Jesus Teaches from a Ship, painted by James TissotMatthew 5:27-37
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 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 swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
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 in 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 miraculous 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.
2 Chronicles 36
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.
End of Zedekiah - he had encountered a living God. No one told him he was part of the Scriptures. Life isn't permanent and God is drawing us to Him.
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 fulfill the law. Jesus adopts us and in His name covers us in His Righteousness.
1 John 4:16
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
We would never ask Jesus to be our waiter. And to ask Him to deliberately clean up our messes.
Thank You, Jesus Christ Our LORD!
♔ Lord Jesus Saves †
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