The Sermon On The Mount Series: Relationship With Others

The Sermon On The Mount Series: Relationship With Others

Read: Matthew 5:21-37 ; 6:22-23 ; 7:1-6      

In this post, we shall be looking into the following teachings:-

1. Murder begins in the heart. (Matthew 5:21-26)

2. Adultery in the heart. (Matthew 5:27-30)

3. Marriage. (Matthew 5:31-32)

4. Forbidding oath. (Matthew 5:33-37)

5. Lamp of the heart: The eye. (Matthew 6:22-23)

6. Do not judge. (Matthew 7:1-5)

These teachings are related to each other as they teach us how to be with our neighbour and the people around us.

Murder Begins In The Heart (Matthew 5:21-26):-

Jesus makes it clear that the intention of the command "You shall not murder" goes beyond the seemingly simple Old Testament verse. Jesus explains that the person who murders will not be the only person who will face the danger of Judgement, but if we do  the following we will be in the danger of the Judgement,

a) Anger:- Jesus equates the consequences of anger toward others to the consequences of murder. Human anger is the first stop on the line to murder and is a step toward sin which is as bad as the sin itself. Anger is dangerous and must be stamped out immediately.

In the 10 commandments, it is said: "You shall not commit adultery". 

b) Insult:- Jesus goes on to point out that insults are even further down the road toward murder. Making someone feel small, worthless, and insignificant with words and actions is the anger giving its first blows.

c) Hatred:- Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him (1 John 3:15). The apostle John tells us that hatred of another makes us a murderer. It is a sign that you are unrepentant and caught up in sin that violates the 6th commandment.

However, Jesus also says that we must make peace with our brothers and if any problem occurs we must solve it off between ourself or else if the person to a judge we will have to pay the price of our anger to the fullest. "Murder begins in the heart - and the best way to deal with the heart is to get God involved" - Michael Anthony. 

Marriage, Adultery and Divorce (Matthew 5:21-32; Matthew 6:22-23):-

Adultery was taken lightly by the Israelites when it was given the 10 commandments, but Jesus says it so that if a person looks at a person lustfully then the adultery is committed in the heart. Adultery, however, leads to divorce, i.e. breaking up of marriage which is a sacred one. The Israelites took it lightly as Moses allowed them to give a certificate of divorce and put their spouse away (Matthew 19:7). Jesus answers in Matthew 19:8 that it was because of the hardness of the people hearts for no love for their wives, but it was not allowed from the beginning. Divorce, however, causes both the husband and wife to sin.

In Matthew 5:29-30, Jesus says that if our eye or right-hand causes us to sin then we must cut it and cast it out from our body. However, here Jesus does not say to manipulate our bodies as a punishment for our sin, rather Jesus means that we should be prepared to make exceptional sacrifices if we want to follow Him. We must be careful with what we see as our eyes are the lamp of our body (Matthew 6:22-23).

Forbidding Oath/Promising (Matthew 5:33-37):-

In this part of his teaching, Jesus says us not to make any promises or oaths on anything, because we have no right on anything in this world. In the old testament, it was said that "Do not break your oath, but fulfil to the Lord the vows you have made." But in the new testament, Jesus says us not to make any promise. We cannot a vow on heaven as it is God's throne or by Earth, as it is where his feet rest on or even by our head as we do not even control the natural colour of our hair (Only God can do it). Hence, Jesus says to us that our yes should be yes and a no should be a no, as whatever comes out of our mouth is holy, and instead of promising to do something, you can say yes, as whatever comes from our mouth is accountable in God's sight.

Judging Others (Matthew 7:1-5):- 

Here Jesus firstly says that even if we do not judge others, we will be judged, as all of us will be judged with the same rules as our brothers. In Matthew 7:3-5, Jesus talks about "A log in the eye", it means that we have no right to call somebody a sinner when we ourself are sinners. In John 8:1-12, the Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus and said to him that she must be stoned as she had been caught sinning, then Jesus says that the person without any sin may stone the woman, here also Jesus says that we have no right to call somebody a sinner when we are sinners (no sin is big or small in the sight of God: sin is a sin).In John 3:17, just as Jesus did not come to this world to judge/criticize us but He came to save us from our sins, so in order for us to be like Jesus, we should not criticize someone for something but we can show the path of salvation in Christ Jesus.

      Thus, these parts of Jesus' teachings teach us how we must be with our fellow brethren and live a life like Jesus. We may not be able to follow all of these or keep them all the time but we have to try our best and pray to God to help us with it. However, God is always merciful and forgives us. AMEN