Upside Down Kingdom: Mission & Message | Week 6 | Radical Renewal | Matthew 5:21-30

Week 6 | Radical Renewal

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell." 
- Matthew 5:27-29 

Matthew 5:21-30
 
Jesus preached the kingdom of heaven is a revolution, not of radical rebellion, but of radical obedience. While Jesus teaches His disciples Kingdom Ethics, He makes it clear that obedience is more than merely skin deep. God absolutely cares about our lives and our ward actions. However, the transformation Jesus is calling us to is deeper. Jesus wants radical renewal in our lives and that start down deeper at the heart level.

Radical Reconciliation (5:21-26) – Jesus challenges the standards and norms of the day with an authority only He possesses. He goes from “You’ve heard it said” to, “But, I say to you”. He is saying teachers of the Law got it wrong. Their standards are not too high but too low. When talking about something as evil as murder he says you may think you are escaping judgment and getting off merely because you have not actually taken someone else’s life.  Instead, you are more liable for the same judgment of a murderer then you think. Jesus takes the 6th commandment from the extreme outward action of killing another person and drills it down all the way to the depths our inner heart attitudes and emotions. Murder and malice are now put on the same plain. Suddenly, this part of the Sermon on the Mount goes from being applied to the relatively rare cases of physical murder to impacting EVERYONE who has ever had angry thought toward, uttered an unkind word, or directly insulted another! No one has met this standard. The implication is when there is conflict we should quickly seek reconciliation.

Radical Amputation (5:27-30) – In a second case study, Jesus restates and rewrites the 7th Commandment to not commit adultery. Again, outward actions matter and sex outside the covenant of marriage is still prohibited. Yet, Jesus takes it a step further. Actions flow from your heart’s desire so adultery may end with a physical act but the commandment is broken with lustful intent. The spirit of the Law matters as much as the letter. Jesus wants more for us then just behavior modification He wants heart transformation. Jesus says it is better to remove from your life that which leads you to sin then to regularly face temptation attempt to prevail. His desire is for the purity and protection of your heart and soul so you can experience greater freedom and joy.

QUESTIONS: 

1. What part of the text or sermon had the greatest impact on you? Did you learn anything new about Jesus and our hearts?
2. When have you been driven by or responded to another with unrighteous anger or malice? How does Jesus call us to respond when we are in personal conflict? Why is this difficult?
3. How does Jesus’ teaching in this section both radically raise the bar of what sin is and provide us a greater opportunity for renewal?
4. What area of your life has the greatest opportunity to cause you to sin? Who do you need to confess to or seek accountability from? What would radical amputation in this area look like?  

PRAY – Praise God the Father for His plan of radical reconciliation. Thank Jesus for perfectly fulfilling the Law where we have failed. Ask the Holy Spirit to free you from debilitating sin and give you a renewed mind.