What Jesus Says About
Goodness
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Luke 6:45
The ethical teachings of Jesus Christ evidence His divine authority. We have already touched upon the uniqueness of Christ's teaching about God and man. Now let us consider what He has to say about goodness.
When the teachings of the great philosophers and religious leaders of the ages are held up opposite the effulgent light which was brought into the world by Jesus Christ, they pale like the moon before the rising sun. Where may one find in non-Christian systems the moral concepts of Christ on the subjects of righteousness, truth, purity, and love? None have been able to match or excel the standard Jesus gives for life. He remains the Master Teacher of human goodness.
Christ teaches us that goodness is from within, that it is a matter of the heart. "A good man out of the treasure of his
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heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh" (Luke 6:45). From Mark's Gospel we learn, "There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man" (Mark 7:15).
In that day as in ours, goodness was considered to be largely a matter of obedience to certain laws, an outward conduct conforming to the accepted pattern. For example, the Pharisees meticulously obeyed all the laws and traditions of their fathers. They labored assiduously to keep every little rule. They fasted twice in the week. They tithed. But Jesus said they neglected mercy and truth, the weightier matters of the law, which are of the heart. Out of their narrow, religious activities they were endeavoring to weave some sort of garment of goodness to cover an unchanged heart. But real goodness lies within. Jesus stands before us and simply asks, "Show me your heart."
In a searching passage in the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord goes behind the letter of the law to demand obedience to its spirit. He adds a whole new dimension of moral and spiritual depth to the Commandments of the Old Testament. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil" (Mat. 5:17). He is saying, "I am come to fill out to the full the real intent of the law." He then proceeds to touch upon the five Old Testament rules given to preserve the sanctity of life, and He transforms them by applying them to inner attitudes.
The first time a student peers through a microscope at a drop of tap water, he has an unforgettable experience. With his
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natural vision, it seems pure and uncontaminated, but through the microscope he is amazed to discover that one little drop of water contains a whole universe of life, and some of the creatures that come into view are rather frightening. I remember the time when I sat down with the Sermon on the Mount and let the Lord focus my attention upon the real meaning of the Commandments. A new world opened up with God's truth and goodness shining within, and some rather alarming things came into view as I looked at my life in the light of Jesus Christ.
Consider this commandment. Jesus continues, " ...It was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill... But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment..." (Mat. 5:21, 22). Old Testament law condemned the act. Jesus condemns the attitude. The old law prohibited the deed, but Jesus prohibited the desire. The old forbade the murder, but Jesus forbade the anger out of which murder is born. One strikes at the fruit. The other goes back to the root. One apprehends the criminal when his hand has already struck the blow and is red with blood. The other apprehends him when hatred is born. What lies in our heart? Is there resentment, hostility, desire for retaliation, bitterness, lack of forgiveness and love there? Jesus warns that out of this spirit murder comes. They are qualitatively the same. They differ only in degree. So He asks, "Show me your heart." He penetrates within.
Another commandment is brought to our attention. "...It was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Mat. 5:27, 28). The sin of impurity is a blight and a
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curse upon society. It destroys true love and undermines the home. It defiles the soul; it disrupts and demoralizes the personality. Impurity, too, begins within. It consists not only in the act, but in the thought. Long before the science of psychology was born, our Lord taught the truth that ideas are motor and that "what a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Let a life harbor lust, and soon lust will enslave the life. Purity is a matter of mind and of heart as well as of body.
Today, America knows a tidal wave of immorality. The dikes of moral restraint are breaking down, and a flood of impurity has been loosed across the land. What is happening among the boys in the Armed Forces overseas, thousands of miles away from home, is a shameful and degrading story of widespread impurity. Delinquency among our teen-agers is becoming a matter of public alarm. Behind many of our broken homes and embittered hearts today lies the sin of impurity.
The glory of the gospel is that it produces a new heart. It goes to the root of the need. Christ does not attempt to change the baser passions of the soul, to inhibit and suppress primitive impulses. Rather, He redirects these energies into new channels, imparting new desires, new affections, new love. He produces new men and women who enter into new relationships and respond in new ways. See what wonders He has wrought! In His hand, marriage is sanctified in spiritual oneness, and the family becomes the household of God, finding, in His forgiveness and love, a basis for mutual understanding and trust.
Christ has emancipated womanhood, elevating her to a position of dignity and honor. He has purified love, purging it from selfishness and lust. He has freed the human spirit that
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it might be pure and self-giving, fulfilling that which was in the Creator's mind when He gave us these desires. With eyes of penetrating purity, our Lord stands before us and simply asks, "Show me your heart."
Let us consider a new dimension to truth which we find here. Our Lord speaks of the matter of oaths, "...It hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne... But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" (Mat. 5:33, 34, 37). In other words, our Lord is saying that new character makes old sanctions unnecessary. If a man speaks the truth from his heart, he needs no other buttressing to support his words. As a matter of fact, there is no other way to insure truth or justice for men apart from a reverence for the law of God in the human heart. Unless there is an inner control of conduct and an inner respect for righteousness, neither social sanctions nor political systems can ever bring about justice. Lawlessness within, issues in chaos and tyranny without. Just survey the modern scene.
An authority on Latin America recently stated that the greatest need in that area of the world is not for technical skills and advice, but for moral and spiritual character. Many of Latin America's problems stem from moral deficiencies and spiritual inadequacies. For example, wherever there are city traffic signals, there are always several armed policemen to enforce the law.
A Latin-American visitor to the United States was astonished when the bus on which he was riding stopped unbidden at a railroad crossing. The track was rusty and obviously un-
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used. Yet the bus came to a stop; the driver looked both ways and went on across the track.
"Why did you stop the bus?" the visitor asked curiously. "Obviously there is no train coming." The driver answered, "It is the law." The visitor to our country was frankly amazed and impressed that the mere existence of a law could evoke obedience without a compulsive hand near by. But unless there is respect for law, ordered not by the fear of pressure from without, but by the desire of responsibility from within, there cannot be a just and free society, undergirded with citizens of true character.
What controls operate in your life? This is an honest question and it deserves an honest answer. Am I good because of the requirements of society, because I fear what others will think or say, because I do not wish to arouse the disfavor of others or incur the penalty of the law? Am I good because I am compelled to be good, or am I good because I really want to be good? Many people are outwardly good because they are afraid to do wrong, rather than because they are in love with the right. Jesus simply asks, "Show me your heart."
Christ further teaches us that goodness is grounded in two basic virtues, humility and love. This is the soil out of which all goodness grows, and, without this base, real virtue does not take root. Humility is the opposite of pride — that damnable thing that has cursed the race, vaunted itself above the authority of God and the rights of our fellow man. Pride is the stubborn core of sin. Jesus came into the world to break the power of pride, to put self back in subordination to God, where it belongs and where it finds its true freedom, peace, and joy. His own life is a demonstration of true humility and absolute trust in the Heavenly Father. "I am meek and
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lowly," Jesus says, yet His humility is attended with glorious strength and freedom.
There is a remarkable passage in the second chapter of Philippians which no one has really plumbed. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, ...and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:5-8). We see now the humility of our Lord, the very Son of Heaven, who came to be born in a lowly stable, toiled with His hands, moved among men as a servant, not doing His own pleasure or standing on His own rights, but humbling Himself, even to dying the death of the cross for sinful people. Seeing these manifestations, one can only utter,
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Price of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
If we are acquainted at all with Jesus, He has done something to our pride. If we know Him as our Lord, He has crippled its power. Now there is a desire to know His humility. Do not think for a moment that this humility is weakness, a retiring acquiescence to evil in the world. Not at all. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." "The poor in spirit" are those who have nothing in themselves, and "the meek" are those who want nothing for themselves. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. They inherit the earth. Everything is theirs. They move among men not to
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dominate them, but to get underneath and lift them. This is Christ's kind of life. "He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many." Think what true humility would bring to us. Humility in the home would produce peace. In human relationships, it would foster understanding and harmony. Towards God, humility would lead to faith and fellowship. Towards our Lord Jesus Christ, it would bring salvation and joy. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Mat. 11:28-29). He asks, "Show me your heart."
Humility is to be united to love. Love is the royal law of God. This is the first and great commandment. Christ taught that we are to love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourself. Love is the new commandment, "...That ye love one another; as I have loved you..." (John 13:34). We are to love our enemies. This royal law of God takes precedence over every other law. If we fail here, we fail all along the line. No imposing array of virtues, no pious devotion, no long prayers or rigorous religious observances will please God unless there is love in the heart. This is the ultimate test of true religion and a true relationship with God and conformity to His Spirit. For it is written, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:8). And when we place our small, selfish hearts alongside the great heart of God, we begin to understand how abysmal is our lovelessness, how immense our need.
How little we really care about the suffering or the sorrowing. What is our concern for those who are caught in the coils of sin or who grope in the darkness of despair? When Jesus saw the people as sheep having no shepherd, He had compas-
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sion on them. Above the city of Jerusalem, knowing something of its sorrow and suffering, of its awful sin and darkness, He cried aloud, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Mat. 23:37). He wept over the city. But we seldom, if ever, shed a tear over our own community and its needs. With His friends by the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus wept, entering with sympathy into the grief of those about Him. Rarely do we weep with those who weep around us. Jesus cared. "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring..." "The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Yet all around us are wandering sheep, struggling to find their way into life. They are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world. Do we really care? Not as He cares. We need His love deep in our hearts.
A Quaker woman accompanied by a young friend was walking down the street. She was approached by one in a tempest of anger who proceeded to administer a tongue lashing. But the Quaker woman took it graciously. She did not retaliate, although she was not to blame. After the episode had passed, her compassion said wonderingly, "I marvel that you responded to her with such real Christian grace." "Ah," said the Quaker woman, "thee did not see the boiling within!" There was no boiling within our Lord. From the heart, He loved purely, openly, naturally. He gave His compassion in an overflowing measure. Grudgingly we parcel out our love under compulsion. We need His love.
The nature of real love is revealed supremely by His death. He said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). Then He showed us
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the infinite measure of His love. I see the disciples deserting Him and denying Him, leaving Him to suffer alone. Yet His love for them is stronger than their shame. Behold Him standing before His enemies, falsely accused, mocked, railed, tortured. I hear the crowd shout, "Crucify him! Away with him! We will not have this man to rule over us! I follow Him through the mocking multitude as He staggers under the burden of His cross. Now they drive great nails through hands that reached out only to love. With a sickening lurch, the cross is uplifted in its socket and Jesus hangs in agony. A monstrous, taunting jeer is hurled at Him by the multitude. "He saved others; himself he cannot save...." They enjoy His anguish. For a moment His eyes are uplifted to heaven. His lips part in prayer. With labored breath, He pleads, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
No, He did not come down from the cross. He was held there not by the spikes of the soldiers, but by His own omnipotent love. He suffered to bring salvation to sinners, to open fainting hearts to the love of God. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Writes the chief of sinners, "He loved me and gave himself for me." Thus for all men and for all time, our Lord has given to us the divine standard of goodness. Love is a mighty, self-giving passion, moving out even to those who do not want it. Jesus stands before us and says, "Show me your heart." With flushed cheeks and stricken soul, I dare not.
But there is another truth the Master teaches, without which His high and holy standard of goodness would lead us to despair. Goodness comes from God. We do not achieve goodness. It is a gift received from His hand. "We love him," writes the Apostle, "because he first loved us." Our love is
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kindled with the flame of His compassion. What made Peter good — Peter with his temper, impetuosity, failure, and denial? Was it resolution, moral endeavor? No! Jesus Christ made Peter good and Jesus Christ made Peter great. After the resurrection, Jesus found His fallen friend, forgave him and restored him and filled him with His Holy Spirit. When one has known forgiveness and the restoring grace of God in Jesus Christ, there is a mark upon his soul. In gratitude, he wants to be like the One who has redeemed him. "The love of Christ constraineth me," cries Paul, the Apostle.
In George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan, Joan says, "If I go through fire, I shall go through it to their hearts forever and ever." Jesus, the Son of God in humility and love, went through the fire of the cross for us that He might move into our hearts forever. He makes us good by His great goodness.
A brilliant German said of Goethe, the poet, "Other men I love with my own strength, but he teaches me to love with his strength." That's it! It is only when Christ with His strength lives within that we are good.
I am painfully aware of my lack of natural goodness, my pride and lovelessness. I am keenly conscious that in the battle for goodness, time and again I am thrown back in miserable defeat. But I know that Jesus Christ comes to a man, and when He is trusted and obeyed, He gives His purity, His humility, His love. Our small hearts are made good because He imparts to them His love and goodness. He calls, "Give me your heart!"
