Sermon on the Mount
The next few chapters are probably the most well known sermon that
Jesus ever preached. When people think
of Jesus and sermons, Matthew 5-7 is likely where people turn first. The main thread running through the whole
Sermon on the Mount is righteousness.
That’s the topic that we’ll chase for the next three days.
The Beatitudes
This is likely the most famous of the subsections of the Sermon on
the Mount. These sayings begin our quest
for righteousness. In these opening
verses we find examples of what it looks like to live righteously. This is not a exhaustive list, mind you. This is a list of examples of righteous
behavior:
- Humble with regard to one’s own capacity (Poor in Spirit): Righteous people know what they can achieve, know who gives them the ability to achieve it, and then go and do it. When we are humble and turn to God for our strength, we shall see the Kingdom of God. However, this idiom also speaks to the people who say, “I can’t do anything.” Humbleness before God acknowledges one’s gifts humbly; it does not ignores them.
- Mourn: Righteous people have a grip on reality. We understand that because we live in a world of sin, things will go wrong. We will make mistakes. We will encounter death. Relationships will be broken. Mourning is a natural consequence of understanding human sinfulness.
- Submitted: You’ll notice I didn’t use “meek” here. I learned today that the Greek word πραΰς is an equestrian word. It is used to describe a horse that is “broken.” A broken horse is one that accepts guidance from a master and can be safely ridden. That is what Jesus says here. Blessed are the … broken. Blessed are the submitted. Blessed are those who allow God to rein them in.
- Hunger and thirst for righteousness: Righteous people look for opportunities to see righteousness on display. They look for it in themselves; they look for it in others.
- Merciful: Righteous people allow their relationship with God to be the model for their relationship with others. As we receive mercy from God, we give mercy to others.
- Pure in Heart: The Greek word here for pure is καθαρός. It is the root of our word catharsis. A cathartic moment is a moment of deep emotional cleansing. Jesus is saying that the righteous truly know what it is like to have God work cathartically within us. The righteous long for those moments of cleansing, difficult as they may be to get through.
- Peacemakers: I believe this is a spiritual word, not a worldly word. Jesus is not talking about “world peace” here. Jesus is talking about divine restoration. Humanity rebelled against God. From that point on, God is literally at war with humanity and the sinfulness within. Righteous people are about proclaiming that God desires to be at peace with people. Out of that comes the desire to be at peace with one another.
- Persecuted: Righteous people will be persecuted by the world because of who they are. Unrighteous people will rebel against those who seek to change their default position.
- Reviled: Righteous people will not only be persecuted; they will be reviled and spoken about injuriously. It is difficult to be righteous. But the righteous are in good company. The world has always reviled God’s prophets. To be reviled by the world on account of one’s righteousness puts one in really good company. Jesus Himself leads the group of people who are reviled.
Jesus Gets Blunt
One of the things that I love about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is
that occasionally He is awful blunt. We’ll
see it here. We’ll see it especially in
chapter 7. Jesus doesn’t pull any
punches in His words. He doesn’t smooth
things over or dumb-down faith. If
anything, He ratchets things up a bit.
Where is Jesus blunt?
Salt. Light. Salt preserves things. God has sent His people into the world to
preserve the world. But if the salt isn’t
going to preserve anything, what good is it – except for raising blood
pressure? Jesus is saying that if you
are following Him then you are actively about preserving the world. If you’re not going to be about actively
preserving the world, don’t bother. You’re
just going to get underfoot. That’s
blunt. Righteous people are about the
business of spiritually preserving the world around them.
He says the same thing about light. Light eliminates darkness. Light illuminates darkness. But if light is never going to go into
darkness and instead only stay where it is lit, what good is it? What good is a flashlight on a bright sunny
day? No.
If we aren’t going to let our light shine before the world so that God
may be glorified, why bother even having a light? That’s blunt, too. Righteous people are actively involved in
bringing the light of God to the dark world around them.
The Law
Again, Jesus is blunt.
Whoever relaxes even one of the commandments of God will be called least
in the kingdom. Jesus did not come to
get rid of the Law. However, Jesus did
not come to assert that obeying the Law was the goal, either. Jesus specifically says that unless you exceed the righteousness of the
Pharisees that you cannot be in the Kingdom of God.
Of course, most of us hear that and we immediately say, “What
chance do I have?” Let’s not miss Jesus’
point. When Jesus says “exceed,” He isn’t
talking about “greater deeds.” He’s
talking about “more categories.” Let me
explain.
The Pharisees wanted to hold everyone up to the Law and say “measured
up” or “fell short.” The Pharisees
wanted to use the Law as the final say with respect to God’s judgment. Jesus is saying, “That’s a great starting
point, but there is more to it than that.”
Jesus cares about relationship.
God cares about relationship. The
reality is that none of us will ever measure up to the Law. So unless there is more, Jesus is right. None of us can enter the Kingdom of God. But there is more. As I said, God cares about relationship. God cares about our response to sin. God cares about our righteousness. God cares about our repentance. All of us will fail when measured against the
Law. But some of us will humble
ourselves and respond to God in repentance.
Righteous people learn to look past how we measure up to the Law and
appreciate those who live life in continual repentance. {Remember
my post for Matthew 3. Repentance is a
long process of change, not a simple feeling of remorse or a fake feeling of
regret. I’m not proclaiming cheap grace
here.}
Other teachings
This post is already getting long – a common occurrence when I
blog about the Gospels. So I’ll try to
keep the rest short. Jesus speaks about
anger, lust, divorce, and oaths. Notice
that Jesus doesn’t make any of those topics easier; He actually makes them more
difficult! Here is Jesus’ point in each
of those sections. Again, our internal
relationship with God and each other is more significant than our
sinfulness. When we think in anger,
think in lust, desire a divorce, or feel the need to swear an oath we have a
problem within us. That problem is the
heart of the matter. That problem is
where the brokenness lies. Yes, the sin –
the consequence – of that brokenness is important. But the brokenness within us is even more
important. If we don’t fix the
brokenness within, we’ll simply reply the same sin again and again. Fix the brokenness within, and the sin doesn’t
even come out the first time. Trust God
within, and righteousness will come out.
We then close this chapter with two lessons on how we treat those
who come against us. Jesus tells us to
not retaliate. Jesus tells us to be open
to inviting even more persecution in.
These are both hard teachings.
Who among us wants to be struck only so that we can offer the other
cheek? That’s insanity! Yet, it is precisely what Jesus Himself
does. Jesus walks into Jerusalem and
allows Himself to be arrested so that He can die for the sake of the people and
demonstrate love. Now that’s
insanity. But that is what love is
about. Any worldly person can love those
who love you back. Only the righteous
person can love the person who hates them.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment