Matthew 5:27-30
Relationships are important to God. In Genesis He created man and woman and it was his intention they would be one (Genesis 2:24), the gift of love and union. This is His perfect will for the human race. So what do we do to that precious gift when we don’t take our relationships seriously. When we race into relationships without allowing time to get to know each other properly. When we race to end a relationship because we can’t be bothered working out the difficulties but instead seek something that is easier, then encounter difficulties in that new relationship. Then there is the temptation to have a relationship with someone outside your own relationship. Not everyone does that, but sadly some do. There are horrible stories of a person, frequently a woman, being told by her husband he is leaving because he has been having an affair and he wants to leave. The devastation that wreaks not just to the wronged partner, but also the children of the family, and the extended family and friends. This is the tragedy of adultery. Adultery does not always result in one partner leaving. It does result in anger and hurt and betrayal. Sometimes the marriage will end, sometimes it will continue in bitterness, or there will be forgiveness after a lot of pain. The big casualty in this is the hurt and betrayal felt by the wronged partner and the guilt and shame felt by the adulterous partner. Adultery causes great pain to anyone involved in the relationship. It also hurts God because it is against His will and plan for our lives. This is why adultery is so wrong.
Over Easter I was thinking about Jesus taking on the role of the lowest servant and washing his disciples’ feet. I thought about Him washing the feet of men He knew would not defend Him but would instead run away. I thought about how hard it must have been to wash Judas’ feet, knowing what He was about to do. Yet He did it. Adultery is about betrayal. Betrayal is not just about adultery, but about all times in our lives when we are betrayed. In thinking about Jesus washing Judas’ feet I realised how deeply Jesus understands the hurt of being betrayed.
Adultery is a betrayal of the marriage relationship God decreed was His will for mankind. But there are other betrayals in life. Other distractions that drag us away from God’s will. In these verses Jesus speaks of the act of lusting after another person. It is not enough to act on those lusts, seeking to feel them is wrong too. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says we cannot serve two masters, we will love one or the other but not both. In this verse He was referring to the love of money being incompatible with love for God, but anything that divides us from God’s love is incompatible with love for God. If God’s will is to be in relationship then anything that divides us from that relationship is against God’s will. So lusting after someone else is also wrong. Reading the rest of the verses in this section, we can see that Jesus then took His argument to include any temptations in life. Anything that causes us to sin and to serve sin instead of God. He wanted us to realise how serious that was by telling us it was better to lose an eye that gazes lustfully on another person than to gaze lustfully on another person.
I want to finish with one comment. These verses are often misinterpreted by some who claim they say women should dress as dowdily as possible and that if a man lusts after a woman it is the woman’s fault. That is wrong. A man can find an extremely demurely dressed woman desirable so her clothes are not what is causing this man to be lustful. It is the man who is causing himself to be lustful. Take responsibility for your own sin and do not try to reduce your sinfulness by blaming your bad behaviour on another person.
 

Matthew 5:21-26
These verses speak ostensibly about murder. The chances of most of us killing another person are remote, but there is more than one way to kill another person. Gossip, speaking ill of another person, telling lies about other people are just examples of how we can “kill” another person. Now it looks a lot more likely we will kill another person doesn’t it? These verses also focus on anger and the terrible ripple effect it has. Anger that is held on to puts a barrier between us and God, it hardens our hearts and causes us to be less caring. It leads to us speaking badly about other people, to jealousy, to plans to hurt another person, to jubilation when bad things happen to them. All these things are not good for us. They cause us harm and keep us away from God. They cause us to do things that we are ashamed of. So Jesus instructed His disciples to deal with those things they held against a brother before coming before God. Anger that is not resolved does not go away, it remains, perhaps pushed under the surface where, like a splinter stuck under the skin, festers and causes an infection. We will always feel angry and it should be noted that on occasion Jesus felt angry. When you feel angry, accept that. Reflect on what you are angry about. Are you angry because someone has betrayed you? With that anger there may be hurt. You may be angry because someone has done something thoughtless to you. There may again be hurt, a sense of injustice perhaps. Understanding and acknowledging all the feelings you have is important. Your sense of hurt at a person’s betrayal may remind you of a time in the past when a close friend betrayed you. Perhaps then the hurt and anger was never resolved. So you are now dealing with two hurts and two incidents. You will not always be able to get an acknowledgement or an apology from the person you are angry with. Give it to God. Discuss with Him how you are feeling. Find someone who will listen to you and allow you to vent. Write it down if it helps you. Allow yourself time to feel angry and to heal. Don’t be unrealistic about how long it takes to get over something like that. Don’t feed your anger, but allow yourself to heal from the hurts you have experienced. Choose to forgive and ask God for help. Trust God and never stop speaking to Him about this. He will not be angry with you for your feelings. He loves you and seeks to comfort you and support you when you need it. Trust God.
 

Matthew 5:17-20
It is really appropriate that on this day sandwiched between Good Friday and Easter Sunday there should be a discussion of these verses. In Matthew they are the bridge between the picture Jesus drew of the perfect disciple and the instructions on how to be a disciple of Jesus. In that time of waiting between the bewildering horror of Jesus death, I wonder what the disciples were thinking? Were they wondering what to do now? Did they feel that everything they had believed had been pulled out from underneath them and they were in freefall? Did even one of them think it likely Jesus would return to life? We will never know, but there is a very real danger that if our faith is not grounded in true knowledge of Jesus, of who He is, of his personality and nature, then we are at risk of having everything we have believed in pulled out from underneath us by the words of others and the circumstances of our lives.
When I originally posted these words in my blog series on the Sermon on the Mount, I mentioned that many Christians believe the Old Testament is not important. But here in verse 17 there is one of those evidences that this is wrong. We learn so much about the nature and personality of God from the Old Testament that enriches and ensures an understanding of the New Testament. We see God’s plan of salvation from Genesis until our Messiah arrives. Jesus is woven throughout the books of the Old Testament. The New Testament and Jesus’ words in particular, rely on the knowledge of the Old Testament and its teaching, in order to understand it properly. Jesus came to fulfil the law by giving it its full meaning.
We all know the stories of the hypocritical legalism of the Pharisees, where the external keeping of the law was more important than keeping the law inwardly. Being physically circumcised was of greater importance than having circumcised hearth. We also observe the hypocritical legalism of many churches today. We see the harshness of groups that value hatred and uncaring observance of laws that were never from God. This harshness is considered more important than the love identified by Jesus as most important. To love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and minds and to love ourselves and love our fellow man as much as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-39). Note that Jesus, when he told His listeners that these were the two most important commandments, ended by saying that all the law and the prophets were built on these (v40). If love, first for God, then second for others accompanied for love for self, is not the basis of our actions then our actions are not from Jesus.
In following the narrow way, focus your attention on Jesus, on loving and listening to Him. Allow Him to change you, go to Him for advice constantly. He never tires of hearing from you. He loves you so much. Remember, we have just celebrated Good Friday when we have that stark reminder of how much Jesus loves each one of us. Allow Jesus to be first in your life and the behaviours He wants of you will come automatically. He is your love, your guide, your constant companion and life consultant. Delight to be on that journey with Him.
 

Matthew 5:14-16
Part of following the narrow way as a disciple of Jesus is to bring glory to Jesus. We are far from perfect and so many of our actions do not bring glory to Jesus. We are never going to be perfect and there is a need if you do something wrong to acknowledge that and apologise to anyone you have harmed. The other important behaviour to adopt is to not be harsh and judgemental towards others. Read the Gospels to see how Jesus related to people. Apart from the Pharisees, who Jesus referred to as hypocrites, He was loving and accepting of all the other sinners He met. Being cold and hard and judgemental to others is not the way to follow the narrow way.
It is also important to be like lights on a hill that shine out for others to see and know where to go. Jesus wants us to be the lights that point to God and draw people to Him. We will never get it completely correct, but with God’s help and the Holy Spirit in us, we will get it right enough.
When we follow the narrow way we become Jesus in the world. He was the light of the world. Now He is instructing His disciples to be lights of the world. What He is telling us to do is to be like Him. In being lights of the world, we are required to behave like Jesus and be His light to the world. If we remain in Jesus, then we will shine with His presence in our hearts.
Remember that Jesus wants us to shine our light for those stumbling in darkness, If you work hard in your Christian group but never venture outside that group and never shine your light outside that group remember that is not acceptable to Jesus. He requires you to be the light of the world. This means you must live the rest of your life behaving in a way that brings glory to Jesus. Be accepting and loving towards others. Do not judge them or tell them their way of life is wrong. Just love them and hand your concerns about their lifestyle humbly to God. Why humbly? Because it is too easy for the sin of pride to creep in. Then we become arrogant thinking we are perfect, unlike those awful sinner. Never forget we are all sinners. Jesus also requires us to be firm and courageous in standing up for what is right. He does not expect us to sit back and allow wrong decisions to be made. We must stand lovingly for our moral values out there in the world and be prepared to be the light that guides others.
In the Message, verse 16 talks about the disciple being required to open up to others. So often people damaged by childhood trauma learn to turn inwards and cut themselves off. For the follower of the narrow way, this prevents him or her from fulfilling Jesus’ requirement as a disciple to be the light of the world. This is a handy ploy of satan’s to prevent Jesus’ instruction being carried out. Yet we are required to be open and by opening up to others, we prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
So being a light means being like Jesus and shining for all the world to see the glory of God in Jesus. If that is your earnest prayer to God then you will find the behaviour start to happen.