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THE SPIRIT BEHIND THE LAW
A. Introduction: We are looking at Jesus’ most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. To help us
understand what He taught, and how to apply it in our lives, we’re considering what it meant to the people
who first heard Jesus deliver the sermon two thousand years ago. We have more to say in tonight’s lesson.
1. Jesus was born into a people group that was expecting God to establish His visible kingdom on earth, and
come to live with His people. First century Jews knew from the writings of their prophets that only
those who are righteous will be part of God’s kingdom. Dan 2:44; Dan 7:27; Ps 24:3-4; etc.
a. When Jesus came on the scene preaching that the Kingdom of Heaven (or Kingdom of God) was at
hand, He got people’s attention. Jesus healed the sick, cast out devils, and urged men and women
to repent and turn from sin. Crowds began to follow Him to listen to His teachings. Matt 4:17-25
1. Jesus delivered His Sermon on the Mount early in His ministry. When He gave this sermon,
no one in the audience knew yet that Jesus had come to die as a sacrifice for their sins and open
the way into Kingdom of Heaven (Kingdom of God) for all who believe on Him.
2. Neither did they know that His sacrifice would open the way for Him to indwell human beings
by His Spirit, and make them literal sons and daughters of God through a new birth. John 1:12
b. They also did not know that God, by His indwelling Spirit and life, would begin a process of
transformation in them that will restore them to their created purpose—to express the character and
virtues of God, their Father, and be fully glorifying to Him. John 3:3-5; John 15:7-8; etc.
1. Human beings were created to become sons and daughters of God who reflect God’s kindness,
goodness, holiness, and love to the world around them. Eph 1:4-5; Eph 1:12; I Pet 2:9, etc.
2. Jesus is actually the pattern for God’s family (Rom 8:29). Jesus is God become fully man,
without ceasing to be fully God. In His humanity, Jesus shows us what a human being looks
like when he or she reflects and expresses God the Father’s character and virtues.
2. Jesus did not come to earth to give us a list of rules to follow or a set of ethical standards that will make
us better people. He came to produce an interior change in those who believe in Him. Jesus came to
transform sinners into people who want to, and are able to, live in a way that brings honor to God.
a. God’s purpose for humanity is to restore us to Himself through Jesus’ sacrifice and then produce
Christ-like character in us. Two things are needed for this change to occur:
b. One, our voluntary cooperation with Him through our submission and obedience to Almighty God,
and two, the supernatural power of God working in us to cleanse, restore, and transform us.
1. We must change the end for which we live, and turn from living for ourselves our way to living
for Him His way, turn from living to please ourselves to pleasing Him. II Cor 5:15; Matt 16:24
2. Then as we chose His will over our own will, God, by His indwelling Spirit, helps us live in a
way that is pleasing to Him: Be even more careful to put into action God’s saving work in
your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you
the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases him (Phil 2:12-13, NLT).
3. Jesus opened the Sermon on the Mount with seven specific statements about the kind of character that
those who have a place and a part in God’s Kingdom are to express. Matt 5:3-10
a. According to Jesus, such people are humble (poor in spirit) and truly sorry for sin (they mourn over
over it). They are gentle (meek). They long to do and be right (they hunger and thirst for
righteousness). They are compassionate (merciful). They are pure in heart (their motives are
pure). And they make an effort to get along with people (they are peacemakers). Matt 5:3-10
b. These seem like impossible standards for human beings. But they aren’t. Human beings were
created with the capacity to express these traits. Jesus was describing Christ-like character, the
kind of character that all of God’s sons and daughters are to have. Jesus died to make that possible.
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B. To appreciate what Jesus taught in His Sermon, we must understand some things about the culture of 1st

century Israel. Jesus was born into a people group whose lives were dominated by the Law.
1. The term Law was used in several ways. It was used for the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses,
as well as the first five books of the Old Testament. The term Law was used to mean the entire Old
Testament (also known as the Law and the Prophets). And, Law meant the Oral or Scribal Law.
a. The Old Testament (which includes the Ten Commandments) contains few specific rules and
regulations. It gives general principles that, with God’s help, must be applied in specific situations.
b. Down through the centuries, teachers (or rabbis) discussed how to specifically apply the principles
of the Law, and a group known as the Scribes developed. They were professional scholars and
lawyers who interpreted the Law to determine the specifics.
1. By Jesus’ day Scribes had developed thousands of rules and regulations which dominated every
aspect of Jewish life and were passed along orally. With these rules, the Scribes reduced the
great principles of God’s Law to regulations not actually found in the Law itself.
2. By the time Jesus came into the world, these traditions had been written down, and were
considered to be on a par with the Law, or the Old Testament books. Matt 15:1-9
3. The Scribes worked out these regulations, and men called Pharisees separated themselves from
the ordinary activities of life in order to keep these rules and regulations. The Scribes and the
Pharisees were the religious leaders, and were considered the most righteous of all the people.
2. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made two statements about the Law (the Old Testament) and about
righteousness—one, He came to fulfill, not abolish, the Law; two, His listeners’ righteousness must
exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees if they wanted to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Matt 5:17-20
a. Jesus made these statements at the beginning of His ministry because, over the next three years, He
will repeatedly break the Scribal (Oral) Law. Among other things, Jesus won’t observe hand
washing rituals, He’ll heal people on the Sabbath, and He will interact with publicans and sinners.
b. Jesus will also charge that although the Scribes and Pharisees kept the letter of the Law through
their traditions, they had completely missed the spirit behind the Law, making it void.
1. The religious leaders practiced a false righteousness. They had correct outer actions, but no
interior change. Jesus will say to them: You like to look good in public, but God knows your
evil hearts. What this world honors is an abomination in the sight of God (Luke 16:15, NLT)
2. The Scribes and Pharisees were the opposite of the Beatitudes. Instead of being humble and
meek, they were proud, haughty, and unforgiving. They looked down on and harshly judged
anyone who did not follow their leadership and example in righteousness. Matt 23:23-28
3. In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus talked about a Pharisee and a tax collector that went to the Temple to pray.
a. Jesus said the Pharisee prayed like this: I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else,
especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don’t sin, I don’t commit adultery,
I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income (v11-12, NLT).
1. The Old Testament did call for fasting once a year (Lev 23:27-29; Num 30:15), but they fasted
twice a week. And when the Pharisees fasted they tried to look haggard and pale so that all
would know they were fasting and men would praise them for their righteousness (Matt 6:16).
2. Jesus would later say to the religious leaders: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you tithe mint, and dill and cumin, and neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice
and mercy and faithfulness (Matt 23:23, ESV).
b. The religious leaders kept the Law (tithed and fasted) but despised their fellow man. They are
haughty and proud. This Pharisee was worshipping himself and not God (look what I have done).
And he exalted himself above his fellow man (thank you that I am not like that publican).
4. In the next part of His sermon, Jesus used six examples from the Law of Moses (murder, adultery,
divorce, oath taking, retaliation, and loving your fellow man) to expose the false righteousness
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preached and practiced by the Scribes and Pharisees.
a. Jesus was not actually teaching on these six topics. He simply used them to expose the Scribes and
Pharisees misinterpretation of the Law and present the true meaning or spirit behind the Law.
b. Jesus framed each example with the statement: You have heard it said…but I say unto you (Matt
5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43). In each case, Jesus quoted the Law of Moses (the Old Testament), but
instead of giving the Scribal interpretation, He gave His own interpretation. Note that Jesus’
teachings are consistent with the Law of Moses, but different from that of the Scribes and Pharisees.
1. Remember, Jesus said that all of God’s commandments (God’s will for human behavior) can be
summed up in two statements: Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Love your
neighbor as yourself. Matt 22:37-40
2. This love is not a feeling, it is an action. To love God means to obey His written Word. To
love your neighbor means to treat others the way you want to be treated.
c. The Pharisees and scribes came up with ways to keep the letter of the Law with correct outward
actions, but they violated the spirit behind it godly motives, desires, and attitudes (interior aspects).

C. Let’s examine Jesus’ first statement about the spirit behind the Law: You have heard that it was said to those
of old, You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that
everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to
the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire (Matt 5:21-22, ESV).
1. The Law of Moses does indeed say “Thou shalt not kill (murder)” (Ex 20:5). It also says that the one
who kills (murders) must be put to death (Num 35:30-31).
a. Jesus was not teaching that if you call someone a fool you will go to Hell. Jesus was illustrating
the spirit or meaning behind the Law. It’s more than not killing someone. By placing anger on the
level of murder, Jesus showed the seriousness of ill will in your heart toward another person.
b. Two Greek words can be translated anger. One refers to anger that flares up quickly and then just
as quickly dies down. That’s not the word used here. The word used here means anger that has
become firmly established, long-lived anger. The person broods over it, nurses it, and doesn’t let
go of it. It’s an anger that will not forget and seeks revenge.
c. Then Jesus gave two examples where anger turns into insulting and degrading words. The Greek
word translated “insults his brother” is rhaka (or RACA). RACA means worthless fellow before
God. It is almost untranslatable because it describes a tone of voice more than anything else.
1. It is an expression of arrogant contempt, scorn, or disdain for another person. You see them as
worthless and beneath you; you despise and look down on them.
2. Fool was an even more insulting term. It meant a rebel against God who is worthy of eternal
punishment. RACA scorns a man’s mind. Fool scorns a man’s moral character (Ps 14:1).
3. The Law (especially the Book of Proverbs) is clear. Words that express disdain and hatred for
others do great harm—damage reputations, destroy confidence (lessons for another day).
2. Jesus listed three increasingly severe punishments for anger and verbal expressions of anger. He was
not being literal with these punishments. He was making the point that lasting anger is bad, arrogant
speech is worse, and careless or malicious talk that destroys a man’s good name is the worst.
a. Jesus said anyone who angry with his brother is liable to judgment. This was a cultural reference to
the judgment court, a local village council (from 3 to 23 members). The judgment council judged
cases of murder and could inflict a punishment of strangling or beheading.
b. The council was a reference to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, the high court of the nation of Israel.
It was the final court of appeals for Mosaic Law. It was a more severe form of judgment.
c. The Greek word translated fires of hell is gehenna. Gehenna refers to the Valley of Hinnom (SW
of Jerusalem), the place where babies were burned alive to the god Molech began (II Chron 28:3).
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Once this practice was stopped (II Kings 23:10) the valley became a public incinerator where the
refuse of Jerusalem was thrown and burned. It was considered filthy, the place where useless and
evil things were destroyed. It became a synonym for Hell, the worst judgement of all.
3. Jesus next gives the positive side of the commandment—seek to make peace. Keeping God’s Law is
not just negative—don’t do that. It’s also doing what is right: being humble, merciful, and forgiving.
a. Matt 5:23-26—So, if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and
you suddenly remember that someone has something against you (you have harmed them), leave
your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer
your sacrifice to God. Come to terms quickly with your enemy (the one you have wronged) before
it is too late and you are dragged into court, handed over to an officer, and thrown in jail. I assure
you that you won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny (NLT).
1. The Pharisees made sacrifices to cover moral failure instead of letting go of anger and revenge,
and seeking to be reconciled. But Jesus says not only are you to not be angry with your
brother, if you have hurt or offended someone, do what you can to make it right.
2. Jesus’ audience was mostly Jewish. They knew about Saul, Israel’s first king. He disobeyed
God and was told by the prophet: Obedience is far better than sacrifice…rebellion is as bad as
the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshipping idols (I Sam 15:22-23, NLT).
b. Jesus’ point is that outward actions matter, but so do motives and attitudes. Just because you don’t
kill someone doesn’t mean you’ve kept the Law. Jesus died to produce an interior change.
D. Conclusion: We’ll look at Jesus’ other examples next week, but for now consider these thoughts. I realize
this brings up questions since we all get angry. What does this look like for us? Is all anger wrong?
1. We need to recognize that most, if not all, of our anger is selfish anger. We lose our temper because we
don’t get our way or things don’t go as we’d like. Focus on self doesn’t mean that you are bad. It’s
part of the corruption that we all inherited from Adam. Jesus died to turn us from this selfishness (self).
a. Most of our anger is that flash of anger we all feel from time to time. Many, if not most of us make
little or no effort to restrain or control anger because it seems to be such a normal part of life.
b. Paul the apostle wrote: Don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don’t let the sun go
down while you are still angry (Eph 4:26, NLT). There are several thoughts here.
1. Things do happen that stimulate that flash of emotion. That flash is not a sin. But when you
allow that flash to gain control over you and drive how you react, that usually leads to sin.
2. How do you know if you’ve sinned? If your anger has moved you to do or say something to or
about a person that you wouldn’t want said or done to you, you’ve violated the Law of Love.
3. Don’t let the sun go down means deal with that anger. Get control. Don’t brood over what
has happened until your anger grows into something that does not forget or forgive.
2. How can you get control in the moment? James the apostle wrote: Be quick to listen, slow to speak,
and slow to get angry (James 1:19, NLT). Restrain your mouth. Don’t feed your anger.
a. James also wrote that we use the same tongue to bless God and curse men who are made in the
image of God and that ought not be (James 3:9). Recall that God is in you to help you get control.
1. Talk to yourself: This person is made in the image of God. Jesus tells me not to harshly
judge someone. I can be angry at what they have done without disparaging their character.
2. We have to work at this. It takes effort to undo a lifetime of responding in anger. But as you
put forth effort to exercise self-control, you’re moving in the right direction. Gradually your
effort will become a habit, and that habit will grow into a lasting character trait.
b. God knows that a process of development and transformation is underway in you. He knows that
you are not yet fully Christ-like, but He also sees your heart. Is it your desire to grow in this area?
Then He’s pleased with you and is eager to help, as you look to Him. More next week!