Unshaken: Chapter a Day
Pastor Chris Plekenpol and his guests explore the Bible together one chapter at a time. They offer practical insights, theological depth, and real-life applications. Dive in for engaging discussions that bring God’s Word to life, one chapter at a time!
Unshaken: Chapter a Day
Matthew 5 Discussion
Have you ever thought you were a "good person" until you encountered Jesus' words in Matthew 5? You're not alone. In this powerful exploration of the Sermon on the Mount, we dive deep into Jesus' radical redefinition of righteousness that moves beyond external behavior to the hidden places of our hearts.
One of our hosts shares his raw, emotional conversion story—how reading Matthew 5 reduced him to tears when he realized that by Jesus' standards, he was an adulterer and murderer in his heart despite never committing these acts physically. This moment of crushing conviction became the doorway to experiencing Christ's saving grace.
We unpack the chapter's structure, from the Beatitudes to Jesus' teaching on being salt and light, to his relationship with the Law, and finally to the six antitheses where Jesus contrasts traditional understanding with heart-level application. The oft-misunderstood teaching on non-retaliation receives special attention—does "turn the other cheek" mean Christians can't defend themselves? We explain how this passage addresses personal revenge rather than eliminating justice systems or self-defense.
Perhaps most challenging is Jesus' command to love our enemies. We clarify that following Jesus doesn't eliminate having enemies—in fact, it guarantees you'll make some—but transforms how we respond to them. The chapter culminates with the impossible standard: "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." This demand should drive us not to despair but to depend wholly on Christ's perfection applied to our account.
Ready to see Matthew 5 with fresh eyes? Listen now and discover how Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial law perfectly so he could forgive your moral failures and empower you to live faithfully wherever you are. Your understanding of righteousness will never be the same.
And welcome back to A Chapter. A Day Keeps the devil away. We're talking Matthew 5. I'm Pastor Plek, this is Pastor Holland, and let's outline this real quick for you. First we got the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, 1 through 12. Then this description of what it is to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world in 13 through 16. You've got Christ and the law in 17 through 20. Jesus fulfills the law, he doesn't abolish it, and true righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees. We'll talk about that in a bit. Then you got verses 21 through 48, which really gets into six antitheses. You've heard it said about murder, but here's the deal with anger. You've heard about adultery. Here is lust. You've heard about divorce and here's the reality of what marriage means Oaths and truthfulness, and then non-retaliation in a social or even maybe even further setting, and then finally, love for enemies. Okay, that's where he breaks it down there, in verses 1 through 48, a little bit longer chapter. What are some observations that you?
Pastor Holland:Jesus explains that the meaning of God's law is gets to the level of our hearts, our thoughts, our intentions, our attitudes. I think this was all. This is always true about God's law, even if you go back to the 10 commandments. You know, do not covet. That's not just an action, that's a desire in your heart. But reading this, this is how I became a Christian this chapter of the Bible, matthew 5. Matthew 5. Why different? I'm curious.
Pastor Holland:I had some kind of weird demonic dream experiences that made me like whoa, okay, hold on, I want to learn more about Jesus. I had a Christian roommate, you know, and so he gave me a Bible and I started reading the Bible. And as I'm reading the Bible, matthew one through four, I'm deciding I want to follow Jesus. I think, you know, there's something about him that I'm drawn to. And then I read about, you know, in the previous chapter, his disciples leaving everything to follow him. And I go. I want to do that, I want to follow Jesus.
Pastor Holland:But then I get to chapter five and it brings me to tears, because I read this and I'd always thought of myself as a good person. And then I read these words um, like you know, you've heard it said, verse 27, you should not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And I go, I'm an adulterer. I thought I was a good person. And I'm just reading through the whole sermon on the mountain, every verse. I'm like I'm a sinner, I'm a sinner, I'm a sinner.
Pastor Holland:And by the end of chapter five I'm in tears, going. Jesus would never take me. And I thank God that I had a Christian roommate who came in and he was like hey, why are you crying? And you know, I'm like I want to follow Jesus, but he wouldn't take me. I'm just a sinner. I've done this, I've lusted, I've hated. You know I'm a murderer in my heart. I've retaliated.
Pastor Holland:And he was like oh dude, I have really good news for you. Jesus loves sinners. That's his whole deal is. He's really into sinners and he forgives sinners and he saves sinners. And you know, he died on the cross for sinners and I was like he, what? And I didn't know that. And then he was like well, and then he rose from the dead and I'm like he what? Wow, that's crazy. And so you know, he shares gospel with me and I pray right there, and I received Christ and we started going to church together, and so this chapter was so pivotal, instrumental for me in becoming a Christian and understanding that I'm a sinner in need of grace and that Jesus saves sinners.
Pastor Plek:Wow, okay, so let's talk about all how. About a piece that I saw here was true righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, and I think because Pharisees would have said I'm a good person, Right? And they would have said I don't do bad things, and they would have um, they would have if they got close to sinning. They would probably. What's it called when you smack yourself, or was it flagellation, self-flagellation, self-flagellation? Yeah, like bam bam, I'm going to smack myself and I'm going to take on the pain, because I think they were the most hardcore about that. They even got close to sinning. However, they always considered themselves above sin, because they only got angry about the people that deserved it. They may have lusted, they only window shopped, but they never committed adultery, so I think that was a powerful thing of like.
Pastor Plek:Jesus reveals how every heart is so wicked that even the Pharisees and the scribes didn't live up to the standard of perfection. How about this, though? For one, that's sort of challenging the non-retaliation. What is that about? Is that like no self-defense, or is that a social construct of let the Lord defend you, and what is that? And are we allowed to self-defend ourselves?
Pastor Holland:So, yeah, I think you're allowed to defend yourselves. I think that it's a good and righteous thing to defend yourselves. I think that is that it's a good and righteous thing. The context here, you know, when it says don't resist the one who's evil. Okay, what kind of evil person is this? Someone who slaps you on the right cheek? Someone who's trying to shame you? Right? Shame you, right If anyone would sue you and take your tunic they're taking you to court. Right, let them have your cloak as well If anyone forces you to go a mile. This is not someone who's trying to kill you and kill your family. This is someone who is kind of being a bully to you, yeah and yeah, trying to kind of take advantage of you in some way. They have some kind of social power or something like that.
Pastor Holland:And Jesus says don't resist that person, because what he quotes when he says you've heard it said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This was an Old Testament law, in Deuteronomy, but it was in the context of a judicial setting. He says you know, when something happens and you go to the judge, a righteous judge is going to do an eye for an eye, meaning a fair and just punishment. If someone takes one tooth from you, they're not going to lose all their teeth. It was a just and fair punishment. But what people did is applied that personally to these kind of personal situations, not in a judge, but just relationships. And Jesus is saying— you got to trust the system, so to speak. Yeah, don't take justice into your own hands, rather, love your enemies and trust God with justice. And we see that.
Pastor Plek:That is now codified law in Western civilization, like if someone commits a crime against you, you don't have the right to just go back to their house and demolish it. You go to court and you take them for all they're worth there, yeah, which is sort of a wild way to sort of kind of wrap your head around it. Okay, that's huge, okay. So the thing that I sort of took from this is like people are prone to external righteousness without inner transformation, and I think that's what he's getting at with these like hey, don't just not murder, don't hate your brother in your heart, go make things right.
Pastor Holland:Yeah, well, and go back, can I go?
Pastor Plek:back to retaliation.
Pastor Holland:Some people would read that and say, you know, self-defense is bad and you know? Would say, if you say Christians are not to retaliate or defend or anything ever, you have to take that to the level of well then, we don't have courts, we don't have cops, we don't have government, we don't have anyone enforcing anything. I do not think that's what this passage is teaching. That would contradict other passages that talk about how actually, like Romans 13, the government, the authorities, are actually God's servant in executing justice. He doesn't bear the sword in vain, exactly, and so God will handle justice through his appointed means. So this is not talking about hey, judges, just let everything slide Right. Hey, cops, don't arrest anyone, just turn the other cheek. You know, when someone robs a store, just kind of let it go. That is not what Jesus is talking about here. In personal relationships, love your enemy and show mercy and let God handle justice through his appointed means. Yeah, yeah.
Pastor Plek:Trust God and the government that is his servant, which I think it's wild to sometimes think about that, because sometimes we're kind of like the government's out to get us, but God is saying you've got to trust the institutions he's put in place.
Pastor Holland:Well, and if the government is very, it could be very true that the government is out to get you, but it would be in disobedience to God's purpose for the government rather than yeah, and you've got to trust God ultimately with everything.
Pastor Plek:Okay, so let's get back to humans. I think if you were to say like here's an exegetical thought or interpretation, here's an interpretation from the text. Humans tend to retaliate, and don't do that, yeah.
Pastor Holland:Love your enemies, love your enemies, and he gives God's own character as an example of this. Even God, who's a righteous judge, still makes his sun rise on the evil, sends rain on the just and the unjust, and so that's the common grace of God, that the evil can experience sunshine and rain. And so when people mistreat you, you can extend a grace to them, say I'm not approving of what you're doing, I don't like what you're doing, but I'm gonna show grace and mercy to you the way God has shown grace and mercy to me, in hopes that that person might be saved, that they might realize the error of their ways, that your mercy, like Proverbs and Romans says, would heap burning coals on their head and cause them to be ashamed and repent from their evil All right, how about this one?
Pastor Plek:Here's another interpretation God is perfect and calls his children to reflect his character, which means he calls his children to be perfect yeah, verse 48. Means he calls his children to be perfect yeah, verse 48. Now that should cause you to freak out, as I think it did for you, like I can't do it. And that's exactly, I think, the response that Jesus is wanting to create in people that you can't fulfill the law because your heart is wicked and deceitful above all else. Yeah, and so then, that causes you to depend on Jesus. His death, burial, resurrection ultimately has to be your hope?
Pastor Holland:Yeah, and then, through the empowerment, the indwelling of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can be sanctified to walk in that holiness that we can only do by God's power.
Pastor Plek:Nice, all right. So let's get some to some application. What are some application points here for you?
Pastor Holland:Love your enemies. Sometimes we go yeah, being a Christian means I have no enemies, but the Bible never says that. It doesn't say have no enemies. It says love your enemies. And in reality everyone probably has some enemies. The only way you can get through life without having enemies is to go live on a rock somewhere.
Pastor Holland:Yeah, and to never open your mouth about Jesus, because if you're following Jesus and you're, you know, speaking the word you're going to make some enemies. And instead of trying to never have enemies or hating your enemies, jesus says love your enemies, pray for them. He says pray for those who persecute you. Only reason you're going to get persecuted is if you're standing up for the truth of the Bible and preaching Jesus and living your life for him. And so maybe the application for you is maybe you don't have any enemies because you're not really living faithfully for Jesus.
Pastor Plek:No, I love that.
Pastor Plek:I love this knowledge to believe.
Pastor Plek:For me and this might be a little abstract, so hang with me Jesus fulfilled the law, the ceremonial law, perfectly, so that, as well as the moral law, so that he could forgive your moral transgressions of the law, so that you could live under whatever civil law that God has you in now.
Pastor Plek:That's good, and so I feel like that concept of that's the knowledge. It's like Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial law so he could forgive your breaking of the moral law in order that you may live under the civil law of where you're at. And so that becomes like, because when you look at the Old Testament, it's broken down into a ceremonial law, moral law and a civil law, and he allows us to operate within all three of those by what Jesus lived out his perfect life and he is the better Israel who fulfills the ceremonial law and purpose of Israel. He then dies on the cross, takes the punishment you deserve for the breaking of the moral law, for even Gentiles who have no ceremonial law, and then he gives you the Holy Spirit to empower you to live under the civil law, which is his servant, according to Romans 13.
Pastor Holland:Listeners. You may need to listen to that one a couple times in slow motion to catch all the different categories and application of the law, but that was really good, well done.
Pastor Plek:Well, thank you. Hey, thank you so much for listening. Do you have any more? That's it. Thanks so much for listening. We'll see you tomorrow on a chapter a day.
