Essay Sample on The Teachings of Matthew 5: 21 - 48

Introduction

In the book of Matthew 5: 21 - 48, the structure of Jesus' sayings have the same pattern, "You have heard that it was said (by God) to those of the old, but I say unto you." This style and structure repeat itself in six paragraphs, which have similar parallels with the teachings of Luke's sermon on the plain. The phrase "but I say unto you" seems to be in opposition to the teachings of the Torah and that is why they are referred to as the "Antitheses" (Simmons, 2015). The function of Antitheses is to show the kind of behavior and attitude that is required by Jesus to his disciples and the demands of ethical standards (Simmons, 2015). These verses 21 - 48 teach about major topics such as murder, adultery, oaths, retaliation, love for enemies and divorce. The teachings of Jesus led to the important question of what was Jesus' view of the law. The law meant everything to the Jews, and Jesus had no desire to abolish it but to fulfill it. He taught about righteousness saying that it does not come from the law, but it comes within as he taught about Beatitudes. This essay will illustrate how Jesus uses examples of the law as illustrated in the paragraphs and explains exactly how we should relate to the Old Testament Law.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The first paragraph talks about murder, and it is found in the book of Matthew 5: 21-26, and it states, "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or a sister will be subject to judgment." (Matthew 5: 21 - 22 New International Version). In this paragraph, Jesus uses anger to suggest a kind of malice that is nursed inwardly, anger that makes us destroyers instead of builders. This paragraph illustrates how anger makes us prisoners and robs us of our freedom because even the least act of hating someone makes us murderers in our hearts (Baasland, 2015). Jesus goes further to give us directions on how to go about anger and reconcile with our brothers and sisters. He advises that we are to settle matters quickly with our adversaries. This paragraph teaches us how to handle matters when we are offended by our brothers and sisters, and that we should take action to reconcile rather than paying evil with evil as stated in Romans 12: 17 - 18 (Baasland, 2015). This paragraph teaches us how to live with peace with ourselves for forgiving those who make us angry. This paragraph provides that murder is wrong, so is rage and her. In order to avoid getting angry or breeding hate and arrogance, we should love our neighbors.

The second paragraph teaches us about adultery, and it is in verses 27 - 30. It provides that "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5: 27 - 28). In this paragraph, it is clear that Jesus raises the bar too high when it comes to righteousness because He does not only talk about our external actions or the outside rules but our hearts (Baasland, 2015). According to the teachings, it is one thing to obey the rules in place, but a different thing altogether to do it with the right state of mind, attitude, and motivation. The scripture reassures us that God is only interested in our hearts. This paragraph illustrates this point by using hyperbole in the sense that if our eye or hand causes us to sin, then we should get rid of them.

The teachings of verses 27 - 30 teaches us that we should purify our hearts, and replace lust and thirst with righteousness. Instead of filling our hearts with things that cause us to sin, we must feed ourselves spiritually to hunger for God, because it is not easy to will away sinful thoughts, but it is much easier to replace them with a hunger for God (Baasland, 2015). We should allow our hearts to be filled and purified with the teachings and hunger for God because lust begins in the heart. This paragraph teaches us how we should occupy our hearts with righteousness in order to avoid lustful thinking and adultery.

The third paragraph teaches about divorce and is found in Matthew 5: 31 - 32 and it provides that, "It was also said, 'whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." (Matthew 5: 31 - 32). In the Old Testament, divorce was common practice and God through Moses instituted three regulations of divorce that stated that divorce was only allowed to protect the sanctity of marriage from indecency, protect the woman from a cruel husband and finally to document the status of a woman as legitimately divorced so that she was not thought to be a harlot (Baasland, 2015). These provisions gave room for divorce and women were divorced for very small reasons such as preparing bad dinner. Jesus in his teachings approves of God's intention of the institution of marriage that is depicted in Genesis 2: 24 of one man one woman; and the Mosaic regulation.

Jesus teaches that divorce causes adultery because an illicit divorce will turn the woman into an adulteress when she remarries. However, just like the Mosaic regulation, Jesus allows for grounds of divorce to protect the non-offending partner and prevent the institution of marriage from being a sham. This paragraph teaches us how to remain faithful and respect the marriage unions to avoid divorce. However, it also allows for an exception to divorce (Robertson, 2018). In as much as the law permits adultery, God does not really encourage because we use divorce to carry out our lasts. We should love our partners and avoid excuses to run out of our marriages to follow the lusts of the heart.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the teachings of Jesus as envisioned in the paragraphs provide for ways of living righteously. The teachings provide that in as much as we should obey the laws in place, we should have the right state of mind, motivation, and attitude because God is only interested with our hearts. We should find ways to purify our hearts and fill them with the teachings of God to avoid sinful temptations such as adultery and murder. The teachings about divorce encourage us to respect God's union and marriage and only divorce when we feel offended by marriage to avoid scam.

References

Baasland, E. (2015). Parables and Rhetoric in the Sermon on the Mount: New Approaches to a Classical Text (Vol. 351). Mohr Siebeck.

Robertson, A. T. (2018). A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ. BoD-Books on Demand.

Simmons, N. (2015). The warning of the six antitheses: A speech act analysis of Matthew 5: 21-48. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.