In
Matthew 5: 21ff. we hear three of the six antitheses from the Sermon on the
Mount: on murder, on adultery, and on oaths. They all have the following form:
first, a thesis - citation from the Torah, "You have heard that it was
said..."; second, an antithesis, a radical reinterpretation of the Torah
command by Jesus, "but I say to you...; third, specific illustrations of the
radical command, often in graphic terms (e.g. "If your right hand causes you to
sin, cut it off...") The hyperbolic illustrations are characteristic of Jesus.
According to the Harper's Bible Commentary, "Matthew's aim is to provide
his church with its own radicalized Torah...(which) covers not only the outward
behavior but also inner disposition; it claims the obedience of the whole
person." [pp. 956f.] The New Interpreter's Bible notes that, "The
commands of Jesus must be taken with utmost seriousness, but any attempt to
take them literally as casuistic laws (laws binding on every situation) leads
to absurdity." Clearly, the commands of Jesus in these texts represent the
ideals of the Kingdom of Heaven and are a great challenge to God's people on
earth.