Righteousness of the Kingdom (Matthew 5:17-32) First Draft of a Sermon

This is the first draft of a sermon I am working on: 

Righteousness of the Kingdom

Matthew 5:17-32

In the words of brother Anthony to St Francis on the way to his brothers in Umbria, Good Morning!

A Sunday school class was once concerned for an unwell mother in the congregation, who was in hospital, so the teacher asked them to look up verses of encouragement to put on a card. One little boy opened his Bible at Matthew 5:26: "Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny!" That is a rather humorous way of simply saying that context is important.

Background

To that end, we will start with some background work. As this is a sermon series you will probably have heard some of this already, so consider this a practical recap. The gospel of Matthew is the first book of the Christian New Testament, though some argue Mark was written first. It is proposed that it was written in the context of second generation Christians around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and The Temple by the Romans in 70 AD. By this point many gentiles had joined the flock. It is thought that the book was initially aimed, however, at Greek speaking Jewish Christians in Syria Antioch, the largest city in Roman Syria and third largest in the empire. One constant theme is the attempt to prove Jesus is the foretold Messiah of the Old Testament. In fact the author quotes from almost every book of the Old Testament in this quest.

The Chapter at Hand

Chapter 5 contains the first portion of The Sermon on the Mount. The theme of the sermon is The Kingdom of Heaven. There are notably similarities to The Sermon on The Plain in Luke 6. 

The structure of Matthew 5 can be broken down as follows (sourced from Wikipedia):

• Matthew 5:1–12 – Setting and Beatitudes

• Matthew 5:13–16 – Salt of the earth and light of the world

• Matthew 5:17–20 – Law and the Prophets

• Matthew 5:21–26 – Do not hate

• Matthew 5:27–30 – Do not lust

• Matthew 5:31–32 – Do not divorce except for sexual misconduct

• Matthew 5:33–37 – Do not swear oaths

• Matthew 5:38–42 – Do not retaliate

• Matthew 5:43–48 – Love your enemies

Today's Passage

In the reading for today there is instruction in regard to the law, the call to not be hateful, to not lust or abandon our loved ones.

In sections previous to this passage Jesus has been speaking about the citizens of the kingdom, their character, blessings and influence on the world. Now He turns to the righteousness of the kingdom. 

Verses 17-19

Fulfilment 

Some may have thought, and some perhaps still do, that Jesus came to destroy utterly or overthrow the law. Nothing could be further from the truth.

He came to fulfil the law and the prophets (17). The prophets told of His coming and He fulfilled each of the prophecies to the letter. In regards to the law, if one were asked to do an assignment where they were expected to present ten brief lines about the character of Christ, the Ten Commandments would suffice! These commands in Exodus 20 flow from the great and holy character of God Himself. Jesus is the sinless embodiment of these commands. Elsewhere He says "If you love me keep my commandments." St Paul also says "What should we sin the more that grace may abound? God forbid!" These are not merely archaic laws of an ancient nation they are a ten-sided description of the character of Christ and the expectations for His disciples to follow on from. We are called to be His likeness and work on godly character.

Authority of Scripture

Jesus uses the Hebrew scriptures as His authority. As is seen from this verse 17 to verse 47 and indeed elsewhere in Scripture Jesus accepted the scriptures authority. He did not undermine it, but rather opposed legalism and the tendency of some to just do the minimum in obedience. Jesus pushed and still pushes people further into a higher law of love.  Indeed elsewhere He speaks of Loving God and Loving others as being the new and high command of heaven for His followers. Notably the first few commands are about relationships with God and the last few are about good relationships with others.

Verse 20

Righteousness

Verse 20 lines up neatly with two other verses in Matthew 5 that speak to the Christian ethic of righteousness. Verse 6 says that those who hunger and thirst for it are blessed and will be filled. Then verse 10 says those who are persecuted for it, the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Now here in verse 20 we see the call to a better righteousness than the Pharisees and people of the law. The way they offer is not the way into the kingdom. We need the Lords grace and strength, to feed on His presence and guidance, to grow mature, seeking His will. He is The Way and His way is counter cultural. "He is not looking for religious nuts, but spiritual fruits." (a friend at Lee Abbey).  It will cost all of us to follow His way on some level, some more than others. But, the benefits are eternal. All our own righteousness is as filthy rags, but His grace is sufficient for us.

Don't be a Pharisee, be a disciple

Called to be doers (If our Christianity isn't practical is it really Christianity?)

Matthew 23:1 - 4 explains that they loved to teach the law, but weren't so good at being doers of it.

"Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." (NKJV)

Jesus calls His disciples to be doers of the word in Matthew 7:21.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. (NKJV)

This is not a show!

Matthew 23:5-7 explains that the Pharisees loved to put on a show.

"But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ (NKJV)

Matthew 6:1 clearly tells disciples to do things without a big show.

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. (NKJV)

Do not neglect His laws of love or pick and chooses!

Matthew 23:23-24 explains the Pharisees neglected parts of the law.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! (NKJV)

Matthew 5:19 tells disciples not to neglect any of His commands.

"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (NKJV)

Be Men (and Women, Children) of God, not slaves to Money!

Luke 16:13 - 15 explains that the Pharisees loved money and tried miserably to serve two masters.

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (NKJV)

Matthew 6:24 tells disciples not to serve money.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (NKJV)

(Notably there were a few from among the Pharisees who seem to have been exceptions to the rule, such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who seem to have been secret disciples to start with).

Verse 21 -22

Jesus calls out for goodness and humanity in our relationships. One thing most will agree on is that anger is a poison. It is corrosive and eats away inside people. 

Many years ago there was a mass shooting in an Amish village. The main target was little children at a school. In order to obey the Lord the elders and families in this community befriended the shocked mother of the mass murderer. They refused to let hate or anger fester inside them. Instead they saw humanity in another grieving parent. Of course things may not be this extreme for all of us. Something we are no doubt grateful for. But, let us root out any bitterness in our hearts, allowing the Lord to examine us and convict us as needed.

It is a Sunday service and not a soapbox, so I will spare you a rant about the wars in this world just now. Nonetheless, what I will say is regardless if you are pacifist or a just war theorist it isn't hard to see where war comes from. If the heart of man's problems is the problem of man's heart. The problem of man's heart is anger, which leads to hate, which leads to conflict, which leads to war.

Anger destroys compassion, anger threatens life. We must hold onto the sanctity of life!

In verse 22 Jesus even reveals that calling someone a name, such as fool, is a dangerous game. The word hell here is literally 'The Gehenna of fire.' This was the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem where rubbish was burned. It has been suggested that this included bodies of unclaimed or convicted criminals who had been executed. It has also been interestingly suggested that professional mourners would linger to weep and gnash teeth there.This place was never a nice place. On the same spot Manasseh and others sacrificed children to Baal or Molech in the Old Testament. It was a place of continued burning. Where things went to perish.

Matthew 10:28 speaks of it as an image of a place where both body and soul may be destroyed. Such is God's view on hatred! In our hate filled state we have no way to escape perishing on the proverbial rubbish heap of our own injustice, but in Christ we can be made new and have eternal life.

John 3:16,17 (KJV): "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

Verse 23 - 26

In these next verses we read about stewardship. Giving here is seen in such high regard that it may be seen as sacred and worshipful if done right. It should not be thwarted by an unresolved and wrong relationship with others. We see here the high standard of seeking out peace and reconciliation. Elsewhere scripture says it is better to obey than to sacrifice. So here in this scenario it is better to leave the gift and sort things out with our fellow humans. Then when it is time to make the gift, it has deeper meaning and pleases God all the more. In verse 25 it speaks of people being so enraged they take each other to court and the advice here is as much about haste as it is about love. We need to sort out our reconciliations as soon as possible. 

Verse 27 - 30

Now the passage turns to home life. Adultery is terrible. It is a betrayal. But, here Jesus goes further and makes clear that the thought, desire or plan is the seed that needs to be rooted out. In verse 29 Jesus uses what still to this day sounds very extreme. It seems to be widely accepted that Jesus was using hyperbole to make a point. Once again he mentions Gehenna. Powerfully His imagery shows that it would even be better to partially perish than lose it all on a fling. Please do note here that neither Jesus, the Church nor I advocate mutilation. But, we do advocate purity.

Verse 31 - 32

God's best for us is that our marriage commitments are kept. This is part of His divine purpose. In Jesus' day Jewish teachers debated Deuteronomy 24:11 which seems to give grounds for divorce. Followers of Rabbi Hillel allowed superficial and flimsy reasons for a man to divorce his wife. It was also made very easy to do so. Followers of Rabbi Shammal on the other hand suggested it was only allowed on grounds of adultery. We find Jesus condemning the practice of ruining a women's reputation and taking another wife. He calls this adultery. As the previous verses show Jesus is not a fan of adultery!

Application Summary

Jesus’ relationship to the law of Moses is that He came to fulfil it and not destroy it (17-18)

Jesus expects this of citizens of His kingdom: That the righteousness they have goes beyond that of the scribes and pharisees (20)

In verse 20-48 Jesus contrasts His expectations of the following five subjects: Murder, Adultery, Oaths, Retaliation and Love. Today we have covered some of these in our passage.

Jesus often uses the phrases “You have heard it was said…” and “But I say to you…”

In  this way the oral interpretation of the Law are proved to fall short compared to the teachings of Jesus.

Now perhaps you have struggled in one or two of the areas covered today. Perhaps you still do. I would encourage you that Jesus still has His arms open for you to receive His Grace, 

If today you wish to return from a sin or period there of I would encourage you to pray "Lord have mercy on me a sinner!" He hears you and wants to set you free.

If today you have not yet surrendered to Christ I encourage you this day to believe in Him and also throw yourself at His beautiful mercy. He will deliver you!

Jesus gives a higher law of love and a greater kingdom of righteousness than this world ever could! Let us all be part of such a kingdom!