Matthew 5:20-22, 27-28, 33-34, 37
Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ´Raqa,´ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ´You fool,´ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God´s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Let your ´Yes´ mean ´Yes,´ and your ´No´ mean ´No.´ Anything more is from the Evil One."
Funny that this should be the reading two days after the one about temptation seeing as several of these things have proven to be obstacles in my own spiritual life at one point or another. Honestly, the first thing that popped into my mind after reading this may come off as a little obscure. In high school I had several friends (yes, I do mean several) that ended up getting pregnant before we graduated or right after. While it was a little crazy at the time I vividly remember the ridicule and the gossip that was sent their way by peers and even adults. Because of this I found myself thinking about how I actually deeply respected the fact that they were having the child that they had conceived via their own decision instead of aborting it, etc. Sure, their lives were going to change but I just didn’t see how the situation they were in was somehow worth all of the shame. They decisions and actions that put them in such a position at a young age were being made by dozens and dozens of other teens, even those scoffing at them so it seemed so unfair. Jesus says “You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” I feel like this directly relates to my friends’ situations and countless other examples. Basically, Jesus is pointing right at the judgmental demon in all of us and saying get off of your high horse and worry about your own sins not those of others. It’s funny too that this passage comes shortly after a recent reflection I did about the people in our lives who hold us accountable for our actions and keep us closer to God. I suppose there is a fine line between this and being self-righteous and passing judgment on others. The difference must then be LOVE. When we make any sort of commentary on the decisions of others we must look at ourselves first and then ask ourselves if we are speaking and acting out of love. I have always been a very black/white thinker with a “clear sense of right and wrong” (according to me anyways) and it’s always been a lifelong struggle for me to take the mistakes and poor decision-making of others lightly. However, I exhibit this said rigidity much more on my own life than I do on other people. I have always spent so much time and effort trying to better myself that I have never had a high tolerance for those who live an unexamined life...even though now I believe life is about moderation and I try to see things from a more balanced perspective as much as possible. I’ve gotten better over time but it’s still something I struggle with and always will (woo hoo character flaws yeahhhhhhhhh!!!) so reading this passage is always a good reminder to me that I living my own life in good conscience is a big enough job and that I do not need to worry about other people. The difficulty I have trusting people sometimes also stems somewhat from this because I know all of the mistakes that I have made and the people I have loved and then betrayed and I assume everyone else is capable of the same. But at the end of the day I must realize that it is up to God to judge and then to heal. We are always forgiven by him and we should strive to look at ourselves and others from this same perspective of understanding and continue to turn away from the devil and his temptations.
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