Noeo Commentary ~ Matthew 5

This section of Matthew contains 5 different parts, Anger, Lust, Divorces, Oaths, and Retaliation. All of these sections are not Jesus changing the law – simply expanding it and making it more relevant to modern culture. And boy, every single one of them is very, very relevant to our culture. I’ll try to go over all 5 parts here. The first two I’ve personally struggled with, but the last 3 I probably don’t have too much insight on.

Anger
Everybody knows it’s wrong to murder. I highly doubt that anybody reading this has ever killed anyone, or at least I would hope not. But in verse 21-26, Jesus takes it a few steps further than simply taking someone’s life. Jesus plainly states here that to be angry with someone is to murder them in your heart. You will be punished fully for your hatred and will be liable for the hell of fire. Jeez. I’m a serial murderer. I’ve murdered people because they talked too much, because they’ve called me when I’m trying to sleep, because I had to wake up too early. In fact, everyone reading this is a murder. That’s not a friendly thought, is it? A little bit of anger – they’re good as dead in your heart. We should all try to… well… kill as few people as possible. Murder isn’t actually something you want. It’s a tough thought.

Lust
This section was quoted in Every Young Man’s Battle, a book which all the guys got at O2 last fall. This is quite possibly a scarier line than the previous one – every time you look lustfully at a girl, you’ve committed adultery. Now I don’t know about the girls reading this, but this is surely a major problem for guys. We’re genetically coded to lust – it gives chemical highs and releases neurotransmitters like endorphines and dopamine, giving pleasure. One study showed that the average male thinks about sex once ever 52 seconds (which really scares me, as there must be guys to balance out the guys like us who… don’t). Lusting after a girl is like committing adultery. And that just doesn’t mean on the computer screen or in a magazine. That means in the hall at school, on the sidewalk when you’re driving, on that billboard. In your mind. Committing adultery. That’s something to thinking about. Please, if you’re a guy and you didn’t go to O2, please get your hands on a copy of Every Young Man’s Battle. Email me at brandonhorst@gmail.com, and I’ll bring my copy to SI or school or wherever and you can borrow it for as long as you want. It’s a great book that has undoubtedly made a change in my life, and if you’re even remotely struggling with this topic (which science proves that you are), please read this book. The bible says that if you’re eyes are causing you to lust, rip them out of your head. That’s how urgent this is. Consider it.

Divorce
This talks about the idea today that marriage isn’t an important thing. Some people seem to think that if a marriage goes through a tough spot, you’d better get a divorce and find somebody new. Now I’m no expert on this field, but I can tell you now, your marriage is going to go through a tough spot. Plain and simple. When you get married, you need to know that and be able to push through the tough parts. Marriage is meant to be a big thing. Outside of marital unfaithfulness, Jesus says that you’re stuck with your wife/husband for better or for worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health… I’m no expert on stuff like this, perhaps someone else could give some more insight here?

Oaths
Don’t swear. I’ve often heard people tell me ‘it’s alright to swear, they’re just words.’ I wish I’d have known this verse. The bible says ‘for you cannot make one hair white or black.’ Swearing doesn’t accomplish anything. It’s just a stupid, rather immature way to make yourself sound… uh… what does it make you sound like? It sure doesn’t make you sound smart. Or mature. It’s just something that shouldn’t be done. This is one of the easier ones on this list, as swearing isn’t a natural behavior. I don’t know, just don’t do it. I’ve never really had a problem with swearing, perhaps someone else could give more insight on this topic. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Retaliation
People are going to give you crap. In life, whether it’s high school, college, or on the job, someone’s going to be pushing you around. And if there’s one thing that you learned in Elementary school, it’s that it doesn’t do much good to push back. Fighting so often leads to trouble… it’s another problem that I know people have trouble with but I really never have. If someone forces you to do something… you might as well do it. Society would label that as being a wimp or a loser, Jesus labels it as being holy. Which label do I care more about? Again, someone else could probably give more insight into this topic.

Hope you guys all have a great weekend!

~ by Brandon on January 6, 2007.