BUT

BUT! That’s an awful big word, isn’t it. It allows us to make a statement with a great deal of conviction and leave some wriggle room at the same time. At least that’s the way most of us use it. We say, “Oh, I’ll be there, but something might come up!” “I am a very caring person, but some people just get on my last nerve!” We can say just about anything as long as we can attach those three little letters to the end of our statement. We can make bold commitments, BUT we want to leave ourselves a way out as well.



Jesus doesn’t leave us a way out in Matthew 5:21ff though. In a series of five surprising turns Jesus radicalizes the Gospel and addresses three topics in ways that make people start to sweat over. Jesus establishes a new standard for righteousness, or, more likely, corrects the skewed old standard to how it should have been interpreted all along.

Think of how self-righteous we can be with the following statements. “I’ve never committed a violent act in my life!” “I have been a faithful partner for all my married years.” “When I make a promise, I keep it!”


You feel pretty good about it when you can make those three statements, don’t you? Jesus however sets up a new authority. Jesus compares the rules of humanity to the rules of humanity’s creator. Jesus refers us back to the owner’s manual. Unlike your car where the owner it refers to is you, here the owner is our Heavenly Father.


We claim a cool and even handed attitude in all our dealings in life, but Jesus asks, “Have you ever hated anyone? Have you ever called anyone a fool, in anger? Have you ever lost your temper? Have you ever thought, ‘I’m so mad I could kill them?’” Jesus tells us that violence wished upon someone makes us just as guilty as violence committed against someone.


We claim fidelity in the most intimate of our relationships, but Jesus confronts us again, “Would you be willing to play a tape of your thought life or publish a catalogue of the videos and movies you watch?” There are more ways to be unfaithful in our most intimate relationships than crawling into bed with people other than our spouse!


We proudly claim that we keep our promises, but Jesus asks, “Why do you have to make a promise at all?” If we have to say, “You have my word on it.” is our word really any good at all?


If you’re like me, you don’t feel nearly as good about yourself as you did at the beginning of this short article. Our righteousness becomes, as Paul says, “nothing but filthy rags!” It isn’t surprising that we need a Savior! It is surprising that so many of us spend so much effort trying to find ways to justify our own actions rather than simply clinging to the forgiveness for those actions that Christ has extended to us through his life, death, and resurrection.

Pastor Craig