Verses 31-32 Jesus said the only legitimate reason one can divorce is if there is sexual immorality. The Jewish leaders had varying opinions on divorce. Some said you could divorce for any reason. Once someone divorces for any reason they want and they remarry, they commit adultery and the person whom they marry commits adultery. And notice here that it is the person who is seeking an illegitimate divorce who will be blamed for the sin of adultery. There isn’t one word mentioned here that it’s okay to divorce our spouse if we’ve fallen out of love if don’t like each other, if we have ‘incompatible differences’ or if we don’t like our lives with this person any longer.
Verses 33-37 We shouldn’t throw around careless, flippant oaths in our everyday speech. Like when we are trying to convince someone of our truthfulness and we say “I swear” or “I swear on my life”. A lot of times this is only a coverup for deception. Everything in heaven and on this earth is God’s. It’s not for us to give by the swearing of an oath. Jesus says, “let your yes be yes, and your no is no.”
Verses 38-42 This “eye for an eye” statement is an Old Testament principle and was intended to keep the justice fair and limited so people were not exceeding what was due in retaliation. When people were punished, it needed to be in proportion to the crime. But Jesus is all about serving. He is asking for His followers to adopt His spirit of servanthood when someone mistreats us by giving and serving even more. We should be willing to go the extra mile even for people who don’t like us.
Verses 43-48 God’s law says, “Love your neighbor.” The natural conclusion is then to hate your enemy. But Jesus points to how the Lord continues to provide for those who are evil and unjust. If we want to reflect His character, then we can’t just show kindness to believers or those who love us back. His grace is that He gives certain blessings to all people, like the sun and the rain. The only way to stand out like a light in a dark and wicked world is to reflect God’s character and seek the best interests of everyone, even those we don’t like. The way we can rise above the situation and seek even our enemy’s well-being is through the power of the Holy Spirit living in us.
Prayer: Jesus, help me cling to your teaching and guard my heart against the enemy of feelings that go up and down, are here and there. I throw off the world’s patterns and understanding and believe Your way is the only way to live my best life. I pray for a persevering heart that stays close to Your Word, no matter what. Protect my mouth from throwing out oaths and words that carry little meaning. Let every word from my mouth be intentional, truthful, full of encouragement, mercy, empathy, and grace. When my situation feels unfair, help me Jesus, to walk in Your love, to operate in Your strength, and serve anyone who chooses to hurt me. Help me use wisdom to guard my heart, while I walk in grace to go the extra mile. I can’t do this in my own strength, Lord. Help me, Holy Spirit, by your grace and power to look beyond the circumstances and choose love when it hurts. Help me let go of justice and what is fair or not fair and focus on Your character, Jesus. Help me rise above my situation and seek my enemy’s well-being as I look to my reward that far outweighs the suffering. I tear down any stronghold of self-righteousness that prevents me from trusting You, Jesus. I loosen all of Your love, grace, and mercy in my thoughts, words, and actions. In Jesus’ name, Amen.