This is the continuation of my notes from Chapter 4 in a preaching course I’m taking. Unless otherwise indicated all quotations are from the book:

Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon, 3^rd Edition by Bryan Chapell

Exercises

1. Indicate how explanation, illustration, and application are used in Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) and Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin (Acts 7:2-25).

Jesus’ theme was the goodness of God. He spoke to sinners born under the law,¹ what Paul called the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone² and the ministry of condemnation.³ It is also the fallen condition focus of this sermon. At first Jesus addressed the faithful who had learned from the law: since through the law comes knowledge of sin.⁴

For Paul this knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις) was not merely that law designated sin but that law coerced sin into revealing itself (Romans 7:7b-11 ESV):

Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life (ἡ εἰς ζωήν) proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

This knowledge of sin through the law pressed deeper still within Paul (Romans 7:18, 19 ESV):

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing [Table].

To any who had gained this knowledge of sin through the law, Jesus expressed the goodness of God: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”⁵ And He explained how God had blessed them with the following promise: “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”⁶

Did Jesus say that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who give up and say, I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out? Yes—and no, not exactly. He implied that those who give up and say, I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out, are those who wait for God’s salvation. This becomes clearer later.

The knowledge of sin Paul gained through the law pressed stil further (Romans 7:21-24 ESV):

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members [Table]. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

And to those whose knowledge of sin gained through the law had wrenched out a lament like Paul’s, Jesus applied the goodness of God: “Blessed are those who mourn (οἱ πενθοῦντες, a participle of πενθέω).”⁷ And again, He explained how God will bless them with the following promise: “for they shall be comforted.”⁸ The Greek word translated they shall be comforted was παρακληθήσονται, a passive form of the verb παρακαλέω in the future tense. It is almost impossible to disregard its association to the noun παράκλητον (a form of παράκλητος). Jesus promised (John 14:16-18, 25, 26 ESV):

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper (παράκλητον, a form of παράκλητος), to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you [Table].

“I will not leave you as orphans (ὀρφανούς, a form of ὀρφανός); I will come to you.”

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper (παράκλητος), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” [Table].

The translators of the KJV made this relationship explicit in English.

To those whose pride had been humbled by the knowledge of sin gained through the law, Jesus declared the goodness of God: “Blessed are the meek.”⁹ Again, He explained how God will bless them with a promise:“for they shall inherit the earth.”¹⁰ The Greek word translated meek, πραεῖς (from the adjective πραΰς), occurred from time to time in the Psalms in the Septuagint, extolling God’s grace toward the meek.

But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.¹¹

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.¹²

My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.¹³

when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth. Selah¹⁴

The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.¹⁵

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.¹⁶

To any who had the desire to do what is right¹⁷ according to the law, Jesus declared the goodness of God: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”¹⁸ And He explained with another promise how God will bless them: “for they shall be satisfied.”¹⁹ The Greek words translated righteousness were τὴν δικαιοσύνην (a form of δικαιοσύνη). This promised satisfaction is nothing less than that [which] comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness (δικαιοσύνην) from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.²⁰

Here, it becomes clearer, though not stated so succinctly, that Jesus described what I called a super-application: walk by the Spirit—as Jesus walked in the power of the Spirit²¹—and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh;²² being guided, carried along and energized by Jesus’ own love—the fulfilling (πλήρωμα) of the law²³—his own joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control²⁴ all day, everyday, forever; against such things there is no law.²⁵

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy,”²⁶ Jesus continued. But this seemed different somehow:

Poverty of spirit seemed like a need that could arise as a natural result from the knowledge of sin gained through the law, that I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.²⁷ To mourn seemed like a natural result of that neediness, made apparent from the knowledge of sin gained through the law. Meekness, humility, seemed to be a natural result of my mourning and neediness gained from the knowledge of sin through the law. To hunger and thirst for righteousness seemed like the only sane response to my meekness, mourning my neediness gained from the knowledge of sin through the law.

While it makes sense that I will need mercy as I hunger and thirst for a righteousness I do not yet possess, mourning in meekness over my spiritual poverty, while it only seems fair that I should be merciful to those around me suffering as I suffer, to actually be merciful seems like that very desire to do what is right that I lack the ability to carry…out. Yet, there it sits in Jesus’ saying, a veritable impediment to my own need for his promise of mercy. Do I give up in despair? Or do I see his grace all around me?

It took an extraordinary amount of effort to transform my native desire to be right into a hunger and thirst for his righteousness, his effort not mine: work (κατεργάζεσθε, a form of κατεργάζομαι) out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works (ὁ ἐνεργῶν, a participle of the verb ἐνεργέω) in you, both to will (τὸ θέλειν, an infinitve form of θέλω in the present tense) and to work (τὸ ἐνεργεῖν, an infinitive form of ἐνεργέω in the present tense) for his good pleasure [Table].²⁸ The ease, I described as a “natural result,” with which meekness, mourning and spiritual poverty seemed to arise from a knowledge of sin gained through the law stands as evidence that God does all the heavy lifting in both the desires and the efforts He brings forth in me. As Paul wrote in a slightly different context: So then it depends not on human will (τοῦ θέλοντος, a participle of θέλω) or exertion (τοῦ τρέχοντος, a participle of τρέχω in the present tense), but on God, who has mercy.²⁹

So, to those learning to be merciful from God’s own mercy toward them as they suffer the knowledge of sin gained through the law, Jesus revealed the goodness of God: “Blessed are the merciful.”³⁰ Here, too, He explained God’s goodness with a promise: “for they shall receive mercy.”³¹ This means even more mercy from God, and perhaps a little from those to whom they are merciful, those who suffer the same knowledge of sin gained through the law.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,”³² came next. In my past I took this to mean that those who never thought about sex would see God. I had no clue how to stop thinking about sex, and little desire to do so. I’m not sure how literally I took see God (τὸν θεὸν ὄψονται, a form of ὁράω in the future tense). There appear to be three options. First (Revelation 22:3, 4 ESV):

No longer³³ will there be anything accursed,³⁴ but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see (ὄψονται, a form of ὁράω) his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

This literal meaning of seeing God’s face as a servant of God entails learning the knowledge of sin gained through the law and receiving God’s salvation instead. The second option is (Matthew 24:29, 30; Mark 13:24-26; Luke 21:25-27 ESV):

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn (κόψονται, a form of κόπτω in the middle voice), and they will see (ὄψονται, a form of ὁράω) the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

“But³⁵ in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling³⁶ from³⁷ heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see (ὄψονται, a form of ὁράω) the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves [Table], people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see (ὄψονται, a form of ὁράω) the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

Here, according to Matthew, all the tribes of the earth (πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς) present at a certain moment in time will see the Son of Man.³⁸ But Jesus didn’t limit the promise which explained how God blesses the pure in heart—for they shall see God³⁹—to those who are “present at a certain moment in time.” So, the third option is (Romans 15:20, 21 ESV):

and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see (ὄψονται, a form of ὁράω), and those who have never heard will understand (συνήσουσιν, a form of συνίημι).”

Here, συνήσουσιν (a form of συνίημι), will understand, was coupled with ὄψονται (a form of ὁράω), will see. It prompts me to consider some of the other meanings of ὁράω: “to consider (i.e., look at mentally); to arrive at a conclusion by observation; to experience, witness; to notice, recognize, understand; to realize, comprehend.” So, who are the pure in heart (οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ), who shall “consider, arrive at a conclusion by observation, experience, witness, notice, recognize, understand, realize, comprehend” God?

The aim of our charge is love, Paul wrote Timothy, that issues from a pure heart (καθαρᾶς καρδίας) and a good conscience and a sincere faith.⁴⁰ And, So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart (καθαρᾶς καρδίας).⁴¹ These form a verbal portrait of what those with a pure heart do or are called to do.

Peter wrote (1 Peter 1:22, 23 ESV):

Having purified (ἡγνικότες, an active participle of ἁγνίζω) your souls by your obedience to the truth [through the Spirit]⁴² for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart ([καθαρᾶς] καρδίας), since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding⁴³ word of God;

I added δια πνευματος (KJV: through the Spirit) from the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text back into the ESV translation because καθαρᾶς (ESV: pure) was in brackets in the NET parallel Greek text. It is not in brackets in the NA²⁸. I take this to mean that the occurrence of καθαρᾶς here was questionable in NA²⁷ but considered more favorably in NA²⁸. I imagined what it might be like to read 1 Peter 1:22 with both δια πνευματος and καθαρᾶς removed from the text in light of the Lord’s assessment of the heart.

Even without the Holy Spirit or a pure heart in verse 22, 1 Peter 1:23 would still speak of a new birth—since you have been born again (ἀναγεγεννημένοι, a participle of the verb ἀναγεννάω)…through the living and abiding word of God. But I wonder if it would have been enough to dissuade me from attempting to do all that a pure heart entails—flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace⁴⁴—with my old deceitful (Masoretic Text: עָקֹ֥ב) or deep (Septuagint: βαθεῖα) heart. Jesus was clearer perhaps when He told his disciples (John 15:3, 4 ESV):

Already you are clean (καθαροί, a form of καθαρός) because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me [Table].

The Greek word translated clean was καθαροί, a form of καθαρός, the same word translated pure in Matthew 5:8—οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, the pure in heart (ESV). All of this, including the rabbis understanding of deceitful as βαθεῖα in the Septuagint, translated deep (NETS, English Elpenor), with its connotation of dark or murky, turns my attention to the primary meaning of καθαρός listed in the Koine Greek Lexicon online: clear.

It stands then that the first clarity one receives regarding one’s deeply deceitful heart is the knowledge of sin gained through the law, the Word of God. And to them Jesus revealed God’s goodness: “Blessed are the pure in heart.”⁴⁵ And He explained God’s blessing with a promise: “for they shall see God.”⁴⁶ They shall see Him face-to-face one day, as they “consider” Him; “arrive at a conclusion by observation” about Him; “experience” Him, “witness” Him; “notice” Him, “recognize” Him, “understand” Him; “realize” and “comprehend” Him along the way, not fully or exhaustively but truthfully.

Jesus continued: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”⁴⁷ The Greek word translated peacemakers was εἰρηνοποιοί (a form of εἰρηνοποιός). It only occurs once in the New Testament but John was very explicit about who shall be called sons of God (υἱοὶ θεοῦ κληθήσονται):

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι), who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.⁴⁸

Come to terms quickly with your accuser (τῷ ἀντιδίκῳ σου) while you are going with him to court, Jesus commanded later in this sermon, lest your accuser (ὁ ἀντίδικος) hand you over to the judge, and the judge⁴⁹ to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.⁵⁰ The rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose ἀντιδίκους (another form of ἀντίδικος) to describe those on the wrong side of the Lord’s judgment. It would have been to their benefit to Come to terms quickly with their accuser ἀντιδίκῳ, another form of ἀντίδικος.

While it remains and open question in my mind whether ἐξάρῃ (a form of ἐξαίρω) should have been translated destroy in English, it is readily apparent that those who have gained the knowledge of their own sin through the law are the more likely to make peace with God quickly (ταχύ), receiving his salvation. To them Jesus declared the goodness of God: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”⁵² And then He explained how God will bless them: “for they shall be called sons of God.”⁵³

Those who have gained the knowledge of sin through the law, so as to have become poor in spirit, to mourn their predicament in meekness, to hunger and thirst for that righteousness they do not yet possess, merciful to those who suffer the same fate, pure enough in heart to make peace with God and wait for his salvation, will be persecuted by those who deny the truth of any or all such knowledge of sin. Jesus declared the goodness of God: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”⁵⁴ He explained how God blessed them with a promise, the same promise He made to the poor in spirit: “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”⁵⁵

Jesus followed upon this with an illustration of the form such persecution will take, expressed once again as the goodness of God: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”⁵⁶ He followed that with his first application: Rejoice and be glad.⁵⁷

Admittedly, seeing this as his first application helps to reinforce that everything else up to this point was the work of God, both to will and to work for his good pleasure,⁵⁸ through his Word, the law and the prophets. (I had to resort to David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Joel to understand Jesus’ words. And on that note, I would have understood none of this apart from Paul’s brilliant summation of the purpose of the law. I would have continued to hear Jesus’ words in the sermon on the mount as just more rules for me to obey.)

Jesus explained why one who is persecuted should rejoice and be glad with another promise: for your reward is great in heaven.⁵⁹ Then he explained God’s blessing on those who are persecuted with an illustration from Israel’s past: for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.⁶⁰

“You are the salt of the earth,”⁶¹ Jesus illustrated the goodness of God to those who had gained the knowledge of sin through the law, turned to wait on the Lord’s salvation, become poor in spirit, mourned, the meek who hungered and thirsted for God’s own righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, making peace with God, and persecuted by those who rejected the knowledge of their own sinfulness. But He followed that with an illustration as a warning: but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown⁶² out and⁶³ trampled under people’s feet.⁶⁴

“You are the light of the world,”⁶⁵ He continued his illustration of God’s goodness. And He explained this illustration with further illustrations: A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.⁶⁶ Then came his second application: In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and⁶⁷ praise you for your righteousness? No, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.⁶⁸ Here is yet another indication that all that has transpired is due to the goodness of God. It was the work of God, both to will and to work for his good pleasure,⁶⁹ through his Word, the law and the prophets.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets,”⁷⁰ Jesus commanded a third application with a gaze so farsighted as to almost seem like a non sequitur, except to make explicit what his subject matter had been all along as he extolled the goodness of God. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them,⁷¹ He explained.

The Greek word translated fulfill them was πληρῶσαι, an active form of the verb πληρόω, which might be understood as an infinitive or as a 3^rd person verb in the optative mood (“he might fulfill,” “it might fulfill”). “The optative is the mood of possibility, removed even further than the subjunctive mood from something conceived of as actual. Often it is used to convey a wish or hope for a certain action to occur.” If I consider it as an infinitive form I assume that Jesus was looking ahead to his death on the cross, as a form in the optative mood I assume Jesus’ gaze reached all the way to those who came into the light, so that it may be clearly seen that [their] works have been carried out in God.⁷²

For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished,⁷³ Jesus prophesied to explain. The Greek word translated is accomplished was γένηται, a form of γίνομαι in the subjunctive mood. This could be down the actuality scale from πληρῶσαι if I take πληρῶσαι as an infinitive, or up the actuality scale if I take it as a verb in the optative mood. There is another option that ἕως |ἂν| πάντα γένηται (ESV: until all is accomplished) is the result of not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law, and is as certain as the indicative mood, though |ἂν| understood (but not translated) as may could argue against it.

I started down this path, considering πληρῶσαι as a 3^rd person verb in the optative mood, because I made a mistake. I thought Jesus said πληρώσαι, leaving me no option. The verb καταλῦσαι, to abolish, a form of καταλύω, might also be understood as an infinitive or as a 3^rd person verb in the optative mood. Both occurrences, however, are better understood as infinitive forms. It is clearly easier to understood πληρῶσαι as another infinitive. I don’t see any place except following ἀλλὰ (but) that Jesus might have changed from the implied 1^st person of the infinitives to a 3^rd person form. I don’t believe He would have described his Father’s action in the optative mood. My only option then seems to be: “but [that] it (i.e., the law) might fulfill.” I cling to that possibility, I suppose, because it pays some heed to the law even as its glory faded to that of a status symbol for those in the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus explained, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, Jesus pivoted, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.⁷⁴

That probably shocked the followers of the scribes and Pharisees. But it helps me, along with what follows, to understand that the one who teaches (διδάξῃ, a form of διδάσκω) the least of these commandments is one like Paul, who taught (Romans 3:19-25a ESV):

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being (σὰρξ) will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction [Table]: for fall have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

And whoever does (ποιήσῃ, a form of ποιέω) the least of these commandments is the one who receives the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to walk by the Spirit⁷⁵—as Jesus walked in the power of the Spirit⁷⁶—guided, carried along and energized by Jesus’ own love—the fulfilling (πλήρωμα) of the law⁷⁷—his own joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control⁷⁸ all day, everyday, forever.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment,’”⁷⁹ Jesus said to those who had gained only a superficial knowledge of sin through the law from their teachers, the scribes and Pharisees. Here his sermon became as much a demonstration of God’s goodness as explanation, as he began to draw them into the blessedness of the full knowledge of one’s sinfulness: But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.⁸⁰ Then He gave them the following applications (Matthew 5:23-26 ESV):

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there⁸¹ remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Though everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, Jesus’ applications were addressed to the one who had given his brother cause to be angry. One can almost hear Cain’s retort: am I my brother’s keeper?⁸² And I admit I’m more familiar with this aspect of God’s goodness from Paul’s more explicit statement: Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.⁸³

Jesus continued speaking to those who attempted to use the law for their own purposes, to acquire a righteousness of [their] own that comes from the law:⁸⁴ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’”⁸⁵ He demonstrated the goodness of God by drawing them into the blessedness of the full knowledge of sin to be gained through the law: But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.⁸⁶ And He followed this with some dramatic hyperbole (Matthew 5:29, 30 ESV):

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 go⁸⁷ into hell.

I know this is dramatic hyperbole because I spent one very long Sunday afternoon after my first divorce contemplating cutting off my penis. Almost thirty years later, after my second divorce, I worked on a film about a man who wanted so desperately to be a woman that he cut off his own penis. It was an interesting project since I had wanted to cut off my own penis, not to become a woman but to acquire a righteousness of my own derived from the law.

The writer/director/producer of the film told me how difficult it was to find a naturalistic fake penis, handled, not completely flaccid nor completely erect. Then it fell to the makeup/wardrobe lady to figure out how to attach it directly to the actor’s body, as the writer/director/producer directed her, fearing that nothing less would look realistic on camera. From the sounds we heard, I gathered that the scene which transpired on the other side of the closed bathroom door was filled with pathos, both tragic and comedic.

Still, that failed experiment to attach a fake penis directly to the actor’s body persuaded the writer/director/producer that the only way to proceed was to attach it to a dance belt, which was the makeup/wardrobe lady’s first instinct all along. The first test left most of us understanding the writer/director/producer’s original concern: It looked like a fake penis glued to a dance belt, though the general shape and position seemed anatomically correct if one squinted. But the makeup/wardrobe lady, an artist who could already visualize the finished piece in her mind, remained confident.

On the day the scene was shot, the actor walked on set with his fake penis glued to a dance belt dyed or painted to match his skin tone. The effect was amazing. The makeup/wardrobe lady graciously received our approval and applause. The shot, however, still did not go as planned.

It was so difficult for the actor to cut through the fake penis with a kitchen knife that the scene became comedy rather than tragedy or horror. This was low budget filmmaking. There was only one fake penis, glued to one dance belt, dyed or painted to match the actor’s skin tone. The writer/director/producer got down on his knees and vigorously sawed almost all the way through the actor’s fake penis. The camera rolled. The actor sliced off his penis with one quick motion. The scene was saved.

My own plan had been to use a heavy cleaver and a cutting board. Both were ready at hand. But the Lord made it quite clear to me in that moment that cutting off my penis would not be sufficient, that I would need to cut off my head. I was uncertain whether I could survive cutting off my penis but quite convinced that cutting off my head would kill me, and said so. His one word answer, Exactly, both stopped me from proceeding and encouraged me to take Paul’s discussions of death more seriously than I had been taking them.

I have said that Paul led me to Christ. That’s not untrue but probably an over-simplification. Jesus led me to Paul and helped me understand his teaching, then Paul led me to where Jesus said the same thing only differently, then Jesus led me to Paul’s words and Paul led me to Jesus’ words, back and forth. I did tend to begin to grasp the concepts through Paul’s words before I actually heard what Jesus was saying, but the process bound their words so tightly together it is difficult to think of the one apart from the other.

Jesus’ dramatic hyperbole shows the level of commitment required to have a righteousness of one’s own derived from the law, if such a thing were even possible, which it is not: For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.⁸⁸ So, ultimately Jesus’ dramatic hyperbole was designed to draw those who had not yet gained the full knowledge of sin through the law into the blessedness of that knowledge, a truth which sets one amazingly free. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out,⁸⁹ sets one free from the burden of trying to have a righteousness of one’s own derived from the law and on course to seek the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.⁹⁰

Jesus continued to demonstrate God’s goodness as He continued to draw those with a superficial knowledge of sin into the blessedness of full knowledge, contrasting the teaching of God (Matthew 19:3-8) to that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:31, 32 ESV).

“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 [Table].

“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,⁹¹ Jesus continued and explained this application with illustrations another application and another explanation, and a final application with its explanation (Matthew 5:34b-37 ESV):

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.

Jesus’ contrasts continued, explained by a series of applications that would be daunting to even the most dedicated seeker of a righteousness of his own derived from the law. Yet, to anyone who has spent any significant time walking by the Spirit—as Jesus walked in the power of the Spirit⁹²—these “applications” are all too familiar as the very things the Holy Spirit reminds one, prompts one and empowers one to do on a case-by-case basis as the situations arise (Matthew 5:38-45a ESV).

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also [Table]. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you [Table].

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you [Table], so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven [Table].

Then Jesus explained how our Father in heaven demonstrates his goodness to all: For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.⁹³ He then questioned the value of the righteousness of those seeking a righteousness of their own derived from the law with illustrations, not to berate or condemn them but to draw them into the blessedness of the full knowledge of sin through the law (Matthew 5:46, 47 ESV):

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? [Table]

Jesus concluded this section of his sermon with an application that should put the fear of God and instigate a change of course in any seeking a righteousness of his own derived from the law (Matthew 5:48 ESV [Table]):

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

I’ve gone long again and have simply run out of time to continue with the author’s first exercise or even consider the second. I was intrigued by the idea of considering Jesus’ “sermon on the mount” as a sermon, testing the author’s contention that a sermon is about one thing. I’m nowhere near clever enough to read Matthew 5-7 and decipher Jesus’ theme. So I asked Him.

The goodness of God was the answer that came to me, his idea rather than mine. Clearly, I’m not clever enough even to understand Jesus’ words, much less relate them to this theme, without recourse to Scriptures outside of the prescribed passage. And though I would love to continue with this theme, I need to move on at this time if there is any possibility that I can keep up with this course in the time allotted.

According to a note (42) in the NET, Jesus alluded to Isaiah 13:10, 34:4 and Joel 2:10 in Matthew 24:29. Tables comparing the Greek of Jesus’ allusion to that of the Septuagint follow.

According to a note (47) in the NET, Jesus alluded to Daniel 7:13 in Matthew 24:30. A table comparing the Greek of Jesus’ allusion to that of the Septuagint follows.

According to a note (36) in the NET, Jesus alluded to Isaiah 13:10, 34:4 and Joel 2:10 in Mark 13:24, 25. Tables comparing the Greek of Jesus’ allusion to that of the Septuagint follow.

According to a note (38) in the NET, Jesus alluded to Daniel 7:13 in Mark 13:26. A table comparing the Greek of Jesus’ allusion to that of the Septuagint follows.

According to a note (66) in the NET, Jesus alluded to Isaiah 34:4 in Luke 21:26. A table comparing the Greek of Jesus’ allusion to that of the Septuagint follows.

According to a note (68) in the NET, Jesus alluded to Daniel 7:13 in Luke 21:27. A table comparing the Greek of Jesus’ allusion to that of the Septuagint follows.

According to a note (18) in the NET, Paul quoted from Isaiah 52:15 in Romans 15:21. A table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint follows.

Tables comparing Psalm 37:11; 25:9; 34:2; 76:9; 147:6; 149:4; Jeremiah 17:9; 17:10; Isaiah 13:10; 34:4; Joel 2:10; Isaiah 52:15 and Jeremiah 50:34 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Psalm 37:11 (36:11); 25:9 (24:9); 34:2 (33:3); 76:9 (75:10); 147:6 (146:6); 149:4; Jeremiah 17:9; 17:10; Isaiah 13:10; 34:4; Joel 2:10; Isaiah 52:15 and Jeremiah 50:34 (27:34) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Revelation 22:3; Mark 13:24, 25; 1 Peter 1:22, 23; Matthew 5:25; 5:13; 5:23 and 5:30 in the KJV and NET follow.