Listen here.

Matthew 5:21-32—“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²² 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. ²³ So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ 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 go into hell.

³¹ “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² 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.”

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Fifty days after the Angel of Death passed over the land of Egypt killing every firstborn who was not protected by the blood of the lamb, God descended upon Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:1ff). God spoke to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you.” The mountain was wrapped in smoke because Yahweh had descended upon the mountain in fire. Smoke went up like a kiln, and the whole mountain shook, and the people trembled.

God commanded that limits be set around the mountain so the people would not go up. In fact, God commanded that anyone who touched the mountain should be killed – either stoned or shot.

Then God spoke for all the people to hear, “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

1. “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
2. “Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.
3. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
4. “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
5. “Thou shalt not kill.
6. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.
7. “Thou shalt not steal.
8. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house.
10. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”

As God spoke these words, the people were terrified. They feared the thunder, the flashes of lightning, and the sound of the trumpet of God. They said to Moses, “Do not let God speak to us, lest we die” (Ex. 20:19).

But Moses told the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off from the mountain backing away from the presence of God, but Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was (Ex. 20:21).

Moses and the people heard the same voice of God. They saw the same terrifying signs in the sky and on the earth. Everyone retreated from the mountain – except Moses. Moses went up to the thick darkness where God was.

Now Jesus is up on a mountain. Jesus speaks with the voice of God thundering against sin. Yes, Jesus is against sin. Some might even argue that the Son of God is harsher against sin than the Father. But all Jesus is doing is revealing God’s intention with regard to the Commandments.

The people listening to Jesus knew the Ten Commandments. They could recite them. But they had thought they could deflect the Law’s accusations off of them and remain mostly clean. But Jesus opens up the Commandments to their full condemning weight. Anger is murder. Insults condemn to hell. Looking is adultery. Divorce even causes innocent parties to sin. Jesus takes the Law and preaches it in its harshest form. Jesus uses the Law to condemn everyone.

You too are condemned by the Law Jesus preaches here. Do not think that you are not guilty of murder simply because you have not actually killed someone. You have killed in year heart many times. Do not think that because you have not had an affair that you are innocent of adultery. Do not even think that if you avoid pornography that you aren’t looking with lust. Do not think that your love for your spouse is pure. You hold grudges and do now love sacrificially. Your sin is more a part of you than you realize.

Sin is serious. Jesus says sin is serious enough that you should cut off body parts to avoid it. But you cannot cut enough of your body off. Your might be able to hide your sin so that it is not visible to others, but it is not hidden from God. You deserve hell. Your situation really is that bad. And if you don’t realize that, than Jesus has nothing to preach to you but Law.

If you can hear these words of Christ and not be pierced to the heart, if God’s holy presence on the mountain with thunder, lightning, and quaking does not strike fear into your soul, than you can go on your ignorant, merry little way. Mount Sinai is the only mountain of God for you, and it will always be covered in thick darkness. It will always thunder and shake against you.

But if Jesus’ words of Law from the mountain strike you and make you shudder, if you fear God and His wrath against your sins, then let me tell you about another mountain.

Jesus Himself quietly ascended it. Jesus climbed this mountain bearing your sins, and He hung on a cross for those sins.  On Golgotha, God poured out His wrath in against your sin in thunderings, earthquakes, and darkness. Jesus endured the wrath of God against your sin so that you could stand righteous and holy before God.

Because He loves you, God will not let you remain in bondage and slavery to sin. The Law leaves you nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide. As you hear the Law, you find that God approaches with His wrath against your sin. He leaves you no escape. You find that God’s Law has backed you into death’s corner. The Law has removed any excuse for your sin and forces you to face Him.

When you face Him, you find that He is the Savior from death. Fellow sinners, this is the Gospel. Jesus comes to you this morning. He comes to you to speak His words of comfort. He comes to you to say that God’s thunder is gone. The storm of wrath against sin is over, it has passed. You are no longer a slave to sin.

Remember how at Mount Sinai the people backed away from God while Moses approached the thick darkness? You see, Moses that he did not need to fear the God of thunder and thick darkness because that was the God who had delivered him and all of Israel out of Egypt out of the land of slavery. The God in the darkness was the God who passed over Egypt that night when terror and death filled the houses where no blood covered the doorposts. The God speaking His commands was the God who parted the Red Sea so the people could escape the deadly armies of Pharaoh.

Moses knew that the God hidden in thunder and darkness was the God who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex. 34:6b-7a).

When you hear Jesus preaching the Law and convicting you of sin, remember that He is the very one who suffered and died for that sin. Your sin can no longer destroy you. “Sin can no more destroy [you] than it can destroy Christ. He has answered for it all. You are free” (Dr. Norman Nagel) Amen.

May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your heart and mind through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.