The 
ight House
Sunday School (Jesus' Interpretation of the Law)
Jesus' Interpretation of the Law
(Matthew 5:21-48)
This week’s Sunday School lesson is on Jesus’ interpretation of the law.
The scriptures pertaining to this lesson are the following:
21Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. 27Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 31It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. 33Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. 38Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(Matthew 5:21-48)Two important things to remember from the previous lesson are:
Jesus reveals the true intent of the law in his interpretation. The law was interpreted by the Pharisees as a set of rules applied to human behavior. Jesus’ interpretation of the law, however takes the law beyond addressing the physical actions of a person, to address the condition of the heart. For example look at what Jesus said about the law regarding killing…
21Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
(Matthew 5:21-22)Jesus compares the act of killing with the emotion of anger. Before sin is committed by action, it is thought of in the mind. Anger is the emotion which leads to killing. The same heart that has anger without a cause is the heart that commits murder. Jesus teaches that sin occurs as soon as it is conceived in the heart. If a person strives to maintain a pure heart free from sinful thought or desires, then he is less likely to commit the sin physically. It is a far greater challenge to resist the sings of the heart than to resist the sins of action. For instance, it is easier to resist murder than it is to resist anger. It is easier to resist adultery than it is to resist lust.
An important note here is that the term “kill” here is to be interpreted as “murder”. While all murder is killing, not all killing is murder. David did not murder Goliath. Samson did not murder the soldiers he killed with the jaw bone of an ass. The army that took the city of Jericho did not murder it’s people. These were all acts of a just war. The bible also tells of just executions for certain violations of law. Murder is killing without a just cause.
Notice Jesus does not condemn ALL anger. It is being angry with a brother without a cause that is condemned. While not all anger is sin, we must strive for self control so that we don’t allow even justified anger to lead to sin.
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
(Ephesians 4:26)The term “Raca” is spoken in contempt and means “idiot” or “empty head”.
The Council is the Sanhedrin, a Jewish religious council like a court that heard cases and cast judgments.
The term “Fool” means “stupid”. It is considered to be extreme and malicious. A person who calls another a fool is in danger of Hell fire! A good point to be brought out here is that name calling is much more serious than many may believe. Why such a severe penalty for name calling? It is a sin that reveals contempt in the heart and Jesus’ points being made here is that the condition of the heart is as much subject to judgment as actions.
23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
(Matthew 5:23-26)Jesus’ teaching on not bringing a gift to the alter until any strife with a brother has been peacefully settled. Shows us…
Jesus teaches here to try and work out our differences with our brothers outside of a court. Law suites can harm a Christian’s testimony. Even when he may be in the right. We should avoid legal conflicts that place us before human judges.
27Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
(Matthew 5:27-30)Just as Jesus made the comparison between anger and murder, he makes the same comparison between lust and adultery. Once again he shows that sin occurs within the heart even if it does not occur physically. Lust is the condition of the heart that leads to the physical act of committing adultery. Again Jesus takes the law beyond the external act to the inner intent of the heart.
Plucking out the eye and cutting off the hand are not to be taken literally. Jesus is showing here that we need to separate ourselves from those things that tempt us or hinder us from living a life pleasing to God. Anything that we allow to come between us and God or puts us in a position of being tempted. An example would be a hobby or an interest that we are so passionate about that it takes away from our bible study, prayer time or hinders our church attendance. There is nothing sinful about playing golf, but if we begin to miss church to be on the golf course this would be something we should give up. It’s a matter of priorities and keeping God first in our lives.
A problem with taking this instruction literally is that it does not go far enough! If we pluck out an eye, we can still sin with the other eye. If we cut off a hand, we can still sin with the other hand and if both hands and eyes are gone, we are still able to sin in our hearts and minds. Jesus give us this illustration to show the relative importance of where God is to be in our lives. It also shows us the seriousness of sin in that if by cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye to avoid Hell then it would be worth doing
31It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
(Matthew 5:31-32)Jesus makes it clear that not all divorce is sin. He allows for one exception and that is for the cause of fornication. There are different opinions on this topic, but the way I understand the scripture is that divorce in itself is not sin, but the sin occurs upon remarriage to another AFTER the divorce UNLESS the divorce was obtained because of unfaithfulness. This is an unpopular scripture this day probably because there is so much divorce. Popular or not, it is the word of God. Now it should also be noted that just because it is allowed to divorce for the cause of fornication, there is NO obligation to do so. Forgiveness and remaining married would certainly be the better option. The bible tells of people remaining married after the sin of adultery.
A very important point that is often overlooked when discussing this subject is the marriage vows. If your marriage vows included the promise to stay married for better or for worse, then that obligation to honor that vow takes precedence over the right to divorce for the cause of fornication. In effect what a couple is saying when they take such a vow is…Although the Lord grants us the right to divorce for the cause of fornication, we hereby forfeit that right and agree to remain married until death regardless of any and all circumstances. Since most people DO take such a vow when they are married, then this one exception that Jesus provides for allowing divorce, does not apply to them.
33Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
(Matthew 5:33-37)Forswear means to swear falsely or to perjure ones self.
The Jewish system of oath taking had developed into a “wishy-washy” style with stages of both truth and falsehood. Jesus teaches to avoid taking any oaths at all thereby avoided taking part in a corrupt system. Such oath taking is not necessary if one is simply in the habit of always telling the truth.
38Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
(Matthew 5:38-42)Jesus’ teaching here is an illustration of the beatitude of meekness. This does not mean a man can not defend himself, his family, or his country. This teachings is in the context of seeking vengeance. There is no conflict here between the law and Jesus’ teaching. The Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth law was in reference to an action carried out by the court as a method of ending feuds and not in reference to personal individual actions. The teaching is that we are not to return evil for evil. If we are treated badly, it is not an excuse for us to do the same. A very fundamental principle of Christianity that is taught throughout the bible is to practice forgiveness and to return good for evil.
That is all for this lesson.
Carl
I may not look like much, but I cost a bunch!
