RELIGION FOR SHOW - NO! - MATTHEW 6:1-14

Hypocrisy

6:1

After giving us 6 “you have heard” instructions, Jesus now gives us three things not to do. They all relate to doing things for show as opposed to doing them for God. It is a warning against religious hypocrisy. 

This should not surprise us since the Lord said: “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart”. 1 Samuel 16:7

The first teaching is general: do not do your righteous acts to be seen by people and to be acclaimed by them. If, instead, you do them to be seen, your Heavenly Father will not reward you for them. 

There were three things the Jews did to show their piety: giving to the needy, praying, and fasting. Jesus addressed all three of these.

Giving for Recognition

6:2-4

Next, Jesus gives a concrete example of hypocrisy. The picture Jesus gives for an illustration is a person, probably a Pharisee, having someone blow a trumpet to get everyone’s attention so they will notice his large gift and praise him for it. 

We do not have any historical writings documenting this practice. It is just hyperbole, to remind people of the grand gestures people with money do at times to draw attention to their giving. Hyperbole is extreme, intentional exaggeration for emphasis, humor, or dramatic effect. 

The common folks likely thought of Pharisees’ love for recognition and found the image funny. John wrote: “they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God”. (John 12:43)

Today, we still have ways of being seen. Announcements appear in bulletins and magazines. Or, we name buildings after people. We build statues or design stained glass windows with their picture in them. 

Nonetheless, if you give to get attention for yourself, and you get that attention, you have received the only reward you will get. However, if you give privately he will reward you. 

Our aim should be to please our Father and to give mercy to others. 

Praying

6:5-8

Similarly, Jesus tells us not to pray for show. That makes you a hypocrite. Jesus said some stand in public places to say their prayers. They do this to be seen, not to lead others into prayer.

An example of this is the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18. The Pharisee stood apart from others and prayed a prayer that was basically a brag. 

Instead, you should go to a private place and pray in secret. Then it is just between you and God. And he will reward you for it.

This does not mean you cannot pray in public, in front of people, but it does mean you should not do it for personal recognition or aggrandizement.  

The next instruction is do not pray by stringing together a bunch of empty phrases you have heard from someone else, trying to sound eloquent. Evidently, some pagans did this thinking a large collection of words would  make their god hear them. 

We have an example of this in 1 Kings 18. Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal. They shouted, cried aloud, and cut themselves for hours, but Baal did not answer. 

Elijah, on the other hand, prayed a simple prayer and the Lord answered dramatically, sending fire from heaven to burn up the sacrifice. 

Christians do not need to do this because their Heavenly Father actually knows already what they need. We ask because God tells us to, because we want to communicate with him, and because expressing our needs in faith builds trust in God. 

Fasting

5:16-18

The third area Jesus addresses is fasting. When we fast, we are not to make ourselves look like suffering saints so everyone will know we are fasting. 

We do not know exactly what the Pharisees did to look gloomy (ESV, NASB) or somber (NIV). Our equivalent, however, would be to look like we were sick or grieving intensely. When we are sick, women might not put on makeup and men might not shave. Our hair might be messy. 

Jesus said don’t do that. Instead, get dressed and groomed like you always do. Keep your fasting between you and God. Then he will reward you for it. 

We see from these three topics that Jesus made a contrast between the piety of the Pharisees and that of Christians. The Pharisees wanted to be seen and praised for their acts. Christians do these things private and are blessed for it by our heavenly Father. 

TOTAL LOVE - MATTHEW 5:38-42

 Total Love

5:38-42

That being said, we now come to a difficult part of the sermon. Some call it the high point of the sermon. It is certainly counter cultural. 

The first point of this section regards retaliation or revenge. Jesus said you have heard “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. People still quote that today to say I am going to get revenge for what you did to me or mine.

The quote comes from the Old Testament. It is stated in Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. Let’s look at the Exodus passage. 

Exodus 21:1 through 23:33 contains civil laws. You might remember that the Old Testament law is traditionally categorized into three divisions: Moral (eternal ethical principles like the Ten Commandments), Ceremonial (temple rituals, sacrifices, and dietary restrictions), and Civil (governmental and judicial rules specifically for the ancient nation of Israel).

Exodus 21 contains many penalties for wrong doing. Verse 20 says, when men fight and hit a pregnant woman and cause the baby to be born, there are penalties. If the baby is injured, the one who struck the mother is penalized with the sam harm suffered by the baby, eye for eye etc. The Leviticus passage applies the same concept to injuring any person.

So these are prescribed penalties for assaultive offenses. But they are limitations as well. God limited the punishment to fit the offense. For example, you cannot kill a person who hits you and gives you a black eye. 

And we see that these are not set out as personal revenge, but for legal proceedings. But the Rabbis in Israel extended it to allow personal revenge. This might remind you of the American western movies. You would see that, if a person was hurt, the relatives would come riding into town and shoot or hang the offender. 

The Deuteronomy passage applies the concept to a false witness in a judicial proceeding. 

The Rabbis seemed to overlook Leviticus 19:18, which specifically prohibited taking vengeance (personal revenge) against a fellow Israelite. 

Jesus taught that the punishment provisions did not apply to personal relationships, only to the justice system. Instead, personal relationships are to be based on love. Leviticus 19:18 says “love your neighbor as yourself”. 

Here is the difficult part: our duty to of love even requires us to forego retaliation and accept injustice done to us. Jesus said “do not resist one who is evil”. (38) 

Jesus then gives four examples.

First, if someone slaps you on the cheek, turn the other cheek, make it available for slapping. This refers to a backhand slip mean as an insult. You do not slap him back and escalate the conflict. 

Second, if someone sues you to take your tunic, let them have your tunic and cloak. 

Third, if forced to go a mile, go two miles. This likely referred to a Roman soldier requiring a person to help carrying their equipment. 

Fourth, give to beggars and borrowers. (42) 

All of the examples are about people imposing themselves and their needs or desires on you. But Jesus does not tell us to resist the impositions, rather, he teaches us to react to them in love. In love, we forgo revenge and retaliation, and in love we give people what they need. 

 We do not fully discover who this God is until we see Him in the person of Jesus, who bore our sin and suffering in His body. (Peter 2:24)

Who is this god I serve? He is the God who experiences the full range of human suffering in the person of Jesus. He is the incarnate God - the One who weeps at the tomb of death, only to seek life into His dead friend. (John 11:35-44) He is the God who bore the burden of our pain in his own person. (Isaiah 53:4) He is the God who knows your hurt, your suffering, and your pain. He is gentle and lowly calling all sinners and sufferers to find rest in Him. (Matthew 11:28) 

Dr. Michael Cooper

 Voddie Baucom says “Most of us don’t realize how much we’ve been influenced by the culture until we come up against what we find in the Scriptures and are forced to respond accordingly.”

Those words ring true as we study the Sermon On The Mount. 

A Reminder When Struggling With Sin

 A Reminder

As we study the Sermon on the Mount, we see that Jesus’ standards for those in his kingdom are very high. Some will even say impossibly high. Yet, because it is what Jesus says, we must try to live up to them in the power of the Holy Spirit. Put another way, the citizens of the kingdom want to please the King. 

We know, however, that we will fail on occasion. Studying these lessons may remind you of past failures. We actually should expect this. As Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”. 

 Don’t be defeated by this. Remember two things. 

First, Jesus knows and sympathizes with our failures and our weaknesses. He took on human flesh, human nature, and was subject to all of the temptations we are. He did not sin, but he understands our human weaknesses. As the writer of Hebrews wrote: “For we do not have a High Priest who is unable

 sympathize with our weaknesses.” (Hebrews 4:15)

Second, God forgives. Because Jesus mediates between us and the Father, we can come to him, not only for help, but also for forgiveness and cleansing. Again, the author of Hebrews says “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”. (Hebrews 4:16) 

MARRIAGE & SPEECH 5:27-35

 Adultery & Lust

5:27-30

The Old Testament commands us not to commit adultery. ()Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18) The teaching of the time focused on stealing another man’s wife. Jesus moves the focus to lust. Jesus said, even if you do not take another person’s spouse, you sin if you lust after a woman in your heart. 

This is very relevant for our day. The invitations to lust are everywhere. Television, movies, and social media are full of pictures, particularly of women, designed to inspire lust.

It used to be said that women were not visually stimulated, but that has changed over the decades. Girls and women are now subjected to many images designed to inspire lust. Now there are “spicy” romance novels with graphic sex. There is pornography made especially for women. 

What is the remedy? Jesus tells us to do whatever is necessary to combat lust. That is what he means by tearing out your eye or cutting off your hand. (29-30) 

Here is an example. I once counseled a younger man who was addicted to pornography. His wife had caught him watching it on his phone while his child was playing nearby. 

He was ashamed. He cried while we talked. When I asked him how he usually accessed pornography, he held up his cell phone. I cited this passage and told him, if he was unable to resist it, he should either get rid of his cell phone or get one which did not access the internet. He said he could not do that. My guess is that he remains defeated by this sin. 

So, do what it takes to resist sin. Remove the temptation if possible. Pray for God’s strength to resist it. Find someone to be an accountability partner. 

Fidelity In Marriage 

5:31-32

The words of the first sentence of this section, “it was also said”, indicate Jesus is speaking further about adultery. 

The thing that was “also said” was that a man must give his wife a certificate of divorce when he divorced his wife.  

Jesus was referring to the teaching about Deuteronomy 24:1-4. That passage requires a man divorcing his wife to give his wife a certificate of divorce when he has found some indecency in her. 

There were no court proceedings about divorce at the time, so there was no court order to prove a divorce. The certificate provided the woman proof that she was divorced and could marry again.   

However, the interpretation of the passage was expanded by some rabbis to mean that giving the woman a certificate of divorce absolved the man of any sin in getting the divorce. 

Jesus issued a correction here. The Pharisees were focused on grounds for divorce. Jesus focused on the institution of marriage itself, as set out in Scripture. He did not rely on the Deuteronomy passage, but on the Genesis account. 

The Genesis account is Genesis 2:24” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”. The implication is that this is a permanent binding. 

The words “hold fast” are covenant language. Just as the Israelites were commanded to hold fast to God (Deuteronomy 10:20), a man was to hold fast to his wife. 

The word “fast” means tightly in Biblical language. Think of a fastener, an object that holds two things together. Today we might say hold on tightly or firmly. 

God expected faithfulness in marriage and holds us accountable for the lack of faithfulness. (Malachi 2:13-16)

A piece of paper, a certificate, did not excuse or eradicate the sin. The result of divorce was adultery. Intimate relationships outside of marriage, especially sexual relationships, are adultery. (32) 

Those relationships can be sexual, physical, but they can also be emotional. Remember that Jesus calls lust adultery in the heart. He also said “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”(Matthew 15:19) 

And the commandment is “you shall not commit adultery”. (Exodus 20:14) 

This passage on divorce is directed at men. That is because, at that time in Israel, only men could obtain a divorce, except in certain rare circumstances. And it was men who were using this certificate to casually divorce their wives.

Now, however, women may obtain a divorce from their husbands in most countries. In the USA, women initiate 70 percent of divorces. If you look at marriages involving college educated women, they initiate about 90% of divorces. Since women can obtain divorces today, this passage applies to them as well. 

Jesus had a second confrontation with the Pharisees on this issue. Matthew recorded it in chapter 19. Jesus will further explain his reasoning in that passage. 

Integrity In Speech

5:33-35

Jesus was referring to the teaching of the Pharisees about taking oaths. The Old Testament context is the requirement for God’s  people to be faithful to the promises and vows they made to God. It also forbade lying and taking the Lord's name in vain. 

They were not to bear false witness against their neighbors. (Exodus 20:16) This presumes a legal context. But, it was also applied as a prohibition against lying in general. 

Leviticus 19:11 says “you shall not lie to one another”. And we know that God hates lying: “there are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him…a lying tongue…”. (Proverbs 6:16) 

The problem is, lying is endemic to human nature. Ever since the Fall, when Adam chose Satan over God, people have lied. Jesus called Satan the father of lies. (John 8:44)

Since lying is so common, people devised ways of emphasizing that they are telling the truth we call those things “oaths”. The Pharisees, true to form, began to work on loop holes, where you could take an oath but not sin. They did not want to swear by the Lord, but they said you could swear by the temple, or the doors of the temple, or the altar. Some of those things could make you accountable and some not. In other words, they created exceptions whereby you could swear to the truth, but lie, and not be accountable. 

Jesus cut through all of this made up stuff and said not to swear, or take an oath, at all. Swearing in this context is not cussing, but taking an oath meant to prove you were telling the truth or would be bound by your words. 

Jesus said not to take an oath by anything in heaven or earth because they all belonged to God, implying that it took the Lord’s name in vain. Regardless, every vow, even if we swear by something other than God, is made in God’s presence.

Rather, citizens of Christ’s kingdom are to simply say yes or no and tell the truth or keep their word. He was making the point that God requires total honesty in speech. Christ followers should have such high integrity that oaths are entirely unnecessary. 

James picked up the theme of Jesus’ teaching here when he wrote: 

“But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”

(James 5:12)

The citizens of Christ’s kingdom should be faithful to him, to their spouses, and to each other in truth.