Implications in the Sermon on the Mount

by Doy Moyer

One way to see the sermon on the mount is through the lens of Matthew 5:20, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” Along these lines, I believe an important hermeneutical point can be seen right on the heels of this statement.

Jesus references the sins of murder and adultery (Matthew 5:21-27), showing that there are implications in the basic commands. These appear to be implications that the Pharisees missed, perhaps even thinking that as long as they didn’t commit the actual overt sins of murder and adultery, they were okay. But the commands were further reaching in the principles, for the attitudes and thoughts of the heart leading up to the overt sins are also wrong. Some missed the broader principles entailed by the specific prohibitions. Do we ever do that?

A little later Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy…” (Matthew 5:43). These statements juxtaposed like this are interesting. Perhaps they thought there were other principles telling them to hate their enemies, but one does not entail the other. The Scriptures said, “Love your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:18), but loving your neighbor does not entail hating our enemy. That would be inferring what’s not there. Do we ever do that? Interestingly, Jesus showed on another occasion that the concept of neighbor is much broader than we might normally think (Luke 10:25-37).

Implications can be missed, but we can also infer what’s not there, and we need to be careful that we aren’t interpreting Scripture based on our own agendas. The only agenda that matters here is the Lord’s, and I need to seek Him and read His word for His will, not mine. Try to see what is there, but also try to avoid pulling out something that isn’t there.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email