Don't Shoot The Messenger

Scripture For The Day 

 February 10, 2023

"Don't Shoot The Messenger"  

Matthew 5:31-32

Have you noticed how this Sermon of Jesus begins with how to be Blessed and how to be a strong witness for Him in this dark world and has now since moved on to the tough message that no one seems to want to hear? Before He shared this part of the message, He made sure to let them and us know that He didn’t do away with the law and then He began to preach about, murder, ridiculing and insulting people, sexual sin/adultery, divorce, empty promises, vengeance, as well as loving our enemies. Not a popular sermon for the masses that’s for sure.  Many people want to shoot the messenger that brings the same, exact message that Jesus shared on this Mount so long ago. As a Christian, I don’t get that. His Word is His Word and will not return void and will stand the test of time. So, how are you able to justify getting angry with the one who brings the message when the message is the direct words of Jesus Christ? One of those things that make you go hmmm. So, let’s move on… 

Today is another tough one… divorce. Don’t leave just yet. To fully understand what Jesus is talking about, we have to realize that He was addressing a law from the old testament that the Pharisees had begun to twist for popularity with the men in high positions. Many faithful Christians that have undergone the trials of divorce for whatever reason struggle with decisions that were often taken out of their hands. I also don’t believe that this message is geared toward those that are being the object of physical or sexual abuse. I believe, as usual, that this goes to the heart of the matter.  He is speaking to those who nonchalantly jump into marriage and then jump out at any given time. They give up when obstacles are thrown at them when The Truth of the matter is, you have to work for a healthy marriage. There are always ups and downs. There is always give and take. Sometimes you are giving more than the other and maybe sometimes you are taking more. You shouldn’t keep a tally record of all that you think you do for the other person. It should be about love every single time. We are human beings that are selfish and hurt each other over ridiculous and sometimes scandalous things.

But again, here, Jesus is addressing the old testament ideal about divorce.  The Pharisees had once again twisted The Word of God and decided to permit divorce as long as a certificate of divorce was given to the wife. In other words, the husband could divorce his wife any time he wanted for no good reason. Jesus is saying, hold up now, you are not to divorce your wife for anything other than sexual immorality because, in the eyes of God, she is still his wife unless she messed about. Therefore if the husband pursued divorce just because he wanted to and then she ended up remarrying, her first husband would have defiled her and made her guilty of adultery. Because in the eyes of God, she would have still been considered the first husband’s wife because there was not a good enough reason to divorce. But aren't you thankful for forgiveness and Grace?  That’s all I’m going to say on this subject. Because anything other than that would be opinion and speculation and This is His Word, not mine. Do with it what you will just don't shoot the messenger. 



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