Understanding the Antithesis

Now that we understand what Jesus is doing, we’re ready to look at the specifics of how he does it.

Just to recap – what is he doing? Telling them what the law has always said.

• The law is a reflection of God’s character, which does not change.
• This is the law that Jesus came to fulfill. By showing us what the law really demanded (in contrast to the doable law of the Pharisees) Jesus shows that we cannot possibly fulfill the law and need him to fulfill it for us.
• By showing what the law really demands, he shows us how kingdom disciples are to live.
  • Matthew 5:2-12 – The blessing of kingdom discipleship (both parts)
  • Matthew 5:13-16 – The visibility of kingdom discipleship (invitation to judge)
  • Matthew 5:17-20 – The direct contrast (you be the judge).

Murder and Anger – Matthew 5:21-26

• This does cite from the OT, Exodus 20, Deut. 5 – the 10 commandments. You shall not murder.
• It also includes an interpretive addition – this commandment only judges the one who causes death.
• Jesus says that it also judges (condemns) the one who wants to or wishes he could. Hate, malice, contempt – these bring the same condemnation.
• Adding to, or showing how it was all along? (Leviticus 19:17-18)

Adultery and Lust – Matthew 5:27-28

• This does cite from the OT, Exodus 20, Deut. 5 – the 10 commandments.
• Interpretive implication, this law only judges (condemns) the one who commits a physical act.
• Jesus says that it also judges (condemns) the one who wants to or wishes she could.
• Gives an indication of how serious this is. (Matthew 5:29-30) Today we wouldn’t imagine cutting off our internet connection or HBO subscription because it causes us to sin, much less our eyes and hands.
• Ezekiel 23 - Oholibah and Oholah. Two sisters. One physical sexual sin and the text emphasizes lust and pornography. The text says of them that they are the same in their defilement.

Divorce – Matthew 5:31-32

• Not a direct OT quotation but a rabbinic extrapolation and practice based on Deut. 24:1.
• The Pharisees had vastly abused the issue of divorce, allowing well-to-do men a certificate of divorce for any reason. It was the certificate, not the reason, that had become their focus.
• Jesus says the focus is wrong. The reason, not the certificate, is what judges the divorce.
• If they wanted to use divorce as a tool to avoid the charge of sexual immorality, it wasn’t going to work. Unless the divorce is itself righteous, nothing that follows will be.

Oaths and Vows – Matthew 5:33-37

• A modern way of saying this is: “Keep the oaths you swear to the Lord.”
  • Your turn. How is this being abused?
    • “If I take it in the name of the Lord, I can’t break it. So I’ll take it in the name of something else.”
    • They would swear on the heavens or the temple or whatever, anything but God himself so that they could break the vow and escape the judgement of this command.
  • Scripture (including Jesus) has no issue with proper oath taking.
    • In the OT oaths were commended (Dt. 10:20, et. al.). and Paul swears in his letters.
    • The point is that oaths, no matter what they’re made by, should mean something.

Retaliation – Matthew 5:38-42

• “Eye for an Eye.” The OT absolutely says it, in the context of judicial punishment. We’d say, “Let the punishment fit the crime.” The 8^th amendment to the US constitution is all about this.
• The Pharisees were using this text to justify personal vengeance and vindictiveness. They did not have to suffer being wronged because proportional vengeance is always appropriate.
• Except it’s not. It is for governments. It is for the justice that we seek. It is not for the justice we would try to take into our own hands (that is not our authority).
• Better than that (if necessary) is to be wronged, give up more, suffer injustice. It’s not saying this is what we have to do in each case, it’s saying it would be better to be infinitely wronged than to pursue justice by injustice.

Love Your Enemies – Matthew 5:43-48

• Quite a contrast to the personal vengeance approach to “eye for an eye” that the Pharisees had taken, isn’t it?
• But this is a New Testament ethic, right?
  • Leviticus 19:18 – “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
  • Proverbs 25:21 – “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,”

• This is what the law has always said. This is the standard. This is how kingdom disciples live.

That’s how this sermon continues: Religious hypocrisy vs. kingdom living. Then the eschatological warnings for why this contrast should be taken seriously.