Gospel for February 19, 2023 TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 17:1-9
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The Transfiguration of Jesus occurs at a strategic moment in the life and ministry of Jesus.  In the Gospel of Matthew, this account is placed almost squarely between the beginning and the end — at the half-way mark.

In the previous passages, Jesus has initiated his ministry — he has been baptized, he has endured temptation in the wilderness, he has laid out some of his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 3-7). He has engaged in a ministry of healing and exorcism, calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, chosen the 12 as his disciples and sent them out in ministry, continued to teach, and fed the five thousand. And he has incurred the hostility of the priests and the Pharisees (Matthew 8-16).  He has been busy.

In the passage immediately preceding the account of the Transfiguration, Jesus has asked a significant question of his disciples:

Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? (Matthew 16:13)

Peter is the one who has the spiritual breakthrough:

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:15).

Six days after this moment of epiphany, Jesus leads his three closest disciples to the top of the mountain.

What occurs next exceeds anything that Peter, James and John had experienced with Jesus prior to this event — and they had already experienced some remarkable things.

He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light. Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.

The word transfigured is interesting.  The Greek word is metamorphein — it is used to describe the change that takes place in the believer who is being transformed into the same mind and image as Christ (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

But in this situation, the transformation is unique.  Jesus’ countenance and clothing shine like the sun.  This is truly another Theophany, not unlike that which occurs with Moses in Exodus 24:12-28.  The difference here, however, is that Jesus himself is revealed as the focus of the transformation.  This will become clear as events unfold.

Moses and Elijah appear and are talking with him.  These two men represent the apex of revelation to Israel.  Moses represents deliverance from slavery, and the law; Elijah represents the ethical imperative of social and religious justice, and the prophets.

Peter is caught up in the moment.  He wishes to erect three tents, for each of these special men.  This no doubt alludes to the Tent of Meeting that Moses was instructed by God to create after he had led his people to Sinai (Exodus 26).  The tent was to be the place where Yahweh would meet with his people, and where sacrifices were to be made.  The Tent of Meeting was the predecessor of the Temple as a place of worship.

We are also reminded of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was one of the major festivals of the Israelites (Leviticus 23:42-43).  The Feast of the Tabernacles was a living reminder of their liberation from Egypt, and how their ancestors had lived in tents while they were nomads in the wilderness of Sinai.

But Peter’s enthusiasm is soon overwhelmed by subsequent events:

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.

We have seen the bright cloud in Exodus 24:15-18.  We are reminded that the pillar of cloud and fire was a sign of the presence of God’s glory.  Here, this glory is fulfilled in Jesus.  The Father declares the nature of Jesus:

Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

Jesus is not a mere lawgiver or prophet — he is the beloved Son.  These are the same words the Father had uttered when Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:17).  He is affirming a unique relationship, that John’s Gospel will explore even more deeply:

The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

The disciples are overwhelmed by this experience:

When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid.

But Jesus, who has been revealed as the very Son of God, reaches in a very touching, human moment:

 Jesus came and touched them and said, “Get up, and don’t be afraid.”

The moment of epiphany has passed — Moses, Elijah, the cloud, the Voice — all are gone:

Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus alone.

However, this experience that Jesus has shared with these three friends isn’t for public disclosure — at least not yet:

As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Don’t tell anyone what you saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

This is for them to ponder in their own hearts — and likely to fortify Jesus for the coming tribulation in his life.

APPLY:  

It is nearly impossible for us to fully understand all that was happening in this account; nor to understand the various perspectives of Jesus and his disciples.

Jesus, as both Son of God and Son of Man, has a unique perspective.  On the one hand, as a human being, we may suspect that he knows something of fear.  He is aware that a cross awaits him in Jerusalem.  Perhaps the Transfiguration experience is given in order to provide assurance from his Father that he is not alone.

On the other hand, as Son of God, we catch a brief glimpse of his divine nature — the metamorphosis that the disciples see reveals him as God in the flesh — for a moment.  And then he is seen alone.

This too is significant.  It is Jesus alone who reveals to us who God truly is.  As he tells Philip in the Gospel of John:

He who has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9).

However, because we are mere mortals, we may be able to identify a little more completely with the experience of Peter, James and John.  Although even this numinous experience far exceeds anything we can imagine.

Perhaps we can identify most closely with Peter, whose impulsive nature leads him to want to do something, anything, to honor this moment:

Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

We so want to do, to build, to act!

But the Father tells us the most important thing we can do in just such a moment with his beloved Son:

Listen to him.

RESPOND: 

The Transfiguration is not the key event of the Gospels.  In fact, Jesus himself told the disciples to tell no one what they had seen and heard until after his death and resurrection.  Jesus knew that is what he was moving toward.  That would be the climax of his life and ministry.

However, the Transfiguration tells me that the nature of Jesus concealed will be revealed.

Coming at the end of the season of Epiphany, and at the beginning of the season of Lent, this is a comfort.  Lent, with its fasts and repentance and remorse for sin, would be difficult without a reminder of the glory of Christ — and a forecast of the resurrection that is to come.

Lord, open my eyes that I may see your true nature, and that I may listen to you, and talk less. Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Transfiguration” by scottgunn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for February 12, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 5:21-37
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Jesus continues to lay down the new “law” of the Kingdom of God in the Sermon on the Mount.  In a sense, this is a continuation of the tenth commandment of the Decalogue of Moses.  Here’s what I mean — covetousness covers the motivations behind many of the sins prohibited in the Ten Commandments.  It might be said that adultery and theft begin in the heart, with covetousness.

Jesus is expanding the logic of this concept — that all sin begins in the heart. As he says later, in chapter 15:

 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies (Matthew 15:18-19).

However, Jesus is also establishing his own unique authority as the giver of a New Covenant:

 You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times… But I say to you…

Jesus repeats this phrase six times, addressing murder/anger, adultery/lust, marriage/divorce, oaths, retaliation/mercy, and how to treat enemies.

The most serious example of a human sin against other humans is murder. The ancient law is established by the Law of Moses in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:13).  Jesus delves beneath the surface of murder, and addresses the roots of murder — anger and dehumanization.

He recognizes that an attitude of hostility and dehumanization precedes violence.  Anger, insults, or calling someone fool — which is to say that someone is useless, stupid and godless — is extremely serious.  Those guilty of such attitudes are liable to judgment, and even the hell of fire.  They have cut themselves off from their brothers and sisters, and they have cut themselves off from God.

Jesus offers the solution to such a breach in relationship — seek reconciliation:

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.

An underlying message here has to do with worship.  Along with the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus understands that worship is not merely a matter of ritual. It is not enough for the worshiper to focus vertically, on his relationship with God; he must also be focused horizontally on his relationship with his brothers and sisters.

Jesus also addresses lawsuits as he stresses the importance of reconciliation.  He advocates settling with an accuser out of court, as it were, in order to avoid the risky uncertainty of an arbitrary judge.  Jesus is not only concerned with healing relationships — he is also very pragmatic and realistic about justice in an unjust world:

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.

Jesus then takes up another key relational law from the Ten Commandments — adultery.  Again, he looks beneath the surface at the motivation of adultery:

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

As with anger, the seeds of the sin of lust are sown in the heart long before they are manifested in action.  Like anger, lust is dehumanizing and objectifying.

His advice concerning the eradication of lust is radical.  The eye and the hand are potential agents of lust, and he advises that the eye and the hand must be ripped out or cut off if they endanger the soul.  Better that:

than for your whole body to go into hell.

Jesus then departs from consideration of laws from the Ten Commandments, and addresses the issue of divorce.  He cites the law given by Moses that permits a man to divorce a woman, from Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  The grounds for divorce given by Moses were fairly light — she could be divorced if the husband found something objectionable about her, or if he merely disliked her.

Jesus has a much higher bar for divorce.  For the disciple, divorce is only permissible in the event of a wife’s unchastity.  Remarriage to a divorced woman was also regarded as adultery.

What this suggests is his high estimation of marriage.  Later in the Gospel of Matthew, the tension is building between Jesus and the Pharisees.  The Pharisees push him concerning his teaching on marriage, and his strict view of divorce, and they ask him if divorce is lawful for any cause.  In that highly patriarchal, male dominated culture, a man could divorce his wife if she displeased him in any way.  All of the power lay with the husband.

Jesus first defends the sacred nature of marriage.  First he quotes Genesis 1:27, which establishes the fundamental equality of men and women, who are both created in the image of God:

Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ (Matthew 19:4).

Note that he is citing their own Scriptures to establish this principle of equality between male and female.

Second, he cites Genesis 2:24 to demonstrate the unique sexual and emotional union that exists in a marriage between a man and a woman:

 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate (Matthew 19:5-6).

When he is challenged by the Pharisees, who cite Moses’ law permitting divorce, Jesus tells them that this law was a concession to their sinful natures:

It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so (Matthew 19:8).

Jesus makes it clear that true, inward holiness must exceed mere external observation.

Finally, Jesus addresses the issue of integrity in relationship to oaths and promises.  He cites the law from Numbers 30:2 concerning vows made before Yahweh.  He is criticizing a culture that has developed escalating levels of vows — by heaven, or earth, or Jerusalem.  These oaths are used in order to convince others of the oath-maker’s sincerity.  This would suggest a culture that has developed a lack of confidence in honesty.

Jesus insists that the disciple’s integrity shouldn’t be based on things that are beyond his or her control:

 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

Instead, vows are based on the honesty of the individual:

 Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Again, as with the other examples of righteousness, Jesus stresses the inward integrity of the disciple.

APPLY:  

In a culture like ours, these words of Jesus may be hard to hear.  We have become accustomed to excusing our weaknesses and failings.  Anger and name-calling have become political rallying cries.  Pornography and sensuality have become mainstream indulgences.  Divorce statistics suggest that Christian marriages are no more stable than non-Christian marriages — even among pastors and bishops. Promises are merely words — “alternative facts.”

The truth is, Jesus’ standards for righteousness are far higher than the Mosaic Law.  Christians have grown accustomed to “dumbing them down” or explaining them away.  But it is impossible to find any excuses in the teaching of Jesus, the Sinless One.

Except this. When Peter asks Jesus whether he should forgive his brother seven times, perhaps expecting to be praised for his mercy, Jesus says something very surprising:

I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22).

Jesus doesn’t mean that our forgiveness is limited to 490 times.  Seven is a number denoting perfection in Scripture.  Seventy times seven likely means that we are to forgive perfectly, even infinitely.  We are to forgive as we are forgiven. (See The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:12, 14-15.)

In other words, the only way that we can apply these teachings about anger, lust, divorce and marriage, and vows is through God’s grace revealed in Christ.  The standards of holiness and righteousness are not relaxed for the Christian — in fact, they are intense.  But they are also impossible …. unless …. we submit to Christ who has fulfilled the law and the prophets on our behalf, and then imputes and imparts his grace to us.  It is God’s Spirit, working in and through us, that empowers us to live the holy life that we are taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

I quote Paul, as I have so often before:

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

What God commands us to do he will give us the grace and strength to obey.

RESPOND: 

The difficulty of living out the demands of the Gospel leads us so often to moral failure.

Are the expectations of Jesus impossible?  Yes, if we try to live them out in our own strength and according to our own standards.  But no, not if we surrender our lives and will to Christ and allow his Holy Spirit to work in and through us.  And if we remember that if and when we fall, we can turn to Christ for forgiveness.

Lord, your standards for righteousness are so high I cannot achieve them.  I get angry over silly things.  I find my eyes and my mind wandering in lust at times.  Although I’ve never been divorced, marriage has sometimes been tough.  Keeping my promises can be challenging.  Thank you for your mercy and forgiveness; and thank you that you call me to holiness, and that you are the one who makes that possible.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“You have heard it said…” is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for February 5, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 5:13-20
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The Gospel of Matthew has been called the “Jewish Gospel” because it focuses on Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who fulfills the Law and Prophecies of the Hebrew Bible.  And some even refer to the Sermon on the Mount as the Gospel version of the Torah (with some good reason, as we’ll soon see).

In this lectionary reading, there are two distinct sections.  In the first section, Jesus speaks directly to the disciples and people who are sitting at his feet on the hillside.   He tells them about their identity:

You are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world.

These are two powerful metaphors that Jesus uses.  Salt was precious in the ancient world, and was even sometimes used as currency.  There are reports that Roman soldiers were paid, at least in part, with salt.  The etymology of our word for salary derives from salt.  Salt was used as a preservative for foods, as well as a seasoning, in a time when there was no refrigeration.  Salt was an essential ingredient in some of the sacrifices in the temple (Leviticus 2:13).

Jesus is saying of his followers that they are precious — but if they lose their savor, they become:

good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.

The implications seem clear — if the followers of Jesus fail to fulfill their purpose, which is adding seasoning and preservation to life, then they are no longer useful.  They are lost.

The metaphor of light is much more common and obvious in the Scriptures.  Light is frequently associated with the illuminating presence of God’s glory that provides guidance, hope, and overcomes the darkness of evil.  Only here Jesus tells his followers that they are the light of the world! 

What he says next makes clear what it means for his followers to be light.  Just as a city built on a hill is visible to all, so a lamp is to be visible as well.  It would be silly to light the lamp and then extinguish it under a basket!  Like the salt, such a lamp would become useless.

So if the followers of Jesus are to be the light of the world, what does that mean?  His next sentence tells us:

 Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

The light is to illuminate the good works that ultimately reveal who God is!   The light originates with God, and that light then reveals how God is working in the lives of his followers.

Jesus stresses that his followers are not to be useless or hidden — they are to make a difference in the world by their presence, just as salt and light make a difference.

In the second section of our passage, Jesus makes clear his relationship to the Scriptures of his people:

 Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Jesus makes it clear that his regard for the law is extremely high — heaven and earth won’t pass away until all the Scriptures are fulfilled; and he insists that even the smallest commandments must be fulfilled.  Fulfillment of the law will be the criterion for determining whether a disciple or a teacher is insignificant or great.

He even makes an astounding claim, especially as we become aware of the great tension that comes to exist between himself and the scribes and Pharisees:

 For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

All of this demands a larger context in order to understand what he is saying.  First, it is clear that Jesus considers the law and the prophets of the Hebrew Bible to be the authoritative word of God.  Several times in the Gospels, Jesus makes it clear that the law comes from God. He tells the young man what he must do to have eternal life:

If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments (Matthew 22:17).

Second, we will see as we continue to read his Sermon on the Mount, that Jesus’ demand for righteousness exceeds the traditions of the scribes and Pharisees.  For example, he will point out that the ancient prohibitions against murder and adultery fall short of his standards of righteousness — even anger and lust make a person subject to judgment!

Again, the larger context of the Scriptures helps us to understand what Jesus means.  But in order to understand this, we must explore it further in the Apply section.

APPLY:  

We are to be the salt of the earth because we add zest and preservation to life.  And we are to be light of the world because the light reveals our good works and directs the attention of the world toward the glory of God.  But it is also possible that we may lose our flavor, and be lost ourselves!  And it is possible that if we allow our light to be extinguished, we may fail to fulfill our purpose in pointing the way to God.

So, how does this connect to what Jesus says about the vital importance of the law and the prophets?  Actually, the law and the prophets aren’t really his point at all.  His real point is righteousness.  It is through righteousness that we are enabled to come into the presence of God.  Therefore the law and the prophets are means of grace for that to happen.

But the standards are so high!  How can we possibly be more righteous than the people who have made obedience to the law and the prophets their entire life’s work?

We must go back to what Jesus himself says:

 Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Jesus is the one who fulfills the law and the prophets on our behalf!  Remember, that’s what Jesus said to John when he was baptized.  John had protested that he wasn’t worthy to baptize Jesus, and Jesus answered:

Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15).

Jesus fulfills the law vicariously on our behalf — first through his perfect, sinless life, and then through his sacrificial death in which he exchanges his sinlessness for our sin:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The consensus of the New Testament is clear — the law is holy, just and good (cf Romans 7:12).  The only problem with the law is that we are like the salt that has lost its savor, or the light that has been put under a basket.  We cannot keep the law — without God’s help!  Paul says it like this:

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.  For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:2-4).

The simplest way to say this might be to say that for the scribes and the Pharisees, the law was external.  When Christ pays the penalty for our sins, his righteousness becomes internalized in us.  The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus does in us what we can’t do for ourselves.

The scribes and Pharisees tried to use the law as though it were a medicine to be applied externally.  But Jesus fulfills the law in such a way that through the Spirit it is applied internally.  We are made righteous not from the outside/in, but from the inside/out.

St. Augustine said it well:

Give what you command, and command what you will.

We cannot fulfill the righteousness required by the law and the prophets; Jesus can and does, and then through his Spirit fulfills all righteousness for and in us.

RESPOND: 

A colleague in the ministry said something to me in passing a few years ago that captured my imagination:

We aren’t called to be the sugar of the world, but the salt of the world!

I think of what he said when I consider the words of Jesus.  We aren’t to be sweet and harmless — we are to be thirsty for righteousness, and to make others thirsty. We are to add flavor to life.  And we are to offer a Gospel that will preserve life everlastingly!

But our saltiness must make us so thirsty for holiness and righteousness that nothing but Jesus Christ can satisfy that thirst.

Lord, make us salt and light in the world, and give us a thirst for the righteousness that can only come from you.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Lectionary reflection from Matthew 5.16 ‘In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’” by Baptist Union of Great Britian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for January 29, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 5:1-12
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage introduces the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, chapters 5-7), one of the major sections in Matthew’s Gospel devoted to the teaching ministry of Jesus.  Similar material is found also in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 6:17-49) in a more abbreviated form.  Obviously Luke is reporting on a different occasion when Jesus was teaching similar truths.  In Luke’s Gospel, the setting is on a level place rather than on a hillside.

This section of the Sermon on the Mount is commonly called The Beatitudes, from the Latin word that describes “supreme blessedness.”  The Greek word repeatedly used in this passage to describe each characteristic is makarios — which can also be described as “happy” or “blissful.”

At first glance, these are strange, paradoxical statements that Jesus makes.  How can the poor in spirit be happy, or blessed?  Or, to fast forward to the last verse in our passage, how can those who are persecuted possibly be blessed?

One possibility is that these are “covered promises” — that is, they are not yet fulfilled, but they will be in the Kingdom of Heaven.  These are eschatological promises.  And yet, Jesus is also challenging his listeners to live by these principles in the here and now.

The challenge for the expositor of these Beatitudes is that each of the nine blesseds deserves at least a chapter in a book.  I will instead make a few general observations.

What I notice about these Beatitudes is that some are passive, and some are active.  By that I mean that in some cases they describe people who are “acted upon,” and in other cases they describe people who act.

The passive descriptions are these — the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle (the meek in some translations), the persecuted.  These are the people who know what it is to experience feelings of insufficiency, grief, to feel powerless, to be victimized by the powerful.  In each case, they will receive the antidote of their condition:

• Those who know their own insufficiency and poverty of spirit will have the Kingdom of Heaven — overabundant sufficiency!
• Those who mourn will be comforted.
• The gentle, or meek, who would never dream of being self-assertive and grabbing whatever they want shall inherit the earth. 
• The persecuted who suffer for the sake of righteousness, and who are victimized by the powerful, find themselves in good company with the prophets who have preceded them — and they will also receive the Kingdom of Heaven.

In each of these cases there is a reversal — what is lacking or insufficient is compensated and fulfilled.

Then there are the “active” qualities that Jesus identifies — those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers:

• To hunger and thirst for something suggests a keen desire for it, above all else — and to desire righteousness is to desire only the holiness and goodness that comes from God.
• The merciful are those who have compassion on the poor and weak, or perhaps those who possess power and use their power for mercy instead of judgment.
• The pure in heart might seem like a passive quality, but Jesus describes them as those who will see God — theirs is the ultimate beatific vision of God, which comes only to those whose lives have been truly purified.
• The peacemakers are those who seek to bring reconciliation and harmony and unity in the midst of conflict — they are children of God because they are most like God in their reconciling, peacemaking character.

These blessings reveal the “proactive” aspect of those who seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

APPLY:  

The passive qualities and the active qualities that I’ve tried to identify in the Beatitudes seem to me to be interwoven into a kind of ascending ladder. For example, those who are poor in spirit and mourning and who hunger and thirst for righteousness are keenly aware of their need for God and his Kingdom, comfort, and righteousness.

When those needs begin to be fulfilled by God, then there is a kind of ascent up that ladder — and those who have been filled in turn begin to fill others.  They are merciful, they are peacemakers.  And their hunger and thirst for righteousness leads to the purification that is a work of God.  They receive God’s mercy, they see God, they become children of God. 

The paradox is that as the blessed grow closer and closer to God, oftentimes they experience more and more hostility from a sinful, confused world.  And so it seems strange that the height of these Beatitudes is persecution!

However, even here the ultimate outcome is blessing — the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus makes it clear that those who suffer persecution are in good company:

that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

He also makes clear that this is to be expected when we truly identify with Christ.  Jesus tells his disciples in the Gospel of John:

‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also (John 15:20).

These Beatitudes are a powerful comfort to us as “covered promises.”  We are reminded that whatever our circumstances, God is greater than anything we might encounter.

RESPOND: 

I remember coming across a book many years ago by a then-popular TV preacher.  It was entitled The Be-happy Attitudes.

I will admit that I never read the book.  I had my own prejudices about the author and his perspective.

The truth is, though, he was on to something.  Jesus knows what is required for our “happiness,” or our “supreme blessedness.”  The first element necessary is to recognize our need for God — our poverty of spirit, our mourning, our starvation for righteousness.  We experience blessedness when we begin to realize that God alone can fulfill us.

And we also begin to find “happiness” when we in turn become agents of God’s “beatitude” — when we find our hunger for righteousness satisfied by God, and our hearts are purified — it is then that we begin to see God.  We become agents of mercy and peacemakers.  And we are able to endure whatever resistance and hostility that we experience in this world because we can see the final outcome — the Kingdom of Heaven.

Only a Christian, living in the light of such Beatitudes can really be truly happy!

Lord, what a joy it is to know that you have created me, and you know what is required to make me happy.  And that only in you do I find true happiness!  Make me hungry for you, I pray.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Stairs of MEEI church_1098” by James Emery is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for January 22, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 4:12-23
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Matthew’s Gospel is very aware of the connection between the Hebrew heritage of the Old Testament and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He specifically connects the beginning of Jesus’ ministry with the prophecy of Isaiah:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
toward the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
 the people who sat in darkness saw a great light,
to those who sat in the region and shadow of death,
to them light has dawned.”

Matthew is crystal clear that Jesus is the great light who has come to all people who are in the darkness and shadow of death.

The context of this fulfillment of prophecy are the movements of Jesus following the arrest of John the Baptist.  Jesus departs the Jordan river valley and returns to Galilee, eventually coming to live in Capernaum — which was historically the region once occupied by the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali.

Jesus begins his ministry by preaching essentially the same message that his cousin John had been preaching:

 “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

The key difference is that Jesus is not merely the messenger of the Kingdom; he is the King whose very presence inaugurates the Kingdom of Heaven!

Jesus begins to assemble his “team,” his “cabinet” who will help him in his ministry.  When we look closely at his choices as though we were seeing them for the first time, we might well be surprised.  As he walks by the sea of Galilee, Jesus invites fishermen to follow him!  Simon Peter and his brother Andrew evidently were in business together as fishermen; and James and John worked for their father Zebedee.

Jesus uses a metaphor that they would surely understand:

 “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.”

We are told that in each case, the two sets of brothers immediately left their nets.  Had they met Jesus prior to this account?  We might speculate that they had met Jesus, based on the account in the Gospel of John 1:39-41.  Andrew is one of the two disciples of John the Baptist who heard John announce that Jesus is the Lamb of God.  In this account, Andrew spends time with Jesus and then seeks out his brother Simon and introduces him to Jesus.  Perhaps a network of communication had been initiated among these fishermen, and they had begun talking about this Jesus.  So when the invitation came, perhaps they were more than ready to leave everything behind and follow him.

Finally, Matthew describes the modus operandi of Jesus’ ministry — itinerant preaching and healing:

Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.

APPLY:  

There is a lot going on in this passage as Jesus begins his ministry.  He has been baptized by John in the Jordan river, and has endured testing in the wilderness from the Devil.  Now he is ready to begin the process of fulfilling the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.

He is the great light that pierces the darkness and shadow of death.

In the process, he shares his message, begins to assemble his ministry team, and reveals the method of his ministry.

The call to repentance — to turn away from sin, and to turn toward God — is made more poignant because Jesus is the light whose presence reveals that the Kingdom of Heaven is in their midst!  Jesus has come as the one who is capable of forgiving sin, and making true repentance possible.

The call of the disciples becomes a paradigm for all disciples of Jesus — that we are to be fishers of people no matter what our professions may be.  Even if we don’t leave our nets, our offices, our jobs, if we are disciples we are to seek to bring others into the network as followers of Jesus.

And Jesus’ itinerant ministry also provides a model for us — he goes where the “fish” are, so to speak, and teaches and preaches and heals.  We also are to go where the people are, to teach the Good News of the Kingdom, without neglecting the physical needs of people.

RESPOND: 

I am intrigued by the concept of nets and networking that this passage suggests.  We are all called to be disciples, which means we are to be fishers of people.  We become part of a network of people, that we call the church, who each play a critical role in drawing people closer to Christ.

This doesn’t mean that every disciple must be a clergyperson or a missionary in foreign lands.  It does mean that each of us are to “go fishing” in the neighborhoods and communities where we live and work.

I can recall years ago in my ministry when the man who was the chair of the church’s evangelism committee asked to address the congregation on Sunday morning.  I was surprised when he stood up and said, “I am the chair of the largest committee in this church.”  And then he explained what he meant — “Every one of you is a member of my committee.”

Evangelism — sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ — is the ministry of all of us.

Lord, your light has come into our world.  You have brought light into my own life.  I have heard your call to share your light with others.  Equip me and show me how to make people into disciples.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“That’s all they caught” by jankie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for January 15, 2023

“Ecce Agnus Dei” is a photograph by Lawrence OP of a Detail of a window in Chartres Cathedral which depicts today’s Gospel reading.

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
John 1:29-42
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

We receive a glimpse into the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  This is a time of transition.  John has been preaching repentance and he has been baptizing in the Jordan River, but he has been keenly aware that his own role was preparatory.  Now, the one for whom he was preparing has come!

The day before the events in our Scripture passage, John had answered several questions from priests and Levites, who already seemed hostile.  He made it clear that he was neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet that they were expecting (these were all titles from Messianic prophecies from their Scriptures) — he was simply a messenger who was preparing the way of the Lord:

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said (John 1:23).

In our lectionary Gospel passage, a day later, he sees Jesus and announces:

 “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’  I didn’t know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water: that he would be revealed to Israel.”

An entire theology of salvation is hinted at in John’s words.  Supernaturally, John understands that Jesus is the Lamb of God, i.e., he is to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin, superseding the temple sacrifices that were inadequate to remove sin.  John also sees what the writer of the Gospel sees — that Jesus is the preexistent Son of God, who existed before John did.

How does he know these things?

John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him.  I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water, he said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

Although John’s Gospel doesn’t describe the baptism of Jesus, this is essentially the same description given by the Synoptic Gospels when Jesus is baptized by John (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22).  What is clear is that the Holy Spirit confirms the divine nature of Jesus, and Jesus introduces a new baptism in the Holy Spirit.  This a baptism of power, not merely water.

John continues his ministry by directing even his own disciples toward Jesus.  When he sees Jesus again the next day, he declares to two of his disciples:

“Behold, the Lamb of God!”

They take the hint.  They are no longer to follow John; they are to follow Jesus.  Immediately, they begin walking after Jesus, who turns and says to them:

What are you looking for?

They themselves seem not to understand what they are seeking — they simply blurt out:

“Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?”

These are the first two of Jesus’ followers; his first disciples.  They haven’t responded to any miracle, or even any great teaching, that Jesus has offered. They have responded to the testimony of John.  And Jesus doesn’t offer much yet.  He simply answers:

 Come, and see.

It is seemingly an inauspicious beginning.  The two men stay with Jesus that day, beginning at about four o’clock in the afternoon, we are told.  We aren’t told what they did, or what they talked about.  But we know that one of the disciples was moved to become the second witness after John the Baptist.  Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, went looking for his brother and blurts out:

“We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ).

Again, there is an economy of words and description.  We don’t have the calling of the Big Fisherman by the Sea of Galilee, or the boats or the nets, as we have in the other Gospels (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20).  Andrew, who will become known as a disciple who brings others to Jesus, brings his big brother to Jesus.

And in a divine foreshadowing, Jesus recognizes who this Simon is (Simon the son of Jonah), and who he will become — Cephas (Cephas is Aramaic for Rock, as Peter is the Greek word for Rock).

APPLY:  

The most important thing we can do as Christians is exactly what John and Andrew do — point others toward Jesus.

Neither of them are particularly “showy” as they testify about Jesus.  John simply announces that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  John recognizes that the work of Jesus is everything, and that his task is to point others toward Jesus.  A little later, John’s disciples will grow jealous of the new Rabbi who is drawing people away from John, and will tattle to him about this new upstart.  But John knows his own role quite well. He tells his followers:

You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.’  He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This, my joy, therefore is made full.  He must increase, but I must decrease (John 4:28-30).

Andrew is also not one to draw attention to himself.  He spends time with Jesus, becomes convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, and shares what he has experienced with his brother.

This is evangelism.  When we become aware that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and the Son of God, the most natural thing that we can do is to tell others what we have experienced.  If we tell no one this life-changing news, have we truly experienced it for ourselves?

RESPOND: 

Wouldn’t you have loved to be present at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry?  The only concern I would have is that I might have missed it.  I might have misunderstood, like so many others did.  I might have questioned the credentials of this carpenter from Nazareth, or his crazy cousin from the desert.

I thank God that in my own time and my own context, I haven’t missed out on meeting Jesus!  I too have come to recognize that he is the Lamb of God who has taken away my sins, and given my life purpose and meaning.  And I have made it my life’s work to tell others.

May we share this truth by whatever means we can — with those who are close to us, as John did; with our family members, as Andrew did.

You come into our midst, and when we recognize you we respond in faith. We ask that you equip and empower us to tell others about you.  We aren’t all apostles, or even preachers, but we can be like Andrew and bring others with us to meet you. Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Ecce Agnus Dei” by Lawrence OP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for November 1, 2020 All Saints Day

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 5:1-12
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage introduces the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, chapters 5-7), one of the major sections in Matthew’s Gospel devoted to the teaching ministry of Jesus.  Similar material is found also in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 6:17-49) in a more abbreviated form.  Obviously Luke is reporting on a different occasion when Jesus was teaching similar truths.  In Luke’s Gospel, the setting is on a level place rather than on a hillside.

This section of the Sermon on the Mount is commonly called The Beatitudes, from the Latin word that describes “supreme blessedness.”  The Greek word repeatedly used in this passage to describe each characteristic is makarios — which can also be described as “happy” or “blissful.”

At first glance, these are strange, paradoxical statements that Jesus makes.  How can the poor in spirit be happy, or blessed?  Or, to fast forward to the last verse in our passage, how can those who are persecuted possibly be blessed?

One possibility is that these are “covered promises” — that is, they are not yet fulfilled, but they will be in the Kingdom of Heaven.  These are eschatological promises.  And yet, Jesus is also challenging his listeners to live by these principles in the here and now.

The challenge for the expositor of these Beatitudes is that each of the nine blesseds  deserves at least a chapter in a book.  I will instead make a few general observations.

What I notice about these Beatitudes is that some are passive, and some are active.  By that I mean that in some cases they describe people who are “acted upon,” and in other cases they describe people who act.

The passive descriptions are these — the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle (the meek in some translations), the persecuted.  These are the people who know what it is to experience feelings of insufficiency, grief, to feel powerless, to be victimized by the powerful.  In each case, they will receive the antidote of their condition:

• Those who know their own insufficiency and poverty of spirit will have the Kingdom of Heaven — overabundant sufficiency!
• Those who mourn will be comforted.
• The gentle, or meek, who would never dream of being self-assertive and grabbing whatever they want shall inherit the earth. 
• The persecuted who suffer for the sake of righteousness, and who are victimized by the powerful, find themselves in good company with the prophets who have preceded them — and they will also receive the Kingdom of Heaven.

In each of these cases there is a reversal — what is lacking or insufficient is compensated and fulfilled.

Then there are the “active” qualities that Jesus identifies — those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers:

• To hunger and thirst for something suggests a keen desire for it, above all else — and to desire righteousness is to desire only the holiness and goodness that comes from God.
• The merciful are those who have compassion on the poor and weak, or perhaps those who possess power and use their power for mercy instead of judgment.
• The pure in heart might seem like a passive quality, but Jesus describes them as those who will see God — theirs is the ultimate beatific vision of God, which comes only to those whose lives have been truly purified.
• The peacemakers are those who seek to bring reconciliation and harmony and unity in the midst of conflict — they are children of God because they are most like God in their reconciling, peacemaking character.

These blessings reveal the “proactive” aspect of those who seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

APPLY:  

The passive qualities and the active qualities that I’ve tried to identify in the Beatitudes seem to me to be interwoven into a kind of ascending ladder. For example, those who are  poor in spirit and mourning and who hunger and thirst for righteousness are keenly aware of their need for God and his Kingdom, comfort, and righteousness.

When those needs begin to be fulfilled by God, then there is a kind of ascent up that ladder — and those who have been filled in turn begin to fill others.  They are merciful, they are peacemakers.  And their hunger and thirst for righteousness leads to the purification that is a work of God.  They receive God’s mercy, they see God, they become children of God. 

The paradox is that as the blessed grow closer and closer to God, oftentimes they experience more and more hostility from a sinful, confused world.  And so it seems strange that the height of these Beatitudes is persecution!

However, even here the ultimate outcome is blessing — the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus makes it clear that those who suffer persecution are in good company:

that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

He also makes clear that this is to be expected when we truly identify with Christ.  Jesus tells his disciples in the Gospel of John:

‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also (John 15:20).

These Beatitudes are a powerful comfort to us as “covered promises.”  We are reminded that whatever our circumstances, God is greater than anything we might encounter.

RESPOND: 

I remember coming across a book many years ago by a then-popular TV preacher.  It was entitled The Be-happy Attitudes.

I will admit that I never read the book.  I had my own prejudices about the author and his perspective.

The truth is, though, he was on to something.  Jesus knows what is required for our “happiness,” or our “supreme blessedness.”  The first element necessary is to recognize our need for God — our poverty of spirit, our mourning, our starvation for righteousness.  We experience blessedness when we begin to realize that God alone can fulfill us.

And we also begin to find “happiness” when we in turn become agents of God’s “beatitude” — when we find our hunger for righteousness satisfied by God, and our hearts are purified — it is then that we begin to see God.  We become agents of mercy and peacemakers.  And we are able to endure whatever resistance and hostility that we experience in this world because we can see the final outcome — the Kingdom of Heaven.

Only a Christian, living in the light of such Beatitudes can really be truly happy!

Lord, what a joy it is to know that you have created me, and you know what is required to make me happy.  And that only in you do I find true happiness!  Make me hungry for you, I pray.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“The Beatitudes” by J. Stephen Conn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for February 23, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 17:1-9
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The Transfiguration of Jesus occurs at a strategic moment in the life and ministry of Jesus.  In the Gospel of Matthew, this account is placed almost squarely between the beginning and the end — at the half-way mark.

In the previous passages, Jesus has initiated his ministry — he has been baptized, he has endured temptation in the wilderness, he has laid out some of his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 3-7). He has engaged in a ministry of healing and exorcism, calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, chosen the 12 as his disciples and sent them out in ministry, continued to teach, and fed the five thousand. And he has incurred the hostility of the priests and the Pharisees (Matthew 8-16).  He has been busy.

In the passage immediately preceding the account of the Transfiguration, Jesus has asked a significant question of his disciples:

Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? (Matthew 16:13)

Peter is the one who has the spiritual breakthrough:

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:15).

Six days after this moment of epiphany, Jesus leads his three closest disciples to the top of the mountain.

What occurs next exceeds anything that Peter, James and John had experienced with Jesus prior to this event — and they had already experienced some remarkable things.

He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light. Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.

The word transfigured is interesting.  The Greek word is metamorphein —  it is used to describe the change that takes place in the believer who is being transformed into the same mind and image as Christ (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

But in this situation, the transformation is unique.  Jesus’ countenance and clothing shine like the sun.  This is truly another Theophany, not unlike that which occurs with Moses in Exodus 24:12-28.  The difference here, however, is that Jesus himself  is revealed as the focus of the transformation.  This will become clear as events unfold.

Moses and Elijah appear and are talking with him.  These two men represent the apex of revelation to Israel.  Moses represents deliverance from slavery, and the law; Elijah represents the ethical imperative of social and religious  justice, and the prophets.

Peter is caught up in the moment.  He wishes to erect three tents, for each of these special men.  This no doubt alludes to the Tent of Meeting that Moses was instructed by God to create after he had led his people to Sinai (Exodus 26).  The tent was to be the place where Yahweh would meet with his people, and where sacrifices were to be made.  The Tent of Meeting was the predecessor of the Temple as a place of worship.

We are also reminded of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was one of the major festivals of the Israelites (Leviticus 23:42-43).  The Feast of the Tabernacles was a living reminder of their liberation from Egypt, and how their ancestors had lived in tents while they were nomads in the wilderness of Sinai.

But Peter’s enthusiasm is soon overwhelmed by subsequent events:

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.

We have seen the bright cloud in Exodus 24:15-18.  We are reminded that the pillar of cloud and fire was a sign of the presence of God’s glory.  Here, this glory is fulfilled in Jesus.  The Father declares the nature of Jesus:

Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

Jesus is not a mere lawgiver or prophet — he is the beloved Son.  These are the same words the Father had uttered when Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:17).  He is affirming a unique relationship, that John’s Gospel will explore even more deeply:

The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

The disciples are overwhelmed by this experience:

When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid.

But Jesus, who has been revealed as the very Son of God, reaches in a very touching, human moment:

 Jesus came and touched them and said, “Get up, and don’t be afraid.”

The moment of epiphany has passed — Moses, Elijah, the cloud, the Voice — all are gone:

Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus alone.

However, this experience that Jesus has shared with these three friends isn’t for public disclosure — at least not yet:

As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Don’t tell anyone what you saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

This is for them to ponder in their own hearts — and likely to fortify Jesus for the coming tribulation in his life.

APPLY:  

It is nearly impossible for us to fully understand all that was happening in this account; nor to understand the various perspectives of Jesus and his disciples.

Jesus, as both Son of God and Son of Man, has a unique perspective.  On the one hand, as a human being, we may suspect that he knows something of fear.  He is aware that a cross awaits him in Jerusalem.  Perhaps the Transfiguration experience is given in order to provide assurance from his Father that he is not alone.

On the other hand, as Son of God, we catch a brief glimpse of his divine nature — the metamorphosis that the disciples see reveals him as God in the flesh — for a moment.  And then he is seen alone.

This too is significant.  It is Jesus alone who reveals to us who God truly is.  As he tells Philip in the Gospel of John:

He who has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9).

However, because we are mere mortals, we may be able to identify a little more completely with the experience of Peter, James and John.  Although even this numinous experience far exceeds anything we can imagine.

Perhaps we can identify most closely with Peter, whose impulsive nature leads him to want to do something, anything, to honor this moment:

Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

We so want to do , to build, to act!

But the Father tells us the most important thing we can do in just such a moment with his beloved Son:

Listen to him.

RESPOND: 

The Transfiguration is not the key event of the Gospels.  In fact, Jesus himself told the disciples to tell no one what they had seen and heard until after his death and resurrection.  Jesus knew that is what he was moving toward.  That would be the climax of his life and ministry.

However, the Transfiguration tells me that the nature of Jesus concealed will be revealed.

Coming at the end of the season of Epiphany, and at the beginning of the season of Lent, this is a comfort.  Lent, with its fasts and repentance and remorse for sin, would be difficult without a reminder of the glory of Christ — and a forecast of the resurrection that is to come.

Lord, open my eyes that I may see your true nature, and that I may listen to you, and talk less. Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Transfiguration” by scottgunn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for February 16, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 5:21-37
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Jesus continues to lay down the new “law” of the Kingdom of God in the Sermon on the Mount.  In a sense, this is a continuation of the tenth commandment of the Decalogue of Moses.  Here’s what I mean — covetousness covers the motivations behind many of the sins prohibited in the Ten Commandments.  It might be said that adultery and theft begin in the heart, with covetousness.

Jesus is expanding the logic of this concept — that all sin begins in the heart. As he says later, in chapter 15:

 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies (Matthew 15:18-19).

However, Jesus is also establishing his own unique authority as the giver of a New Covenant:

 You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times …. But I say to you….

Jesus repeats this phrase six times, addressing murder/anger, adultery/lust, marriage/divorce, oaths, retaliation/mercy, and how to treat enemies.

The most serious example of a human sin against other humans is murder. The ancient law is established by the Law of Moses in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:13).  Jesus delves beneath the surface of murder, and addresses the roots of murder — anger and dehumanization.

He recognizes that an attitude of hostility and dehumanization precedes violence.  Anger, insults,  or calling someone  fool — which is to say that someone is useless, stupid and godless — is extremely serious.  Those guilty of such attitudes are liable to judgment, and even the hell of fire.  They have cut themselves off from their brothers and sisters, and they have cut themselves off from God.

Jesus offers the solution to such a breach in relationship — seek reconciliation:

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.

An underlying message here has to do with worship.  Along with the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus understands that worship is not merely a matter of ritual. It is not enough for the worshiper to focus vertically, on his relationship with God; he must also be focused horizontally on his relationship with his brothers and sisters.

Jesus also addresses lawsuits as he stresses the importance of reconciliation.  He advocates settling with an accuser out of court, as it were, in order to avoid the risky uncertainty of  an arbitrary judge.  Jesus is not only concerned with healing relationships — he is also very pragmatic and realistic about justice in an unjust world:

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.

Jesus then takes up another key relational law from the Ten Commandments — adultery.  Again, he looks beneath the surface at the motivation of adultery:

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

As with anger, the seeds of the sin of lust are sown in the heart long before they are manifested in action.  Like anger, lust is dehumanizing and objectifying.

His advice concerning the eradication of lust is radical.  The eye and the hand are potential agents of lust, and he advises that the eye and the hand must be ripped out or cut off if they endanger the soul.  Better that:

than for your whole body to go into hell.

Jesus then departs from consideration of laws from the Ten Commandments, and addresses the issue of divorce.  He cites the law given by Moses that permits a man to divorce a woman, from Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  The grounds for divorce given by Moses were fairly light — she could be divorced if the husband found something objectionable about her, or if he merely disliked her.

Jesus has a much higher bar for divorce.  For the disciple, divorce is only permissible in the event of a wife’s unchastity.  Remarriage to a divorced woman was also regarded as adultery.

What this suggests is his high estimation of marriage.  Later in the Gospel of Matthew, the tension is building between Jesus and the Pharisees.  The Pharisees push him concerning his teaching on marriage, and his strict view of divorce, and they ask him if divorce is lawful for any cause.  In that highly patriarchal, male dominated culture, a man could divorce his wife if she displeased him in any way.  All of the power lay with the husband.

Jesus  first defends the sacred nature of marriage.  First he quotes Genesis 1:27, which establishes the fundamental equality of men and women, who are both created in the image of God:

Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ (Matthew 19:4).

Note that he is citing their own Scriptures to establish this principle of equality between male and female.

Second, he cites Genesis 2:24 to demonstrate the unique sexual and emotional union that exists in a marriage between a man and a woman:

 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate (Matthew 19:5-6).

When he is challenged by the Pharisees, who cite Moses’ law permitting divorce, Jesus tells them that this law was a concession to their sinful natures:

It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so (Matthew 19:8).

Jesus makes it clear that true, inward holiness must exceed mere external observation.

Finally, Jesus addresses the issue of integrity in relationship to oaths and promises.  He cites the law from Numbers 30:2 concerning vows made before Yahweh.  He is criticizing a culture that has developed escalating levels of vows — by heaven, or earth, or Jerusalem.  These oaths are used in order to convince others of the oath-makers’ sincerity.  This would suggest a culture that has developed a lack of confidence in honesty.

Jesus insists that the disciple’s integrity shouldn’t be based on things that are beyond his or her control:

 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

Instead, vows are based on the honesty of the individual:

 Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Again, as with the other examples of righteousness,  Jesus stresses the inward integrity of the disciple.

APPLY:  

In a culture like ours, these words of Jesus may be hard to hear.  We have become accustomed to excusing our weaknesses and failings.  Anger and name-calling have become political rallying cries.  Pornography and sensuality have become mainstream indulgences.  Divorce statistics suggest that Christian marriages are no more stable than non-Christian marriages — even among pastors and bishops. Promises are merely words — “alternative facts.”

The truth is, Jesus’ standards for righteousness are far higher than the Mosaic Law.  Christians have grown accustomed to “dumbing them down” or explaining them away.  But it is impossible to find any excuses in the teaching of Jesus, the Sinless One.

Except this. When Peter asks Jesus whether he should forgive his brother seven times, perhaps expecting to be praised for his mercy, Jesus says something very surprising:

I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22).

Jesus doesn’t mean that our forgiveness is limited to 490 times.  Seven is a number denoting perfection in Scripture.  Seventy times seven likely means that we are to forgive perfectly, even infinitely.  We are to forgive as we are forgiven. (See The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:12, 14-15.)

In other words, the only way that we can apply these teachings about anger, lust, divorce and marriage, and vows is through God’s grace revealed in Christ.  The standards of holiness and righteousness are not relaxed for the Christian —  in fact, they are intense.  But they are also impossible …. unless …. we submit to Christ who has fulfilled the law and the prophets on our behalf, and then imputes and imparts his grace to us.  It is God’s Spirit, working in and through us, that empowers us to live the holy life that we are taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

I quote Paul, as I have so often before:

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

What God commands us to do he will give us the grace and strength to obey.

RESPOND: 

The difficulty of living out the demands of the Gospel lead us so often to moral failure.

Are the expectations of Jesus impossible?  Yes, if we try to live them out in our own strength and according to our own standards.  But no, not if we surrender our lives and will to Christ and allow his Holy Spirit to work in and through us.  And if we remember that if and when we fall, we can turn to Christ for forgiveness.

Lord, your standards for righteousness are so high I cannot achieve them.  I get angry over silly things.  I find my eyes and my mind wandering in lust at times.  Although I’ve never been divorced, marriage has sometimes been tough.  Keeping my promises can be challenging.  Thank you for your mercy and forgiveness; and thank you that you call me to holiness, and that you are the one who makes that possible.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“You have heard it said…” is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for February 9, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 5:13-20
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The Gospel of Matthew has been called the “Jewish Gospel” because it focuses on Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who fulfills the Law and Prophecies of the Hebrew Bible.  And some even refer to the Sermon on the Mount as the Gospel version of the Torah (with some good reason, as we’ll soon see).

In this lectionary reading, there are two distinct sections.  In the first section, Jesus speaks  directly to the disciples and people who are sitting at his feet on the hillside.   He tells them about their identity:

You are the salt of the earth….you are the light of the world.

These are two powerful metaphors that Jesus uses.  Salt was precious in the ancient world, and was even sometimes used as currency.  There are reports that Roman soldiers were paid, at least in part, with salt.  The etymology of our word for salary derives from salt.  Salt was used as a preservative for foods, as well as a seasoning, in a time when there was no refrigeration.  Salt was an essential ingredient in some of the sacrifices in the temple (Leviticus 2:13).

Jesus is saying of his followers that they are precious — but if they lose their savor, they become:

good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.

The implications seem clear — if the followers of Jesus fail to fulfill their purpose, which is adding seasoning and preservation to life, then they are no longer useful.  They are lost.

The metaphor of light is much more common and obvious in the Scriptures.  Light is frequently associated with the illuminating presence of God’s glory that provides guidance, hope, and overcomes the darkness of evil.  Only here Jesus tells his followers that they are the light of the world! 

What he says next makes clear what it means for his followers to be light.  Just as a city built on a hill is visible to all, so a lamp is to be visible as well.  It would be silly to light the lamp and then extinguish it under a basket!  Like the salt, such a lamp would become useless.

So if the followers of Jesus are to be the light of the world, what does that mean?  His next sentence tells us:

 Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

The light is to illuminate the good works that ultimately reveal who God is!   The light originates with God, and that light then reveals how God is working in the lives of his followers.

Jesus stresses that his followers are not to be useless or hidden — they are to make a difference in the world by their presence, just as salt and light make a difference.

In the second section of our passage, Jesus makes clear his relationship to the Scriptures of his people:

 Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Jesus makes it clear that his regard for the law is extremely high — heaven and earth won’t pass away until  all  the Scriptures are fulfilled; and he insists that even the smallest commandments must be fulfilled.  Fulfillment of the law will be the criterion for determining whether a disciple or a teacher is insignificant or great.

He even makes an astounding claim, especially as we become aware of the great tension that comes to exist between himself and the scribes and Pharisees:

 For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

All of this demands a larger context in order to understand what he is saying.  First, it is clear that Jesus considers the law and the prophets of the Hebrew Bible to be the authoritative word of God.  Several times in the Gospels, Jesus makes it clear that the law comes from God. He tells the young man what he must do to have eternal life:

If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments (Matthew 22:17).

Second, we will see as we continue to read his Sermon on the Mount, that Jesus’ demand for righteousness exceeds the traditions of the scribes and Pharisees.  For example, he will point out that the ancient prohibitions against murder and adultery fall short of his standards of righteousness — even anger and lust make a person subject to judgment!

Again, the larger context of the Scriptures helps us to understand what Jesus means.  But in order to understand this, we must explore it further in the Apply section.

APPLY:  

We are to be the salt of the earth because we add zest and preservation to life.  And we are to be light of the world because the light reveals our good works and directs the attention of the world toward the glory of God.  But it is also possible that we may lose our flavor, and be lost ourselves!  And it is possible that if we allow our light to be extinguished, we may fail to fulfill our purpose in pointing the way to God.

So, how does this connect to what Jesus says about the vital importance of the law and the prophets?  Actually, the law and the prophets aren’t really his point at all.  His real point is righteousness.  It is through righteousness that we are enabled to come into the presence of God.  Therefore the law and the prophets are means of grace for that to happen.

But the standards are so high!  How can we possibly be more righteous than the people who have made obedience to the law and the prophets their entire life’s work?

We must go back to what Jesus himself says:

 Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Jesus is the one who fulfills the law and the prophets on our behalf!  Remember, that’s what Jesus said to John when he was baptized.  John had protested that he wasn’t worthy to baptize Jesus, and Jesus answered:

Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15).

Jesus fulfills the law vicariously on our behalf — first through his perfect, sinless life, and then through his sacrificial death in which he exchanges his sinlessness for our sin:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The consensus of the New Testament is clear — the law is holy, just and good (cf Romans 7:12).  The only problem with the law is that we are like the salt that has lost its savor, or the light that has been put under a basket.  We cannot keep the law — without God’s help!  Paul says it like this:

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.  For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:2-4).

The simplest way to say this might be to say that for the scribes and the Pharisees, the law was external.  When Christ pays the penalty for our sins, his righteousness becomes internalized in us.  The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus does in us what we can’t do for ourselves.

The scribes and Pharisees tried to use the law as though it were a medicine to be applied externally.  But Jesus fulfills the law in such a way that through the Spirit it is applied internally.  We are made righteous not from the outside /in, but from the inside /out.

St. Augustine said it well:

Give what you command, and command what you will.

We cannot fulfill the righteousness required by the law and the prophets; Jesus can and does, and then through his Spirit fulfills all righteousness for and  in  us.

RESPOND: 

A colleague in the ministry said something to me in passing a few years ago that captured my imagination:

We aren’t called to be the sugar of the world, but the salt of the world!

I think of what he said when I consider the words of Jesus.  We aren’t to be sweet and harmless —  we are to be thirsty for righteousness, and to make others thirsty. We are to add flavor to life.  And we are to offer a Gospel that will preserve life everlastingly!

But our saltiness must make us so thirsty for holiness and righteousness that nothing but Jesus Christ can satisfy that thirst.

Lord, make us salt and light in the world, and give us a thirst for the righteousness that can only come from you.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Lectionary reflection from Matthew 5.16 ‘In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’” by Baptist Union of Great Britian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.