THIS IS TABLE ROCK FELLOWSHIP – PASTOR RYAN LADEN
| Treasured Relationships In our study of the Sermon on the Mount we come to the teaching that Jesus Christ gave on the way that the condition of our heart, our internal nature, motives, and passions impact our most treasured relationships. As we have heard already in our study, the Lord has made it very clear that the health and condition of our relationships with the other people in our life matters to the Lord more than our outward acts of devotion. This was heard in the message of Matthew 5:21-26. In the very next section of the message of the Christ we hear the following: ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”Matthew 5:27-32 NIV-11 Internal Just prior to this message, Jesus took the outward action of murder and showed it to be a worthwhile prohibition. But Jesus went further than focusing on the rule or the law itself. He helped his disciples to write the nature and principle of this law in our hearts as we were challenged to reject anger, name calling, and broken relationships as signs of a hear that was not aligned with the Lord. Value In this next teaching, Jesus again names the outward actions that do real damage to our relationships and therefore to the very heart of God. Jesus affirmed the value of Christian marriage (see Matthew 19:4-6) as he spoke against the breaking of that commitment through the act of adultery. Jesus affirmed the goodness of marriage and the honoring of these commitments as he spoke against the ending of such a commitment through divorce. Jesus also challenged those who would seek remarriage after breaking such an oath. This again points to the importance and value of Christian marriage from the perspective of the Lord. In the Heart While it is good to see that the negative actions of adultery and divorce are against the law, or the external rules, Jesus helps us see that what is happening in our heart is of most value to the Lord and to us as we seek to build healthy relationships. In verse 28 we hear how Jesus helps his disciples to internalize the call to build and protect healthy marital relationships. Lust, or ungodly sexual desire outside Christian marriage, is a product of the heart. Lust is shown by Jesus to be a product of our internal desires, beliefs, and emotions. Jesus is equating this kind of sinful internal desire with the external acts of adultery and divorce. This is meant to shock us and cause us to pick up our heads and pay attention. Success If you want to avoid the pain of divorce, the misery of adultery, the heartbreak of broken commitments, we must listen to the message of Jesus and hear him telling us that success and failure in marriage starts in our hearts… in our inmost thoughts and desires. In this teaching, Jesus Christ is doing far more than simply telling you and me to avoid adultery and divorce, he is calling us to examine our hearts. We are being challenged to see that a healthy Christian marriage begins and ends with what is within, not what is happening on the outside. Love and commitment are not made whole by avoiding outward acts of failure, they are born and developed through the work of love and the rejection of all perversions of this love. In Christ,Ryan Laden |
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