INTRODUCTION
At the beginning and throughout this series, I have repeatedly said that the general theme of the Sermon on the Mount is an ‘inside-outside change’ for Jesus' followers. Behavior is changed when the heart is changed. Jesus repeatedly goes directly to the heart of His followers. Jesus knows that if real change is going to occur, it has to begin inside. A heart change changes everything.
The reality of kingdom life affects internal heart attitudes and external actions because they are in a systemic relationship. Jesus teaches that first, the heart changes, and then our behavior changes. Both internal and external attentiveness are necessary for holistic discipleship. However, the internal attitudes of the heart are the proper foundation and source of external actions. A heart change changes everything.
Our obedience to Jesus’ teaching should overflow from a heart attitude that is rightly oriented toward God. We must not be satisfied simply with following the letter of the law, which takes us back to the error of the scribes and Pharisees, but we must seek the intent and motive of the law. Again, a heart change changes everything.
In today’s verses, Jesus addresses three different topics, but there is a common thought underneath. That common thought really gets to the heart of the matter, which is our heart.
Matthew 5:27–37 ESV
“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. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
SCRIPTURAL ANALYSIS
Verses 27-30
Jesus drew the command concerning adultery directly from the Ten Commandments as Jesus moved on from the Sixth Commandment (murder) to the Seventh Commandment. “Adultery” usually refers to intimate physical relations by a married person with a partner other than their spouse, but verse 28 makes clear that Jesus is not limiting his commandments to married people. Jesus is condemning lustful thoughts and actions.
Adultery among Christians today is a scandal, yet it almost never occurs without precipitation. Christians must recognize those thoughts and actions which, long before any overt intimate sin, make the possibility of giving in to temptation more likely, and they must take dramatic action to avoid them. It occurs in our minds long before it occurs in reality.
Eyes and hands are primary tools in sin, but verses 29–30 may also be applied more broadly. Literal self-mutilation is not Christ’s objective. It is quite possible to be blind or crippled and still lust. The “right” eye and hand refer to those viewed in antiquity as more valuable. The best interpretation observes that Jesus’s statement began with a condition: “If your eye/hand causes you to sin.” This statement merely assumes the reality of a false (contrary to fact) condition to make a point. Neither the hand nor the eye causes a person to sin. The preceding verse shows that all sin, including adultery, is spawned “in the heart.”
The issue is, according to Jesus, is the heart. Jesus opposes the physical act of adultery, but he is ultimately concerned with the inner state of the heart facilitating it.
Verses 31-32
Again, Jesus requires a more exacting standard for his followers than was prevalent in the Judaism of his day. In the Old Testament, divorce was legislated but never really deeply developed. Under Jewish law, “adultery” refers only to the wife’s misbehavior, not the husband’s. Matthew does not agree with this view or the fact that some Pharisaic rabbis allowed divorce for almost anything.
Jesus thus goes beyond the stricter position: not only does he allow divorce only if one’s wife is unfaithful, but he regards divorce for any other reason as invalid, thus making remarriage in those cases adulterous. This seems, however, to be hyperbole, a graphic way of forbidding divorce except when the other partner has already irreparably broken the marriage covenant. Jesus hates divorce in every instance, but he permits it in this outlined circumstance. His will is always reconciliation except in the face of the marriage covenant's ongoing, unrepentant, unfaithful destruction.
Jesus’ central point, which the hyperbolic image is meant to evoke, is the sanctity of marriage. Addressing the hardness of legal interpreters’ hearts, Jesus opposed divorce to protect marriage and family, thereby seeking to prevent the betrayal of innocent spouses.
Verses 33-37
To “swear” (v. 34) does not mean to curse or use bad words but to affirm the truth of a statement while calling on God to judge oneself if it is, in fact, untrue. Jesus’ followers should be people whose words are so characterized by integrity that others need no formal assurance of their truthfulness in order to trust them. The Law says, “You shall not bear false witness,” indicating a courtroom situation, but Jesus again binds His disciples to the underlying spirit of that law and teaches that every statement is to be absolutely true. Believers should never give occasion for a shadow of a doubt to cross their statements.
Simply put, Jesus insisted that his followers always tell the truth, not simply when “under oath.” Citizens of his kingdom are to be truth-tellers, in contrast to those who play with words and twist their meaning to their own selfish ends.
Jesus’ followers ought to be so well known for their honesty and truthfulness that they do not need to make vows. Jesus emphasized that his followers should just say a simple, “Yes, I will,” or “No, I won’t.” When they say yes, they mean yes, and when they say no, they mean no. “Your word is enough.” Back then and still today, people need vows only when telling lies is possible. Jesus taught that anything beyond this simple honesty was “from the evil one,” as Satan is the “father of all lies.”
Jesus understands the duplicity of the human heart. People sometimes invoke an oath to conceal an attempt to deceive, and oaths can be used as distractions to cover dishonesty. By contrast, Jesus’ disciples should be people of such integrity and truthfulness that whatever they say is absolutely believable and dependable.
TODAY’S KEY TRUTH
Safeguarding Your Integrity & the Truth is a Matter of the Heart.
APPLICATION
While we cannot be sinless until we are with Christ, we must watch over our hearts in the meantime. When we find a destructive habit or thought pattern, we need to get rid of it. Jesus is exposing some destructive thoughts of his time and ours.
The Pharisees were preoccupied with the grounds for divorce, Jesus with the institution of marriage. The Pharisees called Moses’ provision for divorce a command; Jesus called it a concession to the hardness of human hearts. The Pharisees regarded divorce lightly; Jesus took it seriously. The Pharisees have manipulated truth through oaths; Jesus says truthfulness matters above all else.
Truth matters because it forms the foundation of trust, credibility, and effective communication in all aspects of life. It enables informed decision-making, promotes transparency, and fosters healthy relationships by ensuring honesty and integrity. In a broader societal context, truth supports justice, accountability, and the functioning of democratic systems. Without truth, misinformation and deceit can lead to misunderstandings, conflict, and a breakdown of social cohesion. Upholding the truth is essential for personal growth, mutual respect, and the collective well-being of communities. Only truth can guide us toward a more just and ethical world.
Truth isn’t something we invent. Truth is reality. We live in an environment where truth is no longer based on objective reality but is invented by subjective feelings. By a three-to-one margin, adults said that truth is always relative to the person and his or her situation. And this perspective is even more lopsided among teenagers, with 83 percent saying that moral truth depends upon the circumstances. You hear people say things like, “This is my truth.” That is a sign that a person is driven by feelings instead of truth. Truth isn’t something we invent or is driven by feelings. Truth is being honest with reality.
Our world has also lost all understanding of the idea of integrity. The word integrity comes from the same Latin root as integer and implies the wholeness of the person. Just as we would talk about a whole number, we can also talk about an undivided person. A person of integrity is living rightly, not divided or being different in different circumstances. A person of integrity is the same in private as in public.
The opposite of integrity is corruption. We say we want leaders and politicians to be honest, but we do not expect them to be, perhaps because we are not as honest as we should be. We say we are a nation of laws, but we often break some minor laws and try to justify our actions. Integrity is on the decline in our world.
James Patterson and Peter Kim’s book The Day America Told the Truth illustrates Americans’ lack of integrity and honesty. Using a survey technique that guaranteed the privacy and anonymity of the respondents, the authors documented what Americans really believe and do. The results were startling.
First, Patterson and Kim found that Americans lacked moral authority: “Americans are making up their own moral codes. Only 13 percent of us believe in all the Ten Commandments. Forty percent of us believe in five of the Ten Commandments. We choose which laws of God we believe in. There is absolutely no moral consensus in this country anymore.”
Second, they found Americans are not honest: “Lying has become an integral part of American culture, a trait of the American character. We lie and don’t even think about it. We lie for no reason.” The authors estimated that 91 percent of Americans lie regularly.
Third, marriage and family are no longer sacred institutions: “While we still marry, we have lost faith in the institution of marriage. A third of married men and women confessed to us that they’ve had at least one affair. Thirty percent aren’t really sure that they still love their spouse.”
Fourth, they found that the “Protestant work ethic is long gone from today’s American workplace. Workers around America frankly admit that they spend more than 20 percent (7 hours a week) of their time at work totally goofing off. That amounts to a four-day work week across the nation.”
We may say that we are a nation that wants integrity and honesty, but apparently, a majority of Americans lack them in their personal lives. We clearly live in a world of mixed messages. Most people say one thing but do another, believe one way but live another. Private actions often do not match public statements. In short, it is often the case that who we are does not match up with who we claim to be.
Through these verses on adultery, marriage, and oaths, Jesus is saying integrity and truth matter. As His followers, we have to place the highest priority on integrity and truth. We do that by aligning our hearts with His. A heart change changes everything. Integrity and truth have to be a heart-driven priority. Jesus says integrity and truth matter to Him, so it has to matter for His followers.
Safeguarding Your Integrity & the Truth is a Matter of the Heart.
CONCLUSION
All who love the Lord must cultivate a heart that has a passion for integrity and truth. Our world does everything it can to corrupt truth and integrity because sin dispises the light.
The problem with corruption is its corrosiveness. We believe that we can be dishonest just a little bit or cut ethical corners, and it won’t really matter. We say that we want people to be honest, but then we are dishonest financially on a matter. We say that we want people to obey the laws, but then we go, “No one will know if I break a few traffic laws.” We want to be honest just enough to ease our conscience. Being a person of integrity is a life-long process. All of us have to begin somewhere. Our lives are the collection of choices we have made in the past, good and bad.
Corruption and sin are progressively corrosive. They will continually erode your integrity and honesty by having you go a little further each time. We often convince ourselves that a small amount of dishonesty is harmless. Everyone has to start somewhere, and our lives are ultimately shaped by our collective choices, both good and bad. Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount to guard your heart, flee from sin, and prioritize integrity and truth.
Safeguarding Your Integrity & the Truth is a Matter of the Heart.
As Christians, our integrity and truthfulness directly impact our witness. One of our first and primary responsibilities as ambassadors for Christ is to represent Christ to a lost and dying world. With that understanding, we realize that we must protect our integrity and the truth. Protecting our integrity and the truth involves some intentional behaviors.
Protecting your integrity involves consistently aligning your actions with biblical values. Be honest and transparent in all your dealings. Even if no one knows what you’re doing, you should hold yourself accountable for your actions. Avoid compromising your principles, even under pressure or by yourself. Surround yourself with people who respect and uphold similar values. Reflect regularly on your decisions and behaviors to ensure they match biblical standards. Admit mistakes and take responsibility, learning from them. Show grace to others in response to their mistakes. Maintain transparency in your communications. Make your integrity something of value to you. That’s what Jesus is calling for from his disciples in these verses.
We also have to be intentional in protecting the truth and honesty. Truth and honesty are critical in our representation of Jesus. If we are loose with truth or dishonest with our words, how do we expect people to believe us about Christ? Corruption and lies are corrosive. Be honest in all that you say and represent. This is a challenge in the information age, but we must be intentional. Always verify the information before sharing it. And yes, I’m talking directly about social media and the conspiracy theories that dominate our day. Christians should be very selective on social media. And Christians should have nothing to do with conspiracy theories. Do not associate with anything that hasn’t been established as definitive truth. If the information hasn’t been verified, if you can’t offer clear and tangible proof of something, flee from it, don’t share it, or promote it as true. Don’t sacrifice truth for some wild conspiracy that is popular. In our highly charged environment, don’t add to the confusion by associating with ideas and theories involving little to no truth. Cultivate critical thinking to distinguish between fact and misinformation. If you’re not sure of its validity then have no part of it. There are people who admire you and are watching you, so don’t sacrifice your reputation on unprovable speculations. Promote transparency and be open to admitting mistakes. Encourage a culture of accountability, where dishonesty is challenged and honesty is praised. Stand firm against compromising the truth, even in challenging times. By consistently upholding these principles, we can create an environment where truth is valued and protected. Let what you say be simply yes or no. Let what you say and associate with only be the truth. That is what Jesus is calling for from His disciples.
Safeguarding Your Integrity & the Truth is a Matter of the Heart.
So, how do we cultivate a heart that has a passion for integrity and truth? How do we create the heart change that changes everything? We can do this by constantly reminding ourselves of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Jesus left heaven to come and save us. Jesus died for us. Jesus suffered for our sins. He loved you enough that he made the ultimate sacrifice and conquered the grave so that you could be reunited with your creator in heaven. We create heart change by daily reminding ourselves of The Gospel. Constantly reminding yourself of what Jesus has done will develop a passion for integrity and truth because, as Jesus taught here, integrity and truth matter to Him. Jesus says integrity and truth matter to Him. Integrity and truth matter because of their impact on your ability to share the good news of Jesus. By constantly reminding yourself of the grace and mercy God has given to you, you’ll develop a heart that values integrity and truth.