But I say unto you

“You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you
must carry out the vows you make to the LORD.’ But I say, do not make any vows! Do not
say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne.”

(Matthew 5:33)

When we read the gospels, we repeatedly see how the Jews were astonished when they
saw the miracles that Christ did and the wisdom He had (Matthew 13:54). But if there
was something which really annoyed the Jews, it was the words spoken out by Jesus.
Jesus spoke boldly about the Kingdom and about His mission without fear of the hostile
Jews and Pharisees. Jesus was not even afraid to openly criticize the Pharisees by telling
them some truths which really hurt (Matthew 15). Jesus came to fulfill the law and put an
end to traditions which were man made systems. Jesus was putting all these well
respected and knowledgeable teacher of the law in an uncomfortable situation. How
could the son of a carpenter (Mark 6:3) dare to rebuke the scribes and Pharisees who
were teaching what their fathers passed on to them? Instead of avoiding conflicts and
saving His life, Jesus preferred to obey the Father by telling what He was told to say
(John 8:28) even if His words was scandalizing the Jews and even His own disciples
(John 6:60). The teachings of Jesus came directly from God’s heart and not from the
sinful heart of man and it’s the very reason why the difference in His teachings was
clearly noticeable.

“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,
because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”
(Mathew 7:28,29)

In the following pages we will go through some verses where Christ demonstrated His
authority through the words He said.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil
against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11)

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:24)

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who
loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not
take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and
whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39)

“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like
a foolish man who built his house on sand.” (Matthew 7:26)

1
“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the
Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy
angels.” (Mark 8:38)

“Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53)

If we were contemporaries of Jesus what would we have said after hearing a ‘simple’
man saying such things? Would not we be saying: “How can this son of carpenter ask us
to deny ourselves and follow Him, to love Him more than our family, to take seriously
His words, to eat his flesh and drink his blood and to be ready to be persecuted and die
for Him? Whom does He think He is to tell us that we are dead? How can he dare saying
that He will come in the glory of the Father and with angels? Is not he blaspheming?”
The list would go long if we had to take all those words spoken out by Jesus.

Not surprisingly, the Pharisees have not missed to make this remark:

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." The Pharisees
challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not
valid.” (John 8:12,13)

“But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am
not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I
am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." "Who are you?" they asked.
"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied.” (John 8:23-25)

When reading all those verses, we can draw out 2 conclusions:

1) Jesus was really what He claimed to be.

2) Jesus was a liar and was not what He claimed to be.

Those verses clearly showed that Jesus was speaking about Himself and this was
annoying the Pharisees. Jesus was not speaking out of pride but he spoke out of with
compassion for their souls since He is Himself the only way to heaven. Though many
Jews believed in Him (John 8:30), many refused to accept that He was the Messiah (John
8:25).

“Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do
you think you are?", they said (John 8:53).

If we continue reading the chapter 8 of John, we will notice that Jesus said that the
Pharisees had the devil as father and retorted “before Abraham was born, I am!”
The Jews were proud to have Abraham and Moses as ancestors and suddenly here comes
Jesus who is fulfilling these laws given 1400 years ago! It was not easy for the Jews to
digest these changes brought by Jesus. Moreover, it was a ‘simple’ man 30 years of age

2
who was continuously rebuking and scandalizing them through what he was doing and
saying.

In the fifth chapter of the gospel of Matthew, at many instances we see Jesus establishing
new ways of living while fulfilling the law. The “Ye have heard, It hath been said, Ye
have heard that it hath been said” are replaced by these famous “BUT I SAY UNTO
YOU”!

Who was this man to dare bringing all these great changes? Where did He get this right?
Where did he get the right to stand in the synagogue and say:

“and he began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’.”
(Luke 4:21)

“Isn't this Joseph's son?”, they said.

How dare He come into the temple and drive out the money changers and sellers? If the
Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes tolerated these then why would Jesus not show some
tolerance? After all, those changers and sellers were just giving some facilities to help
Jews and strangers buying animals for the sacrifice. It is probable that these bad habits
grew up little by little and finally became acceptable. The facilities provided pleased both
the sellers and buyers but Jesus considered all these unacceptable.

“And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: " 'My house will be called a house of
prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" ” (Mark 11:17)

We also have to be very cautious in not getting into the trap of letting some habits which
on the outer shell appear to be good, become acceptable even if it goes against God’s
Word. Let us always bear in mind that Jesus is always the same and that He will surely
turn upside down bad habits found in His church.

The Jews were even ready to kill Him because His words were displeasing them.

“All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove
him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in
order to throw him down the cliff.”

In the old testament when God wanted to speak to the Israelites, there were prophets like
Elijah, Elisha, Ezechiel, Moses, Jeremiah who acted as a mediator to communicate God’s
words. These prophets started their prophecies by these words: “Thus saith the LORD ”
(Jeremiah 29:8). But God Himself then came to speak to us through these words: “But
verily, verily I saith unto you” or by these words “But I saith unto you”.

Here are some major difference between the words spoken out by the patriarchs and those
of Christ.

3
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in
various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed
heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” (Hebrews 1:1,2)

When Mary was sitting to listen to the living words of Jesus was not she blamed by her
sister (Luke 10:40)? But Mary made the best decision because she recognized that Jesus
was the Christ. It was this same sinful woman (Mary) who poured expensive (equivalent
to 300 working days) perfume and wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair. Jesus’ words had
undoubtedly transformed her so deeply in her heart that she wanted to spend most of her
time with someone greater than Moses or Abraham. It was Jesus, God Himself.

“Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he
said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." At this, some of the
teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!" ” (Matthew 9:2,3).

These words of Jesus again troubled the teachers of the law because Jesus implicitly
claimed to be God since He said that He has the power to forgive sins.

“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins...." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." And the man
got up and went home.” (Matthew 9:6,7)

Jesus would also not compromise the truth or fear rebuking his friends. Did not he say
“Get behind me, Satan!” to Peter even though He previously said to him “Blessed are
you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in
heaven.”(Matthew 16:17). Even if he was invited to eat at a Pharisee’s place, he did not
hesitate to thunder woes against the Pharisees who were displeased because Jesus did not
wash His hands! (Luke 11:37-45)

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other
kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have
practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. "Woe to you Pharisees, because
you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
"Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without
knowing it." One of the experts in the law answered him, "Teacher, when you say these
things, you insult us also." Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you,
because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves
will not lift one finger to help them. "Woe to you, because you build tombs for the
prophets, and it was your forefathers who killed them…”

“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge.
You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” (Luke
11:42-52)

4
Jesus was unveiling their hypocrisy and was showing His disagreement with their attitude
since the latter were forbidding and making it burdensome for people to get closer to
know God (through traditions and false teachings).

Jesus repeatedly pronounced a series of woes. Let us see why:

“Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites!”
(Matthew 15:6)

The Pharisees were putting their traditions above God’s Word and Jesus was vehemently
condemning this. The Pharisees said: “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the
elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" Jesus replied, "And why do you
break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:2,3)

We also have to be careful of not letting us fall in the same trap. Let us be cautious in not
letting traditions leading our life and the church. Beware of neglecting God’s word just
for some man made rules or traditions!
Is the church lead by some non-biblical rules or traditions established by previous
leaders? It was not easy for the Pharisees to accept the truth spoken by Jesus since it was
what they have always been taught since childhood and have been teaching for years.

Paul himself considered as rubbish all what was previously important to him:
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I
consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain
Christ” (Philippians 3:7,8).

It was not easy for a zealous Pharisee like Saul to drastically change direction, but he had
to do it because he was confronted with the truth. We have to be cautious with
philosophical materials, old habits and non biblical ecclesiastical system set up by man.
All these are tools used by the devil to infiltrate the church so as to make Christians
wander away from the truth. It is a good habit to wash hands before eating but beware of
making a habit replacing God’s word.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which
depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on
Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

There is this incident in the epistles of Colossians where Paul had to intervene:

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify
you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his
unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head,
from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews,
grows as God causes it to grow.

5
Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still
belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?
These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands
and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-
imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack
any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (Colossians 2:18-23)

There were some problems regarding ceremonial laws and false teaching amidst the
Colossian church. What those false teachers were saying appeared to be good, wise and
gave the impression of glorifying God but these were in fact poison for the soul. These
teachings were intelligently formulated to make the Christian fall. In these days we have
to be careful of not letting ourselves caught up in a religious system which tries to
formulate a standard of living. It is to the bible that the Christians should adhere to. We
always have to evaluate if what we are taught is the truth because the devil works hard to
sow in our heart his poisons. Traditions can easily be accepted but is hard to abandon
simply because bad habits are hard to change.

Let us see what happened to the church of Pergamum:

“Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the
teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food
sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those
who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” (Revelation 2:14,15)

False teachings are hard to detect especially when they are closed to the truth. The worst
lie is always the one closest to the truth. This was the strategy that the father of lies used
in the Garden of Eden and still uses nowadays.

But God will never accept that we leave His Word behind to follow some traditions and
false teachings. As we saw previously, Jesus had some lengthy speeches reserved for the
Pharisees (Matthew 15:23) to unveil the state of their hearts.

The Pharisees were offended when they heard words like “You broad of vipers”,
“Serpents”, “You belong to your father, the devil”, “blind guides”, “hypocrites”…

Jesus often healed the sick on the Sabbath day (John 5:10) even though he knew that this
would displease the Jews. He did it still to show that the goal of the law was to do good
and not to harm.

“Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or
not?” (Luke 14:3)
But the Pharisees did not understand what love and mercy meant.
“If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not
have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." ” (Matthew
12:8)

6
The high priest also asked Jesus this question:

“I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of
God.”

Jesus replied and said: “Yes, it is as you say, Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the
future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming
on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has spoken
blasphemy!” (Matthew 26:62-65)

Pilate also asked Him this question: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Yes, it is as you
say,”Jesus replied” (Matthew 27:11)

Was he really Lord of the Sabbath? Was He really the Son of God and the King of Jews?
Had He the right to rebuke the Pharisees and make so many declarations? Was he really
the Messiah? The answer to these questions caused the lost and salvation of many souls.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not
believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's
one and only Son.”(John 3:17,18)