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The Sermon on the Mount 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer

Are campaign pledges (oaths) worth anything? Post Election? General Election CENTER CENTER LEFT Party Primaries RIGHT Campaign pledges have become, not a way of guaranteeing one s future actions, but often a way of misrepresenting them 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 2

Are campaign pledges (oaths) worth anything? Post Election? General Election CENTER CENTER LEFT Party Primaries RIGHT Artful dishonesty is increasingly seen, not as reprehensible, but as expected even admirable 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 3

Are campaign pledges (oaths) worth anything? Post Election? General Election CENTER CENTER LEFT Party Primaries Rather than being burdens, pledges (oaths) have become a way toward power and personal gain RIGHT 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 4

Are campaign pledges (oaths) worth anything? Post Election? General Election CENTER CENTER LEFT Party Primaries RIGHT They do not reflect principled commitment or expectation of sacrifice 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 5

Are campaign pledges (oaths) worth anything? Post Election? General Election CENTER CENTER LEFT Party Primaries No campaign pledge is made unless it has some kind of payoff RIGHT 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 6

What s the point? A similar thing was true in New Testament times Judaism also had customs that made artful oath taking profitable Jesus responded in the Sermon on the Mount Thus we have the context for the Fourth Antithesis 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 7

The Six Antitheses : Matthew 5:21-48 1. Thesis: Do not commit murder Antithesis: Do not hate 2. Thesis: Do not commit adultery Antithesis: Do not lust 3. Thesis: Certify your divorces Antithesis: Do not divorce 4. Thesis: Keep your vows Antithesis: Don t make vows 5. Thesis: Retaliate Antithesis: Don t retaliate 6. Thesis: Hate your enemies Antithesis: Love your enemies 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 8

I. INTRODUCTION (5:3-16) 1. Beatitudes: Foundation of Righteous Living (5:3-12) 2. Salt and Light: Essence of Discipleship: (5:13-16) II. MAIN BODY OF THE SERMON (5:17-7:12) 1. Relation between Old and New Righteousness (5:17-48) a. Continuity with the Old (5:17-20) b. Surpassing of the Old: Six Antitheses (5:21-48) 2. Outward/Inward Righteousness (6:1-18) a. Almsgiving (6:1-4) b. Prayer and the Lord s Prayer (6:5-15) c. Fasting (6:16-18) One Possible Outline 3. Dependence upon God (6:19-34) a. Serving God vs. Wealth (6:19-24) b. Anxiety (6:25-34) 4. Various Teachings and the Golden Rule (7:1-12) III. CONCLUSION (7:13-27) 1. The Two Ways (7:13-14) 2. The False and the Genuine (7:15-23) a. Warning concerning False Prophets (7:15-20) b. Insufficiency of the Charismata (7:21-23) 3. Parable of Two Builders (7:24-27) Hagner, D. A. (2002). Vol. 33A: Word Biblical Commentary : Matthew 1-13. Word Biblical Commentary (84). Dallas: Word, Incorporated. 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 9

The Fourth Antithesis: Matthew 5:33-37 33 Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord. 34 But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, Yes, yes or No, no ; and anything beyond these is of evil (NASB) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 11

Background: Mt 23:16-22 Woes on the Pharisees 16 Woe to you, blind guides, who say, Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated. 17 You fools and blind men; which is more important, the gold, or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And, Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering upon it, he is obligated. (NASB) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 12

Background: Mt 23:16-22 Woes on the Pharisees (cont.) 19 You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. 22 And he who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. (NASB) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 13

More Background: Mark 7:9-13 He [Jesus] was also saying to them, You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother ; and, He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death ; 11 but you say, If a man says to his father or his mother, anything of mine you might have been helped by is Corban (that is to say, given to God), 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 14

More Background: Mark 7:9-13 (cont.) 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that (NASB) NOTE: Corban (originally referring to the Temple treasury) came to mean the practice of escaping familial obligations by devoting them to God 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 15

More background Lev 19:12 And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord (NASB) Num 30:2 If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth (NASB) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 16

Dt 6:13 You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him, and swear by His name. (NASB) Dt 10:20 You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name. (NASB) More background (cont.) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 17

More background (cont.) Dt 23:21-23 When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you. 22 However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. 23 You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised. (NASB) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 18

More background (cont.) Ex 20:7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain (NASB) Greek epiorkeo (LXX) can mean commit perjury OR break an oath 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 19

Zech 8:16-17 These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. 17 Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate, declares the Lord (NASB) More background (cont.) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 20

More background (cont.) Jas 5:12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but let your yes be yes, and your no, no; so that you may not fall under judgment (NASB) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 21

More background (cont.) 2 Cor 1:15-23 And in this confidence I intended at first to come to you, that you might twice receive a blessing; 17 Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or that which I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yes, yes and no, no at the same time? 18 But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. 23 But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. (NASB) http://www.searchingthescriptures.net/main_pages/image_clip-art.htm 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 22

More background (cont.) Eph 4:15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ (NASB) Col 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, (NASB) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 23

More background (cont.) 2 Cor 1:23 But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth (NASB) Acts 18:18 In Cenchrea he [Paul] had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow (NASB) http://www.searchingthescriptures.net/main_pages/image_clip-art.htm 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 24

More background (cont.) 1 Thess 5:27 I Do you adjure you by the swear? Lord to have this letter read to all Adjuration: the brethren call for an (NASB) oath I do. Abjuration: making an oath 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 25

More background (cont.) Mt 26:63-64 the high priest said to Him [Jesus], I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God. 64 Jesus *said to him, You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. (NASB) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 26

Some conclusions In the first century, the taking of oaths had become a way of avoiding that which was seemingly being promised In cultural context, oath-taking had become an accepted form of false appearance (dissembling) All of Jesus' examples of inappropriate oath taking somehow implicated God in the practice Resultant postures of piety made the dissembling insidious Superficially harmless but fundamentally deadly 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 27

Application Cultural context is key to wisely applying what Jesus says about oath taking Absolutizing prohibitions on the making of oaths unwittingly cooperates in the present ongoing banishment of God from public life Oath taking should be made largely unnecessary by the integrity of one s word Frequent use of oaths to establish credibility should raise suspicion Scrupulous abstention from oath-taking neglects the Matthean context and is not immune to sin 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 28

BACKUPS

Insight into the Book of Hebrews Heb 6:13-18 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you. 15 And thus, having patiently waited, he obtained the Carolsfeld, Julius Schnorr von promise. 16 For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute (NASB) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 30

Insight into the Book of Hebrews (cont.) 17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong Carolsfeld, Julius Schnorr von encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us (NASB) 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 31

Matthew 5:38-42 You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 39 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. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 32

Matthew 5:43-48 You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you 45 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. 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 33

Matthew 5:43-48 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same? 47 And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 16 July 2008 Bill Brewer 34