In our last study, we saw that Christ had come to fulfill the
lofty demands of God’s Law. However,
this hopeful purpose was clouded by the inability of His people to keep the Law
perfectly and the Pharisee’s misinterpretation of God’s standards.
The religious leaders of the day tripped up on precisely
this point. The Pharisees believed and
taught wrongly that they could keep the law perfectly.
This was why John the Baptist was so harsh with them. Of course, we also
saw that one reason for this blindness was because they totally ignored the
sins of the heart. So, Jesus preached a
shocking message that entrance into God’s kingdom required a greater
righteousness than that of the legalistic Pharisees.
We looked at several of Jesus’ examples of this. The scribes
and Pharisees ignored sins of the heart like anger and lust which Jesus said
were just as evil as murder and adultery.
While the heart sin of covetousness, the tenth commandment, was known, it
had no prescribed penalty like the other points of the Law, because it involved
something hidden from all but God. It
was easy to ignore.
Jesus gave another couple examples of crucial
misinterpretations of the Law which failed to take the sins of the heart into
account. They even used the Law to
justify breaking the Law—as if the Law really contradicted itself!
1)
Look at Jesus’ correction of their teaching on divorce
under the Law in verses 31 & 32. The
Pharisees and the Sadducees argued with one another on just what constituted
grounds for divorce under the Law but they were both wrong.
The Sadducees tended be very relaxed and
saw divorce as a matter of convenience for the husband. The Pharisees argued that there should be
some actual grievance, but the Law, found in Deuteronomy 24:1-4, makes it clear
that Moses was regulating an existing practice that allowed for a divorce on
the grounds of “indecency (ESV).” So, if
there was some sort of immorality, the aggrieved husband was required to get a
certificate of divorce after proving this “indecency” before sending his spouse
away. And there was no going back. The point of the Law was to protect women
from being passed around like a prostitute on the word of a covetous spouse.
But the religious leaders were interpreting Moses as if he approved of
divorce for something the husband didn’t like!
But notice!
This “indecency” was a reference to some sort of sexual immorality. The word in Greek is porneia— related to the English word “pornography.” Based on Jesus’ words about lust just a few
verses back, He is focusing more on an issue of an unrepentant heart of lust
than he is on a single moment of passion.
By way of application, if a spouse has sinned against us, but is asking
for forgiveness, our response should include mercy and forgiveness for we have
been forgiven much ourselves. Furthermore,
Jesus would never condone divorce for our convenience or even “our
happiness.”
By the way, a pattern of unrepentant abuse
and family violence are also heart issues and may well fit into righteous
grounds for divorce but certainly not because we “finally found our soul mate.”
2)
Jesus next corrects their treatment of oath
keeping under the Law. Once again, the Pharisees broke one law to justify
another. This law is found in Leviticus
19:12, “You shall not swear by God’s name falsely.” A promise to God is sacred and must be
kept.
The Pharisees hijacked this law to force
someone to prove that they were telling the truth about something. They were looking to God to be their cosmic
cosigner—the guarantor of their words.
They knew better than to swear by God’s name so they used a
circumlocution and would swear by the gold of the temple, etc.
But Jesus is saying that God is not going
to endorse your words. If you are a
liar, you make God out to be a liar.
Your words ought to be able to stand on their own – especially if people
know you are trustworthy. This doesn’t
mean you can’t make a promise to God; just be sure to keep your promise.
By way of application, do we ever really
need to say things like, “To be honest . . .,” “To tell the truth . . .,” or
even, “As God is my witness . . .” While some of this is just idiomatic speech, when we think about it,
unless we are with people who do not know our reputation, we should be able to
just speak and be believed.
Swearing in court or before a government
official, probably should be viewed as an acknowledgment that, under threat of perjury, you are making this statement. It is a legal way for the judicial system to
identify statements which you certify to be true under threat of legal
consequences. They always allow you to
say, “I affirm” instead of “I so swear” if your conscience bothers you on this
point.
This is why we must be careful in our evaluation of
ourselves and others. God alone knows
what is in the heart of another and He considers it to be of equal importance
to what one sees on the outside.
© 2018 Eric H Thimell
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