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{sermon on the mount}

 {sermon on the mount} 

WHAT’S WRONG WITH ‘PRIVATE SINS’?_ 

Matthew 5:21-30 

 
Anger, rudeness and vengeance can often seem/feel justified when we have been antagonised. Private thoughts of lust may seem/feel harmless. 
Jesus, however, calls these attitudes “murder” and “adultery”... 

 
[Group discussion starter] What advice would you give to someone who is struggling to get along with an irritating individual? 

 

The scribes and Pharisees calculated that the Law contained 248 commandments and 365 prohibitions. But they were better at maths than obedience! 
So they tried to make the Law’s demands less demanding and the Law’s permissions more permissive.  
Throughout the ‘Sermon on the Mount’, Jesus seeks to reverse this tendency. 
He came to deepen, not destroy the Law’s demands. 
In this passage he explains the true meaning of the sixth and seventh commandments... 

 
[Read Matthew 5:21-30] 

 
What standard does Jesus use for determining right and wrong? 
 

 
In verses 21-22 Jesus places murder and unrighteous anger in the same category. 
How are they related? 
 

 
Jesus warns against calling someone Raca (an Aramaic word meaning “empty” or “stupid”) or “You fool” (v22). 
Why do you think insults, such as these, constitute murder in God’s sight? 

 
What has caused you to lose your temper with people? 

 
 

What do verses 23-26 teach us about broken relationships? 
 

 
Why is Jesus concerned that reconciliation and apologies be made quickly? 
 

 
When, in the past, have you either initiated forgiveness or had someone initiate it with you? 

What was the outcome? 
 
 

 
In verses 27-28, what, according to Jesus, is the full meaning of the seventh commandment: “Do not commit adultery”? 
 

 
Lust has been compared to “a cannibal committing suicide by nibbling on himself”. 
How have you seen lust hurt either yourself or others? 

 

 
Some Christians, in the past, have taken verses 29-30 literally and have mutilated their bodies. How do you think that Jesus intends us to understand his warnings? 

 

 
In what situations might you need to “gouge out an eye” or “cut off a hand”? 

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