Matthew 5:21-37
The teaching of Jesus here may be summed up thus: The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Jesus’ teaching was much more penetrating than the pronouncements made by the scribes and Pharisees. Not content to scratch the surface, Jesus asked the deeper question, ‘What's going on in your heart?’. Jesus’ teaching has real spiritual depth. He takes seriously the biblical teaching that ‘the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt’(Jeremiah 17:9). He knows that we need a ‘new heart’(Ezekiel 36:26). The Pharisees were bogged down in intricate details - Do this. Do that. Do the other. All the emphasis was on what we do. Christ was much more direct - Get the heart right. Ask God for a heart of love (21-26), purity (27-32), and truthfulness (33-37). Do not say, ‘Look what I've done’(7:22). Let Christ live in your heart; let Him change you.
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com
The teaching of Jesus here may be summed up thus: The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Jesus’ teaching was much more penetrating than the pronouncements made by the scribes and Pharisees. Not content to scratch the surface, Jesus asked the deeper question, ‘What's going on in your heart?’. Jesus’ teaching has real spiritual depth. He takes seriously the biblical teaching that ‘the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt’(Jeremiah 17:9). He knows that we need a ‘new heart’(Ezekiel 36:26). The Pharisees were bogged down in intricate details - Do this. Do that. Do the other. All the emphasis was on what we do. Christ was much more direct - Get the heart right. Ask God for a heart of love (21-26), purity (27-32), and truthfulness (33-37). Do not say, ‘Look what I've done’(7:22). Let Christ live in your heart; let Him change you.
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com
