15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
“Geico—15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.” We have all heard that more times we can count. Something we all know as an advertising slogan. Starting with what people know is a good beginning. Jesus is doing much the same thing. He is starting with the Ten Commandments, rules every Jew would know and then he is reinterpreting them. He is not abolishing God’s law; he is not contradicting the rules rather he is transcending them. This discussion is all part of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has shared the beatitudes… blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Then he tells the people gathered they are salt of the earth and light of the world. Finally, we get this the first teaching from the 10 commandments, but he jumps right into the most poignant of “thou shall nots” – 6th and 7th commandment. Listen now for God’s word to you.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.
Have you ever thought, hey I am doing pretty well as a Christian? I pray, I am a good person and I keep the 10 commandments. If so, Jesus is speaking to you. The commandments, or words as they are sometimes called, are all there to draw us closer to God and for the wellbeing of society. They are the foundation of our laws and the beginning of God’s expectations, but Jesus is taking things to anew level. But so as to not reinforce an Old Testament bad and New Testament good idea, I want to share that these 10 words have been called love letters from God when the people of Israel needed God’s love and care the most. Talk about an inviting way to consider these rules, given to humanity so that we could be in more loving relationships with God and one another.
“You have heard it said, you shall not murder,” Jesus said. This I think we can all agree on. But what breathed new life into this law was Jesus saying anger and not just murder will make you liable. Your thoughts and feelings are as powerful as your actions. I can hear you say, but wait, you can’t hold me accountable for my thoughts and feelings. In a legal sense you are right. But Jesus is appealing to our higher nature and wants us to think beyond murderous actions and include anger and hatred. Jesus is challenging us to see all the ways we can grow into being more in line with God’s teaching.
Love Carved in Stone was the Bible study we shared on the Ten Commandments and it truly expanded my understanding of “Thou shall not murder.” The preceding command is Honor your Parents, that was reinterpreted as honor the life givers. Then “Thou shall not murder” becomes do not be a life taker. Honor the life givers, and do not be a life taker! That is profound. There are many faces of murder and we are to refuse any death-dealing behaviors like hate and fear. We can’t crush or bruise another’s spirit or dreams, we can’t destroy God’s creation because that is murdering God’s world. Thou shall not murder is more than not taking a life it is those snide comments we say to our spouse, the hurtful thoughts that we hold in judgement, the angry words that wound to the core.
Jesus adds his own teaching. If you are at odds with someone, angry let’s say, leave your offering and go make amends. Two reasons for this. We make offerings on a regular basis. So if we think about who we are at odds with, who we are angry with each time we make an offering we have an opportunity to make things right before we come to God. Is there someone you need to make amends to? Someone you hurt or yelled at; whom you would be well to say I am sorry? You can spend time during the offertory to reflect on that question, so you can make it right before returning to God. It is one of the reasons we have a prayer of confession every week, to confess before we make our offering.
Secondly Jesus wants us to be right before God before we give of ourselves. We all know how consuming bad blood or hurt feelings can be and how they can distract us from life. Jesus wants us to clear the air before coming to God so that we can be more fully present with our Creator, and not distracted by unresolved issues.
Adultery is another one of the Words, Commands, Jesus addressed. Once again it is not only the action, like murder or adultery, but the thoughts we have about another person that Jesus is asking us to look at. Your eye wanders, your thoughts go to places they shouldn’t. My question is can you appreciate beauty without being lustful? Can you become emotionally attached to another without becoming unfaithful? The term for this today might be having an emotional affair. In an emotional affair you never cross the line of adultery, but your thoughts were such that you were unfaithful emotionally to your partner, or you had lustful thoughts that were just as hurtful. The root word for adultery is “to cheapen” “to water down” (Love Carved in Stone, 2019, pg 74). When we look at our behavior through that lens it is easier to see what actions and thoughts cheapen a relationship with or without a lustful act.
I do need to mention there was a double standard for women when it came to adultery. If a man wandered, he just took another wife. If a woman wandered, she was to be stoned. There was a real reason for this, paternity was valued both for the faith and inheritance. But today I am grateful that Jesus’ words about cutting off a hand and throw it away is not Jesus only response to adultery. Yes, we are to hold that line well, but the hell Jesus mentioned is not the fiery one we think of. Rather “Gehenna” is the word and it refers to a valley near Jerusalem that was a trash dump. When we cross this line we are devaluing ourselves and hurting our relationship with God. In John 8, Jesus shares a word of grace when Pharisees bring an adulterous woman to him. They all wanted to stone her, but Jesus asked the crowd, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her (v. 7). As you recall, they all left having faced their own sin. Jesus does not condemn her but asks that she not do it again. Grace along with judgement.
We may check all the 10 commandments but let us remember Jesus is calling us to evaluate our thoughts and feelings as well as our behaviors so that we can be in right relationship with God. Amen
