/You heard that it was said to the ancient ones, "you will not murder";
and whoever murders will be guilty in the court. And I Myself say to you
that everyone who is angry with his brother, guilty he will be in the
court; and whoever says to his brother, "empty-head" guilty he will be
in the Sanhedrin; and whoever says "fool" guilty he will be into the
hell of fire. If ever, then, you are presenting your gift upon the
altar, and there, remember your brother has something against you, leave
there your gift before the Altar and go; be reconciled to your brother,
and then coming, you present your gift. Befriend your opponent quickly,
while you are with him on the way, that your opponent not deliver to the
Judge, to the officer, and into the prison you will be cast. Amen, I say
to you, no, you will not come out of there, until you have given back
the last coin. You heard that it was said "You will not commit
adultery". Yet I Myself say to you that every one looking on a woman to
lust for her already has adulterated her in his heart. And if your right
eye causes you to fall into a deathtrap, tear it out and throw it from
you; for it is advantageous to you so that one of your members be
destroyed and not your whole body cast into hell. And if your right hand
causes you to fall into a deathtrap, cut it off and throw it from you.
For it is advantageous to you so that one of your members be destroyed
and not your whole body go into hell./
Last Sunday, Jesus told us that our righteousness must be greater than
that of the bible-experts, the scribes and pharisees. Today, we hear
Jesus describe just what that righteousness should look like. It's not
enough to avoid killing folks. You can't even call them names. It's not
enough to manage your debt. You must be reconciled to your creditors.
It's not enough to not cheat on your spouse. You can't even look with a
lustful heart. It's not enough to avert divorce. You shouldn't view them
as adulterers.
Avoiding sin is not easy; it's impossible. Yet you want to see yourself
as a "law-keeper", comparing yourself to scoundrels to feel a bit better
in comparison; but you aren't. According to God's Law, you're a poor,
miserable sinner. You've called people names, so you are a murderer. You
have lusted for people, so you are an adulterer. You sit in judgment of
others so you now stand condemned.
This problem of your sin is a whole lot bigger than you thought! It
consumes you. You sin a lot, every day. You do what you want, not even
considering if God has a different plan, or if other people in your life
have needs. You might want to think, my sins are just small peccadillos
compared to other people, but God sees your sin differently. He sees it
as a scandal, as a death-trap into which you have fallen, and you can't
get yourself out. The wages of your sin is death; from that death-trap
you need rescue.
So you hear Jesus' words and think, "He tells me how I can fix
myself!"*If* your eye caused you to lust you could just pluck it out and
stop sinning. But look around. None of us has done that. *If* your hand
caused you to hurt or steal, you could just cut it off and stop sinning.
But none of us has done that either. That's because your eye has no
ideas of its own. Your hand has no desires of its own. .
But there is one part of your body that does have such evil lusts,
hatred, and coveting. That evil body member is your heart. So, now,
altogether, let's take out knives and remove our sin-producing hearts!
That will do the trick, right? What? You're not excited about that task?
You can't live without your heart? Yeah, that is a big problem with this
plan. And yet your sin-sick heart needs removing...
Notice how Jesus doesn't tell us to cut out our own hearts. That's
because it's not our job. None of us is a heart surgeon. But Jesus is
the great Physician. He can perform the one and only heart transplant
that you need. Guess what? He has already done it. Jesus has performed a
circumcision of your heart at your baptism. He cut out your old sin-sick
heart and removed it from you at the font. It, with all of your sins, is
nailed to Jesus on the + where He bears your sin & it's punishment on
the cursed tree.
But Jesus doesn't leave you heart-less. He creates in you a clean heart,
and puts a right Spirit, His Own Holy Spirit within it! This new heart
transplanted in you is none other than the heart of Jesus Himself. His
holy, righteous, pure, and sin-free heart is given to you in trade for
your old evil heart. Jesus takes your heart as His own, bearing the
shame, guilt and punishment you deserved for your sinning. He gives his
sinless heart as your own, a clean place for the Spirit to dwell & give
you faith.
Because of your sin, you problem is the death-trap of everlasting
condemnation in hell. But Jesus is your solution: He gave His body unto
death at Calvary, and He willingly shed His blood for you on the + for
your forgiveness. You eat this same body & drink this blood today for
your life and salvation! Amen.
John C. Drosendahl, Pastor
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