Trinity 6

Good Shepherd

2004 Pass Rd, Biloxi, MS 39531

Draft Ex 20:1–17; Rm 6:1–11; Mt 5:17–26; Ps 19; antiphon: v. 8   –     7/12/26

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus said, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. In this passage Jesus shows that the scribes and the Pharisees, who were the teachers of Israel and played a similar function to the modern day pastor, had not been teaching God’s Law faithfully. They had rather been softening the Law so that it was easier to keep, but also adding on their own made-up laws. Because of this problem Jesus now removes the veil covering the Law so that all men may understand just how serious God is, may see just how righteous one must be, may see the true contrast between what is holy and what is unholy. All people must not simply be as righteous as the scribes and Pharisees, because that would only be keeping the Law as those men incorrectly taught it. All people must be more righteous than these men to truly please God.

So Jesus says, You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. The scribes and the Pharisees taught that the standard of the Fifth Commandment: You shall not murder, was fulfilled by not unjustly taking the life of another human being. But what does Jesus show? He shows that God looks not only at the deeds of a man, but at his words and his very thoughts. So when God commanded Israel, You shall not murder, what did He mean? He meant you shall not take the life of your brother, or neighbor, or enemy unjustly, nor shall you call him a fool, nor shall you insult him behind his back, nor shall you even be angry with him for if you have done any of these then you have murdered him in your heart. Whoever murders another whether in his heart or with his hands God will not find that man guiltless.

Luther explains the severity of Jesus’ proper interpretation of the Law. He says Matthew in his book “especially emphasizes the true knowledge of the Law in opposition to the glosses of the Pharisees.

“…And this part of teaching is also necessary: … that the true understanding of the Law might be revealed to the godly, namely, that everything must be done from the heart. But it is at this point that all things are discovered to be impossible.” (AE 67, 31–32) Why? Because our hearts are by the nature we inherited from Adam, incapable of doing as God commands. The prophet Jeremiah writes, The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings (17:9–10). God’s standard is, as our Large Catechism says, “that we must not kill, neither with hand, heart, mouth, signs, gestures, help, nor counsel. Therefore it is here forbidden to every one to be angry, except those (as we said) who are in the place of God, that is, parents and the government. For it is proper for God and for every one who is in a divine estate to be angry, to reprove and punish, namely, on account of those very persons who transgress this and the other commandments.” (LC I, §182) But most of us are not in those divine estates when we are angry with our neighbor, when we insult him, or when we call him a fool, so we remain condemned.

Luther says elsewhere, If one wants to keep this commandment, he must restrain his hand, keep his heart from anger, envy, and hatred, his eyes from evil looks, and tongue from harsh words and curses. For even though I do not kill my neighbor with my fist, yet I might hate him, glare at him so that if my glance were an arrow he would die, curse him with my tongue that he would perish; in God’s eyes by these deeds I am a murderer! Thus God lists four things which are killing. First is with my fist, i.e. a weapon. Second by treatment: “spurning to look at a person, refusing to talk to him, not thanking him, not returning his greeting, not lending him money, not defending his innocence, not warding off harm.” Third with my tongue with which I speak evil about him. Fourth with my heart when I am envious of him and happy when misfortune befalls him. “It is that kind of obedience and worship God demands in the fifth commandment.” (6.322)

Therefore, when Jesus cuts through the obscuring of the Scribes and the Pharisees, all of a sudden, your hands which have never hurt your brother are stained with his blood. Your heart is revealed for the murderous thing it is. Your angry thoughts are exposed as they desire your brother’s hurt and murder. Jesus reveals that you have not helped and supported him in every physical need, but in your heart and mind and mouth you have hurt him and murdered him. Jesus shows that by an unrighteousness thought or unrighteous word you can be guilty of murder before God.

Jesus did not come to end the Law and the prophets, they will stand until the end of the world. They will continue to accuse you. They continue to remind you through your conscience that you do not live up to the standards God has set for you. No matter how you argue against them or try to rationalize the Law’s accusations away, you still know that in your heart and your mind and with your tongue you are a murderer. You can try to convince yourself that God is not serious, or that He’ll be satisfied with a mere show of love from you, or that He’ll be satisfied if you simply try to keep a lesser form of the Fifth Commandment, or that God doesn’t really mean what Jesus said, since you know you can’t keep the Law fully. But you would be deluding yourself as so many do. Your excuses, your bargainings, your attempts to reframe God’s own character, are just further insults and further rebellion against the righteous God. They are further sins, further breaking of other Commandments.

What would be better? Confront your sin. Acknowledge that you have murdered your brother, or your sister, or your neighbor, or your enemy in your heart, with your mind, or with your tongue. Listen to God’s Law. Listen to its accusation that shows you lack all righteousness on your own, that you are not more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees, and so confess your sin. God who is faithful and just will forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. In Christ, your sins are forgiven, for in Christ alone we find the One Whose righteousness does surpass the scribes and the Pharisees, is in fact perfect in the eyes of God the Father. All the expectations of the Law that you could not keep Jesus kept in your place. Jesus perfectly loves His Father, He perfectly loves you, He perfectly loves His enemy. Bearing your sin and all the sin of the world Jesus went to the cross and there died in your place, paying the debt of everyone of us. Your guilt of sinful thoughts, words, and deeds Jesus fully paid. Then in the waters of Holy Baptism, in the Words of Absolution, in His Body and Blood in the bread and wine of His Holy Supper Christ gives to you His own righteousness, life, and salvation by faith. How can this be? Remember what St. Paul said today:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. That is, when you were baptized, God Himself united you to the death of Christ, and therefore His new life as well so that we may walk in good works by loving our brother.

St. Paul continues, For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. That is, when we were united to Christ in Baptism, God unites us so that our old self is drowned and dies in those waters, is crucified in Christ on the cross, and the new man we receive in Christ rises to live before God in righteousness and holiness forever. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We share in His death through those holy waters, so that our sin for not keeping the Fifth Commandment with heart, with mind, with tongue, and with hands is forgiven. Because we are joined by God to Christ we receive His righteousness, the only righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees. Not through the diminishing of the Law but through Christ’s death and resurrection God our Father grants us access the the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore let us sin no more and rather love our neighbors as our selves. Let us pray, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.