THE BOOKENDS An exegesis of Matthew, Chapter 5, Verses 20-22, 27-30, 38-48 South Central Pastors Conference, WELS October 2, 2008 (post IKE) Shiloh Lutheran Retreat Center (because the Victorian on the Seawall Blvd. probably isn t there anymore) Mark Bitter, Associate Pastor Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, The Woodlands, Texas
The verses of the Sermon on the Mount that we will work through today contain words of Jesus that have troubled many Christians for some time. During my thirty years of ministry many of God s people have said to me, Pastor, I don t get what Jesus is saying here. I want to obey Jesus. But I don t want to do what he commands in these verses. And I m not going to do it. I won t. And that really bothers me. Because I love Jesus. And I want to follow his will. But I won t do this. Let s face it. In these verses Jesus says some things that sound downright outrageous to us: Gouge out your eye! Cut off your hand! If someone punches you in the right cheek, let him punch in the left cheek, too! I ve heard Christian pastors (even some of our own fellowship) say, Well, Jesus didn t really mean that. What?!?!?! He didn t mean it? Then, why did he say it? And when Barack Obama quotes or more correctly, misquotes - these words thoroughly out of context and ends up ridiculing the Bible and Jesus, well, that tells me that there s a lot of misunderstanding out there about what Jesus is saying here. In this paper I am offering a suggestion as to how to understand these outrageous statements made by our Lord, and a suggestion as to why he said them. I m not saying that this is the only way to approach to these verses. I don t really know. I m just offering you a suggestion as to how to understand these difficult words. You might respond to this paper by saying, Bitter, you re a heretic. You don t have a clue! And if you say that, I will immediately recant. I won t do a Hier stehe ich. But the words we will look at today have bothered God s people for some time. And I m just trying to make sense of them in a way that stays faithful to his word, and helps his people understand them. The view and approach offered here is derived from coming at the verses horizontally, moving forward from the left and backwards from the right. We all know that, like all of the writers through whom the Holy Spirit breathed, Matthew did not sit down and write, chapter 5, verse 21. The first English Bible that contained chapters and verses was the Geneva Bible published in 1560. If I was asked to take the Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew and divide it into chapters and verses, I would end chapter 5 at verse 16, and chapter 6 would begin with chapter 5, verse 17: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. The approach to these words that I am offering takes the context of the previous verses (chapter 5, verses 1-19) into consideration, and then identifies 1
THE BOOKENDS 2 I believe that the left bookend of this section is verse 20: To come into the kingdom of heaven your righteousness must surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. And the right bookend is verse 48: To come into the kingdom of heaven you must be as perfect as God is. I believe that in much of Jesus says between the bookends, he is contrasting the feeble attempt at the outward righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees with the blinding and searing righteousness of God. I ll continually emphasize that as we work through those verses. And at the end of the section he states the obvious so clearly: Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. In first century Israel, if you had asked Joe Jew, president of the We Get To Heaven By Good Deeds Society, What sect among the Jews will by far be first in line to get into heaven?, he undoubtedly would have answered, Why the Pharisees, of course. The Pharisees had the same squeaky-clean reputation in Jerusalem back then as Mormons do today in Salt Lake City. And the scribes? Well, they were the acknowledged teachers of the Old Testament. Two different groups (which many times did not agree with each other.) But Jesus lumps the two into one group (there is no article before the word Pharisees in verse 20 the scribes and Pharisees ), because in his mind they are one group when it comes to the issue he is addressing: How good do you have to be to get into the kingdom of heaven? Now for the translation of and commentary on the text. 2 0 λ έ γ ω γ ὰ ρ ὑ μ ῖ ν ὅ τ ι ἐ ὰ ν μ ὴ π ε ρ ι σ σ ε ύ σ ῃ ὑ μ ῶ ν ἡ δ ι κ α ι ο σ ύ ν η π λ ε ῖ ο ν τ ῶ ν γ ρ α μ μ α τ έ ω ν κ α ὶ Φ α ρ ι σ α ί ω ν ο ὐ μ ὴ ε ἰ σ έ λ θ η τ ε ε ἰ ς τ ὴ ν β α σ ι λ ε ί α ν τ ῶ ν ο ὐ ρ α ν ῶ ν. π ε ρ ι σ σ ε ύ σ ῃ - 3 rd person present singular subjunctive o f περισσευω to go over and above, to surpass, to exceed, to be greater ε ἰ σ έ λ θ η τ ε 2 n d p e r s o n enter a o r i s t p l u r a l s u b j u n c t i v e o f εισερχοµαι to come in, to πλειον adverb meaning more, greater The NIV omits the word in its translation. ου µη with the subjunctive is the strongest form of negation in koine Greek.
Translation: For I say to you that, if your righteousness does not surpass the scribes and Pharisees big time, you will never, ever, no way enter into the kingdom of heaven. Commentary: As I said earlier, you can t get more righteous than a scribe or a Pharisee was the common opinion of the day in Judea. Jesus says, not good enough. If you want to know if you re good enough to enter the kingdom of heaven, don t compare yourself to them. So, to whom should we compare ourselves to see if we re good enough for heaven? You know the correct answer, the one Jesus offers in the right bookend: Compare yourself to God. 3 2 1 ἠ κ ο ύ σ α τ ε ὅ τ ι ἐ ρ ρ έ θ η τ ο ῖ ς ἀ ρ χ α ί ο ι ς ο ὐ φ ο ν ε ύ σ ε ι ς ὃ ς δ ' ἂ ν φ ο ν ε ύ σ ῃ ἔ ν ο χ ο ς ἔ σ τ α ι τ ῇ κ ρ ί σ ε ι 2 2 ἐ γ ὼ δ ὲ λ έ γ ω ὑ μ ῖ ν ὅ τ ι π ᾶ ς ὁ ὀ ρ γ ι ζ ό μ ε ν ο ς τ ῷ ἀ δ ε λ φ ῷ α ὐ τ ο ῦ ἔ ν ο χ ο ς ἔ σ τ α ι τ ῇ κ ρ ί σ ε ι ὃ ς δ ' ἂ ν ε ἴ π ῃ τ ῷ ἀ δ ε λ φ ῷ α ὐ τ ο ῦ ῥ α κ ά, ἔ ν ο χ ο ς ἔ σ τ α ι τ ῷ σ υ ν ε δ ρ ί ῳ ὃ ς δ ' ἂ ν ε ἴ π ῃ μ ω ρ έ, ἔ ν ο χ ο ς ἔ σ τ α ι ε ἰ ς τ ὴ ν γ έ ε ν ν α ν τ ο ῦ π υ ρ ό ς. ἠ κ ο ύ σ α τ ε 2 n d p e r s o n to listen to. a o r i s t p l u r a l a c t i v e i n d i c a t i v e o f ακουω, meaning to hear, ερρεθη 3 rd person singular aorist passive indicative of ρεω, meaning to say, to speak φονευσεισ 2 nd person singular aorist subjunctive of φονευω, meaning to commit murder. φονευση 3 rd person singular aorist subjunctive εσται 3 rd person singular future indicative of ειµι, meaning to be οργιζοµενοσ nominative singular masculine present passive participle of οργιζω, meaning to be angry, to be enraged. ειπη 3 rd person singular subjunctive of ειπον, meaning to say.
4 Translation: You heard that it was said to the ancients, You will not commit murder, and if anyone should commit murder, he will be held to the judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry at his brother will be held to the judgment. And if anyone should say to his brother, You worthless loser, he will be held to the Sanhedrin. And if anyone should say, Fool! he will be held for the Gehenna of the fire. Commentary: From the teachers, from the scribes and the Pharisees the disciples had heard what was told to the ancients. It was spoken by Moses. You shall not murder. The scribes and the Pharisees must have added the or else. If you do commit murder, you will be held to the judgment. To them this was all about civil law. You commit murder, and you ll be in a human Jewish court the judgment. The scribes and Pharisees taught nothing about what God demands from our hearts. Not a word about how the thought of murdering someone is just as sinful in the sight of God as the actual act. No hint of John s whoever hates his brother is a murderer. The scribes and Pharisees taught nothing about that. Jesus message to the disciples was that Moses words were more than just about what will happen in civil courts. If a person is enraged with his brother, for that he should be taken to civil court. But it s also about insulting and demeaning and abasing people. If your heart is evil, you don t just face the judgment of Jewish civil law. And if your fruit is bad, you don t just face the judgment of the Sanhedrin. You re in danger of going to hell. South of the walls of Jerusalem is the valley where Moloch worship happened, where children were killed and burned. King Josiah declared that valley unclean. It became a place where the body parts of animals were disposed. To the Old Testament Jew it was a picture of hell, the place of the damned. The addition of the phrase of the fire underscores that Jesus is talking about hell. There is no evidence that the Jews ever burned human or animal body parts in this valley. So the Gehenna of the fire can not refer to the valley south of Jerusalem. The Gehenna of the fire can mean nothing else than hell.
2 7 ἠ κ ο ύ σ α τ ε ὅ τ ι ἐ ρ ρ έ θ η ο ὐ μ ο ι χ ε ύ σ ε ι ς. 2 8 ἐ γ ὼ δ ὲ λ έ γ ω ὑ μ ῖ ν ὅ τ ι π ᾶ ς ὁ β λ έ π ω ν γ υ ν α ῖ κ α π ρ ὸ ς τ ὸ ἐ π ι θ υ μ ῆ σ α ι α ὐ τ ὴ ν ἤ δ η ἐ μ ο ί χ ε υ σ ε ν α ὐ τ ὴ ν ἐ ν τ ῇ κ α ρ δ ί ᾳ α ὐ τ ο ῦ. 5 ηκουσατε 2 nd person singular aorist active indicative of ακουω meaning to hear ερρεθη 3 rd person singular aorist passive indicative of ρεω meaning to say µοιχευσεισ 2 nd person singular future indicative of µοιχευω, meaning to commit adultery. βλεπων nominative singular masculine present active participle of βλεπω, meaning to look at. επιθυµησαι aorist infinitive of επιθυµεω, meaning to lust after. εµοιχευσεν 3 rd person singular aorist active indicative Translation: You heard that it was said, You will not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who is looking at a woman to lust after her already did commit adultery with her in his heart. Commentary: Again, it s the heart that matters to God. I have committed adultery. You have committed adultery. And when I did it, I enjoyed it. And you probably did, too. Our sinful natures feed on lust. As new creations we don t want to offend our God with our thoughts and feelings, but the truth of the matter is that we are all Pauline people. The good I want to do, I do not do. And the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing.it is sin living in me that does it. That s no excuse. Just the reality of being a sinner-saint. The good news is that in baptism God crucified my sinful nature with Christ, and now, all he sees every day, 24-7, whether I m awake or asleep is a saint. I hope we can never get over how incredibly cool the gospel is.
6 However, here is one sin Jesus identifies where we as new creations not only CAN but also WANT TO say, I hate the way I am by nature. I WANT pure thoughts and feelings. I WANT to be like Jesus. In the next verse that will probably NOT be the case; at least it isn t for me. If we only consider the outward, physical act of adultery to be sinful, then I can compare myself to the scribes and Pharisees and say, Sure, I m as good as they are. If they re going to get to heaven on the basis of their own righteousness, then the same is true for me. But when I compare myself not to the scribes and Pharisees idea of righteousness, but to God s idea of righteousness, oh my, I find myself praying that a camel can get through the eye of a needle, and I m right there clueless with the disciples, asking, Who then can be saved? Praise God for Jesus answer. With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. What is impossible for us was possible for the God-man. During every second of the thirty-three years of his life on this earth Jesus never once looked at a woman to lust after her. And through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteousness. By the grace of God in your life and in my life the word of God has been and is living and active. It has convinced us not to compare ourselves to the scribes and Pharisees, but to God. It has judged the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. It has brought us to our knees with broken and contrite hearts, and then it has lifted our hearts back up to God as the gospel has been proclaimed, and we are compelled to exclaim, The LORD is our righteousness! 2 9 ε ἰ δ ὲ ὁ ὀ φ θ α λ μ ό ς σ ο υ ὁ δ ε ξ ι ὸ ς σ κ α ν δ α λ ί ζ ε ι σ ε ἔ ξ ε λ ε α ὐ τ ὸ ν κ α ὶ β ά λ ε ἀ π ὸ σ ο ῦ οφθαλµοσ from the verb οραω, meaning to see. σκανδαλιζει 3 rd person singular present active indicative of σκανδαλιζω, meaning to cause to err.
7 εξελε 2 nd person singular aorist active imperative of εξαιρεω, meaning to take out, rip out βαλε 2 nd person singular aorist active imperative of βαλλω, meaning to throw away, to cast. Translation: If your eye, the right one, causes you to err, rip it out and cast if from you.. Commentary: I see that every one of you still has his right eye. Yet every one of you nodded your head in agreement when earlier I said that we all have been guilty of looking at a woman to lust after her. Then why do I still have my right eye? And why do you have yours? Don t I want to obey Jesus? No, I don t. I don t want to gouge out my right eye. Why would Jesus tell me to do such an outlandish thing? Maybe you, too, have heard the explanation that unnerves me. Well, Jesus didn t really mean that. He just said that to show us that nothing is more important in life than the danger of going to hell. OK. I accept the fact he s trying to impress on us how serious sin is. But to say that he really didn t mean it? Is that the Lord you have grown to know? A Lord who doesn t mean what he says? I don t think so. No, he meant what he said when he told me to rip out my right eye and throw it away. But I m not going to do that. And I don t think you are either. Then why did he say it? Could it be that, in his attempt to convince his disciples that they shouldn t compare themselves to the scribes and Pharisees to see how righteous they had to be to get to heaven, that instead of comparing themselves to them, they should instead compare themselves to God? And with these unnerving words, could it be that he is showing us how righteous God is? Jesus would have ripped out his right eye and thrown it away, if it had ever caused him to err. You want proof? He let soldiers beat him in the face with a club and rip
8 open the skin on his back, and he didn t order a band of angels to shove the whips down the soldiers throats. There s got to be a reason why Jesus in this verse and in verses yet to come told us to do such outrageous things. And I believe the reason is that he is showing us how righteous God is. Remember the bookends. You ve got to be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees on the left. Be as righteous as God is on the right. And in the middle, a vivid demonstration of how righteous God is. σ υ μ φ έ ρ ε ι γ ά ρ σ ο ι ἵ ν α ἀ π ό λ η τ α ι ἓ ν τ ῶ ν μ ε λ ῶ ν σ ο υ κ α ὶ μ ὴ ὅ λ ο ν τ ὸ σ ῶ μ ά σ ο υ β λ η θ ῇ ε ἰ ς γ έ ε ν ν α ν. 3 0 κ α ὶ ε ἰ ἡ δ ε ξ ι ά σ ο υ χ ε ὶ ρ σ κ α ν δ α λ ί ζ ε ι σ ε, ἔ κ κ ο ψ ο ν α ὐ τ ὴ ν κ α ὶ β ά λ ε ἀ π ὸ σ ο ῦ σ υ μ φ έ ρ ε ι γ ά ρ σ ο ι ἵ ν α ἀ π ό λ η τ α ι ἓ ν τ ῶ ν μ ε λ ῶ ν σ ο υ κ α ὶ μ ὴ ὅ λ ο ν τ ὸ σ ῶ μ ά σ ο υ ε ἰ ς γ έ ε ν ν α ν ἀ π έ λ θ ῃ. συµφερει 3 rd advantageous person singular present indicative of συµφερω meaning to be αποληται 3 rd person singular aorist middle subjunctive of απολλυµι meaning to be utterly destroyed βληθη 3 rd person singular aorist passive subjunctive of βαλλω meaning to throw, to cast εκκοψον 2 nd person singular aorist active imperative of εκκοπτω meaning to cut off απελθη 3 rd away person singular aorist subjunctive of απερχοµαι meaning to go Translation: For it is advantageous for you that one of your body parts should be utterly destroyed and not that your whole body should be thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to err, cut if off and cast if
9 from you. For it is advantageous for you that one of your body parts should be destroyed and not that your whole body should go away into Gehenna. Commentary: You all, like me, also still have your right hand. You can t tell me that your right hand has never caused you to sin. Taking things you shouldn t have. Touching things that are forbidden to touch. Making obscene gestures to express your anger. If your right hand has never caused you to sin, then you must have been comatose during your teenage years. Again, I agree that Jesus is impressing on us that nothing not even a body part is more important in life than making sure our sinfulness doesn t end us up in hell. To do that as emphatically as he could, he again said something that sounds utterly outrageous. Cut off your hand! Well, I don t want to do that. And I m not going to do that. And neither are you. I m not that righteous. And neither are you. But God is. Remember the right bookend. When human hands nailed the hands of Jesus to a crossbeam, it wasn t the soldiers hands that held the divine hands tight. It was God s hands. That s how holy and loving God is. That s how righteous Jesus was for us. When God laid on him the iniquity of us all and made Jesus the biggest and worst sinner in his sight that God had ever seen, Jesus cut off more than his right hand to save us from hell. He cut off his life. Again, I don t know if the view I offer about how to understand these outrageous statements of Jesus is correct. I ll back down, if anyone chooses to challenge this view. But I ve struggled with these words of Jesus for years. So have other pastors. So have our members. Plenty of them. And the conclusion I ve come to is that, unless you approach these statements with the view I have proposed, your only other option is to say, Jesus didn t really mean that. Please, that I never want to hear.
10 3 8 ἠ κ ο ύ σ α τ ε ὅ τ ι ἐ ρ ρ έ θ η ὀ φ θ α λ μ ὸ ν ἀ ν τ ὶ ὀ φ θ α λ μ ο ῦ κ α ὶ ὀ δ ό ν τ α ἀ ν τ ὶ ὀ δ ό ν τ ο ς. 3 9 ἐ γ ὼ δ ὲ λ έ γ ω ὑ μ ῖ ν μ ὴ ἀ ν τ ι σ τ ῆ ν α ι τ ῷ π ο ν η ρ ῷ ἀ λ λ ' ὅ σ τ ι ς σ ε ῥ α π ί ζ ε ι ε ἰ ς τ ὴ ν δ ε ξ ι ὰ ν σ ι α γ ό ν α σ ο υ, σ τ ρ έ ψ ο ν α ὐ τ ῷ κ α ὶ τ ὴ ν ἄ λ λ η ν 4 0 κ α ὶ τ ῷ θ έ λ ο ν τ ί σ ο ι κ ρ ι θ ῆ ν α ι κ α ὶ τ ὸ ν χ ι τ ῶ ν ά σ ο υ λ α β ε ῖ ν ἄ φ ε ς α ὐ τ ῷ κ α ὶ τ ὸ ἱ μ ά τ ι ο ν 4 1 κ α ὶ ὅ σ τ ι ς σ ε ἀ γ γ α ρ ε ύ σ ε ι μ ί λ ι ο ν ἕ ν ὕ π α γ ε μ ε τ ' α ὐ τ ο ῦ δ ύ ο. 4 2 τ ῷ α ἰ τ ο ῦ ν τ ί σ ε δ ό ς κ α ὶ τ ὸ ν θ έ λ ο ν τ α ἀ π ὸ σ ο ῦ δ α ν ί σ α σ θ α ι μ ὴ ἀ π ο σ τ ρ α φ ῇ ς. ηκουσατε 2 nd hear person singular aorist active indicative of ακουω, meaning to ερρεθη 3 rd person singular aorist passive indicative of ρεω meaning to say αντιστηναι aorist infinitive of ανθιστηµι meaning to resist, to oppose ραπιζει 3 rd person singular future passive subjunctive of ραπιζω meaning to strike with the palm of the hand, to slap στρεψον 2 nd person sing aorist active imperative of στρεφω meaning to turn θελοντι dative singular masculine present participle of θελω meaning to want κριθηναι aorist passive infinitive of κρινω meaning to take to court λαβειν aorist active infinitive of λαµβανω meaning to take αφεσ 2 nd person singular aorist imperative of αφιηµι meaning to give up, to yield αγγαρευσει 3 rd person singular future indicative of αγγγαρευω meaning to press, to compel, to force υπαγε 2 nd person singular present imperative of υπαγω meaning to go away αιτουντι dative singular masculine present active participle of αιτεω meaning to ask δοσ 2 nd person singular aorist active imperative of διδωµι meaning to give
αποστραφησ 2 nd person singular aorist passive of αποστρεφω meaning to turn away δανισασθαι aorist middle infinitive of δανειζω meaning to borrow money Translation: You heard that it was said, eye over against eye, and tooth over against tooth. But I tell you not to resist the bad guy. But if someone should slap you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And to the person who wants to drag you to court and to take your underwear, give up to him also your outer garment. And whoever will force you one mile, go away with him two. And to the one asking you, give, and do not turn away the one who wants to borrow money from you. Commentary: Jesus states the law that had been taught for centuries and the law that was still currently being taught by the scribes and Pharisees: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. That was the civil law God had established for Israel in Exodus 21. If I, willfully or unintentionally, blind you in one eye, I deserve to have my eye blinded. If I knock out one of your teeth, you can knock out one of mine. Retaliation. Vengeance. Restitution. Then he uses three examples to teach his disciples that perfect righteousness isn t like that civil law. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, don t retaliate. Offer to let him slap you on the left cheek, too. If someone sues you to get your underwear, give him your sportcoat, too. If someone kidnaps you and forces you to go one mile, go two. And then Jesus tells us to be generous. In all three examples Jesus tells us that, if someone hurts us in some way, we should let that person hurt us again. In each case the one who is hurt should welcome a double hurt. In the weeks after 9-11 I read one editorial comment after another in the Houston Chronicle, all letters from Christian people who said that, in their opinion, as Christians, we should turn the other cheek to the Islamic terrorists. And in each case it was obvious that the writer understood the term turn the other cheek to mean forgive. When, I ask, when in the history of the church did turn the other cheek begin to mean forgive? After reading enough of those editorials, I decided to write an article in our local paper in The Woodlands about what turning the other cheek really means. At a recent meeting of a synodical board a presentation was given on conflict resolution and reconciliation in the congregation. A number of times the presentation encouraged congregation members to turn the other cheek to help bring about reconciliation and peace in the congregation. After the presentation, during the discussion time, I said that I don t understand what helpful role turning the other cheek could possibly play in conflict resolution. I said, Please let me 11
use this example. If a husband punches his wife in the right cheek, how do they as a couple resolve their conflict if the wife says to her husband, Honey, punch me in the left cheek, too? I don t get this. The presenter responded by saying that to turn the other cheek means to forgive. I said, No it doesn t. It means that, if someone hurts you in some way, offer to let him hurt you again. A pastor in the group looked at me and said, That s just the way you interpret those words, Mark. Jesus is telling us to forgive. My response? No, Jesus is telling us to let someone who hurts us hurt us again. That is what he is saying. Read his words. That truth is reinforced by his next two examples. He doesn t say, If someone takes your underwear, forgive. He says, If someone takes your underwear, also give him your coat. And he doesn t say, If someone forces you to go one mile, forgive. He says, Don t go one, go two. If you are saying that he is telling us to forgive when he says turn the other cheek, then you are the one who is interpreting his words, not me. In all three examples Jesus tells us to welcome double hurt from the bad guy. But I don t want to turn the other cheek, and I won t. I don t want to give the thief both my undergarment and my outer garment. Then I ll be naked. And I won t give them to him. I don t want to go twice as far with someone who is forcing me, and I won t do it. I m not that righteous. But God is. Jesus, the Creator, not only took it from his creatures. He suffered double hurt, the cruelest hurt of all. He let himself be forsaken by his Father. He is that righteous. Compare yourself to him. 4 3 ἠ κ ο ύ σ α τ ε ὅ τ ι ἐ ρ ρ έ θ η ἀ γ α π ή σ ε ι ς τ ὸ ν π λ η σ ί ο ν σ ο υ κ α ὶ μ ι σ ή σ ε ι ς τ ὸ ν ἐ χ θ ρ ό ν σ ο υ. 4 4 ἐ γ ὼ δ ὲ λ έ γ ω ὑ μ ῖ ν ἀ γ α π ᾶ τ ε τ ο ὺ ς ἐ χ θ ρ ο ὺ ς ὑ μ ῶ ν κ α ὶ π ρ ο σ ε ύ χ ε σ θ ε ὑ π ὲ ρ τ ῶ ν δ ι ω κ ό ν τ ω ν ὑ μ ᾶ ς, 4 5 ὅ π ω ς γ έ ν η σ θ ε υ ἱ ο ὶ τ ο ῦ π α τ ρ ὸ ς ὑ μ ῶ ν τ ο ῦ ἐ ν ο ὐ ρ α ν ο ῖ ς, ὅ τ ι τ ὸ ν ἥ λ ι ο ν α ὐ τ ο ῦ ἀ ν α τ έ λ λ ε ι ἐ π ὶ π ο ν η ρ ο ὺ ς κ α ὶ ἀ γ α θ ο ὺ ς κ α ὶ β ρ έ χ ε ι ἐ π ὶ δ ι κ α ί ο υ ς κ α ὶ ἀ δ ί κ ο υ ς. 4 6 ἐ ὰ ν γ ὰ ρ ἀ γ α π ή σ η τ ε τ ο ὺ ς ἀ γ α π ῶ ν τ α ς ὑ μ ᾶ ς, τ ί ν α μ ι σ θ ὸ ν ἔ χ ε τ ε ; ο ὐ χ ὶ κ α ὶ ο ἱ τ ε λ ῶ ν α ι τ ὸ α ὐ τ ὸ π ο ι ο ῦ σ ι ν ; 4 7 κ α ὶ ἐ ὰ ν ἀ σ π ά σ η σ θ ε τ ο ὺ ς ἀ δ ε λ φ ο ὺ ς ὑ μ ῶ ν μ ό ν ο ν, τ ί π ε ρ ι σ σ ὸ ν π ο ι ε ῖ τ ε ; ο ὐ χ ὶ κ α ὶ ο ἱ ἐ θ ν ι κ ο ὶ τ ὸ α ὐ τ ὸ π ο ι ο ῦ σ ι ν ; 4 8 ἔ σ ε σ θ ε ο ὖ ν ὑ μ ε ῖ ς τ έ λ ε ι ο ι ὡ ς ὁ π α τ ὴ ρ ὑ μ ῶ ν ὁ ο ὐ ρ ά ν ι ο ς τ έ λ ε ι ό ς ἐ σ τ ι ν. 12 αγαπησεισ 2 nd person singular future active indicative of αγαπαω meaning to love. µισησεισ 2 nd detest. person singular future active indicative of µισεω meaning to
13 αγαπατε 2 nd person plural present imperative of αγαπαω meaning to love. προσευχεσθε 2 nd person plural present imperative of προσευχοµαι meaning to pray. διωκοντων genitive plural masculine present active participle of διωκω meaning to persecute. γενησθε 2 nd person plural aorist subjunctive of γινοµαι meaning to be. ανατελλει 3 rd person singular present indicative of ανατελλω meaning to cause to rise. βρεχει 3 rd person singular present indicative of βρεχω meaning to rain. αγαπησητε 2 nd person plural aorist subjunctive of αγαπαω meaning to love. αγαπωντασ accusative plural masculine present participle of αγαπαω meaning to love. εχετε 2 nd person plural present active indicative of εχω meaning to have. ποιουσιν 3 rd person plural present active indicative of ποιεω meaning to do. ασπασθησθε 2 nd person plural aorist subjunctive of ασπαζοµαι meaning to greet, to welcome. ποιειτε 2 nd person plural present active indicative of ποιεω meaning to do. ποιουσιν 3 rd person plural present active indicative of ποιεω meaning to do. εσεσθε 2 nd person plural future indicative of ειµι meaning to be. εστιν 3 rd person singular present active indicative of ειµι meaning to be. Translation: You heard that it was said, You will love your neighbor and you will detest your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you in order that you might be sons of your Father in the heavens, since he causes his sun to rise on bad and good, and he rains on righteous and unrighteous. For if you should love the ones who love you, what reward do you have? Don t even tax collectors do that? And if you only welcome your brothers, what are you doing over and above? Don t the heathen even do that? You will, therefore, be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Commentary: Love your enemies. Oh my. The word is agape. Oh my. 14 Ουτωσ γαρ ηγαπησεν ο θεοσ τον κοσµον, ωστε εδωκεν... For God loved the world so much that he gave.. Oh my. Agape. He GAVE the Son, the one and only one Like God, I only have one son. His name is Peter. He s in the army at Fort Knox, KY. He spent one year of tour in Korea, just four miles south of the DMZ. He s been in the army for three years. He s never been sent to Iraq. Never been sent to Afghanistan. Not even Kuwait. He recently reenlisted for four more years. As a result, the army let him choose where he wanted to take his wife and live for the next three years. He chose Hawaii. I said, Boy, Peter, that was tough, huh? Iraq or Hawaii? When my son went into the army, I did a bunch of soul-searching. I decided that I would be willing to give up my son to get rid of Saddam Hussein. I hated that man. He was my enemy, and the enemy of millions of people. I did not love my enemy. I couldn t, no matter how I tried. And I was willing to give up my son to get rid of him. But I am NOT willing to give up my son to establish democracy for a nation of Islamic people that don t have a clue about what freedom means, since their culture and life is dominated by bondage to Allah. I don t agape Islamic terrorists. I don t. I can t. I don t even want to. But Jesus said I should. I love my new associate, Andy. He knows that. But, unfortunately, it s only φιλεω. It s not αγαπη. Andy, I would NEVER give up my son for you. NEVER! And you would NEVER give up your son, Maddox, for me. I know you wouldn t. If we were both in our studies at church, and Maddox was playing in the nursery across the hall, and a gunman came into the church and pointed his gun at me, I know for a fact that you would not run to the nursery, pick up Maddox and hold him between the gunman and me, so that the bullet would go through his heart instead of mine. You don t agape me. I don t agape you. But God demonstrates his own αγαπη for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Can we ever get over that? Can we ever fathom that? Can we ever even begin to understand that kind of love? And can you love, not your enemies, but even your friends with that kind of love? God did. I can t. I don t. I don t even want to. Be as perfect as God is. Oh, wow. I can t. I m not. I want to be, and yet I don t want to be. It costs too much. And I m not willing to give up my son.
Does that make me guilty of loving my son or daughter more than Jesus? Yes. Guilty as charged. The good I want to do, I do not do. And the evil I do not want to do, that s what I keep on doing. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God! He gave up his one and only Son to redeem me from every moment of my wretched life. Thanks be to God that in baptism he nailed my wretchedness to the cross and, as Pastor Otto Heier poured water on my head three times in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, God saw my sinful nature die forever. Thanks be to God that the Lord comes to me every day through the gospel and assures me that he sees me as white as snow, even when I m asleep, dreaming about things I don t want anyone to know. Thanks be to God that he regularly comes to me in person, in his flesh and blood, given and poured out for me for the forgiveness of my wretched sins. Thanks be to God! When I read the words of Jesus in Matthew, chapter 5, there s only one place I run to. The cross. The bookend on the left: your righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees. Then: Have you called someone a fool? Ok, I m guilty. But he deserved it. Did you look at a woman to lust after her? Well, you committed adultery. Again, guilty. But I can t help it. Has your right eye caused you to sin? Then gouge it out. But I don t want to. And I m not going to. Has your right hand caused you to sin? Then cut it off. But I don t want to. And I m not going to. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, ask him to slap you on the left cheek, too. No. I m not going to do that. I don t want to. If someone steals your underwear, give him your sport coat, too. Nope. I don t want to do that. And I m not going to do that. If someone kidnaps you and takes you away, ask him to take you twice as far away. Not going to happen. I don t want to do that. Agape your enemies. Fat chance that you re going to get that kind of love out of me. 15
I m not that righteous. But God is. 16 The bookend on the right: You will be perfect, therefore, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. I don t know if what is said in this paper has any merit. Like I ve said a couple of times already, If someone disagrees with what I am saying here, I ll gladly take it all back. But I ve struggled with these verses for my entire ministry. And so have many of the people whom God has given me to serve. And what I offer here is the only sense I can make out of the statements Jesus makes in these verses. I don t ever again want to hear a WELS pastor say, But Jesus didn t mean what he said. What? Did he also not mean it when he said, I the Lord your God am a jealous God? I also don t ever again want to hear a WELS pastor imply that we can actually do the righteous acts Jesus commands in these verses. I believe that is the height of moralizing. And so I am left with only one conclusion. That Jesus begins with the left bookend, and to get his hearers to the right bookend, he tells us how outrageously righteous we must be. His words convince us that we can t be that way, and that we don t even want to be that righteous. But God is. And as righteous as God is, that s how righteous we must be to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yikes! Thank you, Lord, for the new covenant. To you be the glory!