life when confronted with serious and large decisions that we must make, that all night prayer and meditation is needed to ensure we make the correct decision. When other Elders in the Church are to commend and ordain other men to the ministry, a very serious undertaking and commission to be given to others, it should be done under prayer and fasting, which could be for more than a day, maybe for a number of days over a period of time (Acts 14: 21-23). Jesus took time to pray about the choosing of these twelve disciples, even praying all night long. When it was daybreak, He called all His disciples to Himself and from them He chose this special twelve. He named them "apostles" which means "ones sent forth." Here was also a new name given to a new formed section within the New Testament Church of God. The function then of apostles was brought into being by Jesus. This newly created position by Jesus shows us that it is not wrong for new functions to be created within the body of Christ, the Church of Christ, when and if certain functions are needed for doing the work of God. Why did Jesus choose twelve at this time? There was indeed of God would come to be established on the earth. When it would rule all nations, when all the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the literal government of God ruling the entire earth, would come to pass. Many prophecies in the prophetic books of the Old Testament tell us that when Jesus returns in glory to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, then the literal people of Israel and Judah will be again united as one people, or 12 tribes united under one banner so to speak. They are to return to the land area we call the Middle East today, where the city of Jerusalem is located (Ezekiel 37; Jeremiah 30, 31, 33; Isa.11). Jesus promised that the twelve disciples would each sit upon a throne of authority governing a tribe of Israel (Mat.19: 27, 28). And so for the plan of God to contain this governing structure for the people of Israel during the 1,000 year reign of God's Kingdom on earth, Jesus knew there needed to be a special twelve called out from among His many disciples who would each be given rule over one of the twelve tribes of Israel, in that coming Kingdom age. The names of these twelve specially called out disciples were: Simon, whom Jesus named Peter. Andrew, who was Peter's brother. James and John. Philip and Bartholomew. Matthew and Thomas. James the son of Alphaeus. Simon who was called the Zealot. Judas the son of James. Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor (Luke 6: 12-19). After Jesus had chosen the twelve He came with all His disciples down from the hills and stood on a large flat area of land. Soon a huge multitude of people came to Him from all Judea and Jerusalem and even from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon. They came to hear Him speak and to be healed of their diseases. Those who were troubled with evil spirits were also cured. Such was the power that came from Him all the people clambered to get close enough to touch Him and so be healed of their sicknesses and demons. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT Many have thought that Jesus gave this famous so-called sermon on the mount to all the crowd of people that came to Him from Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast. But the Gospel writer Matthew shows us that this was not the case at all. After Jesus had spent some time with the crowds that came to Him, He wanted once more to get away, they were pressing in on Him all wanting to touch Him as we have seen. Jesus again retreated into the mountains. He sat down and it was His disciples that came to Him. It was His disciples not the vast crowds that He taught. The words of Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 were given to them, not the general population (Matthew 5: 3). Much of what I record Jesus as saying in His sermon on the mount is my paraphrasing. And Jesus taught them saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for their is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Mat.5: 3-12). Here in a few verses Jesus gives the heart and the core, the foundation of what is a true Christian, a true son and daughter of God the Father. The poor in spirit are those who have put away pride and human vanity. They have been willing to see themselves in the light of God's word, in the light of the Holiness of God Himself. They have humbled themselves to acknowledge their sins and wrong ways and words and thoughts. They have repented of being a human sinner, repented of breaking in one way or another the holy laws, commandments, statutes, and precepts, of God. They see they are nothing compared to a Holy God. They have cried out for His mercy, for His grace, for His love. They have put themselves into the spirit of mind that they will love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their life, with all their mind. They are willing to serve Him, to do His will not their own, to love and obey His commandments. They stand in respectful awe of the entire word of God. It is to this person with this attitude of mind that God will look and take note of and call His child (Isa. 66: 2). To such a person Jesus promised that the Kingdom of heaven would be theirs, that they would be a part of it, that they would live forever in the very Kingdom family of God. Those who mourn and shall be comforted are those who first of all mourn within themselves as they see the sins and faults and errors they have done in their lives. As they see where they have missed the mark in what the heavenly Father would have them do, think, and speak, they are deeply sorry. This gives them a repentant mindset and places them in the position to receive God's loving forgiveness and so be comforted with His salvation. Those who mourn are those who also go on after being comforted with personal salvation, to mourn for the evil and sins they see around them in the world from day to day. The child of God at times really gets upset, mourns and sometimes literally cries (Jesus shed tears at times over the sins of Jerusalem and the people around Him) when they see or hear about certain evils that happen in the world or in their local town or city. Such children of God often cry out for His Kingdom to soon come to earth that all the pain, sorrow, and evil, the world contains will be a thing of the past. One day, as the heavenly Father has promised, His children who now mourn at times will be everlastingly comforted when His Kingdom is set up on this earth. The meek are those who do not think of themselves above what they should. They are not full of vain bigheaded thoughts about themselves or their talents or abilities. They realize all they have is from God. They realize all they can be is from God. They are willing to be corrected, to learn, to be shown and led into the ways and truths of the Lord. They are humble enough to want to serve and do the commandments of God. They know that meekness is not the same as "weakness." They understand that people like Moses was meek, yes, even said of him that he was the meekest man of his time. But they know that Moses was not "weak." But strong in and for the Lord. Being meek is really being strong in the ways and life of how God wants you to live. Meekness is being righteous and Jesus was probably thinking about Psalm 37 when He uttered these words. For in that Psalm it is the righteous (those who do and live in a right way with God) who shall it is said, inherit the earth. Yes, the children of God are to live forever on this earth. They are to inherit the Kingdom of God or heaven, but that Kingdom is to come to this earth as Revelations 19 through to 22 fully explains and shows us. So to inherit the Kingdom of heaven is indeed to also inherit forever this earth. Jesus said it was blessed to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Now one Bible definition for righteousness is found in Psalm 119: 172. There we see that all of God's commandments are righteousness. Many today want you to believe it is not important to seek after God's commandments. Many today want you to believe God has "done away with" His holy law of the ten commandments and just about all of His other commandments also. Many today say if you seek after the commandments of God you are trying to gain salvation by human works. Well, many today have many ideas as to why you should not hunger and thirst after the righteous commandments of God. But for Jesus, as far as He was concerned, if you did hunger and thirst after them, you would not only be filled and satisfied, but you would be also very blessed. Jesus said that it was also a blessing to be a merciful person, to show kindness, a loving and forgiving attitude towards others. There will be many times in life, many situations will come our way, when people will do us harm, do us dirt as they say. People at times will say nasty things about us, talk behind our back, call us names, tell bad stories about us that are not true. They may plot to harm us in different ways. They may get jealous of us for whatever reason and become our enemy. They may try to take revenge on us for something they consider we have done to them. There will be plenty of opportunity in life to act and to think in a merciful manner towards others, to not pay back in kind as others have done to us. There will be times when some people will come to us and acknowledge they have acted badly towards us and ask us to forgive them. Jesus said it was a blessing to be merciful towards others. For by being merciful you would also obtain mercy. He was no doubt especially thinking of the mercy that the Father in heaven would show towards you, for you showing mercy towards your fellow man. The pure in heart were also a blessed people, so blessed Jesus said, that they would see God. The clear inference is that those who did not have a pure heart would not see God. All of the children of God will one day see the very face of their heavenly Father (Revelation 21 tells us that). If you do not see God the Father, it means you will not be living. It means you will not have had a pure heart, for it is the pure in heart that shall see God. The heart of man is a mixture of good and evil. Without the nature and Spirit of the Lord coming into the heart to wash it, to cleanse it, to fill it with the love of God, to purify it from its natural carnal fleshly ways and thoughts, it is then spiritually impure. Such a natural heart without the Spirit of God does not belong to Him. God is Holy. The natural heart without God in it is unholy. Only when the heart is purified by the indwelling of the Spirit of God is it classified by God as pure, and as belonging to Him. Only then can that person be considered by God as His child. All this is what the apostle Paul was telling us in Romans chapter 8. When the heart is made pure by the presence of God through His Spirit dwelling in it, then we are His. And we receive the Spirit of God through repentance and baptism (Acts 2: 38). Our sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ on an on going daily basis (John explained it more for us in I John chapter 1 and the first part of chapter 2). Hence we are in the sight of God one with a pure and clean heart. With a pure heart Jesus said people would indeed see God. They would one day inherit eternal life and see God's face as is promised in the book of Revelation (chapter 22). If you want to be a son (or daughter) of God, Jesus said you would have to be blessed by being a peacemaker. What does it mean to be a peacemaker? Does it mean you are a doormat for people to walk all over? No, surely not, for the people of God in the Bible stood strong and firm for their faith. Many of those who were called to proclaim the truths of God to others and to nations, were bold and courageous, not backing down even in the face of the threat of death. Does it mean you must be timid and consoling to other religious leaders that oppose the word of God? Hardly! For Jesus and the apostles as we can see from the New Testament did not back down against those who would debate or corner them on theological issues. There are times when the people of God must also act as Jesus acted towards false religious leaders (we will come to Matthew 23 and the strong words Jesus used against false religionists later in the Gospel story). I think it best to try to understand what being a peacemaker is, by looking at it from the opposite side of the coin. A peacemaker is one who is generally as a way of life, trying to be at peace with everyone, even when and while living a dedicated Christian life, and also when trying to proclaim the good news of the salvation and truths of God's word. He or she is not out looking for trouble, not out to deliberately cause a fight or disturbance (though such may arise when teaching and/or living the way of the Lord. The first century apostles certainly encountered less than peaceful persons, out to harm them, as they lived and taught the Gospel). A peaceful person is trying to act and live and speak as Jesus told them to do, "Be you as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves." A peaceful individual has a basic good natured attitude and disposition about them. They are not nasty in words, not bad tempered, not grouchy, always seeing the negative side of things, not forever complaining about everyone and everything. They are not out to pick a fight over the least bad thing that others do to them. They often let the evil of others coming their way, pass them by with no thoughts of revenge or how they can get back at them. They want if at all possible to be at peace with people as they live and practice and proclaim the love of God through Jesus Christ. Peaceable people are basically upbeat, happy, friendly, smiling people. Their conversations are mainly positive and not bitter, sarcastic, negative, filled with put-downs of others. They exhibit a lot of patience in all they do and with all people they meet. Peaceable people are persons that others like to be around and enjoy having as neighbors and working co-workers. Peaceable people find that small children are drawn to them, for small children can sense persons who are peaceable and easy to feel comfortable and happy with. Children had no problem in coming close to Jesus and letting Him pick them up to bless them. Such is the nature of persons who are peacemakers. For such is the foundation of the nature and character of God, hence those with His nature in them will be peacemakers and so will also be called "sons of God." To emphasize that the righteousness of God is for all peoples of all ages to seek after, Jesus went on to say that those persecuted for the sake of righteousness, because they were practicing righteousness as a way of life, were blessed. The commandments of God which are righteousness are forever (Psalm 111) and though some would encounter words and actions of persecution from those who did not like the laws of God or who thought the New Testament abolished them, Jesus said the ones receiving the persecution for serving righteousness would have the Kingdom of God, they would inherit it and be a part of it. Then Jesus finished this part of His sermon and teaching by letting His disciples know that in choosing to follow Him, it would not always be an easy road to walk. It would not necessarily be a bed of sweet smelling roses, or sitting in some beautiful park on a warm and sunny day enjoying a large chocolate dipped ice-cream. Sometimes, to not only accept Jesus as your personal savior, but to believe what He said and to obey Him, to follow His example in all your conduct of life, will anger various people, even ones who call themselves "religious" and claim they are "Christian." These people will often say false things against you, lie about you, and try to bring all manner of harm to you, mentally, emotionally, and even physically. Jesus has told us beforehand that such may come our way because we follow Him in everything. He said we would eventually be blessed and have a great reward for remaining loyal to Him. He reminds us that it has been no different for other who lived before us. All down through the centuries, yes, even as we read through the Old Testament, we can see that many of the prophets of God were reviled and persecuted for standing firm to the word and truth of the Father in heaven. In Luke's account Jesus said, "But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets" (Luke 6:24-26). Is it wrong or somehow "not quite Christian" to be rich in a physical way, or to be fully satisfied with food, or to laugh? We should not take Jesus' words here out of context from the whole Bible. As we read the whole of God's word we can see that some of His people were physically blessed with material riches. And many were fully satisfied and provided with food, as well as enjoying themselves with laughter and song. It is clear that God does not think such things per se are wrong or not proper to have if you are His child. What Jesus here in the sermon on the mount is saying is that those who disregard God's way, His truths, and His commandments, those who just simply "live it up" as we say, who want to fill their minds and life with only the material things that can be obtained in this life time, who put all their energies into being rich, full of everything physical, and want to "party all the time," while ignoring the way of God, will one day have to answer for this mind-set. They will finally come to the point of realizing that putting the physical things first (and God second, or God never at all) is not the way to eternal life. They will indeed mourn and weep. Jesus said, "Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets." Another fact contained in the Bible, when you read it all from start to finish, is the fact that those who taught and preached the Word and Commandments of God, were never popular with the masses of the people or with most of the leaders of the various nations. And they were not popular with the masses of other religious leaders. Jesus gives here a pretty constant and overall rule of thumb, if you are liked and spoken well about from the large mass of people and world leaders, then you propbably are NOT speaking the Word and Truths of the Almighty God, certainly not in the way you should be teaching and preaching them. Those who are popular as "religious teachers and preachers," who are spoken well about from the large majority of people, are more than likely, according to Jesus, false prophets and false religious teachers. That verse in Luke is well worth remembering when you start to look at all those out there who claim they are the religious ministers of God. Jesus continued: "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltness be restored? It is then no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under by the foot of men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a cover, but put it on a stand, that it may give light to all that be in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." We should be able to say with the apostle Paul, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation..." We should not be trying to hide what we believe or stand for. But this does not mean we are to be preaching constantly to all whom we come into contact with. You will notice the two examples Jesus gave. He did not say we are to be like the blast of a trumpet sounding out a war alarm. He did not say we are to be like a loud radio filling the air waves with its sound, nor like a fog horn sounding the danger to those nearby. There maybe times when we can do personal evangelism, and teach people the way and salvation of the Lord, but by and large we are to live as a Christian like the shining light set on a stand, in all we say, and do, showing forth the good works that are part and parcel of being a child of God. By so living many will glorify and thank the Father who is in heaven. Jesus went on to say: "Think not that I am come to abolish the law and prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one iota, nor a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." The first part of the above has been often twisted all out of proportion and people have tried to make it say that when Jesus ended His life and had fulfilled all that was written about Him, then all things were fulfilled and so the law and the commandments were then abolished. But Jesus clearly talked about all being in effect until heaven and earth passed away, not then the time of His death. Heaven and earth are still here. Hence so is the law and the prophets and the small and great commandments of the Lord. The last part of what Jesus said makes it crystal clear exactly what He was meaning. Anyone coming along who would relax or diminish even the least commandment would be looked upon as least by the kingdom of heaven, but he who obeyed and taught them would have great favor in the eyes of that kingdom. Jesus further went on to nail down exactly what He was meaning, so none would or should ever misunderstand. The scribes and Pharisees were ardent law observers. They tried to be super righteous in following all the laws of God contained in the Old Testament. But they often interpreted them incorrectly, misapplied them, blew some of them way out of proportion, sometimes added their own ideas to them (such as the 600 or more laws they invented for Sabbath observance), or worst yet set up their traditions in place of the commandments of God. All of this we shall see expounded by the Gospel writers as we proceed further into the life and ministry of Christ. Of course the scribes and Pharisees thought they were very righteous. It was a false self-righteousness that they had and not the righteousness that came from God. Jesus said His followers needed to have the true righteousness that is founded upon the truth of God. But that truth most assuredly held that the laws of God were in force and effect until heaven and earth passed away. And those who obeyed them and taught them would be called great in the kingdom of God. Now Jesus goes on to amplify and make more binding some of the laws of God: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother without cause, shall be liable to judgment; Whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire." Jesus here starts to answer some of the Jewish interpretations of the laws of God. Notice, He does not say, "It is written" but "you have heard it said to the men of old." Now, sometimes the interpretation of the literal letter of the law was basically correct, at other times it was not so correct. Jesus was not only going to give the true understanding of what the letter of the law was meaning but He would take it a step further. He would enlarge it to bring in the heart and intent of the spirit of the law. He had the authority from the Father to do this very thing, and so make the laws of God much fuller and broader under the New Testament. It had been prophesied centuries earlier that one of the acts the Messiah would do when He came was to not only make the law honorable but also to magnify it, enlarge it, to include the spirit of the law as well as the letter of the law (see Isaiah 42: 21). With the help of the Albert Barnes Bible Commentary we can better understand what Jesus was teaching in the passage just quoted. Quoting from the Albert Barnes Bible Commentary: "...This was formerly a pleasant valley, near to Jerusalem, on the south side (or south east). A small brook or torrent usually ran through this valley, and partly encompassed the city. This valley the idolatrous Israelites devoted formerly to the horrid worship of Moloch (2 Kings 16: 3; 2 Chron. 28: 3). In that worship the ancient Jewish writers inform us that the idol of Moloch was of brass, adorned with a royal crown, having the head of a calf, and his arms extended, as if to embrace anyone. When they offered children to him, they heated the statue within by a great fire; and when it was burning hot, they put the miserable children into his arms, where it was soon consumed by the heat. And in order that the cries of the child might not be heard, they made a great noise with drums and other instruments about the idol. These drums were called "Toph" and hence a common name of the place was "Tophet" (Jer. 7: 31, 32). After the return of the Jews from captivity, this place was held in such abhorrence, that, by the example of Josiah (2 Kings 13: 10), it was made the place where to throw all the dead carcases and filth of the city; and was not infrequently the place of executions. It became, therefore, extremely offensive; the sight was terrific; the air was polluted and pestilential; and to preserve it in any manner pure, it was necessary to keep fires continually burning there. The extreme loathsomeness of the place; the filth and the putrefaction; the corruption of the atmosphere, and the lurid fires blazing by day and night, made it one of the most appalling and terrific objects with which a Jew was acquainted...." End quote We can conclude from all this that what Jesus was saying was that he who has the ultimate in hateful murderous attitude towards a fellow human being, an evil and unrepentant mindset of contempt and disdain for another person, has already in the spirit and intent of the law against murder, broken that commandment (though they may not have literally in the letter of the law physically killed that person), and so with that murderous spirit of mind they stand in judgment of the heavenly court, which may pass judgment on them unless they repent, to be burnt up in the final fire of the second death, represented by the fires of the valley of Hinnom. Because of all this, Jesus further went on to say: "So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly I say unto you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny." The whole sense here is that Jesus was teaching His followers that they needed to have an attitude of reconciliation, of wanting to be at peace and reconciled with all people. Not to be harbouring malice, resentment, hostility, revenge towards our fellow man. We must make the effort to be reconciled. It is not good enough to wait for the other to come to us, but we need to go and meet with those whom we have difficulties with, and as much as we can do, as much as it is within our power, to try and be at peace with our fellow man. The altar was the place where under the Old Testament they offered their sacrifice to God. It was then the outward expression of a religious service towards God, showing you were devoted to the way and service of the Lord, that you wanted to worship Him. Jesus was saying then, that to worship God, and for God to accept you in worship towards Him, it would be useless to partake in worship with God unless you had first made the effort to be at peace with those who were not at peace with you for whatever reason, be it your fault or their fault. It should be the Christian's attitude of mind that they also do not want to go to court with anyone, and if they do find themselves in a "court" situation (because the accuser has brought about court action) they should try to what we today call "settle out of court" and so reconcile some peace with their accuser. It may mean you bite the bullet, take some heat or not get all the justice that you think you should get, but the follower of Christ does not want to battle with people, they are not vindictive, hard nosed people, who must always have their pound of flesh and win the fights they sometimes get into (be it their fault or the other persons fault). God's people are basically none trouble makers, who want peace not war and will go the extra mile to make peace. Then, Jesus also gave some practical wisdom to the Christian. You maybe in the "court situation" because you have been unwise or careless or just in plain error in what you have done. You may be fully to blame! So, better acknowledge it, seek reconciliation and peace with the accuser who may have the right to accuse you, and settle the matter before getting to court. If you do not, then you may find yourself in deeper trouble from the punishment the court imposes on you. The main point is. God wants and expects you to be a peace loving and peace seeking person that holds no animosity towards another person. God wants you to do your part in being at peace with all mankind. This, Jesus was saying is the heart and core of the 6th commandment, not just the letter of the law of not murdering another person. And if you do not seek after the whole meaning of that law to live it in mind as well as action, then the judgment of the court of heaven will come upon you and there will be no way out once it has been enacted in the fires of the second death. Jesus expounded on another commandment: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into Gehenna fire. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into Gehenna fire." Oh, yes it was taught by the religious leaders of Israel that people were not to commit adultery, for that was one of the Ten commandments of God, but they probably never taught the "spirit of the law" which would mean people could "lust" after the opposite sex all they liked, and indeed there was no punishment in the courts of Israel for so lusting. But Jesus here magnifies the this law to include the thoughts and desires of the mind, if they are dwelt upon. The dwelling upon the thoughts bring sin, to see and acknowledge the good form of the outward appearance of a man or woman is not wrong, but if you continue with a lustful dwelling upon their outward form, then sin is born. This is what God inspired James to tell us in the book that bears his name, chapter one and verses 14 and 15. King David of ancient Israel saw the woman Bathsheba bathing herself. He looked and dwelt upon her beauty, desire and lust flared up in his heart, and he went on to commit adultery with her. The whole story of the sins of David with Bathsheba and the punishment God delivered to him is recorded in 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12. Barnes Commentary -- "The Hebrews, like others, were accustomed to represent the affections of the mind by the members or parts of the body (Rom.7: 23; 6: 13). Thus, the 'bowels' denoted compassion; the 'heart,' affection or feeling; the 'reins,' understanding, secret purpose. An 'evil eye' denoted sometimes envy (Mat.20: 15 ), sometimes an evil passion, or sin in general We read in Mark 7: 21, 22, 'Out of the heart proceedeth an evil eye.' In this place, as in 2 Peter 2: 14, it is used to denote strong adulterous passion, unlawful desire and inclination. The right eye and hand are mentioned, because they are of most use to us, and denote that, however strong the passion may be or difficult to part with, yet that we should do it. 'Shall offend thee.' The noun from which the verb 'offend,' in the original, is derived, commonly means a 'stumbling-block,' or a 'stone' placed in the way, over which one might fall. It also means a 'net,' or a certain part of a net, against which, if a bird strikes, it springs the net, and is taken captive. It comes to signify, therefore, anything by which we fall, or are ensnared; and applied to 'morals,' means anything by which we fall into sin, or by which we are ensnared" (Albert Barnes Bible Commentary). Sometimes in life we find we cannot partake in a certain job employments (that may pay us very good wages, or that we are especially skilled in) because the job would violate a commandment of God or violates the observance of the 4th commandment, the keeping of the Sabbath. To follow Christ we may at times have to give up keeping company with some people we were very close to, because we have changed the way we live and their way of life and attitude would only pull us down from the high calling we now have in Christ Jesus. Later in the ministry of Jesus we shall see where he told people that to follow Him would sometimes mean giving up a close friend, a brother or sister, a child, or even a wife or husband. Some hobbies we once had we may have to part with because they are too reckless and dangerous, putting our physical body in the path of major destruction or even death. For the Christian, God teaches that our bodies are the temple of His Holy Spirit and we are not to defile them in unnecessary dangerous games or thrills that may give us a momentary rush or pleasurable adrenalin surge up the spine. It could mean that certain types of "movies" or "music" that we were wildly into before becoming a Christian, we may have to "cut off" and cast away, because we now realize they are far from what a Christian should expose themselves to. Many things that we once held dear and close to us, that were a part of our daily life, our very being, that we thought we could not live without, will have to be "put away" when we become a child of the heavenly Father. Yes, sometimes we must cast to one side things once held precious to us, we must do it, if they are things not pleasing to God. If we do not then we cannot have enteral life in His Kingdom, but we shall be cast one day into the Gehenna of fire and be forever no more. Jesus commented on another of the laws of old: "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say unto you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her an adulterous; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." Deuteronomy 23: 1, 2 allowed for a man to divorce his wife. There were two main theological schools of the Pharisees (the most popular religious group among the Jews of that time). The most famous and the most popular of these schools taught that the law in Deuteronomy allowed for divorce for any trivial reason. Hence, most believed and practiced this understanding of divorce, and the reasons some men divorced their wives were over such matters as not liking her looks any more, or burning the toast for breakfast one time too many (the first example was the case, the second I give as a kind of the trivial reasons Jewish men divorced their wives, it could have been over something as trivial as burning the toast). It was probably true that divorce under the Old Testament was given and allowed on a broad and wide range, from serious issues to much less than serious ones. Later, Jesus told the Pharisees that divorce under Moses was allowed, but only because of the "hardness of the heart." Most people were so out of tune with God, so fleshly minded, so wanting to do their pleasures as the whim of time and mind took them, God allowed divorce on a pretty loose scale (Mat.19). But now it was the New Testament time, and Jesus had come to make the law of God honorable and to magnify it, as we have seen. The original intent of God from the beginning was to not have divorce on any where near the loose and large scale He allowed it under the age of Moses. Jesus would now restore the original intent, divorce would be tightened up, not allowed for anywhere near the trivial reasons as before. Jesus did say divorce would be allowed for "unchastity." A study of the Greek word used here for "unchastity" as it is used throughout the New Testament, shows it is a word that covers any sexual immorality. For married couples it would cover the act of adultery, a husband or wife going to bed and sleeping with another man or woman. Another law, the law of "swearing" Jesus would now change and bring under the enlarged "spirit of the law" for New Testament times: "Again, you have heard that it was said by them of old time, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform unto the Lord thine oaths." But I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne; nor by earth; for it is His footstool; neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your words be, Yes, yes, No, no, for what is more than this comes from evil." The law respecting "oaths" is found in Lev. 19: 12 and Deut. 23: 23. An oath is a solum affirmation, or declaration, made with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed, and implies you ask for His vengeance, renouncing His favor, if what is affirmed is false. A false oath is called "perjury" in our courts of law today. The Jews it would seem had gone beyond declaring oaths before God, swearing using the name of Jehovah. They now had introduced oath swearing by all manner of other names. And probably did not think thus swearing by these other names that important (compared to swearing by the name of God) if they observed the oaths or if they broke them. Their swearing also took on a flippant, mundane, conversation language, much like many today in our society do. "I swear by all the tea in China, it happened that way." Some may exclaim this today when wanting people to really believe what they are saying is the truth. It may not be the truth, or it may be part of the truth, or way over exaggerated, but they want you to really believe it was exactly as they told it, and swearing by the tea in China, is supposed to somehow make it so. Remembering again that most of the people under the Old Testament age were carnal, then "oath" swearing probably had its place. Indeed, it was probably needed for God gave it as laws to govern certain parts of the life of the Israelites. But for the New Testament Christian Jesus magnified this law in abolishing it outright. No swearing, no oath swearing of any kind, by the name of God or by the name of anything else, was needed for those who were the children of God from now on out. The Christian should be telling the truth at all times, and needed not to call upon God to establish what they had to say (so God could punish them if they spoke falsely) as being true, for they would have a mindset of always telling the truth. Some will say Jesus was only speaking about mundane conversational swearing, and not about "legal court" oath swearing ( i.e. "Place your hand on the Bible and swear after me...." as done for witnesses in courts of law). But through the apostle James, God made it abundantly clear that oath swearing period was out for the true Christian. James wrote, "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by ANY OTHER OATH: but let your yes be yes and your no, be no; lest you fall into condemnation (Greek is 'hypocrisy')." The courts of law in our land allow for Christians to NOT put their hand on the Bible and to "affirm" that what they say will be the truth, instead of oath swearing on the Bible. Also, a Christian can only tell as to what their memory will allow them to remember for any specific recall of an event. Sometimes the mind forgets things, or misplaces the order of things. Hence they try to say what they think or remember to the best of their present ability. They do not want to convey the idea that God is speaking, and hence be found to be a hypocrite or play actor, if they should be proved to be inaccurate over some point. Jesus continued: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye or an eye, and a tooth or a tooth.' But I say unto you, that you resist not evil; but whoever smites you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue you by taking you to the law courts, and takes away your coat, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go a mile, go with him for two miles. Give to him that asks of you, and from him that would borrow from you, do not turn away." The command for "an eye for an eye" is found in Exodus 21: 24; Leviticus 24: 20; and Deuteronomy 19: 21. In these places it was given as a rule to regulate the decisions of judges. It is one of those parts of the Old Testament that has been greatly misunderstood. Many have thought that because of such laws all kinds of people in ancient Israel were walking about with only one hand, one eye, one leg, a huge black eye (till it healed), broken legs, bloody noses or broken noses, with this or that broken bone etc. The literal application of this law would indeed over time produce a nation with countless deformed and crippled people. What should have been done when trying to understand this section of the laws of Moses, would have been to have gone to the Jews themselves, their scholars and their ancient writings. If this is done you will soon find that throughout the whole history of Israel, this law of "an eye for an eye" was never taken as something that should be done in a literal manner. It was never a practice in Israel to cripple people. Can you imagine a court that had a room wherein people were taken and had their eye plucked out, or hand chopped of, or a leg smashed and broken with some kind of baseball bat type instrument. The thought is quite horribly gruesome to think about such ever taking place in any country let alone Israel. The truth of the matter is that the Jews have always known this section of the laws of Moses were for the court "magistrates or judges" only, and that it was a figure or manner of speech that told them they had to metre out "just" and "fair" compensation (usually in monetary or physical goods) to those who had been disfigured in some way by the intent or the accident of others. Ancient Israel was never a wholesale chopping block for human dismemberment of the body. By the time of Christ the Jews had extending it from the magistrate or judge to the "private person" and private conduct, and made it the rule by which to take "revenge." They considered themselves justified, by this rule, to inflict the same injury on others that they had received. Jesus was against any such idea. He declared that the law had no reference to private revenge; that it was given to only regulate the magistrate; and that their private conduct was to be regulated by different principles than a personal vendetta of physical punishment upon those who had done them or their loved ones physical harm and pain. But we need to keep all this in balance with all the rest of the Bible, and with everything that God taught and allowed and gave in other laws He prescribed. Jesus was not intending to teach that we should sit by passively and see our families murdered, or to be casually murdered ourselves, by thugs or robbers, or the crazy "drugie" from the streets, or by people hired to murder us. Jesus was not teaching that we should coldly and without feeling sit by and watch our wife or daughters raped, or our children beaten up, and not try to stop such brutality. Natural instinct, the law of nature, the law of right and wrong and all human decency, under such situations of violent surprise, as well as the very law of God, allows for self-defence in such circumstances. God actually gave laws to ancient Israel that allowed for self-defence in some situations of life. Jesus is not dealing with large life and death, huge traumatic cases like that of rape, but with much smaller situations like that of someone slapping us across the face with their hand. with such He wanted His disciples to be willing to take the wrong instead of entering into strife and law suits. This does not mean we cannot remonstrate firmly, yet mildly, on the injustice being done to us, and insist proper justice we should have. Jesus Himself gave us an example of this in His own life, John 18: 23. The second example of Jesus' is that of being sued in courts of law. Again, one can plead for justice to be done, but if the man is so full of hate, animosity, and determined to take all advantage that the law can give him, going to the expense of costly law suits etc. Then Jesus taught we should not imitate him - rather than to contend with a revengeful spirit in courts of justice, and to perpetuate the broil, we should take a trifling injury, and yield, even if our cloak is also taken. Jesus I think used this example to show He was talking about smaller issues of life. Our coat and even our cloak, may be somewhat important to us (especially on cold, hot, or rainy day) but they are relatively easy to replace. He did not give the example of someone trying to take our house of our business away from us (which could be very important to us and our families who are under our care). Paul, at one time in his life, when being taken to the Jewish law courts (an smaller Roman courts) by some who were against him, appealed to the high court of Rome, for justice. As a Roman citizen Paul had every right to so appeal to the high court of Rome. In this case it was sufficiently a large matter (his life in certain ways being at stake) to warrant his stand for justice. This was not a small matter of some Jews wanting to have his coat because they liked the silk it was made from (see Acts 23: 12 through to the end of chapter 28). It may be of interest to the reader here, that we talk about the "coat" and the "cloak" that Jewish man wore in those days. The Jews wore two principle garments. An interior garment, and an exterior garment. The "interior" here called the "coat," was made commonly of linen, and encircled the whole body, extending down to the knees. Sometimes beneath this garment, as in the case of the priests, there was another garment, corresponding to our undergarments. The "coat" was extended to the neck, and had long or short sleeves. OVER this garment, was commonly worn an upper or outer garment called the "cloak" or mantle. It was commonly nearly square, five or six cubits (a cubit being about 16 to 18 inches in length) in length and just as wide.It was wrapped around the body and thrown off when doing heavy labor work. The next New Testament instruction of Jesus' - about going a mile with those compelling you, has also not been understood very well by many. We shall quote from the Albert Barnes Bible Commentary once more, and so see what Jesus was explaining as should be an attitude for Christians. "The word translated "shall compel" is of PERSIAN origin. Post-offices were then unknown. In order that the royal commands might be delivered with safety and despatch in different parts of the empire, Cyrus (the great king of Persia) stationed horsemen at proper intervals on all the great public highways. One of those delivering the message to another, and intelligence was thus rapidly and safely communicated. These heralds were permitted to COMPEL any person, or to press any horse, boat, ship, or other vehicle that they might need, for the quick transmission of the king's commands. It was to THIS CUSTOM that our savior refers. Rather, says He, than RESIST a public authority, requiring your attention and aid for a certain distance, go peaceably twice the distance...." Ah, we see here than that Jesus was referring to certain authorities in public office who had authority from governments to ask you to co-operate with them, and that New Testament Christians should be more than willing to co-operate, even going beyond the letter of the law. Jesus was teaching that His followers should have respect for other government authorities and their duties, even if they were not a part of the Church of God and did not believe in God's word the Bible. It really has nothing to do with any "blow Joe" demanding you help them. Giving help to such, and going beyond the call of duty, would for them come under a whole set of other considerations, such as time, money expended (if it was going to involve money), family responsibilities, regular work responsibilities, danger involvement etc. etc. No common man has the right or authority to demand you be their slave for whatever task their whim takes them into, and makes them think they must compel you to work with them in their undertaking. The last part of this section of Jesus' teaching can also be misunderstood if you do not take into account the whole teachings of the New Testament. Albert Barnes says it very correctly I think in his commentary: "....It is good to give something to an undeserving person, than to turn away one who really needs it. It is good to be in the HABIT of giving. At the same time, the rule must be interpreted as to be consistent with our duty to our families (1 Tim. 5: 8) and with other objects of justice and charity. It is seldom, perhaps never, good to give to a man that is able to work (2 Thes. 3: 10). To give to such is to encourage laziness, and to support the idle at the expense of the industrious. If such a man is indeed hungry, feed him; if he wants anything further, give him employment. If a widow, an orphan, a man of misfortune, or a man infirm, lame, or sick, is at your door, never send them away empty. See Heb. 13: 2; Mat. 25: 35-45. So of a poor and needy friend who wishes to borrow. We are not to turn away or deny him. This deserves, however, some limitation. It must be done in consistency with other duties. To lend to every worthless man, would be to throw away our property, encourage laziness and crime, and ruin our families. It should be done consistently, and of this every man is to be the judge. Perhaps our savior meant to teach that where there was a DESERVING friend or brother in want, we should LEND to him, without usury, and standing much about the security." Here Albert Barnes says correctly that we must follow this instruction of Christ's by taking into account the rest of the Bible and our families well being, as well as decerning the worthiness of the individual asking for the lending hand, and not just giving to perpetuate their laziness or predetermined mindset to "live off other people." Some of Albert Barnes' last words are old English. He was saying that to lend to a worthy friend or brother should be done without charging money, or demanding some security such as telling them to leave with you something like their "CD player" till they returned to you what you are lending them. Jesus further comments on a popular teaching of His day: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say unto you, Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the corrupt tax collectors do the same? And if you are kind to only your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to become perfect, fully mature, even as your Father in heaven is perfect and fully mature." Here we find a classic example of Jewish teachers misunderstanding, misapplying, and reading into verses of the Old Testament things that God never intended at all. It is an example as well of picking out certain verses, misapplying them, while at the same time overlooking verses that would teach the exact opposite from the theology you have invented from the misapplied verses. The command to love your neighbor was indeed a law of God (Lev.19: 18). God never said that you were to hate your enemy. The Jewish teachers had "assumed" that with God saying to love your "neighbor" He was meaning love your Israelite neighbor only, and hence you could dislike your enemy (anyone outside of Israel). Then to further complicate and mess up their minds on this point, the Jewish religious leaders had seen where God in His word as given through Moses, stated that the Israelites should not marry their sons and daughters to those outside of the nation of Israel (Deut.7: 1-3). They stopped reading it would seem with verse three. And as God was going to deliver them into their hand and utterly cast them out and give Israel the holy promised land, then surely God hated everyone outside of His chosen people Israel and so they too should hate, despise, and esteem as nothing, all people but their Israelite neighbor. What they failed to see and do was to read Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 4. God did not want the Israelites to marry those from outside of israel because of one very basic and important reason - they were unconverted, their minds were not in tune with the Eternal God and His way of life. By marrying such people it would mainly be the Israelites who would be drawn away from the pathway of the true God, and not the other way around (the heathen coming to serve the God of Israel). Such is the way of the human heart, much easier to leave off serving God than to accept him and follow His ways. The instruction of the Lord had nothing to do with "hating" all who were not your Israelite neighbor, and had nothing to do with not being kind and helpful to those outside your "church" or "nation." Many verses were overlooked that taught kindness to all peoples (see Exodus 22: 21; 12: 49; Numbers 15: 15-16). Then adding to all this false idea of hating your enemies was the well known passage of Deuteronomy 23: 3-6. Here God forbade the Ammonite or Moabite to enter the congregation of the Lord for ten generations (that part was probably overlooked - ten generations) because they did evil towards Israel (verses 4 and 5). Israel was to not seek their peace nor their prosperity (verse 6). This was all for some specific reasons as stated, and it was a punishment from God towards these people, for a certain time period. The Jewish leaders had misapplied this and the one in Numbers (concerning marrying outside Israel) to believe God "hated" the enemies of Israel, and to them anyone outside of the nation of Israel was an enemy. They thought God wanted them to never seek the peace with anyone who was not of Israel, hence this false teaching of "love your neighbor but hate your enemy" was a common sentence to pronounce and to live by for the Jewish community of Jesus' day. Here are some fine comments on this passage by Albert Barnes: ".....LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. There are two kinds of love, involving the same general meaning, or springing from the same fountain of goodwill to all mankind.....The one is that feeling by which we APPROVE OF THE CONDUCT of another, commonly called THE LOVE OF COMPLACENCY; the other, by which we wish well to the PERSON of another, though we cannot approve HIS CONDUCT. This is THE LOVE OF BENEVOLENCE; and this love we are to bear towards our enemies. It is impossible to love the CONDUCT of a man that curses and reviles us, and injures our person or property, or that violates all the laws of God; but though we may hate his conduct, and feel deeply that we are affected by it, yet we may still wish well to the PERSON; we may pity his madness and folly; we may speak kindly OF him, and TO him; we may not return evil for evil; we may aid him in the time of trial; and seek to do him good here, and to promote his eternal welfare hereafter, Rom.12: 17-20..... "BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU. The word BLESS here means to SPEAK WELL OF or TO. Not to curse again, or to slander, but to speak of those things which we can COMMEND in an enemy; or if there is nothing that we can commend, to say nothing about him..... "DESPITEFULLY USE YOU. The word thus translated means, first, to injure by prosecution in law; then, wantonly and unjustly to accuse, and to injure in any way...... "THAT YOU MAY BE THE CHILDREN OF YOUR FATHER.....In this passage, the word is used because, in doing good to enemies, they RESEMBLE God. HE makes his sun to rise on the evil and good, and sends rain, without distinction, on the just and unjust. So his people should show that they IMITATE or resemble him, or posses his spirit of doing good in a similar way. "WHAT REWARD HAVE YOU?.....If you only love those that love you, you are selfish.....it is not genuine love for the CHARACTER, but love for the BENEFIT; and you deserve no commendation. The very PUBLICANS would do the same. "THE PUBLICANS. The publicans were taxgatherers. Judea was a province of the Roman empire. The Jews bore this foreign yoke with great impatience, and paid their taxes with great reluctance. It happened therefore, that those who were appointed to collect taxes were objects of great detestation. They were, besides, men who would be supposed to execute their office at all hazards; men who were willing to engage in an odious and hated employment; men often of abandoned character, oppressive in their exactions, and dissolute in their lives. By the Jews they were associated in character with thieves, and adulterers, and those who were profane and dissolute. Christ says that even these wretched men would love their benefactors. "AND IF YOU SALUTE YOUR BRETHREN, etc. The word SALUTE here means to show the customary tokens of civility, or to treat with the common marks of friendship.....He says that the WORST men, the very publicans, would do this. Christians should do more; they should show that they had a different spirit; they should treat their ENEMIES as well as wicked men did THEIR FRIENDS. This should be done, (1) because it is RIGHT; it is the only really amiable spirit; and, (2) we should show that religion is not SELFISH, and is superior to all other principles of action. "BE YOU THEREFORE PERFECT. He concludes this part of the discourse by commanding his disciples to be PERFECT. This word commonly means finished, complete, pure, holy. Originally it is applied to a piece of mechanism, as a machine that is complete in its parts. Applied to men, it refers to completeness of parts, or PERFECTION, where no part is defective or wanting. Thus Job (1: 1) is said to be perfect; that is, not holy as God, or SINLESS - for fault is afterwards found with him (Job 9: 20; 42: 6), but his piety was PROPORTIONATE - had a completeness of parts - was consistent and regular. He exhibited his religion as a prince, a father, an individual, a benefactor of the poor. He was not merely a pious man in one place, but uniformly. He was consistent everywhere. This is the meaning in Matthew. Be not religious merely in loving your friends and neighbors, but let your piety be shown in loving your enemies; be perfect; imiate God; let the piety be COMPLETE, and PROPORTIONAL, and REGULAR. This every Christian MAY BE; this every Christian MUST BE. " End of quotes from Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary. Capitalization for emphasis was ours whereas Albert Barnes used italics for emphasis. Luke, in his Gospel, chapter 6:27-36, gives us further words and teaching on this overall matter of loving your enemy and doing good to those who may not be your friends, or who may be taking advantage of your Christian charity. Jesus was setting here a new standard in verses 30 to 36. Under the New Covenant age it was no longer good enough to help and serve your friends, those who would serve and help you when you needed help. We must take the whole context of these verses if we are to understand the foundational truth Jesus was teaching. He was not looking at or talking about people who would use your kindness and wipe their feet on it, walk all over you, take advantage of your charity. He was not trying to say that His disciples should be a "soft touch" - an easy target for what people could get from them, or that His followers should be a "push over" for selfish people, tricksters, and con-artists. Other teachings of Jesus show that is it correct and proper for Christians to be "worldly wise" and to be good stewards of all that God gives them. A number of parables Jesus taught show this truth of what I've just stated. But there is another side to being a true Christian in all of this material world and how you handle what God has given you to handle. And this is the side Jesus wanted to give emphasis to at this point among His teachings to His disciples. A Christian should have a basic attitude of doing good to those who are not your friends, who may even dislike you, and who want to be your enemies. There is not much credit, no gold stars on your report card, if you only do good to those who you know will do good back to you. As Jesus said, even the gravest sinners can do that to each other. And if you lend anything or give anything to only those who you know will give and lend back to you, what credit or honor is that to you, even the wildest sinners can do that to each other. The attitude Jesus wanted from His disciples was the attitude that the Most High God has....being kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. There are times when you should serve, give, lend, do good, to those who cannot or will not return the kindness you have shown to them. Jesus said that in doing and living that kind of life, the Father would reward His child, in fact their reward "will be great." The reward may not always come in this life time, but it will come. There are many times in our Christian walk that we are to be merciful, even as our Father in heaven is merciful. So, we come to the end of Matthew chapter five. We shall continue reading and expounding Jesus' famous sermon on the mount, in the next chapter of the New Testament Bible Story. ......................... Written August 2002 |
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