“You Have Heard It Said”
Matthew 5-7
In the Bible there are four gospels each written for distinct purposes. Mark was written for the rapidly expanding church around the world. Luke was written to proclaim Jesus to the Roman and Gentile world. John was written for a new generation of followers of Jesus facing new challenges. And Matthew was written to proclaim the message of Jesus to his own community: Israel. Matthew takes time in the first four chapters of his gospel to explain the origins of Jesus' lineage, birth, and story. He helps connect Jesus' life to the prophetic promises of who the Messiah would be and how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament's revelations.
For the rest of the book he gives us details into the life and ministry of Jesus, but specifically, he reveals Jesus as a master teacher. More than any other gospel, Matthew records lengthy portions of Jesus' teachings. In chapters 5, 6, and 7 he records one of those teachings which we now call The Sermon on the Mount. None of Jesus' teachings are secondary, but if there were one that was to be understood as primary it is this one. The Sermon on the Mount is in many ways the fundamental teaching of Jesus on the nature of the Kingdom of God and the truest perspective of life through the eyes of God. It is masterful and poetic, overwhelming and confronting. Its message lays bare the human heart and reveals how much of life we have misunderstood from our own perspective.
Jesus begins with a series of blessings revealing that the true blessed community is not what the world has assumed. Those who are blessed are the humble and the disenfranchised; far from what Jesus' original audience, or we, would imagine. After these blessings, he begins to teach on specific issues of life and contrasts his Kingdom perspective with the cultural worldview of the day. To do this, he begins each section with a phrase: ‘You have heard it said.’
It is remarkable when you think about it: Jesus, the master teacher, wasn't beginning with the depths of his own understanding, but the limitations of our own. He knew something we often misunderstand; if we are going to hear his teachings and trust and obey him, we must first come to terms with the false teachings we already believe.
Our worldviews are not blank slates waiting to be informed when truth is finally revealed, but a collection of the cultural experiences and messages we have heard and understood before, true or not. If we are going to take Jesus seriously, we must first confront the lies we believe.
Jesus frames the majority of The Sermon on the Mount responding to the cultural beliefs that were common among his people. His teachings were curated in contrast to the cultural beliefs around him. If we are going to follow Jesus in a secular age, we must allow Jesus, the master teacher, to speak the same way to us.
"You have heard it said."
Consider how many beliefs we hold by assumption because they have become the common idioms of the culture around us. As Christians we often fall in the same trap as Jesus’ audience, taking half truths and building our lives upon them, not looking deeply enough into whether they are actually the truths they claim to be. We must become people who take all of our possibile beliefs back to Jesus and allow him to respond.
What have you heard? I have heard it said…
"You can be whoever you want to be."
"Love doesn't judge."
"You do you."
"Find your truth."
"Do whatever makes you happy."
"No one gets to tell you how to feel."
On the surface these phrases carry a vision of positivity and kindness robbing us of seeing whether they are true at their core or not. To each of these statements Jesus has a response and in The Sermon on the Mount he uses the phrase ‘But I tell you’ to contrast what they have heard. Are you living by the "I've heard it said" or by the "But I tell you" which is the truth that must guide our lives?
At the very end of The Sermon on the Mount Jesus says: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Matthew 7:24-27 NIV).
Our assignment as Christians is to build our lives on a foundation that can survive the storms around us; and the only foundation that can do this is Jesus.
When Jesus finished The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew says that the crowds "marveled" at the wisdom and authority of Jesus' teaching. He was able to help them see the lies they had believed and find their way to the truth. I believe that this is the dream of God for us.
Today, take time to consider all of the "You have heard it said" ideas that are shaping your life. Have you taken them to the master teacher to know his heart and response? I believe when we do, we will not only find the truth, but establish a foundation we can build our lives upon.