+ 6th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 12th, 2023 +
Series A: Deuteronomy 30:15-20; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
That’s what our Lord said before he gave the 10 commandments on Mt. Sinai. Before the thunder, lightning, and trumpets. He did this so that his people would always know he is the God who saves. That his people know they belong to him. That he would be faithful to his promise even when, not if, when they made a royal mess of living in his commands. Yes, you broke the 1st commandment, and all the rest. You sinned. You deserved punishment. But instead God says, go back to the beginning. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Jesus begins his sermon on the mount in the same way and for the same reasons. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You are blessed; you are salt and light; you are righteous in Jesus. Jesus says this at the beginning of his sermon on the mount so that when you hear the rest of his sermon (especially vs 21-48), you will know that he is your Lord and your God, so you know all he has done for you, so that when, not if, when you make a royal mess of his living in his commands, that he will always be faithful to you. As we hear Jesus’ sermon on the mount this morning that’s important to remember.
Last week, we heard Jesus say, I have not come to abolish the Law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. Today we hear Jesus expound the true meaning of his Law. He intensifies it, like a magnify glass. He gives the proper, authoritative understanding of his Law.
When Jesus preaches the Law, he isn’t giving us a prescription for righteousness, but what righteousness looks like in him. Jesus’ Law isn’t a stairway to heaven, more like a doctor with a microscope, zooming in, further, deeper, down to find the bacteria; like a biopsy needle stuck in to find the cancer. Jesus preaches his Law not to reveal how we become his righteous disciples; but to reveal our unrighteousness.
With each commandment, Jesus moves from action to attitude, from outward compliance to inward attitude, from orientation to God and neighbor to the orientation of the heart. In each instance, Jesus goes from the outward sin to the inward sinfulness, from the symptom to the underlying disease. The problem is not simply that we do bad things, but that we are corrupted by Sin.
Here in his sermon on the mount, Jesus gives his Law once again. Only this time the peals of thunder and flash of lightning come not from the clouds, but from Jesus’ mouth.
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ “Well, that’s not so bad, right? I haven’t stabbed, strangled or slain anyone.” “Not so fast,” Jesus says. But I say to you that everyone who is angry( yes, angry) with his brother will be liable to judgment and whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Jesus’ words are meant to shock us. Jesus intensifies the Law for us. We may not have a bloody knife in our hand or a shovel in our trunk, but we’re murderers. You can murder someone – that is take away their life – by your words. Jesus goes deeper than that, though, doesn’t he. Deeds. Words, and thoughts. Anger. Bitterness. Hatred. According to Jesus’ preaching of the Law every one of us is murderer. And if Jesus hadn’t become the murderer in our place, the hell of fire would be ours. But Barabbas the murderer goes free as Jesus goes to His innocent death for you.
Jesus continues. The 6th commandment. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’” Again, we fool ourselves into thinking we’ve kept this commandment too. Remember all those guys lined up to stone the woman caught in adultery? Let the guilty cast the first stone, Jesus said. Jesus lowers his microscope all the way down to our sinful hearts. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
That’s right. Just a look. Doesn’t matter if it’s in person, online, or at the store. We’re all guilty. You could be celibate all your life, or the perfect, faithful husband or wife, but just one look is all it takes, and the commandment is broken. According to Jesus’ preaching of the Law, we’re all adulterers too.
Jesus uses his Law like the Cobra Kai karate motto says. Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy. God in his law offers no mercy. No quarter. No wiggle room. Had our Lord, not come to be our holy, righteous, and pure bridegroom, and sacrificed himself we’d be all be done for. But Christ the bridegroom has come; he gave his life for you, cleansed you by his water and word, and presents you to God the Father as pure, holy, and in splendor, without any spot or wrinkle.
Jesus moves to the 8th commandment. Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’
This one seems easy…at first. “I’m an honest person, maybe just a white lie here or there.” But then Jesus drops his Law foot onto our prideful bubble. But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Don’t swear at all – by heaven, by the earth, by the hairs of your head. The very fact that we have to swear an oath at all means that we’re natural-born liars. We’re put under oath to ensure we don’t lie. Half-truths and untruths come out much more easily than the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We’re always the hero of our own narrative. History gets rewritten in our minds to vindicate ourselves. Jesus’ preaching of the Law reveals that we’re all liars on top of everything else.
For this reason, Jesus is the Truth of God incarnate. Jesus suffered the false accusations and lies of humanity. In becoming our Sin, the One who is the Truth became the Lie in order to rescue liars from the father of lies.
After hearing Jesus’ preaching on just three of the commandments, we realize, “I haven’t kept those commandments at all, not even a little.” Jesus’ sermon reveals that we’re all murderers, adulterers, and liars. Jesus leaves us nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to turn to except to him.
That’s exactly where he’s been leading us all along, to see our sin and confess, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner. And then, like Moses in the rock, take refuge in the wounds of Christ. Like the people of Israel, you are covered by the blood of the Lamb.
Whether it’s on Mt. Sinai, or in his Sermon on the Mount, whenever our Lord gives us his law, it’s not given as a ladder to climb into heaven, not as a golden ticket into the chocolate factory, not a teddy bear you snuggle up to. Our Lord intensifies his Law in order to put our sin to death.
And he puts our sin to death in order to raise us to life in his life, death, and resurrection.
For where our sin abounded, God’s grace to you in Christ abounded all the more. Where God’s Law reveals the depths of our sin, Jesus dies and rises to reveal the greater depth of his mercy and grace to you. No matter how great our sin, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to pay for your sins is greater. No matter how deep our sinful corruption goes, the grace of God in Christ goes deeper. No matter how many times we fail to keep God’s commands, for all the times we’ve been guilty of murder, adultery, and lies, Jesus stands as the one who has kept all of God’s Law for you. Jesus withstood the intensity of God’s wrath on the cross for you. Jesus gives you his righteousness freely, abundantly, graciously.
When we fail to keep God’s Law, go back to what Jesus said at the beginning. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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