Jesus' Teachings on Righteousness and Relationships

12 Questions

What did Jesus believe could be learned through studying the ancient Scriptures?

How to do right by each other today

What is Jesus' definition of righteousness?

Treating everybody as a fellow image of God

What does Jesus equate with murder?

Anger and name-calling

Why does Jesus say that looking at someone with lust is a form of adultery?

Because it strips a fellow human of their dignity

What problem did Jesus identify in his day regarding divorce?

It was only allowed for Israelite men

What does Jesus portray sex as?

A beautiful thing when honored properly

What was the motivation behind Jesus' teaching on divorce?

To protect women from abuse and elevate their dignity

According to Jesus, what happens if a man divorces his wife for an illegitimate reason?

His marriage covenant is still intact, and any new marriage is an act of adultery

What is the purpose of the marriage covenant according to Jesus' teaching?

To create interdependence and mutual respect

What is the focus of Jesus' teaching on divorce?

How the debated divorce law in the Torah was being twisted and misused by men

What is the ultimate goal of God's wisdom in Jesus' teaching?

To treat every human like they have ultimate value

What is the significance of Jesus' teaching on women in his society?

It elevated their dignity and protected them from abuse

Study Notes

Jesus believed that one can learn righteousness through studying God's wisdom found in the ancient Scriptures, the Torah and the Prophets.
Studying the laws that God gave ancient Israel can teach us how to do right by each other today.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus quotes a command from the Torah and then reveals God's wisdom underneath the command.
Jesus equates anger and name-calling with murder, showing that they are all surface manifestations of not valuing someone's existence.
Murder, anger, and verbal abuse reveal an attitude of superiority and contempt for the life of another person, wreaking havoc in relationships and communities.
Jesus wants us to see that any time we demean or devalue other people, it's a failure to do right by them, and his definition of righteousness means treating everybody as a fellow image of God.
Jesus teaches that everyone who keeps on staring at a woman in order to stir up sexual desire has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Objectifying someone by looking at them like they exist for one's own pleasure strips a fellow human of their God-given dignity.
Jesus portrays sex as a beautiful thing, but if sexual desire is driving us to dishonor the image of God in others or ourselves, it's ruining us and we need to deal with it.
In Jesus' day, only Israelite men could initiate a divorce, leading to an imbalance that caused problems.
Jesus sides with Torah scholars who limited legitimate divorce to cases of adultery, to protect women from abuse.
Jesus teaches that if a man divorces his wife for an illegitimate reason, his marriage covenant is still intact, and any new marriage is an act of adultery.
Jesus' statement protects and elevates the dignity of women as images of God in a society where only men could initiate divorce for any reason.
Jesus' focus is on how the debated divorce law in the Torah was being twisted and misused by men in his day, treating women like objects that could be discarded.
The marriage covenant is designed to create interdependence and mutual respect, so that the two can reflect God's image together as one.
Jesus shows how God's wisdom in these commands is aimed at our core desires and motivations that affect how we treat people.
Real righteousness and wisdom means treating every human like they have ultimate value, and if we valued others that much, imagine what kind of world we could create.