Last week I started what will most likely be a sporadic series. The goal is simply to present some of the sayings of Jesus while asking the question “What if He really meant it?” Far too often, we approach Jesus as if He didn’t actually mean what He said as He said it and that we are free to explain away the challenging parts. Not necessarily the parts that are challenging in a way that is hard to understand, but challenging in a different way, forcing us to ask, “would I live differently if I really believed Him at His Word?”

Though the focus of the series is not necessarily the Sermon on the Mount, this week’s saying (like last week’s) comes from that section. Often known as an address on “kingdom living,” the Sermon on the Mount contains many of Jesus’ most challenging sayings. What if He really meant what He said when He said in these two sayings:

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 (Matthew 5:21-22).

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 (Matthew 5:27-28).

Both of these sayings demonstrate the true intent of the Law, that it was always about the heart rather than merely the external behavior. What even Jesus meant it? Do you live like you think He did? It’s interesting how the little question “What if He really meant it?” forces us to sometimes view the text a bit differently (or at least it should).

• Read Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
• Read Jesus The Messiah by Robert Stein
• Read Studies In The Sermon on the Mount by D. Martin Lloyd-Jones
• Read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation With the World by D.A. Carson