# On the 4th Sunday of every month, Pastor Mizuguchi gives a lecture of reflections upon, “The Sermon on the Mount.” This session today, is the fifth of the series.

The sermon on the mount was a discourse of Jesus recorded by Matthew (chs. 5-7) as having been spoken to disciples and others in the hill country of Galilee in the early part of his ministry. It begins with a group of blessings (the Beatitudes), and then deals with social duties in a series of contrasts between the teachings of Jesus and the ancient legal traditions of the Jews.

1. Concerning AdulteryToday’s lecture from Jesus’ sermon on the mount is

concerning adultery and divorce. There remains many moral views and cultural positions which need to be taken into consideration. The focus of today’s lecture is upon Jesus, and His teachings about these moral issues. The first antithesis is on adultery, Matthew 5:27-30). Matthew himself was Jewish, and the traditional Jewish teaching was that adultery was a sin.

Adultery can violate a neighbours right of possession, and destroy any feeling of loyalty. We can find that notion in the Old Testament record of the Ten Commandments (Decalogue) Exodus 20:14), and the following verse: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour” (Exodus 2:17).

The Bible does not denounce sexual relationships as Genesis so readily shows, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:27-28).

Concerning adultery, however, Jesus In Matthew 5:27-30, interprets the Decalogue’s prohibition of adultery (Exod. 20:14), to condemn the predatory behaviours and structures of a patriarchal society, to curb male power, and to establish different male-female interaction.

Jesus’ asserts that the marriage bond is injured even by the thought of unchastity, so that marriage is judged by its inner quality as much as by its legal form. The sayings on renunciation (vss 29-30), appear again at Matthew 18:8-9, with more consistent eschatological language. Here the offending hand or eye refers to natural desires that become uncontrollable and destroy the whole body - i.e., ruin the whole personal life.

2. Moral Issues in the Bible

There is a story about king David, who was once the most powerful king of Israel. From the bible we read,"One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing” (2 Samuel 11:2). David was immediately attracted to the woman who was very beautiful. Her name was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a loyal soldier in King David’s army. David sent messengers to bring her to him. She met with King David and slept with him. David later sent Uriah into a fierce battle, knowing he would be killed. However, the Lord sent Nathan, a most influential prophet of the time, to confront David about his behaviour.

Nathan came to David, and told him a story: “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. … Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! … Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!”… (2 Samuel 12:1-7).
Instead of getting angry at Nathan, his preacher, for pointing out his wrong, David went to his knees in confession. Fortunately, we still have a record of that confession which saved him.

There is another moral issue from from the bible which we can gain some insight through reading: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’” (John 8:3-6). To the surrounding crowd Jesus said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Jesus does not fall for the test but, instead, calls the authorities to accountability for their own past actions.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir” And Jesus said, “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:9-11).

The authorities’ departure answers Jesus’ challenge of verse 7. His words to the woman, urge that the freely given acquittal, become the beginning of a new life. Jesus, understanding human weakness, does not condemn us for our sins, rather, he tries to save us through confession, repentance and forgiveness.

3. Concerning Divorce & Commitment

Jesus says, “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 marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery’” ( Matthew 5:31-32).

Deuteronomy regulates, but it neither justifies nor forbids divorce (Deut. 24:1-14). Against other permissive views, Jesus interprets it strictly to limit male power and declare that a man does not have unlimited power to dismiss or divorce a wife at his whim (Matthew 5:31-32).

Mark reported Jesus’ teaching concerning separation and vows: “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Mark 10:6-9).

God originally commanded man and woman to love each other with a reciprocal respect by fulfilling the task required of each other. The Apostle Paul says: “The commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not covet, and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law’” (Romans 13:9-10).
Paul defines Christian love as other-directed as opposed to self-pleasing. Love is not a feeling, but a concrete Good , specifically a “summing up” and fulfilling of the law.

Divorce can be cruel, even hurtful, for children and the adults involved. Actually in Japan, the reason for divorce for one out of every two couples, can be traced to unfaithfulness in marriage. Divorce today can be just as destructive and hurtful as in Jesus’ time. Those who discover that their partner is unfaithful should first make every effort to forgive, reconcile, and restore their relationship. There are always more reasons to restore a relationship, than there are excuses to leave it.

Those who are loved by God will love others in return and will not contemplate hurting another person. They will enter into a loving relationship and live above the demands and temptations of the twenty first century, in which we live. From the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was communicating the depth of his message by using a series of contrasts between the outward demand of the law, and the inner attitude of the heart desired by God.

As Christians, let us continue to love each other, authentically, in the love of the Lord, and in accordance with His teachings from the sermon on the mount.