You Have Heard It Said, But I Say Unto You . . .

“The whole point of Jesus’ teaching was to frustrate his listeners, so they would give up trying to save themselves and throw themselves into the arms of a loving Savior.”

- John Crowder

“In Jesus parable, the rich man ends up in hell, not because he failed to believe the right things, but because he failed to love Lazarus.”

- Brian Zahnd

I’ve already mentioned in chapter one how people try to get around and avoid the hard sayings of Jesus. One only has to read modern commentaries to see Kierkegaard’s concerns are still in play today. Jesus sermon on the mountain is one that seems like high idealism or simply impossible to live. Maybe that is the point—without God help, you can not live them out!

          These are some of Jesus greatest teachings and probably most misunderstood today. We are over familiar with these texts as well as hearing high sounding conventional wisdom of explaining the difficulty of these texts away. Just like Jesus hard sayings concerning wealth and deposing one self for the poor, they are simply basic instructions of having the right attitude towards money and one can go back to business as usual.

          If we are not careful, we miss the shock value of these disturbing sayings within there Jewish rabbinic context. Remember, Jesus is a Jewish theologian speaking to Jewish disciples in an occupied Jewish country. Jesus miracles resemble the prophet Elijah and Jesus here on the mountain sounds like a new Moses.

          The reality of God’s kingdom is upside down when one reads the Beatitudes that precedes Jesus words in Matthew 5, “You have heard it said, but I say unto you” statements. Jesus is not listing a bunch of new Mosaic laws to follow but he does get after the real issue of our hearts. Each time Jesus says these words, he is reflecting the deeper truths of God’s kingdom which is anger is overcome by reconciliation, lust is kept in check through spiritual disciplines, marriage is honored through life long faithfulness, and loving one’s enemy replaces hate. These are not some kind of new legal code but illustrations of what God’s kingdom community looks like.

          There is a sense of urgency to Jesus words that one should not worry about what kinds of judgments earthly courts make, it’s the court’s rulings from heaven that counts. The heavenly court not only knows our offenses but even the intentions of our hearts. Jesus repeatedly challenges people’s hearts whereas the religious leaders were more interested in judging people external behaviors and their doctrine. 

          Jesus message challenges the cultural assumptions of his day. Oaths are a poor substitute for integrity. Revenge and dividing oneself from one’s spouse is not permissible in God’s kingdom. Jesus most disturbing teaching is for the oppressed Jews to even love their oppressors. Again, without heavenly help, Jesus demands for discipleship seem impossible. But what seems impossible for man is possible with God (Matthew 19:29).

          Jesus is not giving these teachings to make people feel bad, or guilty, or threaten them with hell. Yes, he does talk about hell but hell is this refiner’s fire that is to purge the sin out of our lives, not destroy the sinner (Malachi 3:3). Jesus embodies the very teachings he is giving showing people what God’s character looks life through his life.

There are some grape juice critics of wine Christians that can not understand that the God they are presenting to other people makes God look like an angry, mean, petty, vindictive God. Jesus is the highest revelation of God on earth and God ultimately reveals himself not through a book but through a person because the God of the scriptures is a relational personal God. 

Jesus ultimately models his own teachings of suffering obedience rather than the way of violence. How is it that we resist Jesus on the very issue that he centered his teachings upon. The reason there is so much sacred violence in the Old Testament is not because God is a blood thirsty violent God but because we are. Jesus did not die on the cross because God needed human blood for a sacrifice but Christ hanging on the cross with outstretched arms shows how far God’s love will go to save sinful people from themselves and their violent ways.

         Jesus sacrifice on the cross reveals that sacrificial violence does not come from the heart of God but from the heart of man. Jesus sacrifice was a sacred surrender to help end all violent sacrifices!  In the end, it was humans that put Jesus on the cross, not God.

Jesus embodiment of the heart of God is so revolutionary, that where the Torah restricts retaliation, Jesus abolishes all together. By responding to unkindness with enemy-love, Jesus reflects the character of God which is shown equally to the righteous and unrighteous alike.

          The sinners and society outcasts loved Jesus because he included them into God’s kingdom. God is not a respecter of persons. In Matthew 9:9-13 and Luke 14:15-24, Jesus invites everyone, good or bad into God’s heavenly kingdom. Jesus does not care about religious boundaries or walls that religious people build. These are not from heaven but from our carnal ways where we are threatened by people who look different or act differently than we do.

          Everyone looked up to the religious leaders of Jesus day. When he says unless your righteousness exceeds the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter God’s kingdom (Matt.5:20). He is not suggesting that this was an easy thing since all the religious leaders of his day were corrupt and unrighteous. No, it’s like Jesus saying today, your righteousness has to surpass that of ministers, missionaries, and Bible university professors. People would respond, how in the world and I to do that? This is exactly the point. You can’t do it without the help of God in control of your life.

          Jesus says, you have heard it said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. Again, Jesus is using a Midrash technique where some of the cultural assumptions of the people before Jesus believed this but it is not specifically stated within the Hebrew Bible.

There is a kind of beauty, rhythm, and fluidity to Jesus words that goes against the grain of much of popular religiosity  of his day.