“But I say unto you…..”

I have struggled with the Old Testament for many years. Its beauty balanced against its brutality leaves my head spinning. How could the loving God of the New Testament have such a violent and sordid past? Within the Old Testament, we find murder, genocide and even rape, condoned and justified as acceptable behavior. Within the New Testament we find the gospel of non-violence, a deep respect for human life and dignity using the weapons of love and kindness.  By today’s definitions, one would easily consider them the history of different Gods altogether, or if the same, then bipolar, opposite personalities.  Jesus continuously pushed against the standards of the Old Testament by saying, “but I say unto you…” contradicting the old outright and giving us a new way and place to live.

Matthew 5:43-45: Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Jesus quotes the Old Testament in order to contradict it. Could it be that Jesus saw in the Old Testament the mirrored reflection of the true nature of God, His reflection correct in every way except opposite? Like a pair of shoes or gloves, they appear identical yet they are opposite. The Old Testament said, “hate your enemy,” yet Jesus understood and gleaned from it “love your enemies,” its mirrored reflection. Jesus seemed to recognize the left hand of God in the Old Testament and use it as an affirmation that a right hand must exist and lies closer to His truest nature, that being His love for both good and bad, just and unjust. He used the expression “But I say unto you…” to communicate that truer nature of God which was absent. As disciples of Jesus, we follow “in His steps,” learning to live above the Laws of the old and dance to a different, opposite melody of kindness and generosity; we dance to music keyed to the note of love.

If we view the Old Testament as the left hand of God and the letters in red as His right hand, it helps put both into a larger context, that being an entire balanced body.  This helps us saturate the brutality of the old in the love and forgiveness of the cross, showing us a truer revelation of God’s nature.

Let’s try some “But I say unto you’s” against Old Testament law and see what we might glean.

Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

But I say unto you …It may seem on the surface to be straightforward, but its mirror image speaks of a deeper and more powerful intent than just preventing one person from killing another. Its mirror image is “life is precious;” “life is to be cherished and celebrated.” Its mandate is to all humanity and regarding all humanity; all are the object of God’s love and to Him, each and all are the “world” for which he gave His son’s life (John 3:16).

Ex 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery,

But I say unto you …Family is important; relationships are difficult, fragile and worth the work we put into them. God created broken people to gather in family and work out their brokenness together. Our immediate desires (sexual or otherwise) are not more important than family. What we want at the moment is not to govern our long-term decisions and lives. We are to plot our journey through life with a more deliberate compass than desire, one that acknowledges long-term as well as short-term outcomes, one which acknowledges the fragile nature of relationship and the legacy we pass on to each generation.

Ex 20:15 Thou shalt not steal,

But I say unto you …Work is honorable, a person’s value is not determined by the work they do but by the love and care with which they do it. To be a part of something greater than yourself, to contribute, to take pride in your contribution, was God’s design from the Garden of Eden. To work hard, to generate value for and with others, to have others recognize that value is a recipe for self-confidence and good night’s sleep. Whether it is volunteer or paid, contribute and enjoy the feeling that your life is about something bigger. Offer yourself as a gift to those around you. Get busy and give.

Ex 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,

But I say unto you …Stop, rest, think and celebrate God. Our worlds are so connected and our devices so jealous for our attention that without a deliberate disconnect we continue to spiral into corporate stress that no therapist can relieve. One of God’s greatest gifts to man is his ability to reflect. We exercise this gift with our time, time to think, time to meditate, time uncluttered by the things of our world. The directive was to give one out of seven days or approximately 14% of each week, which I consider a minimum for mental health. Spend time with the kids; spend time with your spouse or significant other away from the kids. Connect with someone that can be seen without a monitor or screen. Spend time alone with God, one on one. Find what makes you relaxed and happy and those around you relaxed and happy and do not let your demanding life take it from you. Turn them off and just stop.

Ex 20:12  Honor thy father and thy mother,

But I say unto you …Without exception, we stand upon the shoulders of others. Those who cleaned our diapers, those who fed and clothed us, those who were there when we needed someone, they are to be celebrated. Our memories of those others may be broken, damaged and painful. How could it be otherwise in a broken and fallen world? Given the circumstances it may be we could not have handled things better or different. Part of ‘honor’ may be offering your forgiveness. Honor may be an acknowledgment and gratitude for being there despite all of life’s imperfections. No one’s past is absent the help of others; there are no self-sufficient people, no self-made man or woman. Parents, friends, teachers and relatives, acknowledge and celebrate them as the shoulders you once stood upon, those who have helped you become who you are.

Ex 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness,

But I say unto you …Our words in many ways define who we are. Each and every one of them is not to be taken lightly as they will be the topic of an appointment we all have scheduled (Matt 12:36). Our words can heal, our words can kill. How we use our words speaks volumes to who and what we are on the inside. Use your words with precision and thoughtful honesty; use them as instruments in the symphony of God’s love.

Ex 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s …

But I say unto you …Love your own life and everything that is in it, both the good and the bad. To learn to love yourself, your own life and situation, to be at home in your own skin, content with who and what you are is to find great freedom. This is not to say, “no improvement necessary,” but to acknowledge that growth and improvement are always coming and going like the ocean’s tide. To accept yourself “as is,” living life on life’s terms, to recognize that the greenest grass is the grass beneath your feet now, here, today and not that which is on some ‘other side’ is a powerful and liberating realization.

Ex 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me,

But I say unto you …One of the things I admire about the Old Testament is its honesty. When they had a false god they named it just that. Today we call our false gods by other names to help us sleep better at night. But the truth is the same: our “false gods” hold only broken promises, dashed hopes, and shattered lives. The gods of media and entertainment, the gods of politics and religion, all promise to meet our needs and give us security, yet feed us a banquet of fast food, fast talk, and indigestion. Jesus asks of us something much simpler: “Give me your heart.”  All of our broken promises, broken dreams and broken hearts are the fruit of reliance on false gods. Casting down the false gods in our lives is a lifelong journey, a renewing of the mind in which we continuously ask Him to search the heart and reveal that which is not Him in us. For the Christian it is the war we win on our knees, a battle fought in surrender. The song says it best: “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.”

When we view the Old Testament as the left hand of God and the New Testament as His right hand it helps put both into a larger context, that being an entire balanced body.  The New Testament saturates the Old Testament in the love and forgiveness of the cross of Jesus, showing us a truer revelation of God’s nature.