Matthew 5:21-37
"You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You
shall not murder'; and "whoever murders shall be liable to
judgment.' But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother
or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a
brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say,
"You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when
you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your
brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there
before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or
sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly
with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your
accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will
never get out until you have paid the last penny.
"You have
heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery.' But
I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already
committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes
you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to
lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into
hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and
throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than
for your whole body to go into hell.
"It was also said,
"Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of
divorce.' But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife,
except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery;
and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
"Again,
you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You
shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the
Lord.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven,
for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his
footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or
black. Let your word be "Yes, Yes' or "No, No'; anything
more than this comes from the evil one.
With regard to the following Scriptural passage, I added a comment somewhat like this:
- Does anyone here know the name “Theodor Geisel”?
- Maybe you know him by his pen-name, Dr. Seuss?
- If you've ever read his story “Horton Hatches an Egg”, - and the story was read to ME a long time ago- you may remember this repeated line: "I meant what I said,/ and I said what I meant./ An elephant's faithful, one hundred per cent!"
Let
your word be "Yes, Yes' or "No, No'; anything more than
this comes from the evil one.
- I like to begin my addresses with an appropriate passage from scripture as a sort of base on which to build or a launch pad from which to start our journey through the Scripture. There's so much here in Matthew today that I wasn't sure where to start.
- The passage we heard today is still part of the Sermon on the Mount and that sermon goes far beyond the Beatitudes. In fact, there are things in the passage today that make me uncomfortable. Believe it or not, that's a good thing. If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not challenging us and making us uncomfortable, we're just not listening or we're not taking the Gospel seriously.
- Jesus uses a formula in his sermon; You have heard that it was said... But I say to you that... In this instance, it is very tough stuff. He takes on a number of controversial topics – controversial in his day and in ours. Insults, anger, temptation and how to avoid it, truth-telling and oaths, even divorce. In teaching this, Jesus is fulfilling the Law, not destroying it. He goes to the root of the Law and what he says is radical in the best sense of the word. (By the way, “radical” comes from the Latin word for “root.”) Jesus has told his disciples that unless their righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, they will not be part of the Kingdom of Heaven. The scribes and the Pharisees studied intently and knew how to keep the letter of the Law but in fact often missed the spirit of the Law in toeing the line of the letter.
- In this repeated formula – you have heard... but I say...-, Jesus is calling his disciples (and us as his disciples in our own time) to not only change their actions but change their minds and thoughts as well. Jesus is radicalizing the observance of the Law by saying in effect “act this way because your new heart and new life require it.” and not simply because the Law demands such action.
- Such a radical teaching brings the disciples back to the original reason that God gave the Law of Moses to the Israelites in the first place. It outlined righteous behaviour in order to inspire a righteous life. Jesus is telling his disciples that such a righteous life requires a change of mind and heart. Paul puts it this way in his letter to the Galatians: For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
- This change of heart and mind – simply said – is repentance, which was Jesus' first word in preaching the Good News - Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near!
- Don't believe for a second that Jesus is glossing over actions and deeds and the outward behaviour of human beings. That is not true at all! A righteous life requires righteous action, although not self-righteous action.
- He's saying that there is more to the Kingdom of Heaven than appearances. There are always those who appear perfect and righteous and follow the letter of the Law without being changed in their inner-most hearts. But what is in the heart will find its way out through the hands and feet and speech. The renewal of heart will be accompanied by a renewal of behaviour and actions as sure as day follows night.
- {By the way, those uncomfortable references to sexuality and divorce are meant to take the side of women who had no say in such things. It may be a little difficult for us to understand, but it comes somewhat clearer when you realize the status of women in Jesus' time and culture. Many commentators say that Jesus' mention of this in such severe terms upholds the dignity of women and decries the attitude that makes them “throw-away” people, an attitude that some insisting on the letter of the law would cling to.}
- Were we to look at the history of Christianity, we'd find that there are a number of ways to describe this change of heart and mind. Some call it renewal, while others call it repentance. John the Evangelist calls it “being born again.”
- It would take a new life to do what Jesus calls us all to in today's Gospel. The rooting-up of anger, insult, lust, lies, or the abusive attitudes that degrade people cannot be done by any other means but grace. And as before we return to grace as the mean by which all things in the Kingdom of Heaven are done.
- This grace leads us to be people of integrity, of faith and fidelity, of truth. Grace calls us to be people who respect those around us, no matter who they are. Grace impels us to be people who show the world a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven, even if the glimpse is a faulty and imperfect one. This is what Jesus called his first disciples to be and this is what Jesus calls his 21st century disciples to be, and that includes us.
No comments:
Post a Comment