1514 | Matthew 5:21 Mureder
Murder 5:25,26pp // Lk 12:58,59
21“ You have heard that it was said to the peo ple long ago,‘ You shall not murder, a a and any one who mur ders will be sub ject to judg ment.’ 22 But I tell you that any one who is an gry with a broth er or sis ter b, c will be sub ject to judg ment. b Again, any one who says to a broth er or sis ter,‘ Raca,’ d is an swer able to the court. c And any one who says,‘ You fool!’ will be in dan ger of the fire of hell. d
23“ There fore, if you are of fer ing your gift at the al tar and there re mem ber that your broth er or sis ter has some thing against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the al tar. First go and be recon ciled to them; then come and of fer your gift.
25“ Set tle mat ters quick ly with your adver sary who is tak ing you to court. Do it while you are still to geth er on the way, or your ad ver sary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the of fi cer, and you may be thrown into pris on. 26 Tru ly I tell you, you will not get out un til you have paid the last pen ny.
Adultery 27“ You have heard that it was said,
‘ You shall not com mit adul tery.’ e e 28 But
5:21 a Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17
5:22 b 1Jn 3:15 c Mt 26:59
d Jas 3:6
5:27 e Ex 20:14; Dt 5:18
5:28 f Pr 6:25
5:29 g Mt 18:6, 8, 9; Mk 9:42-47
5:31 h Dt 24:1-4 5:32 i Lk 16:18
5:33 j Lev 19:12 k Nu 30:2;
Dt 23:21; Mt 23:16-22
I tell you that any one who looks at a wom an lust ful ly has al ready com mit ted adul tery with her in his heart. f 29 If your right eye caus es you to stum ble, g gouge it out and throw it away. It is bet ter for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand caus es you to stum ble, cut it off and throw it away. It is bet ter for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Divorce
31“ It has been said,‘ Any one who divorc es his wife must give her a cer tif i cate of di vorce.’ f h 32 But I tell you that any one who di vorc es his wife, ex cept for sex u al im mo ral i ty, makes her the vic tim of adul tery, and any one who mar ries a divorced wom an com mits adul tery. i
Oaths
33“ Again, you have heard that it was said to the peo ple long ago,‘ Do not break your oath, j but ful fill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ k 34 But I tell you, do not
a
21 Exodus 20:13 b
22 The Greek word for brother or sister( adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verse 23. c
22 Some manuscripts brother or sister without cause d
22 An Aramaic term of contempt e
27 Exodus 20:14 f
31 Deut. 24:1 body, and the purifying of social relations so that the disciple says yes to God with his or her entire person. The disciple bears the fruit of the Spirit in a life given to God that is being transformed to be like Jesus.
5:21 – 26 The fact that men and women have been created in the image of God lies behind these teachings. Jesus’ statement,“ but I tell you” introduces three ways that a person’ s life can be taken besides the physical act of murder. In each case, punishment is due.( 1) Anger is the source of murder.( 2) Calling another disciple an Aramaic term implying“ empty- headed.”( 3) Saying“ you fool” to a disciple. To treat a person with such contempt was to strip away their personal identity.
The expression“ fire of hell” is the English translation of Gehenna. It is from the Hebrew and means“ valley of the son of Hinnom.” This valley was where Ahaz and Manasseh sacrificed their sons to Molech( 2Ki 23:10). Later, the valley was used to burn refuse from Jerusalem. The constant burning made the valley an appropriate reference to fires of punishment. By the time of Jesus, the term was used to indicate the state of final punishment( cf. Mt 18:9). 5:27 – 30 It is not enough for spouses only to main-
UNCORRECTED PROOF
tain physical purity. The purity of marriage includes exclusive devotion to one another in every aspect of their lives.
Jesus does not advocate physical self- mutilation. Through dramatic figures of speech, he indicates the kind of rigorous self- discipline that committed disciples must display. 5:31 – 32 Since divorce was a widespread phenomenon in the ancient world, God instituted a regulation through Moses. Jesus goes back to God’ s original intention both for marriage and the Mosaic regulation. God intended marriage to be a permanent union of a man and woman in a“ one flesh” relationship( see Ge 2:24). God hates divorce, because an illicit divorce turns the spouses into adulterers when they remarry.
However, as did Moses, Jesus allows for an exception— namely, when a person has committed any sinful sexual activity that intentionally divides the marital relationship. Jesus allows divorce in this case to protect the nonoffending partner. 5:33 – 37 Jesus goes to the heart of the law’ s intent regarding oaths when he says that his disciples are not to swear“ at all.” Jesus is telling his disciples they should be people of such integrity and truthfulness that whatever they say is absolutely believable and dependable.