5:31,32
Jesus now talks about divorce, much more will be said about this in Matt 19. Our nature is to immediately look at this in terms of law. Is one allowed to divorce or not, is a divorcee allowed to remarry? The bit about a certificate of divorce comes from Deut 24. There were some who took this as a way of getting rid of their current wife and marry a younger woman, and then claim they were still living in accordance with the Law. Or if a man fancied a married woman he might somehow arrange for her husband to divorce her. Law cannot change men’s hearts, and sin will always find a way around laws, or even using them as a means of condoning evil behaviour. God knows our hearts and knows what we are doing.
5:33
Now we come to oaths. This does not mean it is a sin to take an oath in court, or some similar situation. Lev 19:12 spoke about not swearing falsely by God’s name, but the point of this was that doing so would dishonour the name of the Lord. Num 30:2 also talks about honouring an oath. But our hearts being what they are, some took this as meaning that if we did not take an oath then lying or not keeping our word was less serious. Jesus is emphatically saying that this is not the case!
5:34-37
People would swear oaths by all sorts of things, and quite possibly arguing about the veracity allowed with each oath! Jesus is pointing out that all this is a load of nonsense. They were completely missing the point. We are meant to tell the truth, our word is meant to be as reliable as it can be. Playing around with the truth, being economical with the truth, or saying things which are technically “true” but are in fact misleading, all these things comes from the devil. God is true and we are meant to be like God in righteousness. The devil is the father of lies, and we are not meant to be like him!
5:38-42
An eye for an eye etc comes from Ex 21:24; Lev 24:20; Deut 19:21. This was given both to ensure that justice was done, and to guard against excessive punishment. In today’s society we are far more likely to err on the other side. Ie many sentences given by courts seem to seriously underplay the seriousness of the crime, and so to devalue the victim. But Jesus is pointing to a better way. This way is not for society in its judicial system, but for individual followers of Christ. Instead of focusing on getting our rights, we are to focus on seeing the kingdom grow.
5:43
“Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” The first part comes from Lev 19:18, but the second part does not. In fact, the first part of Lev 19:18 talks about not holding a grudge, a quite different slant than hating your enemy! This is a very human response. We will add bits to the good law, or interpret it in such a way that we end up completely losing the original intention. This is why the Pharisaical approach to the Law was such a disaster. It is our hearts that need changing, and the Law is powerless to do that.
5:44
Jesus tells His disciples to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Now this is an instruction to disciples, it is not an instruction to states. Governments are meant to maintain justice. If you or I forgive someone who has hurt us it is genuine. We have experienced the loss or pain of their action. We are in a position to forgive. If a state is lax in administering justice, then it is prone to neglecting its duties, as we see in the West. We should also note that Jesus’ instruction to forgive our enemies is not new, it is found in the Law! See Ex 23:4,5.
5:45
“that you may be children of God”. As with all of the Sermon on the Mount, we are deeply mistaken if we view this as a set of rules. It is much more about the heart of God, and our being like God in righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24). So the instruction to love our enemies is an instruction to be like God. In particular it is an instruction to be Christlike, for He loved His enemies. And we do well to remember that we were once enemies of God (Rom 5:10). In the Old Testament there are various instructions where God tells the Israelites to remember that they were once slaves (Deut 5:15, 16:12).
5:46,47
We might think we are kind because we are hospitable to our friends. Now it is not wrong to do that, but there is nothing particularly virtuous in doing that. The world does the very same thing. We are to be holy as God is holy. Note also the mention of reward. What is the reward? It is the extension of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom grows by His people loving their enemies.
5:48
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We can take this as an intimidating command, or we can take it as a promise, as an indication of the glory of the gospel. God’s plan for humanity is that we become like Him in righteousness and holiness. All human philosophies and worldly ways of living devalue and demean us. God’s ways place the highest value on us. We have been given the highest possible calling in life, to be like God! Human religions end up levelling things down to what we can handle, which isn’t very much! God seeks to raise us up.
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