Additional Sermon Notes for 10 September 2006

Date: 10 September 2006
Text: Matthew 5: 21-30
Title: Pure as Gold?
Speaker: Pastor Lai
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I. Stop the internal bleeding (vv 21~26)

(1) What Jesus is teaching is taken from the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:13), based on the sixth commandment, the commandment that said, “You shall not murder.” Understanding the commandment, we know that there is a difference between murder and kill; if murder is equivalent to killing, then God who commands Moses to kill all the evil idol worshippers when the Israelites enter Canaan is going back on His own word, moreover, there is still this Law from God who sentence death penalty to those who committed serious offence against man and God.

(2) Jesus is fulfilling the Law not only by its verbal meaning, but He is pushing it further to show that even being angry with someone is also murdering him or her! The apostle John fully agrees with Jesus (see 1 John 3:15).

Since we are not righteous, the way that we are allowed to anger is to be very slow in getting angry and do not let it last over night. (James 1:19; Ephesians 4:26~27)

Scolding someone with names is certainly a lousy practice; Raca is a term meaning empty, but the insult of it is more in the sound than the meaning. If it means anything, it means “a nothing” or “a nobody.”

(3) Getting ourselves angry with someone is like inflicting injuries upon ourselves, just that this kind of injury is causing us to bleed internally. That is why Jesus is encouraging us to end this internal bleeding as soon as possible. He is to bring forth healing in a special way, the medicine or antiseptic is love from the cross on Calvary. It is this love that can transform us from inside out.

II. Stop thinking about sex (vv 27~30)

(1) When Jesus talked about the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14, you shall not commit adultery), He is again not just trying to stop someone from having a lustful behaviour but also to stop one from even having a lustful mind!

(2) The Bible is not stopping married couples to make love towards each other; this can be clearly seen from the Song of Solomon where it depicts true marital love between a loving couples. But the Bible is against any form of lustful thought or behaviour that is extra-marital.

(3) At first glance, it might seem ridiculous for Jesus to command us to gouge out one eye or to cut off one hand or one leg. But there are some whose passion overriding their wisdom truly did so! These are people who took the word of God by the letter instead of by the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6). Taking away the eye, hand or leg that can stumble us is the descriptive way Jesus used in His exhortation. It does not encourage us to cause infliction upon ourselves, but rather it is a moral determination to control our personal desire. It is a way to bear the cross in following our Lord, the conviction to get rid of our sins (Mark 8:34; Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:24; Colossians 3:5).

III. Start talking about love (1 John 1:9)

(1) Finding the right antidote towards this ruthless and lustful world is what our Lord Jesus motivates us to do. When the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law (Rabbi) try to find the easy way out in obeying the Law, Jesus taught otherwise. Getting to the root of the problem is what we ought to do today.

(2) John as Jesus’ disciples understand how precious it is to come under the grace of Jesus, knowing that He is always there ready to pardon and forgive us is a comfort. This is not an insurance that we can continue to sin but an assurance that He is always there for us as well as guiding us.

(3) Embracing the love from God meant we could share this love with those who hungers for true love in this world. True love that is only present in God, who is the maker and giver of all things. Let us learn how to commit our emotions and sexual desires to him, as He truly understands it all.