Matthew 5:
In Matthew 5, Jesus is challenging the thought process, the illumination and the application of what the people know about God and the scriptures. He allows them the space to logically rationalize what they've known historically and have lived presently, while taking them deeper into what will be revealed as the "true" heart of God. Breaking down actions that are correct, while intentions and integrity are corrupt, removes the validity in the mentality of all who hear it, to just "do the right thing". Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is just as bad as doing the wrong thing all by itself.
Jesus offers an alternative. Jesus gives them the idea of a transition and evolution of intention, not just changed behavior. Behavior can be controlled through all kinds of means. Enslavement, incarceration, mental health commitment, organizational guidelines, authoritarian oversight (by parentage, guardianship, custody or trust) or a desire to belong - can all "control" how a person behaves and what they do as they are faced with particular decisions. Jesus in these passages is teaching us to deal with our behaviors, by changing our intention.
It is from this place that Christ preaches on the ideology of being "born again." This statement is natural symbolism and prophetic revelation for a return to the innocence and the training that comes from a caring, wise, experienced parent, to a newly born and carefully raised child. Not that we as individuals lose our knowledge base, experience and ability, but that we return ourselves to viewing the decisions and movements of the world through the direction and eyesight of a parent who has prepared an inheritance that can be obtained through simple obedience. The parenting of God, supersedes the intellect, will, ability and emotions of humanity. And Jesus in these texts mentioned in Matthew 5, gives us an early preview into the depths of Christ's focus in ministry as it relates to the Fathering of God, the transformation of intention in men and the actions that should follow.
God in all things, wants our hearts and intentions before he wants anything else. If he has our heart, he'll have our actions and behaviors. That's why the greatest commandment iis that "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." It must be in our heart. All the way.
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