The Sixth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 5:20-26 “Liable to Judgment, Declared Righteous”
July 27, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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O Lord God enter not into judgment with us, who have not from the heart kept Your commandments, but still regard the precious merit of Your dear Son, and let us ever be partakers of His righteousness. Enable us also by Your Holy Spirit to walk in Your fear, true faith, and holiness of living, and to beware of pride and security, that we may not be cast into everlasting prison, but enter into Your eternal kingdom; through Your dear Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, now and forever. Amen. (The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 145)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 5th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
[Jesus said:] “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 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.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who deserves all glory and honor and praise for all He has done for us, receiving our judgment so we are declared righteous, dear fellow redeemed:
When we think of the word “deserving,” we know that this word can be used in a positive manner or a negative one. We might use the word positively because the firefighters who put out the wildfires are deserving of a reward. A boss might look and think because his employees are doing such a great job, they deserve a raise. How about the negative way to hear the word? If someone breaks the law, wouldn’t they deserve the right punishment for the crime? Jesus is going to incorporate this definition into His teaching for today. His teaching was hard for many in His day and it is hard for us. So, why do we want to sit here and listen to what we deserve? Well, we know the truth is we don’t want to sit here and listen to what we deserve. God tells us because of our actions we are liable to judgment, that is, deserving of judgment, and then in mercy He reveals to us the righteousness of His kingdom. The righteousness declared to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Righteousness is sought out by everyone. It might not be the righteousness from God but even those who don’t believe are looking for a source of validation. Unfortunately, there is no validation outside of what God has commanded how His creation should live. This is what Jesus was teaching before our text begins. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 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. 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, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19). As the world searches for righteousness, Jesus teaches the people there is righteousness in following the law completely.
And when Jesus means completely, He means completely. Sometimes, it is easy to look at a law and follow the base of it and still break it. Jesus is correcting the people’s thoughts about murder. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 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.” The people knew that if they deliberately killed someone, it was deserving for them to also be killed. They did not know and were not being taught that there is more to the fifth commandment of murder. Just like looking at someone with lust is adultery, insulting someone, calling them names, and hurting them is basically driving a knife into their heart!
We can’t uphold God’s law only part way. One of the smallest letters must be obeyed for complete righteousness. For those who say otherwise, Jesus corrects when He says, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger….But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in” (Matthew 23:2-4, 13). By attempting to obey the law part way, there is a refusal at the gate of heaven. The statement, “fake it until you make it,” does not help with escaping what is deserved.
Now we could try and blame others for what we deserve, but we find that road closed too. The law has a job and that is to get us to realize and understand ways we break it without even realizing it. We can also break it on our own without other influences. And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell (James 3:6). James reaffirms how just the slip of the tongue, and there sits what we deserve. We are liable to the hell of fire. While some don’t care, for many, this is the biggest worry. When we memorized the ten commandments, we memorized The Conclusion as we heard in our Old Testament reading, “I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the Father’s on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me” (Exodus 20:5). We know our jealous God will hold all our deeds accountable on the day of judgment. Where our righteousness has failed at keeping the law, Jesus’ righteousness fulfills every iota and dot.
Jesus does what seems for many to be an impossible task. This can only be done through the perfect work of the Son of Man. He not only knows the law of His people, but we know He instituted the Law as the voice of God. For man, the Law looks like this great list of demands, which in one sense it is. But the Law has existed since the Garden of Eden, the Law is “very good!” It reveals not what we do, but who we are. God’s people honor Him, keep His name, remember the Sabbath, honor parents, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, and do not covet. While the people were failing to uphold every iota and dot, the people can make the same confession that St. Paul makes. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost (1 Timothy 1:15). This is why Jesus is preaching this message of depth. He came to fulfill it all and the world to be declared righteous.
This strong teaching the people need to hear of how they are liable to judgment comes hand in hand with hearing how the declaration is a not guilty verdict. Jesus wants them to see their works are not going to be enough. Following the law part way will not be enough. What is enough and declares them innocent is the work of Jesus fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. He points out how their prophecies were about Him and His saving work. And though they were years in the past, waiting for this great day of the Lord, the faith they would have in their message would give them Jesus’ righteousness. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3). It had been a long time since the people had heard this great news. Through hearing the law in its truth, they can now see who the prophets were waiting for.
And as the jealous God rightly finds His people liable to judgment and death, through His promised Son who now has come, you can hear Him say, “but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:6). In The Conclusion you find judgment and with it, the pronouncement of not guilty. And this not guilty verdict is put into action. “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there 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.” As you bring forward your broken hearts, your hearts see what bothers them. The importance of true faith given to you by your Savior is seeing how you make things right with those whom you have wronged. You seek them out because your God and Savior has sought you out. The righteousness of God’s kingdom is lived out fully, opening heaven as you and the person you have wronged see the love of the Gospel in the forgiveness of sins.
This gracious forgiveness of all your sins can only come to you and work through you because of the perfect righteousness of Christ. This perfect righteousness doesn’t look at God’s laws and says I will only fulfill them part way. It doesn’t speak out against God’s plan of salvation that involves Him dying a painful and horrible death on the cross. Jesus didn’t deserve to carry the world’s sins. He didn’t deserve to live a life in your place. Yet, to declare you righteous, He did it without complaint. Where you come to the altar repeatedly to offer your gift, your contrite heart, Jesus entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). Because of this great sacrifice, your gift on the altar is accepted before God. The jealous God of wrath and judgment puts His wrath and judgment on His One and only Son. He then looks at you with His rose-colored glasses and gives you His gracious declaration of not guilty.
As you find comfort in your gracious declaration, Jesus ends by reminding you how serious God’s Word is. “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.” The world is very quick to take matters into their own hands and to race off to inform the judge. If you have been wronged, why should you go and make things right? There are sins that come with repercussions that make us liable to earthly judgments. While you accept those repercussions, Jesus teaches you how important it is to understand being liable to eternal judgment. The righteous judge will hold all people accountable for their deeds. But, when He looks at you, and you confess to Him and to your neighbor your wrongs, you are declared righteous. What hope you have, not because it is deserved, but because your righteousness is the righteousness of the kingdom given to you by your Savior God. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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