Matthew 5:17-6:18 – The Father’s Will on Earth

Discovering God’s will seems to be an obsession with most people. In the time I spent with church youth groups and teaching high school students, other than sex, the number one topic was the will of God. Even for me, during my last couple of years in college I remember hoping for a neon sign to descend from heaven and answer my questions; What job should I take? Where should I live? Who should I date and/or marry? What is God’s will? We all seem to approach finding the will of God like Indiana Jones looking for some artifact buried in a remote location. The will of God is more valuable than the Ark of the Covenant, yet more elusive than the Holy Grail; it is an unobtainable object of immeasurable value.

But as I’ve been reading the Bible beyond the Minimum Daily Requirements, I’ve realized, while some of those questions might be part of God’s will, they really aren’t, in the big picture, all that important. The Bible seems to indicate that God’s will is primarily about how to live our lives so as to be pleasing to God, not so much about a chosen career, spouse, house, or the destiny of a football team.

When Jesus tells us to pray, “Your will be done [on earth as it is in heaven]” he is not telling us to pray about occupational answers for the rest of our life, rather he tells us to pray about submitting ourselves to the Father’s moral will. While the Father’s moral Will may seem obvious in comparison to finding the right job, wife, and dog, it is the Father’s moral Will that fills the largest portion of the Sermon on the Mount; this is because following the Father’s moral Will is much more difficult than finding the right house, spouse, dog.

The Beatitudes, found in Matthew 5:3-14, describe the Father’s Kingdom on earth, after which Jesus describes the Father’s Will in Matthew 5:15-6:18. He begins by saying he has not come to abolish the Law. He says unless our righteousness is greater than the Pharisees we will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. If you are familiar with the Old Testament Law, you can quickly realize that Jesus sets forth an unachievable goal. He might have just as easily said, “You cannot possibly follow the Father’s will on your own!” because perfectly following the law is impossible. But we mustn’t get too bent out of shape at this point. A look back to the beatitudes reminds us that the Kingdom of Heaven comes about only by the work of the Father, not by the work of our own hands; so it is with the Will of the Father.

After this, Jesus says six times, “You have heard that it was said…but I say to you…” In so doing, he addresses the commandments, portions of the Mosaic Laws, as well as Jewish tradition. He emphasizes the fact that citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven do not merely meet the Minimum Daily Requirements of the law; they embody the law in their heart. The law says to not murder, Jesus says to not be angry. The law says to not commit adultery, Jesus says to not lust. The law says to give a wife a certificate of divorce, Jesus says that only sexual impurity is a reason for divorce. The law says to not swear falsely, Jesus says to not take an oath at all; let your words be true. Tradition grants the freedom for retribution, Jesus says to not resist evil ones. Tradition grants the freedom to hate your enemy, Jesus says to love those who persecute you. Not only must we be perfect in what we do, but our thoughts must be perfect as well!

Then Jesus says the most audacious thing; “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” How in the sam-hill are we gunna do that?

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He knows we know that meeting those requirements is impossible, so he addresses what we do to make it appear as though we are being perfect. Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”

Even if our heart isn’t right, we think we can do things publicly like give money, pray, and fast so as to show how holy and righteous we really are. The Pharisees excelled at this. They stood in the street praying out loud, they made a big to-do about giving large sums of money to the temple, they made themselves look gaunt in public so others knew they were fasting. But Jesus says that the Will of the Father is that we perform our acts of righteousness—those things that show our devotion to God—in private so others do not see them.

I must admit this all sounds like quite a tall order. But tall or not, it is the Will of the Father that we become like him. The Father’s Will is that we obey the commandments, not only outwardly, but inwardly as well. He doesn’t want us to kill someone, sure; but His Will is that we aren’t angry either. He doesn’t want us to commit adultery, certainly; but His Will is that we don’t lust either. He doesn’t want us to make vows, His Will is that we do what we say. He doesn’t want us to seek revenge, His Will is that we help those who harm us. He doesn’t want us to hate our enemies, His will is that we love them. He doesn’t want us concerned with public opinion, His Will is that we are devoted to God alone.

I think this probably means, at the very least, that we shouldn’t call those erratic drivers on the road idiots. It probably means we shouldn’t harbor bitterness and anger against our employers or employees. It probably means we shouldn’t have the swimsuit edition of our favorite magazine in the house; maybe we should drop Showtime, cable, or even the internet. Maybe, even, His Will is that we are careful to not wear something that might cause another person to lust.

To be sure, none of this is easy. In fact, I think you might find it impossible.

So why does Jesus tell us to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect?

The first answer to that question is that the Will of the Father is that we are holy and perfect.

The second answer to that question is that it is the Will of the Father to bring about his Will on earth, just as the Father brings his Kingdom to earth; we must only submit to it as Jesus did in the Garden when he said, “not my will, but yours, be done.”

I believe the Father’s heavenly kingdom is filled with those who do his will every moment of their existence; they live consistently with God’s holiness. But his earthly Kingdom is what we are called to pray for; we are called to pray that we would do His Will on earth just as we would if we were in heaven. Is it that difficult to imagine that the Father’s Kingdom on earth is filled with people who are blessed despite their status in life? Is it that difficult to imagine that the Father’s Will on earth is accomplished by those who can’t do the Father’s Will on their own; those who submit to the Father so he can make them perfect as he himself is perfect? I don’t think such things are impossible to imagine, for any citizen of heaven knows at least one thing that non-citizens do not; they know they cannot do it on their own. And because they know they can’t do it on their own, they pray that the Father would bring his Kingdom and see His Will done on earth, not just generally, but specifically in each and every citizen of his Kingdom.

Read the Next Post: The Father’s Provision, Part 1