What did HE say? (continued)
Thoughts on The Sermon (Part 1)
It should be noticed by now that the overall title of this blog series ‘IN THE WORDS OF JESUS’ and the subtitle of this segment ‘What did HE say?’ are basically the same thing. The purpose for using this subtitle is as an attempt to shed some light on the reality of His words versus what we have ordinarily come to think about ‘What HE did say!’. The just completed part on reincarnation and eternal life are good examples of the depth of teaching that there is in His words that goes unseen against the popular teachings given by the churches based, for the most part, on the writings in the epistles and especially those of the Apostle Paul.
We continue today with His words from the Gospel of Matthew and particularly what has been come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount. This was briefly addressed at the beginning of the series on the Beatitudes (July 8-17) in saying that this part of His teaching covers three chapters of Matthew and expounds Jesus’ philosophy. This Sermon by the Master is a treatise on living righteously and living in the Presence of God with instruction on how to get there. The Beatitudes set forth a listing of blessings and rewards for those who have the listed virtues instilled in them; the balance of the Sermon should be seen as practical instruction on the nature of the virtuous man and on how he should regard himself and act and pray and fast and most of all how he should think with his heart and where his heart and mind should be.
He begins with a statement on the nature of humanity comparing man to the salt of the earth. “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thence forth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (Matthew 5:13). As salt, our importance is in our savor and in our ability to flavor; to give to others of our quality. If we let this savor fade, if we lose it by living a carnal life which is not attending to the things of God and not letting our Inner Man live, then how can we get it back. What does the Master say here? If we are living a carnal life and the salt that we are has lost its flavor then we are good for nothing. We may live through our lives, plodding along till the end, but of what use is it to anyone. We should define carnal as this word is used much in these posts; for our purposes carnal is: of or pertaining to the body or is appetites; animal; fleshly; sensual; given to sensual indulgence; lustful; human or worldly as opposed to spiritual*. Now this carnal is not a black and white issue and not a matter of being strictly carnal or strictly spiritual. It is more a matter of vacillating from one to another; going to church service and then living carnally the rest of the week is, by example, what is meant by not black and white. Having one’s mind on God at church but not at other times can be compounded in each direction; if one prays or meditates or reads scripture then the spiritual side (white) gets more strength verses one who does not ever think of God or go to a church or one who may go just to be seen there (black). The point is that there are infinite gradations of grey between black and white and the Master is showing us that white is where we should be so that we should not lose any of the savor that our Inner Man, our Souls are able to pour through this life in this world when we focus on spiritual things. The more focus on Him and His Presence and His Kingdom, the more white in our outer lives.
Jesus continues His sermon with a dissertation on the nature of man as Light and this was covered in some depth in earlier posts called ‘THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD’ and ‘MORE LIGHT’ in early July (July 2-3). He tells us plainly that “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). We know from other scripture that Christ Jesus is the Light of the World and here, early in His ministry, He is telling us that we are; that the nature of man is that he is Light as well. His admonition is that we should not hide our Light; that the Light that flows through our conscious personality when we are focused on God should be made accessible to all around us; that it be put on a candlestick for all to see; to give Light to all. The theme above regarding black and white applies to this part of man’s nature as well. The Apostle Paul says this all eloquently as: “for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). In Jesus teaching we are to be lights to the world and to do so we need to let our Light shine through this outer appearance for all to see what we are and in this Light is the good work of righteousness. In His Presence we have no alternative but to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” because Light becomes our very nature.
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass , one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, : but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20). In this saying we have Jesus talking to the Jews and telling them that what He brings to the world is to complement the laws that they already have not to destroy or to change them. We will see later that His intent is to get us to think of the law as that we are wanting to do it because we Love God and we Love our Neighbor and not as the scribes and Pharisees. These men obeyed the law because it was the law and it was their duty which they performed to the letter of the law. He tells us that up to the smallest detail the law stands. Note what He says regarding one who breaks even the least of these commandments or teaches others to do so: “he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven“. Also observe the wording here (and this is before the ‘salvation’ and ‘redemption’ of the cross); He speaks not of punishment now or at a later time but says simply that such a person shall be called least in the kingdom and this said as it is now. Also is the opposite that He teaches in whosoever shall do and teach them, “the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven“. We can say that He means that those who are in the Kingdom will call these least or great but is this what He really means. Based on scripture concerning the Kingdom it seem more real that He is saying that we, being in the Kingdom already because it is within us and upon us, are least or great by our deeds.
He is also telling us that the law is forever; it was written and it exists as the moral code for the race. It does not appear to cover everything but does do so by class of offense. There are problems concerning this in some regards such as the law of the sabbath; we must look at Jesus interpretations of some of these laws for them to make sense to us today. We must remember also that these laws and commandments were written for a relatively uncivilized people who were superstitious and in many ways brutal and barbaric; such was the nature of man at that time. This is why the spirit of the law is so much more important than the letter and from the time of Jesus until now it is ever more so.
To close today let us look at some words from yesterday’s Quote of the Day (probably would have been a better quote for today) which show us that Love is the answer to putting the spirit of the law before the letter of the law. If we truly Love, then there is no thing that we would ever want to or be able to do wrong to another. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfilment of the law” (Romans 13:10).
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
Can’t resist leaving the Quote of the Day from yesterday for another day as it covers so ideally the thoughts put forth above concerning the spirit of the law and the letter of the law.
….but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:8-10).
* Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
