ON LOVE; PART DXXVIII
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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“The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
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“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).
In the last post we took the idea of forsaking to into a discussion on the Golden Rule where we see the forsaking of ALL thoughts, attitudes and actions that would pit one man against another in any way, shape or form. In the Golden Rule we accede to ALL others ALL things that we would accede to ourselves; every right and privilege that we would take for ourselves we grant to others. Of course this IS NOT what the Golden Rule says as we read it but this IS the deeper meaning and ALL things can be inserted into this idea as a part of the phrasing of “do unto” or any of the other ways that this IS framed. We must ever remember the parabolic value of ALL of the Master’s sayings and we should not try to limit their scope to suit the mentality of the man in the world. We read:
- “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
- “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31).
- “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Secular Version).
We see not even a hint here of reciprocity yet many believe that this is what this is saying and this limitation is as we cite above, to suit the mentality of the man in the world and to offer himself cover for his own inability to accomplish the Truth which IS as Emmet Fox so artfully frames this saying: I PRACTICE, the Golden Rule of Jesus instead of merely admiring it. He said, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” The important point about the Golden Rule is that I am to practice it whether the other fellow does so or not***. In this idea IS the realty of Love thy neighbor which IS yet another saying that is minimized and limited by so many in the world today. These words on Love thy neighbor are of course the second part of the Great Commandments as offered by the Master and which should be seen as among the first that must be understood and fulfilled by any who seek the Kingdom. And of course we should remember that this Love IS NOT that emotional or mental attraction or attachment to others and to things as it is portrayed in some human interaction; this Love IS the essence of the Golden Rule and this Love says that whatsoever right or privilege a man would take for himself, he will grant the same to others….to ALL others.
For lack of a better option we have adopted the Webster’s 1828 definition of Charity as our own definition of Love throughout our writings: In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. To this we add our comment that we should add the precepts of the Golden Rule as in this the Master helps us to understand both the Love of oneself and the idea of Love toward one’s neighbor. In ALL of these we should be able to see how this IS tied to the Master’s words on forsaking and how this idea exceeds material possessions; how it includes ALL that the Master speaks of as the treasure of one’s heart. Here we should see that the man who seeks the Kingdom of God must give up, must forsake, ALL thoughts and attitudes that prevent him from understanding and accomplishing both the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule. John Gill, whose commentaries we do not often agree with, tells us this regarding the Golden Rule:
Therefore all things whatsoever; These words are the epilogue, or conclusion of our Lord’s discourse; the sum of what he had delivered in the two preceding chapters, and in this hitherto, is contained in these words; for they not only respect the exhortation about judging and reproving; but every duty respecting our neighbour; it is a summary of the whole. It is a golden rule, here delivered, and ought to be observed by all mankind, Jews and Gentiles 8.
We should see here Mr. Gills understanding of the Truths expressed and while his doctrine does not allow this to be seen throughout his commentary, it IS here in these words that he shows that this Golden Rule ought to be observed by all mankind. We should understand here that Mr. Gill is painting this as the epilogue to the Sermon on the Mount in which we DO find most ALL that we should KNOW and DO in regard to our neighbor and how that we should look at our own personal Life in the world and, we should remember here that the Master is first speaking to His disciples and then to the assembled crowd who can hear Him. And we should remember as well that at the end of this discourse, after the ideas presented in the Golden Rule, the Master gives us these words that tell us that it IS in the totality of His words in this entire discourse that we find the reality of the Kingdom or we find the continuation of Life lost in this world. Jesus tells us:
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27).
Here in these words the Master IS telling us that it IS in the Sermon on the Mount that we can find the Truth of what we, as men in the world, MUST DO, so as to not be as the fool, as the man who continues in his way of darkness, the man who continues with his focus upon the things of the self; it IS much of these things that the Master speaks against. Here are the guidelines for the man in the world, guidelines that are based in the Love and the idea of forsaking those thoughts, attitudes and actions that are contrary to this Love. Here, in the Sermon on the Mount, the Master speaks most plainly and bluntly about the ideas of the law and the right view of these ideas in the Life of everyman; there is little here that is hidden in parabolic language yet, at the same time, there is an ocean of understanding in each precept. For us these words and the words of the Apostle James, who also speaks plainly and IS just as blunt, offer the KEYS to the kingdom based in the behavior of the man in the world and his ability to grasp and to fulfill Jesus ideas on Love and on forsaking; ideas which are diluted and changed by doctrine and this because virtually every precept is against the common thoughts, attitudes and action of the man focused in himself and the world.
While we have not yet completed our ideas on forsaking as regards the Apostle Paul’s words to the Romans from several posts back, we will here take some more time to discuss the Truths given by the Master in the Sermon on the Mount while we yet consider the realities of Paul’s words. In Matthew’s Gospel this sermon appears as a single discourse by the Master on the variety of things that afflict the man in the world and which he does not realize yet today are his afflictions as he IS still bound up in the illusion and the glamour, the vanity according to Paul’s words to the Romans, that keeps his focus upon himself and the self in the world. This Sermon IS NOT found at ALL in Mark’s Gospel and it IS treated in parts by Luke; this IS NOT to say that the precepts are not found in Mark, they most certainly ARE, but that they ARE NOT so framed there nor ARE they as concisely organized by Luke as we find them here in Matthew. John’s Gospel is of a different sort and to the earnest seeker, every thought and idea from the Sermon can be found therein as these are the basics of the Master’s teaching. We begin with the Beatitudes which we will not comment upon individually here but rather as a group of sayings outlining to His disciples the nature of the Truly spiritual man; that they ARE meek, they hunger and thirst after righteousness; they ARE merciful and pure in heart and they ARE the Peacemakers. The Master begins this list with the more parabolic ideas of “poor in spirit” and “they that mourn” and while we have some idea of the meaning of these, they ARE NOT nearly as clear as the rest. These are spiritual ideas that are interpreted by many as though they have a worldly meaning but we should understand that mourning does not necessarily bring comfort and the poor have no special right to the Kingdom of God. If we can see the “poor in spirit” as those who strive toward the Kingdom and endure the world of duality and understand “they that mourn” in much the same way, we can likely see these ideas more clearly.
Remembering that the Master IS first speaking to His disciples which we see in the Matthew’s opening words to the Fifth Chapter saying: “and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying” (Matthew 5:1-2), we should see this entire Sermon as addressed to them and these Beatitudes as a list of the their qualities and the fullness of discipleship. It IS to them as well that Jesus addressed the idea that “Ye are the salt of the earth” which IS a parabolic saying to most but one of True meaning to the disciple and the aspirant; not that he IS salt in any way but that He is the ‘savoriness’ of Truth and of righteousness, of the qualities of the disciple, who, should he lose this savor, CAN NOT find it again in the world; here the Master speaks about the worthlessness of this man who has seen the Glory of Truth but returned to the ways of the world. These words: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour , wherewith shall it be salted ? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (Matthew 5:13) do not say that this man is then lost for ever but rather that in this state of his loss of savor, he is worthless in regard to the Kingdom.
The Master’s next point IS also directed as His disciple but we should note here that as a man can Truly come to understand His words, that they pertain as well to that man. Again we have a parabolic message as the Light here IS the Inner Light that a man expresses in discipleship; it IS the Light of Truth, of Love; it IS the Light of the Soul. We read: “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). Here we must see that as a disciple one IS that Light, that Light of the Soul, the Christ Within, which becomes his expression to the world. This IS the Light of Love and the Light of Truth and in this Light is the “wisdom that is from above” (James 3:17). And here IS Jesus admonition to disciples to “Let your light so shine before men” which says that the Light must not be hid but visible to ALL and this by way of his expression of the Love and Truth by example and word…this IS a man’s “good works” by which he will “glorify your Father which is in heaven“. It IS in this saying and others like it that we should see that in forsaking a man DOES NOT retreat from the world; in this saying we see the role of the disciple and then of the aspirant, that he shine so ALL can see.
ALL men who believe that they are disciples must see the reality of these words; not in distributing doctrines or platitudes but in the reality of one’s “good works“, in the reality of the fruit of the Spirit; in the reality of Love and Truth. Vincent tells us on this idea of “let your light so shine” that: So shine (ου’τως); Often misconceived, as if the meaning were, “Let your light shine in such a way that men may see,” etc. Standing at the beginning of the sentence, it points back to the illustration just used. “So,” even as that lamp just mentioned, let your light shine. Wycliffe has apparently caught this correct sense: So shine your light before men 4. It IS our view that in either sense the Truth IS the same; that men will see the Light and in that Light the Love and the Truth that one expresses.
In the next thoughts the Master announces to ALL that He is bringing the fulfillment of the law; not merely in the ideas of the predictions of the prophets but rather in the fullness of His expression which IS in perfect harmony with the Truth of the law. Not the established doctrines and traditions but the Truth of the Law which He reveals in many places through His responses to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes and the lawyers. These words can be perplexing as there are some of the laws that Moses set forth that are become obsolete and while we can say that the Master was the fulfillment of the law that He speaks of, who then should draw the line as to which ARE and which ARE NOT yet in force? The Master says: “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, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19).
What then of the dietary laws and the many laws on sacrifice and atonement, how do we justify that fact that these ARE NOT kept in the Christian world and that parts ARE NOT kept in Judaism either? Here we are left to understand on our own the intent of His words and while some believe that these words are the beginning of the change of the Master’s target audience from the disciple to the multitude that was listening, there IS NO evidence that this IS so. The question to be asked here is when, in the eyes of the disciple, is the law fulfilled or better, when is this or that part of the law fulfilled. The lexicon paints an interesting picture for us regarding the use of the word all in this saying that “till all be fulfilled“; they tell us first that there IS a individual component to this Greek word pas which can mean: individually each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything collectively 2; and their picture is painted in their saying that: …the whole world has gone after him” Did all the world go after Christ? “then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan.”Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem, baptized in Jordan? “Ye are of God,little children”, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one”. Does the whole world there mean everybody? The words “world” and “all” are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely the “all” means all persons, taken individually 2. Here then we can see a different reality of this idea of “till all be fulfilled” and can understand this as that the reference IS to each individually.
When then is a dietary law fulfilled to the point where it is become obsolete? When is a law of sacrifice fulfilled? When the law that prescribes the stoning of an offender? And when does the law of the sabbath become unnecessary? There ARE answers to these questions and we discussed one of these in a recent essay as we noted the Master’s repetition of the prophet’s words saying: “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:11-13). Here the Master cites the words of the Prophet Isaiah and of Hosea from many centuries earlier and in this we should see that this particular commandment had been fulfilled:
- “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats” (Isaiah 1:11).
- “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).
As we said in a previous essay: in general terms perhaps we can try to see the exclusion of those ideas of law that are concerned with the worldly activities of the Jews, the dietary laws, the laws of sacrifice and the like; here we can see that it is those that affect the psyche that continue and these ARE, ALL of them, concerned with and beginning in Love.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
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.
We repeat here a Quote of the Day that we spent much time with over the course of our essays. In this affirmation we find the Truth of discipleship as we have been ever been expressing and here we can relate our themes of the last few days; “take no thought” for the things of the world and that we approach the Kingdom and discipleship in the nature of the little child, in humbleness, meekness, unashamed in any way and unassuming. The message that this imparts for us today IS that it IS the Soul that is at work in the world of men as it expresses to some degree the purpose, power and the will through Life in this world. These words are from a meditation offered to his students by our Tibetan brother and in which we find greater understanding of the message of the Master. This IS Truly the way of the disciple.
My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.
My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.
I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love. All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.
My will is one with the great Will of God;. that Holy Will requires that all men serve. And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- *** From The Fifteen Points by Emmet Fox; © 1932 HarperCollins Publishers Inc
