The next item on Jesus’ list of grievances was a Pharisaic perversion of a very well-known verse in the Old Testament. We have already considered this passage in the chapter about biblical interpretation.

You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (Matt. 5:38-42).

The Law of Moses declared that when a person was found guilty in court of injuring another person, his punishment should be equivalent to the harm he caused. If he knocked out someone’s tooth, in fairness and justice, his tooth should be knocked out. This commandment was given to insure that justice would be served in court cases for major offenses. However, once again, the scribes and Pharisees had twisted it, turning it into a commandment that made obtaining revenge a holy obligation. Apparently, they had adopted a “zero tolerance” policy, seeking revenge for even the smallest offenses.

God, however, has always expected more from His people. Revenge is something He expressly forbade (see Deut. 32:35). The Old Testament taught that God’s people should show kindness to their enemies (see Ex. 23:4-5; Prov. 25:21-22). Jesus endorsed this truth by telling His disciples to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile when dealing with evil people. When we are wronged, God wants us to be merciful, returning good for evil.

But does Jesus expect us to allow people to take gross advantage of us, allowing them to ruin our lives if they desire? Is it wrong to take a nonbeliever to court, seeking justice for an illegal act committed against us? No. Jesus was not talking about obtaining due justice for major offenses in court, but about getting personal revenge for petty, ordinary infractions. Notice that Jesus did not say that we should offer our neck for strangling to someone who has just stabbed us in the back. He didn’t say we should give someone our house when they demand our car. Jesus was simply telling us to show tolerance and mercy to a high degree when we daily encounter petty offenses and the normal challenges of dealing with selfish people. He wants us to be more kind than selfish people expect, and to be unselfish with our money, generously giving and lending it. To that standard, the scribes and Pharisees didn’t come close.

Why are so many professing Christians so easily offended? Why are they so quickly upset by offenses that are ten times smaller than being slapped on the cheek? Are these people saved? The disciple-making minister sets an example of turning the other cheek, and he teaches his disciples to do the same.

Jesus’ next set of commandments to His followers concerns the sins of judging and faultfinding:

Do not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye (Matt. 7:1-5).

Although Jesus didn’t directly or indirectly indict the scribes and Pharisees in this passage, they were certainly guilty of the sin under consideration; they found fault with Him!

What exactly did Jesus mean in this warning against judging others?

First, let us consider what He did not mean. He did not mean that we should not be discerning and make fundamental determinations about people’s character by observing their actions. That is quite clear. Directly after this section, Jesus instructed His disciples not to cast their pearls to pigs or give what is holy to dogs (see 7:6). He was obviously speaking figuratively of certain kinds of people, referring to them as pigs and dogs, people who don’t appreciate the value of the holy things, “pearls,” they are being given. They are obviously unsaved people. And obviously, we must judge if people are pigs and dogs if we are to obey this commandment.

Moreover, Jesus shortly told His followers how to judge false teachers, “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (see 7:15), by inspecting their fruit. Clearly, in order to obey Jesus’ instructions we must observe people’s lifestyles and make judgments.

Similarly, Paul told the Corinthian believers:

I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one (1 Cor. 5:11).

To obey this instruction requires that we examine people’s lifestyles and make judgments about them based on what we observe.

The apostle John also told us that we can easily discern who is of God and who is of the devil. By looking at people’s lifestyles, it is obvious who is saved and who is unsaved (see 1 John 3:10).

All of this being so, discerning people’s character by examining their actions and judging if they belong to God or the devil is not the sin of judging against which Christ warned. So what did Jesus mean?

Notice that Jesus was talking about finding small faults, specs, with a brother (note that Jesus uses the word brother three times in this passage). Jesus was not warning us against judging people to be unbelievers by observing their glaring faults, as He will shortly instruct us to do in this very sermon. These are instructions for how Christians should treat Christians. They should not be finding little faults with one another, and this is especially so when they themselves are blind to their own larger faults. In such cases, they are hypocritical. As Jesus once said to a crowd of hypocritical judges, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone” (John 8:7).

The apostle James, whose epistle often parallels the Sermon on the mount, similarly wrote, “Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door” (Jas. 5:9). Perhaps this also helps us to understand something of what Jesus was warning against—finding faults with fellow believers and then broadcasting what we’ve found, complaining against one another. This is one of the most prevalent sins in the church, and those who are guilty place themselves in a dangerous position of being judged. When we speak against a fellow believer, pointing out his faults to others, we’re violating the golden rule, because we don’t want others to speak ill of us in our absence.

We may lovingly approach a fellow believer about his or her fault, but only when we can do so without hypocrisy, certain that we are not guilty (or more guilty) of the same sin of the one we confront. It is, however, a complete waste of time to do so with unbeliever, which seems to be subject of the next verse. Jesus said,

Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces (Matt. 7:6).

Similarly, a proverb says, “Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you, Reprove a wise man, and he will love you” (Proverbs 9:8).

Finally, Jesus listed one more God-given commandment that the scribes and Pharisees had altered to accommodate their hateful hearts.

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 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt. 5:43-48).

In the Old Testament, God had said, “Love your neighbor” (Lev. 19:18), but the scribes and Pharisees had conveniently defined neighbors as being only those people who loved them. Everyone else was an enemy, and since God said to love only our neighbors, it must be proper to hate our enemies. According to Jesus, however, that is not at all what God intended.

Jesus would later teach in the story of the Good Samaritan that we should consider every person to be our neighbor.^[1] God wants us to love everyone, including our enemies. That is God’s standard for His children, a standard by which He Himself lives. He sends crop-growing sun and rain, not only on good people, but also on evil people. We should follow His example, showing kindness to undeserving people. When we do, it shows that we are “sons of [our] Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:45). Authentic born-again people act like their Father.

The love God expects us to show our enemies is not an emotion or an approval of their wickedness. God is not requiring us to have warm fuzzy feelings about those who oppose us. He is not telling us to say what is untrue, that our enemies are really wonderful people. But He does expect that we will be merciful towards them and take willful action to that end, at least by greeting them and praying for them.

Notice that Jesus once more reinforced His primary theme—Only the holy will inherit God’s kingdom. He told His disciples that if they only loved those who loved them, they were no better than pagan Gentiles and tax collectors, two kinds of people whom every Jew would agree were hell-bound. It was another way of saying that people who only love those who love them are going to hell.

^[1] It was a Jewish teacher of the Law who, wishing to justify himself, asked Jesus the question, “Who is my neighbor?” You can be sure he already thought he had the right answer. Jesus answered him with the story of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37).

The seventh commandment was the subject of Jesus’ second example of how the scribes and Pharisees kept the letter while neglecting the spirit of the Law. Jesus expected His disciples to be more sexually pure than the scribes and Pharisees.

You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery”; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell (Matt. 5:27-30).

Note again that Jesus was keeping with His primary theme—Only the holy will inherit God’s kingdom. He warned again about hell and something one must do to stay out of it.

The scribes and Pharisees couldn’t ignore the seventh commandment, so they outwardly obeyed it, remaining faithful to their wives. Yet they fantasized about making love to other women. They would mentally undress women they watched in the marketplace. They were adulterers at heart, and thus were transgressing the spirit of the seventh commandment. How many in the church are no different?

God, of course, intended for people to be completely sexually pure. Obviously, if it is wrong to have a sexual relationship with your neighbor’s wife, it is also wrong to meditate on having a sexual relationship with her.

Were any among Jesus’ audience convicted? Probably they were. What should they have done? They should have immediately repented as Jesus instructed. Whatever it took, no matter what the cost, those who were lustful should stop lusting, because those who practice lust go to hell.

Of course, no reasonable person thinks Jesus meant that lustful people should literally pluck out an eye or cut off a hand. A lustful person who cuts out his eye simply becomes a one-eyed luster! Jesus was dramatically and solemnly emphasizing the importance of obeying the spirit of the seventh commandment. Eternity depended on it.

Following Christ’s example, the disciple-making minister will admonish his disciples to “cut off” whatever it is that is causing them to stumble. If it’s cable TV, the cable needs to be disconnected. If it’s regular TV, the TV needs to be removed. If it’s a magazine subscription, it should be canceled. If it’s the Internet, it should be disconnected. None of those things are worth perishing in hell over, and because the disciple-making minister truly loves His flock, he will tell them the truth and warn them, just as Jesus did.

Not only does Jesus expect His followers to be holy, He expects them to be holy for the right reasons. It is quite possible to obey God’s commandments and still be very displeasing to Him if one’s obedience stems from a wrong motive. Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees because they did all their good deeds purely to impress others (see Matt. 23:5). He expects His disciples to be different.

Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets [Jesus’ audience knew of whom He was speaking], that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you (Matt. 6:1-4).

Jesus expected that His followers would give alms to the poor. The Law commanded it (see Ex. 23:11; Lev. 19:10; 23:22; 25:35; Deut. 15:7-11), but the scribes and Pharisees did it with the blowing of trumpets, ostensibly to call the poor to their generous public distributions. Yet how many professing Christians give nothing to the poor? They haven’t even made it to the point of needing to examine their motives for alms giving. If selfishness motivated the scribes and Pharisees to advertise their alms giving, what is it that motivates professing Christians to ignore the plight of the poor? In this regard, does their righteousness surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees?

As Paul would echo in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, we can do good things for the wrong reasons. If our motives are not pure, our good deeds will go unrewarded. Paul wrote that it is possible even to preach the gospel from impure motives (see Phil. 1:15-17). As Jesus prescribed, a good way to be sure our giving is purely motivated is to give as secretively as possible, not letting our left hand know what our right hand is doing. The disciple-making minister teaches his disciples to give to the poor (providing they have the means), and he quietly practices what he preaches.

Is it not possible that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was only applicable to those followers of His who lived prior to His sacrificial death and resurrection? Were they not under the Law as their temporary means of salvation, but after Jesus died for their sins, were then saved by faith, thus invalidating the theme expounded in this sermon?

This theory is a bad one. No one has ever been saved by his works. It has always been by faith, prior to and during the Old Covenant. Paul argues in Romans 4 that both Abraham (before the old covenant) and David (during the old covenant) were justified by faith and not works.

Moreover, it was an impossibility that any of Jesus’ audience could be saved by works, because they had all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (see Rom. 3:23). Only God’s grace could save them, and only faith could receive His grace.

Unfortunately, too many in the church today view Jesus’ commandments as serving no higher purpose than to make us feel guilty so we’ll see the impossibility of earning salvation by works. Now that we’ve “gotten the message” and have been saved by faith, we can ignore most of His commandments. Unless, of course, we want to get others “saved.” Then we can pull out the commandments again to show people how sinful they are so they will be saved by a “faith” that is void of works.

Nevertheless, Jesus did not tell His disciples, “Go into all the world and make disciples, and make sure they realize that, once they’ve felt guilty and are then saved by faith, My commandments have served their purpose in their lives.” Rather, He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20, emphasis added). Disciple-making ministers are doing just that.

Jesus’ third example of the unrighteous conduct and scriptural misapplication of the scribes and Pharisees is related to God’s commandment to tell the truth. The scribes and Pharisees had developed a very creative way to lie. We learn from Matthew 23:16-22 that they did not consider themselves obligated to keep their vows if they swore by the temple, the altar, or heaven. However, if they swore by the gold in the temple, the offering on the altar, or by God in heaven, they were obligated to keep their vow! It was an adult equivalent of a child’s thinking he is exempt from having to tell the truth as long as his fingers are crossed behind his back. Jesus expects His disciples to tell the truth.

Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, “You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.” But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, “Yes, yes” or “No, no”; and anything beyond these is of evil (Matt. 5:33-37).

God’s original commandment concerning vows said nothing about making an oath by swearing on something else. God intended for His people to always speak the truth, so there would be no need to swear, ever.

There is nothing wrong with making an oath. In fact, oaths to obey God are very good. Salvation begins with an oath to follow Jesus. But when people have to swear by something to convince others to believe them, it is an outright admission that they normally lie. People who always tell the truth do not need to swear, ever. Yet the church today is full of liars, and the ministers are often the leaders in deceptiveness and guile.

The disciple-making minister sets an example of truthfulness and teaches his disciples to always tell the truth. He knows John warned that all liars will be cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone (see Rev. 21:8).

Now we arrive at a verse that should be considered a statement that summarizes practically everything Jesus said up to this point. Many commentators miss this, but it is important that we don’t. This particular verse is obviously a summarizing statement, as it begins with the word therefore. It is thus linked to previous instructions, and the question is: How much of what Jesus has said does it summarize? Let’s read it and think:

Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 7:12).

This statement can’t be a summary of just the few verses before it about prayer, otherwise it would make no sense.

Remember that early in His sermon, Jesus had warned against the error of thinking that He had come to abolish the Law or the Prophets (see Matt. 5:17). From that point in His sermon until the verse at which we’ve now arrived, He did essentially nothing but endorse and explain God’s Old Testament commandments. Thus, He now summarizes everything He’s commanded, all of which He derived from the Law and Prophets: “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do so for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (7:12). The phrase, “the Law and the Prophets,” connects everything Jesus said between Matthew 5:17 and 7:12.

Now, as Jesus begins the conclusion of His sermon, He reiterates His primary theme once more—Only the holy inherit God’s kingdom:

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it (Matt. 7:13-14).

Obviously the narrow gate and the way that leads to life, which few find, is symbolic of salvation. The wide gate and broad way that leads to destruction, the route of the majority, symbolizes damnation. If everything Jesus said prior to this statement means anything, if this sermon has any logical progression, if Jesus possessed any intelligence as a communicator, then the most natural interpretation would be that the narrow way is the way of following Jesus, obeying His commandments. The broad way would be the opposite. How many professing Christians are on the narrow way described in this sermon? The disciple-making minister is certainly on the narrow way, and he is leading his disciples on that same way.

It is puzzling to some professing Christians that Jesus said nothing about faith or believing in Him in this sermon in which He said so much about salvation and damnation. To those who understand the inseparable correlation between belief and behavior, however, this sermon presents no problem. People who obey Jesus show their faith by their works. Those who don’t obey Him don’t believe He is the Son of God. Not only is our salvation an indication of God’s grace toward us, so is the transformation that has taken place in our lives. Our holiness is really His holiness.

Jesus’ next example is very much related to the one that we just considered, which is probably why it is mentioned next. It should be considered a further elaboration rather than a new subject. The subject is, “Another thing Pharisees do that is equivalent to adultery.”

And it was said, “Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce”; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (Matt. 5:31-32).

Here is another example of how the scribes and Pharisees kept the letter of the law while rejecting the spirit of it.

Let’s create an imaginary Pharisee in Jesus’ day. Across the street from him lives an attractive woman after whom he is lusting. He flirts with her when he sees her each day. She seems attracted to him, and his desire for her grows. He would love to see her unclothed, and imagines her regularly in his sexual fantasies. Oh, if he could only have her!

But he has a problem. He is married and so is she, and his religion forbids adultery. He doesn’t want to break the seventh commandment (even though he’s already broken it every time he’s lusted). What can he do?

There is a solution! If they both were divorced from their present spouses, he could marry the mistress of his mind! But is it lawful to get a divorce? A fellow Pharisee tells him Yes! There is a scripture for it! Deuteronomy 24:1 says something about giving your wife a divorce certificate when you divorce her. Divorce must be lawful under certain circumstances! But what are those circumstances? He reads closely what God said:

When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house… (Deut. 24:1).

Aha! He can divorce his wife if he finds some indecency in her! And he has! She’s not as attractive as the woman across the street!^[1]

So he lawfully divorces his wife by giving her the required certificate (you can pick one up in the lobby of the local office of the Pharisees’ Club), and quickly marries the woman of his fantasies, herself also just legally divorced. And all without incurring an ounce of guilt because God’s Law has been obeyed!

^[1] This is not a far-fetched example. According to Rabbi Hillel, who had the most popular teaching regarding divorce in Jesus’ day, a man could lawfully divorce his wife if he found someone who was more attractive, because that made his current wife “indecent” in his eyes. Rabbi Hillel also taught a man could divorce his wife if she put too much salt on his food, or spoke to another man, or didn’t produce a son for him.

While on the subject of prayer, Jesus digressed a little to offer more specific instructions to His disciples regarding how they should pray. Jesus wants us to pray in such a way that we don’t insult His Father by denying, through our prayers, what He has revealed about Himself. For example, since God knows what we need before we ask Him (He knows everything), there is no reason to use meaningless repetition when we pray:

And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him (Matt. 6:7-8).

Truly, our prayers reveal how well we know God. Those who know Him as He is revealed in His Word pray to the end that His will be done and that He be glorified. Their highest desire is to be holy, fully pleasing to Him. This is reflected in Jesus’ model prayer, what we call the Lord’s Prayer, contained next in Jesus’ instructions to His disciples. It reveals His expectations for our priorities and devotion:^[1]

Pray, then, in this way: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:9-11).

The foremost concern of Christ’s disciples should be that God’s name be hallowed, that it be respected, revered, and treated as holy.

Of course, those who pray that God’s name be hallowed should be holy themselves, hallowing God’s name. It would be hypocritical to do otherwise. Thus this prayer reflects our desire that others would submit themselves to God as we have.

The second request of the model prayer is similar: “Thy kingdom come.” The idea of a kingdom implies that there is a King who rules His kingdom. The Christian disciple longs to see his King, the one who rules his life, rule over the whole earth. Oh, that everyone would bow their knee to King Jesus in obedient faith!

The third request echoes the first and second: “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Again, how can we sincerely pray such a prayer without being submitted to God’s will in our own lives? The true disciple desires that God’s will be done on earth just as it is in heaven—perfectly and completely.

That God’s name be hallowed, that His will be done, that His kingdom would come, should be more important to us than sustaining food, our “daily bread.” This fourth request is placed fourth for a reason. Even in itself, it reflects a right ordering of our priorities, and no hint of greed is found here. Christ’s disciples serve God and not mammon. They aren’t focused on laying up earthly treasures.

May I also add that this fourth request seems to indicate that this model prayer is one that should be prayed daily, at the beginning of each day.

^[1] Some unfortunately claim that this is not a prayer that Christians should employ because it is not prayed “in Jesus’ name.” Applying this logic, however, we would have to conclude that many prayers of the apostles recorded in the book of Acts and epistles were not “Christian prayers.”