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 o you have a sense of right and wrong? Years ago a young engineer was asked by a business associate if he would approve of his girl friend being murdered. The young engineer answered with, “No!” Yet, this young engineer claimed that there were no moral absolutes by which he or we should live. So he was asked why he objected to his girl friend being murdered? Where did he get his concept of right and wrong? Where do we get our concept of right and wrong? Most of us get our concept of right and wrong from our culture. Most religious people get their concept of right and wrong or righteousness and evil from their society and their church, synagogue, or temple. Society has a great influence on us, and it affects even religious people. It affects what we believe. Some Christians allow their pastors to influence their understanding of right and wrong because they do not know the Bible for themselves.
The Jewish people in Jesus’ day highly honored and respected their religious leaders. So it is not surprising that their understanding of the scriptures was influenced by their religious leaders too! Unfortunately, some of their teachings were wrong. So after Jesus presented the Beatitudes to those who were sitting on the hillside, He warned them “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). Then Jesus proceeded to correct some of the teachings of their religious leaders in six areas. Jesus gave them a pattern of righteousness that they should follow. We have studied five of them so far. Each one has been introduced by the words, “But I say.”
But I Say. In the first five “But I say”, Jesus called us to live in peace with others, to sexually enjoy one’s spouse, to remain married, to keep commitments, and to be willing to yield our rights. In this study we will explore Jesus’ sixth correction of the religious leaders’ teachings. You have heard that it was said, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you . . . (NASB) Matt. 5:43-44 Jesus apparently started by quoting a teaching of the religious leaders,
since He says, “You have heard.” The teaching of the Pharisees
was horrible. They would start with something familiar and then add something
of their own thinking that was wrong.
The first part of the statement was true, “You shall love your neighbor.” It came from Leviticus 19:18. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. (NASB) Lev. 19:18 |
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | |||||
