Law & Grace - Matthew 5:1-7:28 How do we approach the Sermon on the Mount?
Matthew 5:1-7:28 · Vern Peterman · Jun 5, 2011
Law & Grace, No. 22
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926237125500

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

How will we approach this next set of passages, chapters 5, 6, and 7 of the book of Matthew, commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount? Well, one thing that we'll have to do is make some adjustments in our thinking. One of the reasons is because we're from Colorado, the whole idea of what's a mountain we need to do a little bit of downgrading on here. We come from this perspective in Colorado that those are mountains. Where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, it's below sea level. So at any rate, this is the place where the Sermon on the Mount was given.

One perspective from a boat out on the Sea of Galilee looking up on, well, that's the mountain right there. Are you impressed? Don't get your skis out, okay? This is another shot closer up on the area that was the site for the Sermon on the Mount. Here's a shot looking down from there into the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is, if any of you have ever been there or taken at least a look at a map, about two-thirds the size of Lake Tahoe and roughly the same shape. Here's another shot from the area around where the Sermon on the Mount was given.

So, many Christians, of course, will look at the Sermon on the Mount and consider it to be the ultimate statement, the apex of Christ speaking on the Christian's relationship to God and his fellow man. And that's quite popular view. Some just will extol it as the best of the best.

When we study it here at Holly Hills, of course, our purpose as we look at each passage is that we arrive at the one single intended meaning for each passage that Matthew and God, since these are inspired by God through the Holy Spirit, that God intended to convey. Think about it. Almost all of these passages that we study There are multiple views about what each passage means.

Isn't that amazing? Even when we said, OK, we're going to have a church service, and it's going to be on Sunday morning, and it's going to start around 1015, and it's going to be at 2400 South Holly Street. I mean, we don't think, well, I wonder what of six different possible meanings we could possibly have for that. It's understood that no, you have one intended meaning.

And actually, that's what Christ intended to convey. One intended meaning for each thing that he said. As we approach the Sermon on the Mount, we're going to be asking the question, what message did God inspire? What did he intend to get across? And what did the Apostle Matthew intend to convey as he wrote? That's what we'll be looking at. Key to our approach will be to observe who is speaking.

In this case, with the exception of an introductory brief portion and a final concluding portion, it's Christ speaking from one end to the other. He was speaking, in this case, entirely to Jews, Jews who are all under the Law of Moses. As a matter of fact, we're going to see, especially in Chapter 5, he points them to the Law of Moses. It is a matter of getting the context, the context of the book of Matthew, the context that Christ was speaking in, in terms of who he was as he spoke and who he was speaking to. In this case, they were all Jews who were living under the law of Moses. That's what he encouraged them toward, as a matter of fact.

Now, in real estate, the emphasis is on location, location, location. I once had a real estate sales license. I'm real sorry for that. It was something I pursued and then found out I really didn't enjoy it at all. But the one thing I do recall is location, location, location was really emphasized in the training.

Now, context, context, context will be our approach here. As we study, we're going to see where there are very well understood meanings of words and terms that we might not understand immediately from our own culture and background, but that were well understood at the time. Once we examine the context, however, these words and phrases will become clear.

For example, we see the word brother. What did that mean to them? The word brother, beyond just a sibling relationship, a physical sibling relationship, did not refer to Christian brothers directly. Believers among the Jews called themselves brothers. So this, since he was a Jew talking to fellow Jews, that would be the understanding there. Even the word blessed is one that we'll soon take a look at here.

Jesus refers in Matthew chapter 5 to a city set on a hill. Well, right across from where he was speaking was a city set on a hill, right across the lake. And there was another city set on a hill right nearby as well, though it wasn't immediately across the lake. This is Hippas, otherwise known as Susica. Here's a little bit larger view of it, and a view from across the lake. This would have been easily what Jesus could have been referring to as they were speaking, because everybody who lived around there knew this was a city set on a hill.

And at nighttime, guess what? Any lights on it were quite visible, right? Here is an even larger shot looking down on it. Here at the top, here's the place where the Sermon on the Mount was given, called the Mount of Beatitudes. Beatitudes, by the way, is derived from a Latin term, which means blessing. And here is the city on the hill, just right across the lake, visible from where they were all standing.

Hate your enemy. Now that's an interesting one. Jesus says, you've heard that it was said, hate your enemy. Who said hate your enemy? Interestingly enough, not even the Pharisees said, hate your enemy, and not even the Sadducees, as hateful as they were.

But it was the Essenes, a separatist group, not named in the Bible. As a matter of fact, this is the only place I'm pretty sure that they were mentioned at all, and not by name, but by what they taught. They taught that you were to love your neighbor, that is, your fellow Essenes, and hate everybody else. They hated the Pharisees, they hated the Sadducees, and everybody else. They hated their enemies. That's what Jesus was referring to.

Divorce. We have divorce, of course, in our own culture all too commonly. In the Jewish system, by New Testament times, Hillel, the grandfather of Gamaliel, mentioned a couple times in the New Testament, Paul's teacher, And Shammai were two rabbis who taught two different views. We'll be looking at that in more detail very quickly. Hillel taught that you could get a divorce for any reason, no reason to even say why. Shammai taught that you could only get a divorce for four very specific reasons, and you had to spell that out.

Anyway, we'll get into that some more. The idea of a kingdom. It is common in our culture and in Christendom to refer to the church as the kingdom. talk about the kingdom of God as those who are somehow in the church. The Jews would never have understood that meaning. They didn't know what a church was in our understanding of it. The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, or just reference to the kingdom, would have been looked upon as the nation of Israel, the people of Israel, and the land of Israel, with Christ reigning, or excuse me, the Messiah reigning as king over this land and people. That would have been their understanding.

Your neighbor would even have reference to the Jews. Now something interesting, Jesus in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount makes reference to our father and your father and so far so good. What likely put them into shock was towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount where he made reference to my father. No Jew would dare say my father. For Jesus to say that would mean that he had a unique relationship with the Father, and that would mean that he claimed to be God. And so when he finally said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, My Father, it was not just another pair of words, but it was shocking. It was startling, stunning words for him to say. Anyway, we'll go through that and other words, phrases, and things that are culturally understood.

Now, one of the things that Christ made clear subsequently in Matthew, twice actually, Matthew 10, Matthew 15, is that he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and he sent the disciples out two by two only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He even warned them, don't go on a road that leads to the Gentiles. Nope, not at all. You must go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Jesus repeatedly referred to the Gentiles, both in and outside of the Sermon on the Mount, Gentiles being non-Jews. It's that simple. Non-Jews as another people. That's somebody else. I'm talking to you Jews. The Gentiles are somebody else. They're not a part of our audience.

Jesus made multiple references to the law of Moses and to the altar in the temple in Jerusalem. We have examples here in Matthew 5, 17, 18. Do not think that I come to abolish the law of the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke, as some translations have it, shall pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Some translation have it as yod or jot and pittle or yod and pittle. The yod was that smallest little marking that you see there on the left. That was the smallest letter in the regular Hebrew alphabet. They would put little hooks on the tops of some of the letters and as they did so, those were called tittle or kotz. It is not the smallest letter or even the smallest little part of a letter will be taken away until all is accomplished. And we'll talk later on about what his purpose was in that. In Matthew 5 later on, he talks about if you're presenting something at the altar.

Now, how many of you brought your bowl today? What? Oh no, what are we going to do? You didn't bring your bull. Maybe you brought your sheep. That'll fix it, right? Good news, we're not doing anything with any of those today. And so if you didn't bring them, good. It might help if you brought some meatloaf, though.

We don't have an operating temple. And by the way, they weren't allowed to let the fire go out at the temple. So you can't even just kind of lay down and let the fire die out. You got to keep it going all the time. The reason for that is to always be ready to have the sacrifice going. And he says if you are presenting your offering at the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave the offering there at the altar and then go and first be reconciled to your brother. Good luck if he's four or five days travel away. And come and present your offering.

So this is something we have no context for doing this, do we? There is no operating temple. If you're not a Jewish male who is qualified, by the way, several different qualifications, if you're not a Jewish male who is qualified, you couldn't get in. What's more, the temple hasn't been there for 19 centuries.

It fit then. It fit there. It doesn't fit now. It doesn't fit here. Here is a picture kind of looking down at an angle towards the temple area. This would be the place where the Jewish males who are qualified would bring their sacrifice through the door and then enter into the area where the priest would then offer up the sacrifice on the altar. We just don't have that.

Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount entirely to those of the people of Israel. We know of no one outside of Jews who are present. He spoke to them only in the land of Israel, all of whom are under the law of Moses. And they knew it, and he encouraged them, in fact, in that direction. So, was there nothing in the sermon, nor in its context, that indicates that it was said directly to us who are in the church, the body of Christ? Not directly. Not directly.

However, we'll use the principles of comparison and contrast, and we'll give you some examples shortly. to know how the sermon applies to us. There is application to us, even if it isn't written directly to us. So do you mean we don't take everything as if it directly applies to us? No. We're not to take everything as generally applying to us. We have to take every part of scripture and ask, okay, that's how it applied to them, how does it apply to me? When Jesus said to Judas, what you do, do quickly, we don't take that as a command for each of us to betray Christ or the chief priests. Right? We ask, to whom was it directed? Right?

Then, likewise, Paul sent Timothy and Titus to Ephesus and, excuse me, Timothy to Ephesus, Titus to Crete. We don't take that as commands directed to each one of us. I think we've had a couple people here who have been to Ephesus, but that still wasn't by command. That was just out of interest and ability to go there.

I flew over Crete, by the way, on the way back from Uganda, and the people who were on the plane had no idea why I was so excited about flying over Crete. You know, they thought, boy, that guy's a little strange. What an unusual interest he has in Crete, you know? Anyway, I thought it was exciting.

So the other extreme, the one thing is to take everything directly. That would be a mistake. But the other mistake we could possibly make is to ignore everything that doesn't apply directly to us. Because, in fact, there are things that we can draw from the Sermon on the Mount, and that's the reason why we're going to study it. Not just because it's interesting, although I think it is, but because there is application to be made. We don't set it aside just because it was spoken only to the people of Israel.

All of Scripture is inspired. That is, all Scripture is inspired, including things not written directly to us. and profitable, even what happened in earlier times, Paul makes the point twice in his letters, was written for our instruction. Those are the words that he wrote to the church at Rome and to the church at Corinth. These things that happened in earlier times and were recorded in inspired scripture were written for our instruction as well.

And this is one of those things that is written for our instruction, even though we need to be careful what part of it we take directly and what part not. I would suggest that you ought not to pluck your eye out, as you're going to see in the Sermon on the Mount. Don't take that directly, please. Especially Gene, because we need him to be able to read the music.

The letters written to the church make many, many references to things that were initially directed to the Jews. Paul writes about, for example, the Jews, and here let's go in this case, for I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers, that is the Jewish fathers, were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and the sea. Very interesting. You, as believers in the church, were baptized into Christ But the Jews were baptized into Moses. Very interesting.

What we'll do is we will compare and contrast as we go through the passage. When we compare, we ask this question. What about what is said in the Sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, is the same or similar to what is addressed to the church and why? We will notice, for example, that the Sermon on the Mount begins with a series of statements, blessed, blessed are, and et cetera. And it goes on for several lines, blessed are those who do this, blessed are those who do that.

Well, very interestingly, Ephesians 1.3 says we have been blessed as well.

Well, that's similar, isn't it? We'll also look at what's the difference. So what's the same and what's similar is our starting point. When we contrast, we ask, what about what is said in the sermon is different from what was written to us who are in the church, and why? Why are these things the same, and why are these things different?

We'll be looking at that. When we take this approach, we'll find that the Word of God can be very clearly understood and is consistent throughout. No tap dancing. That's okay, but I mean as a figure of speech. Okay, so when we compare, what's the same or similar?

Well, we have said that the Gospel of Matthew is directed to the Jews, and the whole gospel is written in such a way as to address Jewish concerns and use Jewish terminology, and in keeping with the anticipation of the coming kingdom, that is, the physical kingdom of the land of Israel with the people of Israel with the King of Israel over them. Christ the King of Israel over them.

We do not want to convey that the Sermon on the Mount has nothing for us in the church. It does, and we will look at that. There are indeed a lot of ways that the content of the Sermon on the Mount has direct application to believers in the church, the body of Christ. Let me give you a for instance. Does the Sermon on the Mount say that you ought to forgive? Yeah, it does.

We'll soon see that. It'll be a matter of weeks, but we'll get there. Do the letters in the New Testament written directly to the church also say to forgive? Yes. So you'll find some commonality there. Are there differences? Yes, and we'll look at those too. Here are some of the things that are going to be consistent throughout the whole Bible.

The character of God is always the same and God does not lie or change His mind. If I find something in the Sermon on the Mount or anything else that talks about the character of God, I can count on it. It doesn't matter what time it is or what person I am or anything else. God does not change His character.

God is always the creator. Everything else has a creature relationship to Him. He is always the one who made everything, what's visible and what's invisible. Once having fallen, all those in Adam have the same nature. You're going to find that from the early chapters in Genesis all the way to right towards the end in Revelation. Salvation for all those who were in Adam is always by faith in God's provision. Always. All the time. Noah walked with God. How was he saved? By faith. There are people who will be saved by faith who aren't even born yet in the future. God always saves by faith.

The earth that we walk is cursed until the time when all things are restored. There will be a new heavens and new earth. This earth isn't going to suddenly get any better. which ought to tell us something, by the way, even about what progress ought we to expect in ecological issues.

Though Israel has a different relationship to the kingdom that Christ speaks of in the Gospel of Matthew than we do, we also have a place in a similar forward-looking time perspective on the coming kingdom. We're not going to be in the same place as Israel, but we still look forward to it. And will we have a place in it? Yes. It'll be different.

Like Israel, the entrance into the kingdom is not on the basis of something earthly, but is spiritual. And by the way, as we get into the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is going to reveal something that the Jews will also find shocking. Besides him claiming, my father relationship, he will tell them Just because you're Jewish, your entrance into the kingdom is not guaranteed. That they will find shocking. While Israel was then under the principle of law, and we in the church are under the principle of grace, we're going to find that the ethics, morals, and even some of the spiritual principles conveyed in the sermon have a lot in common with what is revealed for church-age believers in the New Testament epistles.

Does Jesus tell The Jews, to forgive? Yes. Are we told to forgive? Yes. Does the law forbid lying? Right? The law forbids it. Paul writes to the church at Ephesus and after he's told them, you've been blessed with every spiritual blessing and you're sealed with Christ in the heavenlies, he says, now let's talk about your lying problem. Forgiveness, why? Because God doesn't change. God's character, whether under law or under grace, calls for forgiveness. Then what's different?

Jesus was born King of the Jews and he presented himself as the King of the Jews, the King of Israel, to the people of Israel, in the land of Israel, who were under the law of Moses, given to Israel, and the promised earthly blessings in the land if they obeyed." That was the way it worked, and that's the way he presented himself. And that's what he presented in the Sermon on the Mount. Since the people of Israel rejected Jesus as their King, with very few exceptions, God brought about the body known as the Church.

Do you know that you were brought about as the Church in order to make Israel jealous? The book of Romans 9 through 11 gives that story there. To live under grace and not the law of Moses and to be blessed in heavenly places and not in Israel. There's a contrast in how you live and how you're blessed.

The coming earthly reign of Christ in the kingdom, which Christ will present in the Sermon on the Mount, The people of Israel will all be blessed in the land in this coming kingdom because they will have the Holy Spirit indwelling them to know the law.

By the way, they won't have any rabbis. How about that? No rabbis in this kingdom. That could be as soon as seven years from now. No more rabbis. And in fact, I talked to a rabbi about that once. He was a rabbi over at DU and I sat down and talked with him about that. And he says, yeah, when Messiah comes, we're going to be asking him, is this your first coming or your second?

Right? Anyway, we know the answer to that. OK. In the church, we in the body of Christ are already blessed heavenly in Christ. You're already blessed, by the way. You don't need any second blessings or special blessings. I can't give you any more and nobody else can either. You're blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. All of us have the Holy Spirit. If you're a believer, you have the Holy Spirit. You don't need to ask for some second giving or something of that sort. You have the Holy Spirit indwelling you. and Christ always indwelling you so that Christ lives through us apart from the law.

How will the Jews during this coming millennial kingdom live out God's righteousness? They will live out the law knowing the law by heart without rabbis and be empowered to carry it out perfectly so because the blessing that they are given is conditional if they obey they will all obey and they will be automatically blessed. in Israel, in the land, physically. We, however, are already blessed regardless of what we do in the heavenly places in Christ completely.

Done deal. The righteousness which the law will accomplish in the Jews in the Millennial Kingdom by the Holy Spirit's indwelling is carried out in us as Christ's life is lived through us. God's righteousness is satisfied both ways, but it's done differently. It's done differently. Now, I'll finish it up here, at least for today, with a contrast.

Do we, as the Sermon on the Mount says, forgive in order to be forgiven, or do we forgive because you've been forgiven? Here is Matthew 6 that we'll be seeing in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6, 14 and 15. For if you forgive others, you see the if there? If you forgive others for their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. Is forgiveness something they're called to do? Yes. But their being forgiven depends on their forgiving. But verse 15, but if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. You see the difference under the law? Now, let's take a look.

Here is Ephesians 4.32. Paul, the rabbi. Paul, the Jewish guy. Paul who calls himself a Pharisee at the end of Acts, but he's a believer. In Christ, as the Messiah.

Ephesians 4.32.

Be kind to one another, tender hearted. What's the reason that you forgive? In order to be forgiven? In order to make sure that the Father forgives you? No. Forgiving each other just as God and Christ also, what's the tense? Has forgiven you. Huge contrast. Are you worried about being forgiven? Boy, I'd better forgive. Or boy, I'm in trouble. God won't forgive. Am I in a different place? My motivation is from the fact that I've already been forgiven. Forgive because you've been forgiven.

So that's one of the things we're going to see that's a big difference as we go through the Sermon on the Mount. There are things to learn from it, but he's talking to people who are under the law. We are not under the law. Forgiveness, is it in common between those Jews at that time and us now? Yeah. Called to forgive. But the motivation for forgiving is entirely different. As a matter of fact, as we go on, we'll be talking about... I mean, it sounds like a prosecutor's case. We're going to talk about motive, means, and opportunity. And you'll have a conviction about this, too.

Oh well. Okay. God is the same. God doesn't change. The principle of stewardship, however, is different. That's why, and that's what we'll be going through and explaining as we look at these chapters 5, 6, and 7 in the Sermon on the Mount. Many of the moral principles will be the same.

God didn't want them to murder, and He doesn't want you to do it either. He didn't want them to lie and steal, and He doesn't want you to do it either. But the reason for doing it will be entirely different. Forgive because you've been forgiven, not in order to be forgiven.

Let's pray. Lord, as we look at this passage, we do thank you for the forgiveness that we have. We thank you for the forgiveness that we have by grace, for the forgiveness that we have and can count upon and has already been completed as one of our blessings. We thank you for that. What a wonderful and marvelous thing you've done. And we just pray and entrust to you in the weeks and actually months ahead as we look into these coming chapters, the Sermon on the Mount, we look to you to guide and lead us and direct our thoughts. And through this passage that is directed upon the law to show how amazing your grace is. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.