eFollowingJesusJan19 - Anger and Adultery (read
Matthew 5:21-37)
Many Christians want to toss the Old Testament in a wastebasket. But Jesus treasured it, and taught us to observe not merely its letter, but its deeper spirit. To all who think they revere the Ten Commandments, Jesus makes us tremble by cutting to the marrow of God's intent.
Never killed? Good - but Jesus says if you harbor anger in your mind, you are guilty of murder. How strange! Isn't it delicious to vent, find fault, get mad? But anger isn't just a sword pointed at somebody else; it lacerates me, and alienates me from Jesus.
Adultery: a word fallen out of usage. Today, an "affair" is excused for trifling reasons. But how devastating is adultery? And not just the physical act: Jesus says lust equals adultery. Lust, the linchpin of advertising, the plot of every show, treats another person as an object, as a thing to be used for my pleasure, not as a child of God, made in God's image, with hurts and a destiny defined by Jesus' crucifixion. My inner thoughts matter; they ruin me, or they become the mind of Christ in me.
Lord, I confess my anger, my murderous guilt, and my lust, my disordered desire. Forgive, and heal me.
James
james@mpumc.org
Here is the full text of Matthew 5:21-37 - 21: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' 22: But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, `You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. 23: So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24: leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25: Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; 26: truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny. 27: "You have heard that it was said, `You shall not commit adultery.' 28: But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29: If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30: And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. 31: "It was also said, `Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' 32: But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 33: "Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' 34: But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35: or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36: And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37: Let what you say be simply `Yes' or `No'; anything more than this comes from evil.
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