October 8 - Matthew 5:17-48 (pt. 2)

One of the structural relationships that is observed when tearing into a Bible passage is Cause and Effect (called Causation for this activity).

When I was looking at the Genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-17, there was a whole lot of cause and effect.  So and so showed up on this earth because his father 'begat' him.  Some that we saw in the birth story was that Joseph was going to set Mary aside because she had gotten pregnant.  Cause and Effect.  Herod killed babies because he wanted to destroy the Messiah.  The Wise Men returned home another way because the angel warned them in a dream.  Cause and Effect.

It's a little more difficult to discover that type of structural relationship in a sermon like this, but voila - it's there!

In Matthew 5:25-26, we find that if a person lags while confronting their accuser, things will turn on them and they might end up in prison.  In Matthew 5:28, Jesus says that the effect of lust is adultery.  On and on ... His teachings show that in life ... cause will bring an effect whether we like it or not.

Another type of structural relationship is Particularization - going from a general idea to the specifics and on the opposite side of that Generalization - going from specifics to a general idea.

This passage is filled with those.

In Matthew 5:20, Jesus calls for righteousness to exceed the scribes and Pharisees.  From the next verse on, He produces the particulars of His expectation on how to achieve that righteousness.  Then, He finishes with a general statement again in Matthew 5:48 when He says "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  General - to Particulars - back to General.  Pretty cool stuff, eh?

We find more of this in Matthew 5:23-26 when He offers particulars for expanding the law against murder, in Matthew 5:34-37, He offers particulars for expanding the law against oath-making and in Matthew 5:40-42, He offers particulars for expanding the law regarding retaliation.

Now, why do YOU think that this type of study is important?  I'm learning day after day the depth of understanding that I get from tearing into scripture.  Does it make sense to you?