when you give (Matt6:2-4)

Matthew 6:2-4

Thus when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

• when you give to the needy, not if. Are we actually giving to the needy? Jesus assumes that it would be a normal part of the Christian's life
• don't blow your own trumpet - are we talking about an act of generousity because it's necessary or because we want others to know about it. Outlandish self-promotion is not usually the British way... but we've just learned to do it more subtly.
• hypocrites - actors. As christians, are our lives consistent? Are we the same on the inside and out? Or have we learned how to play the part of the Christian in certain places and at certain times.
• in the synagogues and streets...; that they may be praised by others. Where are we looking for praise? Whether it's inside the church or outside, we are looking to impress the wrong people. Man's approval may be nice but ultimately counts for nothing. Is our giving motivated by a love for God and others or by a love for ourselves that wants the approval of others.
• give in secret - are we as keen to give if no one knows about it? That may reveal our motivation. If the motivation is love for God and others, then we just want to help, regardless of who gets the credit
• God sees - God sees everything we do and knows the reasons. Others may be fooled by our act but he isn't
• rewards? Material? maybe but this isn't a system. God doesn't need our money, it's already his. he is inviting us to participate in what he is doing, like a father giving a child some money to buy a present for their brother.

Naturally, we want to get, not give. The gospel tells us about God, the great giver, who has not only given us life and everything we have, but also gave his Son up to death in our place so that we could receive the great gift of life with Him.

look at me (Matt 6:1)

Matthew 6:1

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

If we are living lives empowered by the Holy Spirit that show signs of the counter-cultural attitudes that Jesus has described in Matthew 5 then it is inevitable that people will see what we do. In fact, that is what Jesus is getting at when he describes his followers as the light of the world. The key to Jesus' warning here is that we are not to be behaving "righteously" in front of people in order to be seen by them. Are we turning the other cheek out of love and mercy or because it will impress someone else? Are we going the extra mile as a response to the grace God has shown us or because we know that's what we should do? Are we really serving ourselves when it appears that we are serving God and others? The actions may be exactly the same in both cases but God sees the motivation behind the actions. Again, it is back to the heart. It is possible to resist God's grace by disobeying him but it is also possible to resist God's grace by following the rules.

There is no reward from God for self-serving service. He is not impressed by your token generosity or appearance of love. He looks at the heart, and shows mercy to those who recognise they need it. That mercy is what sets us free to serve him without thinking about what we can get out of it.

be perfect (Matt 5:48)

Matthew 5:48

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Be more righteous than the Pharisees! Be perfect! Jesus certainly makes some serious demands. People may look to the sermon on the mount as the pinnacle of Jesus' moral teaching which we should all just follow to make the world a better place but that probably just shows they haven't bothered to really think about what Jesus is saying. He summarises his message in chapter 5 by telling us to be perfect! It's not exactly an achievable strategy for work peace is it?

Jesus' teaching in this first part of the sermon on the mount should not leave us full of ourselves and our own ability to change. He has shown:

• that the law goes deeper than external behaviour and penetrates to the deepest desires of the heart
• at that level we are all guilty. We may not have murdered, but we have been angry. We may not have had an affair but we have looked lustfully at others. We have twisted the truth, we have wanted to retaliate to those who have wronged us and we have wished ill on our enemies instead of loving them. We have all failed to be perfect. We are all way off the mark.
• We need something more than trying harder. We need a Saviour. We need to look away from our performance and towards Jesus' performance on our behalf. He kept the law. He was perfect. His righteousness did exceed that of the Pharisees. And on the cross, he died for our sin and clothed us in his righteousness.
• As a result of Jesus death we are forgiven and we also receive the Holy Spirit, empowering us to live differently. We are no longer enslaved by sin and can live as a community of believers who begin to reflect Jesus' teachings. We will not manage it perfectly but that again shows us and those around us of the need for the Perfect One.

different (Matt 5:46-47)

Matthew 5:46-47

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Jesus points out that even the people that the Pharisees think of as scum (tax collectors and Gentiles) love their friends. God's people are called to be different. Christians should be known as people who love those who are different to us instead of maintaining a suspicious distance because God loves those who are different to Him  - us! Christians should be known as people who break down barriers to love others not erect barriers because God broke down the barrier of sin to love us. Christians should be known for loving those who don't like them, rather than treating their enemies the same way. Why? Because God loved his enemies - us!

“These people are acting like what the Bible says a Christian does.”

the sun shines on the righteous and? (Matt 5:44-45)

Matthew 5:44-45

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

This phrase from Jesus must be one of the most misquoted passages in the entire bible. The phrase "the sun shines on the righteous" with the rest of the sentence missing is used to justify a karma-like idea. What goes around comes around. Good things will happen to good people. This is exactly the opposite of the point Jesus is making.

As soon as we start to think about loving our enemies we will start to think "why should I?". The answer Jesus gives is because that is what God does. He makes the sun shine on the righteous AND the unrighteous, he sends rain on the people who love him and the people who hate him. God loves his enemies. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

love your enemies (Matt 5:44)

Matthew 5:44

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

We all know the phrase "love your enemies" but functionally, we hate them. Who are your enemies? Probably the person who popped into your mind when you read the phrase "love your enemies" and thought, "I could never love them". The person who you are trying to justify why this doesn't apply to them. The person who you can't imagine becoming a christian, and probably don't want to become a christian.

What does it mean to love our enemies? We are told in the OT to love our neighbour (everyone) as ourselves. Our concern for our neighbour, including our enemy should be the same concern that we have for ourselves. 

"you are to have that same totally consuming unfeigned, fervent, habitual, permanent love which brings into your heart their interest, their needs, their wants, their desires, their hopes, their ambitions, and prompts you to do everything you can to make sure that all their welfare, safety, comfort, and interest is met and that whatever they need and whatever they want or whatever pleasure they have, you are anxious to fulfill on their behalf." MacArthur

It is a high expectation. We are to pray *for* our persecutors, not against them! This does not mean accepting sin, it does not mean leaving crimes unreported etc - but this is on a personal level. We are to love the person.

This is only possible through the Holy Spirit. It is only possible through God's working in us. It is only possible because Jesus loved his enemy - me - enough to go to the cross, taking my sin and giving me his righteousness.

I'm a loving person (Matt 5:43)

Matthew 5:43

You have heard that it was said, "you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy"

The phrase "love your enemies" which Jesus says in the next verse is very well known throughout our culture. Outside the church, people sort of recognise it as the ideal situation even if they don't particularly aspire to it. Inside the church people know it's what they *should* do. But in reality, despite what we say or admit, we all tend to operate more like this saying that Jesus attacks.

Elsewhere, Jesus defines "neighbour" to mean anybody, but here the Pharisees operated on a principle of loving their friends and hating their enemies. Just like we do today. We want good things to happen to us and our friends and family and we're happy for the people who've wronged us to get what we think they deserve. Unless it's our friends or family who have wronged us and then our circle of love decreases even more! We have a very selfish view of love that will define neighbour as narrowly as we want and then point inside that circle as an example of how loving a person we are. "of course I'm a loving person, look how well I love my mother... except that time we fell out for a year!"

We will always move the goalposts to make ourselves look good, and it's that attitude that Jesus attacks here

sleep

Psalm 127:2

In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat for he grants sleep tot those he loves.

Relax. Rest. Sleep.

We burn the candle at both ends when we think it all depends on us. We lie awake at night worrying when we are not resting in him.

Control - we can't rest if we want to control everything around us. We are not in control, whatever we do, but He is, so we can sleep

Comfort - we can't rest if we are desperate to achieve just a bit more stuff which, ironically, we think will allow us to rest. Chasing things is a treadmill. We have everything we need in Him, so we can sleep.;

Approval - we can't rest if we need to be approved by everyone around us, it's exhausting to maintain. He sees us as we really are, but still loves us enough top go to the cross, so we can sleep

Power - You snooze you lose? Everything we once thought was gain is loss compared to knowing Him, so we can sleep.

It is impossible to rest in ourselves. Rest in Him

slapped, stripped and beaten (Matt 5:38-42)

Matthew 5:38-42

... I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

When our dignity or reputation is insulted or attacked - like a back-handed slap to the face - we want an eye for an eye! We want to insult the person who insulted us, say hurtful things about the person who hurt us, point out the flaws in the person who pointed out the flaws in us. Instead, Jesus says it's better to just take it without retaliation.

We might like the idea of generousity and, at a push, we might be generous towards those who are grateful but being generous to someone who is suing you and taking some of your stuff? Don't be ridiculous! But that's what Jesus suggests. 

In a similar way, we may be happy to sacrifice our time on our terms but Jesus suggests going the extra mile for someone who has forced you to go the original mile! Our default setting is to think "why should I?"

Again, Jesus is exposing that superficially, our actions may show that we are loving or generous but when we look below the surface we find selfishness in our hearts. Again, he is calling for deeper righteousness than the external show of the Pharisees who may do the right thing but do not care about others.

How can we possibly begin to do any of these things Jesus says? It starts by understanding the gospel. That Jesus was slapped, beaten and killed in our place. That his dignity was taken, his reputation slandered and his character insultted - falsely. That he was stripped of everything. That he was forced to carry his cross. He turned the other cheek for us. He took our sin and gave us his righteousness. He went the extra mile for us. And we did not deserve it. We are the undeserving beggars but he is gracious. How can we show mercy to people who (we think) don't deserve it? By recognising we don't deserve it either, but he is merciful towards us.

relaxing the law (Matt 5:19)

Matthew 5:19

Therefore, whoever relaxes the least of one of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

The Pharisees did not appear to be a group that would "relax" God's commandments. Entire lives spent studying and defining the law, adding rules to it and following over 600 commands sounds like they are tightening it up, not relaxing it. But Jesus accuses them of relaxing God's law! That is because, although they made it wider, they made it shallower. By coming up with hundreds of surface level commands that restricted behaviour, they relaxed the piercing conviction of the law on the heart because they could make a decent effort at keeping external commands. .

So what does it look like to relax God's law today? Maybe it is that you ignore it completely and embrace and attitude that says anything goes. But maybe, like the Pharisees, it also could look like a legalistic church goer who prides himself that he doesn't swear, smoke, drink or shop on a sunday. He looks like he's working hard but he's actually relaxed the law because he is not allowing it to go deeper than the surface. The real target of the law is much deeper, cutting us to the heart, convicting us of our sin and leading us to repentance and faith in Jesus

revenge (Matt5:38-39a)

Matthew 5:38-39a

You have heard that it was said, "An eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth". But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil

The eye for an eye principle in the OT was not there as a brutal example of a much different God, but as a civil law for the good of the people. It was there to prevent escalation and revenge/retaliation and was handled by the courts to decided compensation/punishment for a case, not personally. It was not an instruction that said "he took your eye... go and get him back by taking his". 

"The Pharisees had taken something that was meant as a limit on vengeance and turned it into a mandate for vengeance" McArthur.

When Jesus tells us to not resist the one who is evil, he is not telling us to let anything go. Sin should be confronted (as Jesus is doing as he is speaking in this passage) and crimes should be dealt with by the law of the land but on a personal level, our position towards the offender should be love. We find this hard enough to do with people who might have accidentally wronged us, let alone the deliberate offender described in this passage (someone who has slapped you, sued you or forced you to do something). Our only hope lies in the One who we have offended, but who shows us mercy and grace - Jesus

swearing falsely (Matt 5:33-37)

Matthew 5:33-37

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". But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply Yes or No; anything more than this comes from evil.

Some further random thoughts on this passage:

• why is it necessary for us to say things like "I swear on my mother's grave" - does that imply we have a much lower tolerance for lying when we haven't said something like that?
• We are quick to make promises that we can't keep. Swearing and making oaths seems to become just a way of saying "I really want to do this, I'm going to try my hardest" rather than a reflection of the truthfulness of the statement.
• How often do we make promises to God that we fail to keep. "This time, I swear, I'm serious about following you God". But we still fail. Our mouths seem unaware of our inability to keep those sort of promises

I didn't say anything wrong (Matt 5:33-37)

Matthew 5:33-37

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". But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply Yes or No; anything more than this comes from evil.

We are happy to conceal our attitudes and intentions with words. The Pharisees had creative ways of "swearing" that were the equivalent of saying things with their fingers crossed. Today, we want to excuse ourselves on technicalities. We withold the truth, or are selective in our re-telling information. We spin things, presenting the facts in a creative way to make ourselves look good, or resorting to a non-denial denial when we are caught out.

Jesus sets the bar a lot higher than the technicalities of the words we say - he looks at integrity. What is the condition of the heart behind the words? The Pharisees righteousness went as far as saying the right thing, or not saying the wrong thing. The greater righteousness that Jesus expects looks at the attitudes and motivations behind what we say and again we find that we are all guilty, desperately requiring the great mercy of a great Saviour.

the lord will fight for you

Exodus 14:14

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.

As the Israelities see the Egyptian army approaching they are afraid. They start to look back to their slavery as if they were better off. They are complaining. And all of this is coming after the plagues and the miraculous exodus from their captivity. They have seen God's power and His response to their cries and yet they are now fearful, ungrateful and wanting to go back. What is God's response? We might expect:

"Fine, you've had your chance, go back to slavery"

"Is this how you act after I've done so much for you?"

"I wish I'd never bothered, this is like a slap in the face"

"If you want me to get you out of this one, you'd better sort your attitude out"

Instead, God tells Moses to calm the fears of the people. "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." 

Even though we, like the Israelites, so easily forget God's grace, He is still gracious.

Even though we, like the Israelites, do give God a "slap in the face" by our ingratitude, He is still gracious.

Even though we, like the Israelites, don't deserve it, He is still gracious.

Even though, like the Isaraelites, our actions and attitudes deserve judgement, not mercy, He is still gracious.

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.

the paperwork is done (Matt5:31-32)

Matthew 5:31-32

It was also said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give a certificate of divorce. 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

The Pharisees teaching was making divorce easy while maintain a facade of respectability - all the paperwork was done, the woman had a certificate to "protect" her reputation. This surely must have seemed like a fair way of moving with the times and everyone getting what they want. Jesus again attacks this surface level obedience that thought that a bit of paperwork could legitimise adultery. The greater righteousness that Jesus expects goes deeper and looks at the reasons why we want to do these things. Making the best out of a bad situation is not what we are called to - we are sick to the core and need a saviour.

go after the root (Matt 5:29-30)

Matthew 5: 29-30

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. 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 be thrown into hell.

Whereas the early church father Origen, followed these words literally and castrated himself, we can be confident that Jesus that jesus didn't expect us to be chopping body parts off! Our eye and hand does not cause us to sin, we could chop them off and the sin would still be there. Jesus shocking words show the serious attitude we should have towards our sin. Where we see sin, we should take action - not that we can defeat it in our own strength, but that our deepest desire is to follow Jesus. We tend to tolerate sin and prefer to just subdue it a bit rather than go after the root. We should be waging war on it. As John Owen says, "be killing sin, or sin will be killing you"

The Pharisees righteousness did not have a violent attitude to sin, it was happy to maintain an appearance of keeping sin at bay but was not concerned with going deeper and digging out the root. Our righteousnees needs to be greater than the Pharisees and that means looking below the surface of our sin. In our own strength, maybe we can keep the visible weeds at bay. Jesus attacks the root.

nothing happened (matt 5:27-28)

Matthew 5:27-28

You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Jesus' previous example of how surface-level righteousness is not enough was murder, which is at least still recognised as wrong in our society, where as his second example of adultery may not be. Currently, people may not be bothered to be viewed as an "adulterer" and, although it does probably still carry some degree of shame for most people today, the audience Jesus was speaking to would be shocked at the accusation of adultery. They were no doubt proud that they had not broken the law because they had not committed adultery but Jesus again goes deeper and proves us all guilty of the same root sin by looking at others lustfully.

No doubt, we could excuse our "looking with lustful intent" and even harbour some sort of pride that no action has been taken and no "cheating" has taken place, but Jesus blows that idea out of the water. We are all guilty. At what point did David sin with Bathsheba? Was it only when they went to bed, or had it started long before that when a random glance at a roof turned into an inquiry and a meeting?

We may keep the letter of the law externally but we break it internally. We might make a distinction between the two but God doesn't.