Sermon on the Mount - Part 5 [Notes]

In the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5-7, we find arguably the most famous sermon of all time, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Covering subjects like the beatitudes, being salt and light, the Lord’s prayer, generosity, and more, Jesus’ words are just as important and applicable today as they were 2,000 years ago. Whether you’re exploring the Christian faith, a new or newer believer, or a longtime follower of Jesus, we invite you to join us for this 12-week journey as we seek to grow together as His disciples.

Matthew 5:31-37

• v. 31-32 – Faithful in Marriage
• v. 33-37 – Truthful in Speech

Jesus rejected the traditions of the Pharisees (vv. 21–48) and their practices (6:1–7:6). Six times Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said … But I tell you” (5:21–22, 27–28, 31–32, 33–34, 38–39, 43–44). These words make it clear that Jesus was presenting (a) what the Pharisees and teachers of the Law were saying to the people and, by contrast, (b) what God’s true intent of the Law was. This spelled out His statement (v. 20) that Pharisaic righteousness is not enough to gain entrance into the coming kingdom.
– Dr. Barbieri, The Bible Knowledge Commentary

“It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce. But I tell you, everyone who divorces his wife, except in a case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
– Matthew 5:31-32 (CSB)

Deuteronomy 24:1-5 “…he may write her a divorce certificate”
– Moses

Rabbi Shammai (Restrictive) vs. Rabbi Hillel (Permissive)

We know that a current controversy about divorce was being conducted between the rival rabbinic schools of Hillel and Shammai. Rabbi Shammai took a rigorist line, and taught from Deuteronomy 24:1 that the sole ground for divorce was some grave matrimonial offence, something evidently ‘unseemly’ or ‘indecent’. Rabbi Hillel, on the other hand, held a very lax view. If we can trust the Jewish historian Josephus, this was the common attitude, for he applied the Mosaic provision to a man who ‘desires to be divorced from his wife for any cause whatsoever.’
– Dr. John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount

When Jesus had finished saying these things, he departed from Galilee and went to the region of Judea across the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. Some Pharisees approached him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds?”

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that he who created them in the beginning made them male and female, and he also said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

“Why then,” they asked him, “did Moses command us to give divorce papers and to send her away?” He told them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts, but it was not like that from the beginning. I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery.”
– Matthew 19:1-9 (CSB)

Our Lord’s reply to their question was in three parts. It is revealing to consider these separately and in the order in which he spoke them. In each he dissented from the Pharisees.

• The Pharisees were preoccupied with the grounds for divorce; Jesus with the institution of marriage
• The Pharisees called Moses’ provision for divorce a command; Jesus called it a concession to the hardness of human hearts
• The Pharisees regarded divorce lightly; Jesus took it so seriously that, with only one exception, he called all remarriage after divorce adultery

– Dr. John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount

“It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce. But I tell you, everyone who divorces his wife, except in a case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
– Matthew 5:31-32 (CSB)

“Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord. But I tell you, don’t take an oath at all: either by heaven, because it is God’s throne; or by the earth, because it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.
– Matthew 5:33-37 (CSB) 

3rd Commandment – Exodus 20:7 (CSB)
Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name.

9th Commandment – Exodus 20:16 (CSB)
Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. 

“Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord. But I tell you, don’t take an oath at all: either by heaven, because it is God’s throne; or by the earth, because it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.
– Matthew 5:33-37 (CSB) 

Oaths arise because men are so often liars.
– Dr. A. M. Hunter, Design for life: an exposition of the Sermon on the Mount 

What Jesus emphasized in his teaching was that honest men do not need to resort to oaths; it was not that they should refuse to take an oath if required by some external authority to do so.
– Dr. John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount

But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.
– Matthew 5:37 (CSB)

Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war.
– Revelation 19:11 (CSB) 

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Trustworthy // Gratitude // Firm Foundation (He Won't) // Goodness of God

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