Matthew 5:33-48

Today marks our completion of Matthew chapter 5 but we are still only a 1/3rd of the way through the great Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave to His disciples. So far we have looked at the beatitudes (vv 1-12), some ethical beat downs (vv 13-20) and some contrasts between Jesus’ idea of ethical behavior and that of which the Jewish legalistic traditions taught to follow.
Basically Jesus has been telling us to live for God and not for ourselves.

Vows (vv 33-37)
Ecclesiastes 5:4-6
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.

In OT times oaths were commonplace in society. The verses above state the importance of keeping your vows to the Lord. In today's culture the practice of oath taking is not as important. How many million dollar athletes attempt to break a contract that they are no longer happy with? As stated in my blog on divorce, how many people break the contract of marriage on a regular basis? How much of the courts time is spent deliberating on broken vows and contracts? When was the last time you or I have broken a promise?

In these 5 short verses Jesus is telling us that His point here is integrity. Since God knows every word that we utter anyway, it is not necessary to make a vow to Him. And since God knows every word that we speak the issue here is telling the truth.

Revenge (vv 38-42)
The issue here is selfishness. We should live for God and not for ourselves. we should trust God so much that we should be willing to leave any vindication up to Him. There is nothing so important as showing we love God-not our honor or anything we might own.

Love for Enemies (vv 43-48)
Wow!! How hard is this one to swallow? "Love my enemies? Are you kidding me? How in the world am I supposed to do that?" This is actually a conversation I have had personally with God many times. And each time I go to Him with these questions He tells me, "Robert, you can't love them on your own. You need Me to help you with that."

"Pray for those that persecute me?? I don't know what to pray for!" This too is actual verbiage that I threw God's way several times recently. All I heard back was, "Just pray". So I prayed. I wasn't sure what to say and there was a lot of awkward silence between us but eventually I just said, "Lord I pray for (insert name here)! AMEN! Are You happy now?" As time went past my angry prayers became less about me and more about that person and their relationship with God. My selfishness was replaced with love for that person and you know what??? God answered my prayer concerning this person. What started out as legalistic shouts of indignation towards God became a tearstained conversation about someone. Through my prayers for someone who "persecuted" me my heart was softened and that person's heart was as well. Our lives were changed when I chose to obey God.

Perfect! (v 48)
Total devotion to God's purpose in this world. This is what Jesus is talking about when He convicts us to be perfect. Yes, we will fail and sin on occasion. We must repent, turn to God and continue to seek His purpose for us in this world. That is perfection.

Praise God for His grace and mercy!!

Have a good day.

God bless.