Matthew 5:27-37 ~ you have heard

Jesus Teaches from a Ship, painted by James Tissot

Matthew 5:27-37

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible


²⁷ "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

³¹ "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' ³² But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' ³⁴ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.

There are many ways of looking at the Scriptures. We are so fortunate to have the Gospels with the effort Emperor Vespasian put in burning the copies he could find. The early Christian Church created the word "traitor" for the people who gave up copies of Scripture or other Christian followers under torture. Then the Church had to administer grace to the cries of heresy over forgiveness issues.

Matthew was a tax collector/thug who wanted to write to the Jews to explain Jesus as the Messiah, bringing in his friends to the grace Jesus brought to his own life. Mark is John Mark determined to be too much of a light-weight follower of Jesus to be allowed to go with Paul and his missionary worker, Barnabas. Barnabas, John Mark's cousin, believed John Mark (Colossians 4:10), or Mark, would deepen in his faith to become reliable. Mark's gospel is to reach out to the gentiles explaining to them of Jesus' faith, His Jewishness.

Luke (Colossians 4:14, Phil 1:24) is the wonderful physician called to be a worker of Jesus Christ with Paul. It is wonderful to imagine the joy Luke would have seen the healings taking place in the name of Jesus. Luke brought an accurate, thorough, historical documentation to his Savior's life.

John, the beloved disciple, was constantly astonished at the glory of God and wrote of his experiences in awe at the Love and power of God. John had given his word to Jesus not to tell of the transfiguration, and never did write of the experience, yet even his first chapter of his Gospel declares the glory of God.

Not John, Luke, Mark or Matthew would be a fan of cheap grace - living the way we want to and depending on the mercy of God at convenient intervals. The men who knew Jesus and those who encountered the Holy Spirit in the early Church really believed the reaction to God's grace is deliberate and changed behavior. We witness in the Scriptures that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God, but all did extend themselves to please God.

The Scriptures, being real, give a very real discussion of the disciples learning how seriously their Savior, Jesus Christ, took sin.


Matthew 19:10
The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

As a child I wondered why oaths were so important to be discussed. Jesus wants us to act as the Lights of the world. He expects our yes to remain yes and our no to remain no. The Savior of the World, our Hero, said He did not come to abolish the law, but to fufill the law.

Matthew 5:17
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.


<><