Harmony # 21: “You Have Heard It Said” (Matthew 5)

Envision, if you will, a mountaintop scene. Jesus is sitting and teaching, and his disciples are sitting around him. It’s a typical scenario 2,000 years ago for a rabbi and his disciples. The disciples are ready to receive wisdom.

But keep in mind that this kind of teaching was often intended to not only to convey truth, but to inspire discussion. It was going to stir up something in the audience. Unsettle them. At times they were going to think, “Of course. I knew it!”  Other times it was going to be, “What? Seriously?”  When this Sermon on the Mount was over, they were going to talk excitedly among themselves as they dissected and argued what had been said. Perhaps this sermon had pauses built into it so that conversation could happen while the sermon was unfolding.

Think, perhaps, of what we try to do here with Message+. We unpack the message: confirm, challenge, dissect, workshop it together. In fact, I will sometimes say in the sermon, “Let’s talk about that in Message+, but just hear me out for now.” I know there is much more to be said, but to follow all the rabbit trails would distract from the main point.

One way teachers during Jesus’ time accomplished this was through hyperbole, an “extravagant exaggeration.” I like this definition:

“Hyperbole is, without a doubt, the single greatest thing in the history of the universe.”

We use hyperbole all that time. It doesn’t lessen our communication; it enriches it with colorful and thought-provoking images. “I’m so hungry I can eat a horse.” “My feet are killing me.” “Those chili peppers are fire.”

Jesus and other biblical writers are simply reflecting how people talk when they used exaggeration or colorful imagery  to make a point.

• Mark said of John the Baptist (1:4-5) that “all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him...”

• “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Romans 9:13) is the language of priorities.

• The Galatians were so generous that “if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.” (Galatians 4:15) 

• The Pharisees strain out gnats and swallow camels (Matthew 23).

• “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil… sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3)

• John said that if he recorded everything Jesus did, “even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21)

 This kind of hyperbole is at work in the Sermon on the Mount.  Here are some obvious ones, three we will cover today and two that will come up later.

• Gouge your eye out if it causes you to lust (Matthew 5)

• If someone demands your tunic, offer to give the rest of your cloths and go naked (Matthew 5)

• Give to EVERYONE who asks (Matthew 5)

• “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” (Matthew 6)

• You have a log in your eye (Matthew 7) while others only have a speck.

 The point of hyperbole was to make a jarring point about a profound principle by using extravagant language or imagery. Because hyperbole is interwoven with literal language, it takes work to think through how Jesus intends us to understand his language. I think that part of the point.  This approach shakes people out of complacency and self-satisfaction and unsettles them, hopefully uprooting them from one place spiritually and moving them to a new place.

It almost certainly drove them to conversation: praying, thinking, reading their Scripture, arguing, agreeing, diving into the simplicity and complexity of what kind of people God would have them be, and what kind of life God called them to live.

So today I want to read from the Sermon on the Mount, starting with the Beatitudes again for context and then moving into new territory. I am going to work in the commentaries with the Scripture to help us better understand how the first audience of disciples would have processed this teaching. There are a boatload (#hyperbole) of footnotes that show my sources and add a ton J of information. Please, please read the un-commentaried version in your Bible in comparison to what I offer so it is clear where I am trying to add helpful commentary.

I’m not going to wrap it up neatly. I just want to let it set. I want us to let it unsettle us, and in that unsettledness drive us to process together in community.  To quote myself from earlier, “Let’s talk about that in Message+, but just hear me out for now.” J

* * * * *

"You are blessed, participating in life with God when you are poor and humbled in spirit, realizing you are no more than a beggar before God's door. The kingdom of heaven is made up of spiritually humbled folks just like you."

"You are blessed, participating in life with God when you are broken-hearted, mourning because you realize how far you are from what you should be spiritually. God will bring comfort by making things right between the two of you."

"You are blessed, participating in life with God when you are willing to meekly have your time and energy harnessed in the Kingdom.  You have become one of the true inheritors of the promise of God to humanity."

"You are blessed, participating in life with God when you are hungry for righteousness, with a burning desire for justice for all, for you shall be satisfied in that desire.

"You are blessed, participating in life with God when you reach out to others in merciful compassion, because in your turn you will receive compassion from others and from God in your time of need."

"You are blessed, participating in life with God when you view the world out of a pure heart that only God can give. You will begin to see the world as God sees it, and see Him at work in it.

"You are blessed, participating in life with God when you work to bring true peace and reconciliation, for then you are acting as what you are--a child of God."

"You are blessed, participating in life with God whenever people mock, insult, harass, and lie about you because you belong to Jesus. The kingdom of heaven is made up of people like you.

“You are the salt of the earth, a preservative whose virtuous life God uses to embody His kingdom.[1] Don’t lose this saltiness; it delays decay and compromise in the church and the world. If you lose it, how can its purpose be restored? Useless salt will be thrown on to the roads and be trampled on by people.”

“You are the light of the world, like a city on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a basket or jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in can see the light. In the same way, let your light of God’s truth and hope shine before people in a sin-darkened world, [2] so that they can see your righteous lives and give honor to your Father in heaven.”

Some of you have heard that I am here to overthrow the Law, but that’s not true. I have not come to overturn or do away with the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them, to bring them their intended purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will become void or pass from the law until everything needed to fulfill the purpose of the law takes place.

You know to keep the ‘weighty’ commands (don’t commit idolatry, adultery, murder, etc).  Anyone who disregards even the most obscure of the “light” commands (like tithing your garden produce) and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. However, whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Don’t confuse which are weighty and which are light – and be committed to them both.[3] I tell you, unless you understand what matters to God, and why, your righteousness will not go beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, and you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And \now, I will tell you the standard of righteousness that matters to God.

21 As you know, long ago God instructed Moses to tell His people, “Do not take the life of the innocent; those who murder will be judged and punished in the courts.” 22 But here is the even harder truth: anyone who has a vindictive, fixed anger toward his brother or sister, desiring more to destroy the other person[4] than to make an offense right,[5]deserves to go before the court of seven[6] (Deuteronomy 16:18, 2 Chronicles 19:5) for his anger.

Anyone who taunts their friends, speaks contemptuously toward them, or calls them slanderously insulting names will have to answer to the higher court, the Sanhedrin. Anyone who calls someone a morally worthless fool, destructively attacking a person’s moral character[7] to kill their reputation is guilty enough in the eyes of the highest court to warrant the fires of Gehenna[8] in the valley of Hinnom.[9]

Anger contains the seeds of murder, abusive language contains the spirit of murder, and language that kills reputation and self-worth implies the very desire to murder.[10]23 With this in mind, you should also consider the potentially sinful anger that your actions may incite in others.

If you are bringing an offering to God at the temple and you remember that someone is angry at you or holds a grudge against you, 24 then leave your gift before the altar, travel whatever distance it takes to go back home to them (even if it takes days), and be reconciled so that (as much as in your power[11]) you convince them to dismiss their grudge against you[12]. Then return to the altar to offer your gift to God.[13]

If you have done wrong, be quick to admit it and make things right.[14] 25 If someone sues you because you have wronged them, don’t be defensive and make up excuses. Settle things with him quickly. Talk to him as you are walking to court; otherwise, he may turn matters over to the judge, and the judge may turn you over to an officer, and you may land in jail. 26 I tell you this: you will not emerge from prison until you have paid your last penny.

Speaking of wronging people, 27 as you know, long ago God forbade His people to commit adultery. 28 You men sitting here may think you have abided by this commandment, walked the straight and narrow because you never had an affair. Now I tell you this: any man who deliberately harbors a desire to fulfill his lust with a woman who is not his wife[15] has already committed adultery in his heart.[16] 

29 If your right eye leads you into this sin, and gouging it out and throwing it in the garbage[17] would save you, it would be better you lose one part of your body than march your entire body through the gates of sin and into hell. 30 And if your right hand[18] leads you into sin, and cutting it off and throwing it away would save you,[19] well, it would be better you lose one part of your body than march your entire body through the gates of sin and into hell.[20]

31 And here is something else to consider when it comes to how we wrong people and incite them to anger. You have read in Deuteronomy that any man who divorces his wife must do so fairly—he must give her the requisite legal certificate of divorce and send her on her way, free and unfettered.[21] You think following the letter of this pleases God, but it was not this way from the beginning.[22] Moses permitted this because your hearts were hard.

32  I tell you this: unless your wife has been sexually unfaithful, you must not divorce her. If you unjustly dissolve the marriage, she will be living as an adulteress when she remarries. Nor are you to marry someone who has been divorced unjustly, for you will be an adulterer when you remarry.

You have been told that God expects us to abide by the oaths we swear and the promises we make.  34 But I tell you this: do not even swear the kind of oaths you are swearing.[23] The Law told you to swear an oath by the Lord.”[24]Now you swear by lesser things, thinking it gives you an out so that you don’t have to keep your word.

 You think you can manipulate the oath when you say, “I swear by heaven” instead of the Lord of Heaven—but heaven is not yours to swear by; it is God’s throne. 35 And you say, “I swear by this good earth,” but the earth is not yours to swear by; it is God’s footstool. And you say, “I swear by the holy city Jerusalem,” but it is not yours to swear by; it is the city of God, the capital of the King of kings. 

36 You cannot even say that you swear by your own head, for God has dominion over your hands, your lips, your head. It is He who determines if your hair will be straight or curly, white or black; it is He who rules over even this small scrap of creation.[25] 

37 When you swear oath its from an impulse to be dishonest and evil, not to establish trustworthiness.[26] Do you think we do not need to be truthful except under the oath sworn to the Lord? [27] Ideally, you should simply let your “yes” be “yes,” and let your “no” be “no.”[28] Let your character speak for itself. You don’t need an oath if you are actually trustworthy.

38 You know that Hebrew Scripture sets this standard of justice and punishment: take no more than an eye when your eye has been taken, or a tooth for a tooth, so that justice is equitable and the punishment does not exceed the crime. 39 But I say this: don’t take personal revenge[29] or seek restitution in court[30] against the one who is laboring in troublemaking[31] against you.

If someone insultingly strikes you on the right cheek, don't take him to court for insulting you[32]; offer him your left cheek.[33]  40 If someone connives to get your inner tunic,[34] give him your outer cloak as well.[35] 41 If a Roman soldier forces you to carry his gear for a mile,[36] walk with him for two instead.

 42 If someone asks you for something,[37] give it to him.[38] If someone wants a loan from you, do not turn away.[39][40] Lk 6:30 And do not ask for your possessions back from the person who takes them away.[41] 43 You have been taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemy.[42] 44 But I tell you this: The real direction indicated by the law is love, rich and costly, and extended even to enemies.[43] Love even those who are openly hostile to you.[44] Pray for those who torment you and persecute you.

 Lk 6:27 “I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat and persecute you,45 in so doing, you become like the peacemakers: children of your Father in heaven.[45] He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. In His common grace He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the unrighteous. 

46 It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. 47 And it is easy to welcomingly greet your friends—even the Gentiles do that! Lk 6:34 “And if you lend to those from whom you hope to be repaid, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people.

48 Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.  You are designed for a higher telos, a higher end-goal: mercy and love in the power of the Holy Spirit, which is the consumation of the heart of the law that revealed a lifestyle of spiritual maturity.[46] Lovingly seek the well-being of your neighbor,[47] and thus fulfill the Law and the Prophets.[48]

_______________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[2]  Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[3]  ESV Global Study Bible

[4] ESV Global Study Bible

[5] HELPS Word Studies

[6] Expositor’s Greek New Testament

[7] ESV Global Study Bible

[8] Note the progression: “(1) Feeling of anger without words. (2) Anger venting itself in words. (3) Insulting anger. The gradation of punishment corresponds; liable (1) to the local court; (2) to the Sanhedrin; (3) to Gehenna.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[9] “This is Gehenna, the “valley of Hinnom,” a trash dump outside Jerusalem where fires burned constantly. It was notorious as the location of human sacrifices by fire during the reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Chr. 28:3; 33:6). Jeremiah called it the “Valley of Slaughter” a symbol of God’s fearful judgment (Jer. 7:32).”  (ESV Reformation Study Bible)  The noncanonical book of 4 Ezra describes the furnace of geenna being opposite of the paradise of delight. (NIV First Century Study Bible)

[10] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[11] Romans 12:18

[12] Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

[13] “Again Jesus depicts the situation graphically, since his Galilean hearers might have to travel a considerable distance to leave the Jerusalem temple and then return (vv. 23-24).” (IVP New Testament Commentary)

[14] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[15] ESV Global Study Bible

[16] “Jewish writers often warned of women as dangerous because they could invite lust (as in Sirach 25:21; Ps. Sol. 16:7-8), but Jesus placed the responsibility for lust on the person doing the lusting (Mt 5:28; Witherington 1984:28). Lust and anger are sins of the heart, and rapists who protest in earthly courts, "She asked for it!" have no defense before God's court.” (IVP New Testament Commentary)

[17] “Jesus is not advocating self-mutilation; not the eyes or hands cause lust, but the heart and mind. Christians must not only avoid the act of adultery (“hand”), but also those things that would lead to a lustful attitude (“eye”).” (ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[18] “The "eye" is the member of the body most commonly blamed for leading us astray, especially in sexual sins (cf. Nu 15:39; Pr 21:4; et al.); the "right eye" refers to one's better eye. But why the "right hand" in a context dealing with lust? More likely it is a euphemism for the male sexual organ.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[19] This borrows from rabbinic imagery about when a man should cut off his hand. Note that there is no record of this happening. It’s hyperbole to make a point. “The Jews enjoined cutting off of the hand, on several accounts; if in a morning, before a man had washed his hands, he put his hand to his eye, nose, mouth, ear, &c. it was to be "cut off" (b); particularly, the handling of the "membrum virile", was punishable with cutting off of the hand. Says R. (c) Tarphon, if the hand is moved to the privy parts,"let his hand be cut off to his navel".'' That is, that it may reach no further; for below that part of the body the hand might not be put (d); lest unclean thoughts, and desires, should be excited.” (Gill’s Exposition Of The Entire Bible)

[20] This is hyperbole. One-eyed and one-handed people can still lust. I mean, people can lust quite easily with their eyes closed. If indeed the “right hand” is a euphemism for a sexual organ, it’s still hyperbole: castrated people can lust too.

[21] “Deut 24:1, cited here, spawned a debate between the two main Pharisaic rabbis in Jesus’ day, Shammai and Hillel. Shammai required divorce (and permitted remarriage) only for sexual infidelity; Hillel permitted divorce for “any good cause.” Typically, only men could initiate divorce. Jesus is actually stricter than Shammai because he only permits divorce and remarriage; he does not require them, even for marital unfaithfulness (v. 32), as both Pharisaic positions did.”  (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[22] Matthew 19:8

[23] Jesus says not to take oaths (Matt. 5:34-37), but in the Old Testament, God tells his people to take oaths in the name of the Lord; Paul takes oaths at least three times (2 Corinthians 11:31; Galatians 1:20; Philippians 1:8).

[24] Exodus 20:7

[25] “Jesus is particularly concerned about the Pharisaic practice of swearing by something other than God himself to create a lesser degree of accountability.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[26] “This passage also forbids any shading of the truth or deception. It does not, however, forbid taking an oath in a court of law. Jesus Himself testified under oath before the High Priest (Matt. 26:63ff). Paul also used an oath to call God as his witness that what he was writing was true (2 Cor. 1:23; Gal. 1:20).” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[27] ESV Reformation Study Bible

[28] “The Pharisees developed elaborate rules governing vows, and only those employing the divine name were binding. Jesus associates their deception with the very nature of the evil one and teaches that a vow is binding regardless of what formula is used. The use of oaths is superfluous when one’s word ought to suffice. Oath-taking is an implicit confession that we do not always tell the truth.” (NKJV New Spirit-Filled Life Bible)

[29] ESV Global Study Bible

[30] ESV Reformation Study Bible

[31] HELPS Word Studies

[32] NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[33] Some are insisting that Jesus is to be so understood when he says: "Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matt.

5: 39). But this utterance is only one of a class. Shall we then interpret Matt. 6: 3, 4 as forbidding all organized charity, Matt. 6:6 as forbidding all public prayer, and Matt. 6: 25 as forbidding all plans and provisions for the future?” (“Jesus Use Of Hyperbole,” The Biblical World,  https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/472937

[34] “Although under Mosaic law the outer cloak was an inalienable possession (Ex 22:26; Dt 24:13), Jesus' disciples, if sued for their tunics (an inner garment like our suit but worn next to the skin), far from seeking satisfaction, will gladly part with what they may legally keep.” Verse 40 is clearly hyperbolic: no first-century Jew would go home wearing only a loincloth. (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[35] :The very poor might have only a single coat; in such cases, surrendering both the inner and outer garments might leave one naked. In this case, an element of hyperbole might be involved, and/or (as some suggest) it might include shaming one’s aggressor with such extensive cooperation.” (NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[36] NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[37] Balance “Give to anyone who asks of you” (Luke 6:30) with “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat’ ” (2 Thess. 3:10). #discussion

[38] “A saint of the desert once found his hut being looted of its paltry possessions, and he knelt in the corner praying for the bandits. When they left, the monk realized they had not taken his walking stick. This monk pursued them for many days until he was able to give them the stick as well. Seeing his humility, the bandits returned everything to him and were converted to Jesus Christ.” (Orthodox Study Bible)

[39]  Likely has to do with interest-free loans (Ex 22:25; Lev 25:37; Dt 23:19) and a generous spirit (cf. Dt 15:7-11; Pss 37:26; 112:5). (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[40] “Since it is impossible to know whether the need is legitimate in all cases, it is better (as someone said), “to help a score of fraudulent beggars than to risk turning away one man in real need.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[41] “They are not required to give foolishly (see 7:6), to give to a lazy person who is not in need (2 Thess. 3:10), or to give where giving would do more harm than good.” (ESV Global Study Bible)

[42] Side note: The OT never says that anyone should hate his or her enemy. In this case, “You have heard it said” included not just Scripture, but tradition. “Hatred for one’s enemies was an accepted part of the Jewish ethic at that time in some circles (cf., e.g., the Dead Sea Scrolls work, The Rule of the Community 1.4,10).” (NIV Case For Christ Study Bible)

[43] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[44] “The fact that love is commanded shows that it is a matter of the will and not primarily of the emotions.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary) 

[45] “This must have left Jesus’ audience wondering if he was seriously advocating love of Gentiles, sinners and even Romans. No other voice from the first century quite parallels the radical vision of love outlined in these few verses. This certainly would have made little sense to the isolationistic Essenes or the radical Zealots.” (NIV First Century Study Bible)

[46] Luke 6:36; Matthew 7:12

[47] Tony Evans Study Bible

[48] “The OT prophets foretold a time when there would be a change of heart among God's people, living under a new covenant (Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:26). Not only would the sins of the people be forgiven (Jer 31:34; Eze 36:25), but obedience to God would spring from the heart (Jer 31:33; Eze 36:27) as the new age dawned. Thus Jesus' instruction on these matters is grounded in eschatology. In Jesus and the kingdom, the eschatological age that the Law and Prophets had prophesied (11:13) has arrived; the prophecies that curbed evil while pointing forward to the eschaton are now superseded by the new age and the new hearts it brings.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

Harmony #19: Fulfilling the Law & Prophets (Matthew 5:17-20; Luke 16:17)

In the Sermon on the Mount, so far we’ve had the following:

• The Beatitudes, in which Jesus talked about states in which we are blessed, because we participate in life with God.

• When that happens, we are salt and light, a people who function as a preservative in a world prone toward rot, and whose preservative presence shines like a light of hope in the darkness. Jesus ends his comments about light by saying, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Jesus connects the brightness of their light with the goodness of their deeds. God’s transformation isn’t just an inner reality; true transformation is inevitably expressed in an outer transformation. And it’s in the observation of these deeds – the proof of change - that God will be glorified by those needing to see the light of truth and hope that is found in Jesus. This brings us to today’s passage, which will build on the verse we just read.

“Do not think that I have come to overturn or do away with the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them/accomplish their intended purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will become void or pass from the law until everything needed to fulfill the law takes place.[1]

So anyone who breaks/loosens/dissolves one of the least/smallest/most obscure of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.[2] For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”[3]

So, let’s talk about the Law, and work our way toward Jesus fulfilling it.

First, when Jewish teachers sometimes spoke of the least and greatest commandments, it wasn’t to diminish the least commandments. For examples, some rabbis said that the least commandment was the demand that people free a mother bird (Deuteronomy 22:7), but that whoever kept this command received life, the same reward as one who kept the greatest command, honoring father and mother (Deuteronomy 5:16).[4] So when you hear this language, don’t think of it as dismissive. It’s honoring. Every little bit mattered.

Second, Jesus did not criticize the Pharisees for their strict observance of the law. He called them out in two very important areas that showed they didn't understand the purpose of the law, let alone how to fulfill that purpose.

• They didn’t understand that, while all of the law mattered, there were weightier matters of the law in the sense that breaking that law landed in the world in a heavier and more destructive way. In Luke 11, a Pharisee invites Jesus over for a meal – then gets deeply offended because Jesus didn’t wash his hands just right. This gets Jesus attention. “You are fastidious about tithing—keeping account of every little leaf of mint and herb—but you neglect what really matters: justice and the love of God! If you’d get straight on what really matters, then your fastidiousness about little things would be worth something.” (v. 42)

•  They emphasized what they did with their hands at the expense of what was happening in their hearts. From the same speech in Luke 11: You Pharisees are a walking contradiction. You are so concerned about external things—like someone who washes the outside of a cup and bowl but never cleans the inside, which is what counts! Beneath your fastidious exterior is a mess of extortion and filth. 40 You don’t get it. Did the potter make the outside but not the inside too? 41 If you were full of goodness within, you could overflow with generosity from within, and if you did that, everything would be clean for you.

The Dead Sea Scrolls (written 2 BC – 1 AD) refer to the Pharisees as “seekers after smooth things.” They accommodated and compromised the law to fit the way they wanted life to be – or how they wanted to live.

“The Sanhedrim had power, when it was convenient, to void a command…  to deliver many of the Israelites from stumbling at other things, they may do whatsoever the present time makes necessary… they even say that if a Gentile should bid an Israelite transgress anyone of the commands mentioned in the law, excepting idolatry, adultery, and murder, he may transgress freely, provided it is done privately.“ (Gill’s Exposition Of The Entire Bible)

That’s one way to “make the way smooth.”  You just change the understanding of what must be done with the hands in order to get what you want in your heart. A practical illustration has to do with divorce.[5]

Philo, Hillel and Josephus, contemporaries of Jesus, all said divorce could happen for any reason. It was a husband-friendly world, to say the least. Some rabbis went so far as to say husbands didn’t need a reason other than they were tired of their wife and wanted someone new. Shammai disagreed; it could only be adultery. Jesus, when asked, agrees with Shammia. In fact, when he makes this clear in Matthew 19, his disciples’ response is insightful about the mindset with which they were raised:  10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

That’s…insightful. They were used to the Law being workshopped until it made the way smooth and worked so they get what they wanted. They said they loved the Law, but they weren’t actually interested in the Law telling them what to do.

But Jesus won’t stop there. He goes on to challenge not just what they do, but how they feel and think. He’s going to demand something of their hearts. Jesus is in the process of restoring the true nature of God’s law as demanding total and radical holiness not just with our hands but in the orientation of our hearts.[6]

Jesus spells out the character of the kind of righteousness God is looking for in the six examples he gives in Matthew 5:21-48. In each case Jesus contrasts the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (who understood the law as a mechanical legal requirement with which they could seek smooth things for themselves if needed) with the exceeding righteousness that God demands. Jesus shows that God requires obedience from the heart. I like how Adam Clarke explains what was happening. It was,

“the development of what is not completed into something higher, which preserves the substance of the lower. The fulfilling is “showing the right kernel and understanding, that they may learn what the law is and desires to have.” (Adam Clarke)

As Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount, he gives plenty of examples to make his point.

          THE KERNEL                                                        THE TREE

Don’t murder Don’t desire to harm

Don’t commit adultery Don’t desire to commit adultery

Legally proper divorces Morally permissible divorces

Do oaths (so people trust you) Have unimpeachable character

Limit revenge Don’t get revenge at all

Love your neighbor Love your enemy also

Be generous Be humbly, quietly generous

Worship/pray Worship and pray with humility

Fast Fast humbly

The passage we started with today is basically a thesis statement for all those examples. Jesus says, "You thought the law was just about your hands. If you really want to be my disciples, give me your hearts."

Enter Jesus, who fulfills or accomplishes the intended purpose of the Law and the Prophets.

• Fulfills the specific predictions of a Messiah. The Law and the Prophets were always intended to point beyond themselves (see Romans 3:21; Galatians 3-4; Romans 8:4) to Jesus, which is where Matthew also intends the focus to be.[7] 

• Accomplishes the intended purpose of the sacrificial system. Sacrifices and other ceremonial laws foreshadowed events that would be accomplished in Jesus’ ministry in which he paid the price for the failed covenant keeping of Abraham and his descendants (see Galatians 4:10, Ephesians 2:15, and Hebrews 8-10).

• Fulfills God's will in all its fullness. Jesus establishes the true intent and purpose of the Law in His teaching and accomplishes them in His obedient life as the perfect lawkeeper (Matt. 2:15; 11:13; 12:3–6, 39–41, 42; Luke 24:27)[8]

• As the perfect lawkeeper, Jesus grants righteousness—the intended purpose of the Law—to us (Rom 3:31; 8:3, 4; 10:4).[9]

 So now, thanks to Jesus granting his righteousness to us, we can fulfill the purpose God intended the Law to accomplish in us. And it turns out that…the Law was intended to teach us how to love.

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

 “In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

Matthew actually provides a cool set of bookends in the Sermon on the Mount that explain what it means for the Law and the Prophets to be fulfilled.

Do not think that I have come to overturn or do away with the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill  their intended purpose. (5:17)

“In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets. (7:12)

When we disciples walk in love with the Spirit of God at work in us, we  share in the completion of the plan or outworking of God’s love, which is love. The commandments of the Law are simply examples of what it looks like, in day-to-day life and in various circumstances, to love God and love each other.[10] Tell me, in the examples Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount, does this not look like love?

• Don’t even desire to harm other people physically, emotionally, spiritually, reputationally.  Desire their flourishing in the good (hospitality of the heart and head J)

• Don’t even desire to commit adultery. Desire to honor you spouse even in your thoughts, not just your actions.

• Take your marriage vows very, very seriously. Love your spouse by offering the safety of covenant.

• Have unimpeachable character. Love others by being the kind of person they can trust.

• Don’t get revenge. Don’t demand en eye for an eye. Love those who harm you by challenging their evil with your kindness and goodness.

• Love your enemy. Pray for them, for their salvation and righteousness.

• Be generous, worship, pray, and fast, but be humble and do it in the way that doesn’t bring attention to you. Love other people by freeing them of the burden of comparing themselves to you.

 The Law was intended to teach us how to love, in the greatest ways to the smallest ways.[11]

_______________________________________________________________________________________
[1] In Shir Hashirim Rabba, are these words: "Should all the inhabitants of the earth gather together, in order to whiten one feather of a crow, they could not succeed: so, if all the inhabitants of the earth should unite to abolish one י yod, which is the smallest letter in the whole law, they should not be able to effect it." In Vayikra Rabba, it is said: "Should any person in the words of Deut. 6:4, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God isאחד achad, ONE Lord, change the ד daleth into a ר resh, he would ruin the world."[אחר achar, would signify a strange or false God.] "Should any one in the words of Lev. 22:32, Neither shall ye PROFANE תחללו techelelu, my holy name, change חcheth into ה he, he would ruin the world." [Neither shall ye PRAISE my holy name.]"Should any one, in the words of 1 Samuel 2:2, There is none holy AS the Lord,change כ caph into ב beth, he would ruin the world." There is no holiness IN the Lord.]   (Adam Clarke)

[2] The rabbis recognized a distinction between “light” commandments (such as tithing garden produce) and “weighty” commandments (such as those concerning idolatry, murder, etc.). Jesus demands a commitment to both, yet condemns those who confuse the two (see 23:23–24). (ESV Global Study Bible)

[3] The scribes and Pharisees took pride in their outward obedience but they still had impure hearts (see 23:5, 23, 27–28). Kingdom righteousness works from the inside out as it produces changed hearts (Rom. 6:17; 2 Cor. 5:17).  (ESV Global Study Bible)

[4] NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[5] https://www.thetorah.com/article/when-is-a-man-allowed-to-divorce-his-wife

[6] ESV Reformation Study Bible

[7] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[8] Thanks to the ESV Global Study Bible for these first three points.

[9] HT Orthodox Study Bible

[10] https://russmeek.com/2020/09/love-is-the-fulfillment-of-the-law-whats-that-mean-anyway/

[11] That is, the man that truly loves his neighbour, will contrive no ill against him, nor do any to him; he will not injure his person, nor defile his bed, nor deprive or defraud him of his substance; or do hurt to his character, bear false testimony against him, or covet with an evil covetousness anything that is his; but, on the contrary, will do him all the good he is capable of. Therefore. love is the fulfilling of the law.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Importance Of Hospitality (Hebrews 13:1-2)

I’ve been thinking a lot about hospitality.

• The missionaries from France who are simply hospitable to their Muslim neighbors as an act of both kindness and witness.

• My hosts in Costa Rica, who lavishly welcomed me.

• The Venezuelan refugees in Costa Rica, who are being taken care of by local churches and the Vida220 students.

• Maxim and Julia’s church in Ukraine helping war refugees as they stream through Dnipro fleeing Russia’s war crimes.

This topic is a big deal in Scripture, and a key component of life together in the Kingdom. In the New Testament, the many verses that talk about the importance of hospitality use a combination of philos (brotherly love) and xenos (strangers and visitors). Over and over, God’s people are told that this should characterize them.

“Love each other steadily and unselfishly, because love makes up for many faults. Show hospitality to each other without complaint. Use whatever gift you’ve received for the good of one another so that you can show yourselves to be good stewards of God’s grace in all its varieties.” (1 Peter 4:8-10)

“Love others well… Despise evil; pursue what is good. Live in true devotion to one another… Be first to honor others by putting them first. Do not slack in your faithfulness and hard work...devote yourselves to prayer. Share what you have with the saints, showing hospitality, so they lack nothing; take every opportunity to open your life and home to others.” (Romans 12:9-13)

“Let love continue among you. Don’t forget to extend your hospitality to all—even to strangers—for as you know, some have unknowingly shown kindness to heavenly messengers in this way.” (Hebrews 13:1-2)

“Here are the qualifications to look for in an overseer: a spotless reputation, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, sensible, respectable, given to hospitality, and gifted to teach.” (1 Timothy 3:2)

This wasn’t just an idea buried in an obscure verse. This is a concept embedded in Scripture. The particular New Testament use of the Greek word for hospitality, while not found in the Old Testament Hebrew, pulls from a long tradition of teaching about hospitality in the Old Testament (different language, but a rose by any other name is still a rose, right?) Here’s just one example:

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong… ‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:3; 33-34)

That’s pretty typical language for the Old Testament. The New Testament takes that principle and just kind of spreads it over everybody and everything. “Be nice. Take care of people in need. It starts with your brothers and sisters in Christ, but it extends to all, even your enemies.”

I was reading an article about the biblical perspective on hospitality that summarized it in a way that I think captures the overall emphasis.

Hospitality is the offer to extend the privileges of community to those who do not have the standing to expect it, especially those who are vulnerable because they are strangers… Hospitality is an offer to identify with outsiders and to treat them like insiders. Hospitality is extending privilege [of community] across difference.

I’ve been thinking about the implications of this. I hope this can spark thought and discussion about what it means to live our lives in a pattern of hospitality. I am going to separate it into three categories: Hospitality in our hands, our heart, and our head.

• Our hands (How we act)

• Our hearts (How we feel)

• Our head (How we think)

I want to really challenge us to think about the emphasis Scripture places on this. I assume it should make us uncomfortable. However, before I land on it in a way that I hope really challenges us, I have a qualification to offer so that we are not distracted.

Because we are not inexhaustible, we have to make decisions about what it looks like for us to live a sustainable lifestyle of hospitality. Two examples that I hope will show what I mean:

• Some educational institutions have large sums of money tucked into investments to they can give grants to people who need them. This grant money often comes from the interest the large sum accrues. The school could give out all the money in one year, but it would undermine the long term sustainability of their generosity. Boundaries can help ensure longevity.

• In the Crossfit world, we talked about the importance pacing ourselves in competitions. If you had a 20 minute workout, you could burn out in the 5th minute if you weren’t careful. To complete the work in front of you, you needed a sustainable effort. Too little, you lose. Too much, you burn out and still lose (or maybe not be able to finish).

There is plenty of room to be mindful of what sustainability looks like when it comes to serving other people. That’s a topic to address in Message+ today or with godly friends as situations arise. I want us to embrace the challenge over the next 20 minutes without being defensive or cynical. Let’s just absorb what the Bible says about the orientation of our head, heart, and hands. We will have plenty of time to work out the details.

* * * * *

How do I practice biblical hospitality in my head, heart and hands on a regular basis even in the ordinary, ongoing moments of life?

Hospitality in my head

This happens when I think/assume the best of others (unless clarity about who they are forces me to think otherwise). I begin by thinking about people generously until it is clear that I must reconsider. Lous Tverberg recounts in her book that there was a rich history of this mindset in the community into which Jesus was born. In 120 BC, a rabbi wrote, “Judge each person with the scales weighted in their favor.”

In fact, the rabbis had concluded that judging someone favorably was as important as visiting the sick, praying, or teaching the Scripture to children. On rabbi described how groups would get together and practice this:

• When someone failed to receive a wedding invitation, they would conclude, “Perhaps that person thought they already sent it, or they could not afford more guests.” They opted not to take it as an insult.

• If a neighbor drove past a friend with a heavy load without helping this friend, they thought, “Maybe he had committed himself to picking up other people, or he had a problem weighing on his mind and just wasn’t paying attention.” They didn’t assume he was a jerk.

Tverberg has other day-to-day examples in her book:

• Maybe the person who didn’t shake my hand at church has a cold and didn’t want to make me sick, or it was all they could muster just to be here and they had no energy to be interactive.

• Maybe that driver who cut me off was on the way to an emergency, or was overwhelmed by life.

• Maybe that person who fell asleep during the service or the meeting at work was up late into the night comforting a friend.

• Maybe that person who I thought ignored me Sunday in the lobby was just distracted.

• Maybe the unanswered email went to spam, or just fell off their screen as messages piled up, or their computer crashed.

• Maybe...

Tverberg quotes a psychologist who described the difference between “positive sentiment override” and “negative sentiment override.” In the first one, a positive sentiment towards someone overrides bad inclinations such that we tend to frame everything a person does in a generally positive light unless we are forced to conclude otherwise. The negative does the opposite. Over time, the NSO will so taint us to the other person that nothing they do is okay. Everything, even the good things, will be criticized.

On the other hand, positive sentiment builds its own momentum.

First, we learn to think of others as positively as we can. Then (it turns out) that filter of positivity brings an entirely different vibe into the room - and into our hearts. We are freed of the burden of negatively judging every little thing around us that can be misconstrued. I remember once being at a large gathering where a friend who was very busy just walked past me instead of saying hi. I made a half-joking comment to another friend about being ignored. She laughed and said, “Oh, Anthony. By all means – read into it.” It reoriented my head – and heart, which we will get to in a second.

Second, people around us can relax as they know they are freed of the burden of being too quickly judged. I think we all have experienced the difference between being around those who read into everything and arrive at negative conclusions vs. those who work hard to give the benefit of the doubt. In the former, you walk on eggshells all the time, knowing it won’t matter. You will do something wrong, real or imagined. In the latter, you can relax knowing that the people you are with are full of grace. You don’t have to be perfect for them.

It has challenged me to ask myself how people experience me, and I want to challenge you with the same. How do people perceive us? Are we generous, hospitable in our minds for as long as we can be toward those around us? And do they know it?

Hospitality in my heart

Not only do I seek to practice generous thoughts about others, I try to practice generous feelings. Philo is about brotherly love, the love for a friend or family member. I’m not so sure it requires us to like everybody as much as it’s trying to make a point about genuinely caring about people. Granted, it’s really hard sometimes to have emotional investment in the well being of people I might not even like. So, how do we go about cultivating hospitality in our hearts?

First, I think we start by listening and seeing people so we can understand them. We try to enter into their story in order to see how life has formed them. I recently had a long lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while, and who is pretty overwhelmed with life. Some relational distance and tension had arisen between us over time. When we met, this person started by saying, “Anthony, I don’t feel heard by people around me. I don’t feel like people are listening to me. Today, I just want you to listen.” And as I listened, I gained understanding. And as I gained understanding, I experienced an increasing emotional investment in the well being of this friend.

Building that empathy didn’t mean we were suddenly in agreement about everything that contributed to the distance and tension that had formed between us. There were some real issues on the table between us. It did mean, however, that I had a renewed desire to affirm their value as an image bearer of God worth relational investment for their good and God’s glory.

Second, seek the heart of God toward this person. If Jesus were here, how would he be present with them? What would Jesus do or say? How would Jesus combine truth and grace? How would Jesus balance justice and mercy in a way that is geared toward their well-being? How do we extend the ‘privilege of community’ such that people actually believe we are serious when we say we care about them?

When I talk about generosity of heart, I’m not addressing yet what kind of hard conversations we may need to have or necessary boundaries we may need to draw at some point. I’m talking about the overall orientation of our hearts: do we have hearts that are inclined toward generosity as an ongoing high tide that washes onto the shores of those around us, such that if we must create distance for the sake of integrity and protection that we do it with grief and prayer, not hatred and callousness?

Hospitality in my hands

This happens when we embody kindness, service and honor with our posture, presence, attitude, and resources. In other words, our hands make practical what our head and heart have already made clear. I’m thinking of this reflection from Jesus:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25: 34-40)

What is the position of my hands when I see people around in me? Do I start with them clenched around my money, time and resources until I have to open them, or open until I need to close them? Do we wonder how little we can invest in those in need and still be considered generous, or wonder how much we can give while still being responsible?

There is a whole range of middle ground between those two ends of the spectrum, but even in that range, where do we land? What is the position of our hands, and what does that say about the orientation of our heart and head?

* * * * *

Envision, if you will, a church family in which we know that when we are together, we are surrounded by people who are hospitable:

• In their heads (we know they will think generously of us)

• In their hearts (we know they care deeply for our well being)

• In their hands (we know they are ready to share with us)

Now envision, if you will, a city which knows that if they show up at this church, they will be surrounded by people who are hospitable:

• In their heads (they will think generously of everyone)

• In their hearts (they will care deeply for the well being of all)

• In their hands (they are ready to share with everyone)

Harmony #20: Salt & Light (Matthew 5:13-16; Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16, 14:34-35)

Let’s talk about salt.

• Salt has been used in many cultures as money. The word salary comes from “salt-money,” a Roman soldier’s allowance for the purchase of salt. People who earn their pay are “worth their salt.”

• In the times in which the Bible was written (and in that part of the world), businessmen would mingle the salt from their salt purses as a way of showing that agreements could not be undone anymore than they could take back their own salt from the other. Then they would eat salt together in front of witnesses to seal the deal.

• Salt is mentioned in reference to covenants in several ancient Near Eastern sources, likely because “its preservative qualities made it the ideal symbol of the durability of a covenant.”[1]

We see in the Old Testament several examples of what’s called the Covenant of Salt:[2]

• The Old Testament Law commands the use of salt in grain offerings for the “salt of the covenant” (Leviticus 2:13). “You shall season your every offering of meal with salt; you shall not omit from your meal offering the salt of your covenant with God; with all your offerings you must offer salt.” (Lev. 2:13)

• God promised to provide for the priests them through the sacrifices the people made: “Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring.” (Numbers 18:19)

• King Abijah’s speech in 2 Chronicles 13:5 mentions it: “Don’t you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?”[3] According to the New Oxford Annotated Bible, "of salt" most likely means that the covenant is "a perpetual covenant, because of the use of salt as a preservative."

But the salt used back then had impurities in ways the salt we use now does not. When exposed to the elements, it would eventually lose its saltiness. It was not uncommon for it to be used like gravel on the roads, or for the priests to spread it on temple steps so people wouldn’t slip. [4]

This brings us to the next thing Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. Remember, he has just finished the Beatitudes. He has described what people are like when they live in the Kingdom of God as dedicated disciples.

 “You are the salt of the earth. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again or its flavor be restored?[5] It is no longer good for anything. It is of no value for the soil or for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out and be trampled on by people.”

Jesus compares a disciple who lives out the values of the Kingdom to salt that effectively does what salt is meant to do: preserve and protect. On the other hand, disciples who do not live out the values of the kingdom are like salt that cannot fulfill its purpose.

Jesus, in the next breath, gives another analogy that I think is supposed to make the same point.  He calls Christians the light of the world.[6]

 “You are the light of the world.[7] A city located on a hill[8] cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a basket or jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in can see the light. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.”

Just like salt, light is created for a purpose. Disciples who represent the values of the Kingdom shine in the darkness as God intends; those who do no represent the values of the Kingdom do not fulfill their purpose as God intends.[9]

* * * * *

“The question "How can salt be made salty again?" is a rhetorical question. It can’t. Just based on the context, I don't think Jesus was trying to make a point here about whether or not people could lose their salvation. He’s talking about being who God intends us to be.

“If Jesus' disciples are to act as a preservative in the world by conforming to kingdom norms, they can discharge this function only by retaining their own virtue.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary) 

We see the virtue/integrity expressed in the light analogy: the light we shine is the works we dothat flow from our saltiness, which in turn glorify the God who makes that kind of  holy life transformation possible.  

It is not sufficient to have light - we must walk in the light, and by the light. Our whole conduct should be a perpetual comment on the doctrine we have received, and a constant exemplification of its power and truth. (Adam Clarke)[10] 

In other words, Kingdom values expressed in the lives of kingdom people produce kingdomwitness.

I have been reading a book called The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, by Alan Kreider.[11] In it, he stresses how the faithful, presence of the church in the first few centuries preached the gospel and made disciples. It’s a book about the importance of being salt and light, followed by practical examples of what it looked like when the church first started.

First, the importance of being salt and light. The early church leaders wrote extensively on behavior because of their Christian conviction that the way people live expresses what they really believe.

• Justin Martyr (100-165) notes that the effectiveness of Christian witness depends on the integrity of the believers’ lifestyles. In the business world, “Many have turned from the ways of violence and tyranny, overcome by observing the consistent lives of their [Christian] neighbors.”

• Origen (185-253) stated that Christ “makes his defense in the lives of his genuine disciples, for their lives cry out the real facts.”

• Cyprian (210-258) said that when Christians make their virtue visible and active, they demonstrate the character of God to the world.[12] “No occasion should be given to the pagans to censure us deservedly and justly… It profits nothing to show forth virtue in words and destroy truth in deeds.”

So, the overwhelming agreement was that Christian saltiness had to do with consistent virtue and the display of Christ-like character. This would not only be seen obviously in ones lifestyle; it would be profoundly compelling, more so than just the words that explain the Christian faith and its transformative power. 

However, when this words/deeds consistency wasn’t present, the salt would lose its saltiness, and the light would dim.

• A writing attributed to Clement (95-140) noted that when  Christians talked about loving their enemies, their neighbors had been interested. When they found that the Christians didn’t do what they said, they dismissed Christianity as “a myth and a delusion.”

• In the 240s, Origen wrote of Christians who were “completely disgusting in their actions and habit of life, wrapped up with vices and not wholly ‘putting away the old self with its actions.”

•  “By the early fifth century the problem had become so acute that some theologians updated the church’s theology of witness so that they no longer emphasized the Christians’ exemplary behavior.” (Alan Kreider)

That’s…sobering. Rather than addressing the importance of a redeemed lifestyle as a crucial part of the Christian witness, they just stopped talking about it. It was easier to develop an intellectual theology to think about rather than an incarnational theology to embody. It’s a lot easier to think about a cross than to take it up.

And yet many Christians did, in fact, commit themselves to this. And from the record that survives, the church in the first few centuries put a lot of thought into what it looked like to be effectively salty and shiny.

 What did this look like practically? How did the early church assume the first Christians would live their beliefs in a way consistent with the teaching of Jesus such that their very lives pointed toward Jesus?

I have been a bit haunted by this, so I want to pull you into this with me J I have quite a few examples. My sense is that, even though the early church wasn’t perfect and didn’t get everything right, there is a foundational application here from which we could learn much.

• Polycarp (69-155) thought that it was the Christian behavior as martyrs, not the words they might speak, that would convey the Christian faith to the watching world.

• Epistle to Diognetus (130): “Do you not see how they are thrown to wild animals to make them deny the Lord, and how they are not vanquished? Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the more do others increase?”

• Justin Martyr (100-165): "We formerly rejoiced in uncleanness of life, but now love only chastity; before we used the magic arts, but now dedicate ourselves to the true and unbegotten God; before we loved money and possessions more than anything, but now we share what we have and to everyone who is in need; before we hated one another and killed one another and would not eat with those of another race, but now since the manifestation of Christ, we have come to a common life and pray for our enemies and try to win over those who hate us without just cause."

• Justin Martyr (100-165): “We who were filled with war, and mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each through the whole earth changed our warlike weapons…and we cultivate piety, righteousness, philanthropy, faith, and hope, which we have from the Father Himself through Him who was crucified.”[13]

• Justin Martyr’s Apology noted that Christians share economically and care for the poor and the sick, widows and orphans; they engage in business with truthfulness and without usury; they are a community of contentment and sexual restraint; and they behave with love toward people of different tribes and customs.

• 1 Clement (130-140) gives a description of Corinth. “You were all lowly in mind, free from vainglory, yielding rather than claiming submission from others, more ready to give than to take. “

• 1 Clement (130-140) “Day and night you agonized for all the brotherhood, that by means of compassion and care the number of God’s elect might be saved. You were sincere, guileless, and void of malice among yourselves…You lamented the transgressions of your neighbors and judged their shortcomings to be your own. You never rued an act of kindness, but were ready for every good work.” [14]

• Athenagoras (170):  “For we have been taught not to strike back at someone who beats us nor to go to court with those who rob and plunder us. Not only that: we have even been taught to turn our head and offer the other side when men ill use us and strike us on the jaw and to give also our cloak should they snatch our tunic.”

• Tertullian (204): “If one tries to provoke you to a fight, there is at hand the admonition of the Lord:  ‘If someone strike you . . . on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.’ And if someone burst out in cursing or wrangling, recall the saying: ‘When men reproach you, rejoice… Let wrong-doing grow weary from your patience.”

• “The practical application of charity was probably the most potent single cause of Christian success.” (Henry Chadwick, quoted in the book). By the year 250, the church was feeding more than 1500 of the hungry and destitute in Rome every day.[15]

• Historian Rodney Stark points out that women were attracted to the churches because of the greater fidelity of Christian husbands and the church’s rejection of killing (abortion and infanticide).

• The Didache (1st and 2nd century): “Do not hesitate to give and do not give with a bad grace. . . . Do not turn your back on the needy, but share everything with your brother and call nothing your own. For if you have what is eternal in common, how much more should you have what is transient!”

• Lactantius (250-325): “We . . . make no demand that our God be worshipped by anyone unwillingly, and we do not get cross if he is not worshipped. We are confident of his supreme power.”[16]

• Lactantius (250-325): “There is no need for violence and brutality; worship cannot be forced; it is something to be achieved by talk rather than blows, so that there is free will in it… we teach, we show, we demonstrate… Religion must be defended not by killing but by dying, not by violence but by patience.”

• The emperor Julian The Apostate (300s) complained that Christianity, “has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers… It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar and that the [Christians] care not only for their own poor but for ours as well."

If there is a challenge here, it’s wrestling with the question of whether or not what characterized the early church characterizes the modern church. Our culture is different, so there will be, at times, different expressions of similar principle.  But there will also be plenty of times when there are similar expressions of similar principles. I wonder, if members of the early church were to visit, how they would think we are doing in our theology of witness? Would we be found salty?

If I have an encouragement, it’s this: being a faithful presence matters, even in the most ordinary of moments. The church exploded during this time period not because there were rock star preachers or singers, not because there were events in stadiums or social media campaigns, not because they had advocates in the Roman halls of power. It exploded because ordinary people who said they loved God and others lived like they loved God and others.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, this is within the grasp of all of us.

 ________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, 191, Jewish Theological Seminary

[2] Thanks to gotquestions.org for providing a handy list of these passages all in one place J

[3] The Metzudat David commentary of David Altschuler explains the phrase “covenant of salt”:“The establishment of the enduring covenant [with David’s house] is like salt, in that it endures and does not rot.” (Jewish Theological Seminary)

[4] I’m not sure where I found this anecdote, but here it is: “When asked what to do with unsalty salt, a rabbi once advised, “Salt it with the afterbirth of a mule.” Mules are sterile and thus lack afterbirth; his point was that the question was stupid. If salt lost its saltiness, what would it be useful for?”

[5] “Strictly speaking salt cannot lose its saltiness; sodium chloride is a stable compound. But most salt in the ancient world derived from salt marshes rather than by evaporation of salt water, and thus contained many impurities. The actual salt, being more soluble than the impurities, could be leached out, leaving a residue so dilute it was of little worth.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[6] He also spoke of Himself as “the light of the world,” (John 8:12; 12:35, 36, 46) so think of Jesus as the source of light and followers of Jesus as reflections of that light. 

[7] Per Adam Clarke, light of the world, נר עולם ner olam was a title applied to the most eminent rabbis. Jesus gives it to his followers. You don’t have be a highly trained theologian of Christianity to be salt and light. Being a true disciple is sufficient J

[8] “‘A few points toward the north (of Tabor) appears that which they call the Mount of Beatitudes, a small rising, from which our blessed Saviour delivered his sermon in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew. (Matthew 5:5.) Not far from this little hill is the city Saphet, supposed to be the ancient Bethulia. It stands upon a very eminent and conspicuous mountain, and is SEEN FAR and NEAR. May we not suppose that Christ alludes to this city, in these words.’” (Adam Clarke)

[9] “If salt (v.13) exercises the negative function of delaying decay and warns disciples of the danger of compromise and conformity to the world, then light (vv.14-16) speaks positively of illuminating a sin-darkened world.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[10] “The emphasis is on the ministry of Christian character. The winsomeness of lives in which Christ is seen speaks louder than the persuasion of words.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[11] The information that follows is mostly from his book. There are few direct quotes, but many indirect quotes.

[12] Lactantius (250–325) wrote, “People prefer example before talk, because talk is easy and example is hard. This is why God chose to send not disembodied words from heaven but an incarnate Son in a mortal body.”

[13] According to Origen, refusing to participate in “the taking of human life in any form at all” was a basic Christian commitment; it was a product of the Christians’ patience, their refusal to retaliate, and their understanding of the way and teaching of Jesus. On this matter other writers—Tertullian, Athenagoras, Minucius Felix, and Lactantius—agreed with Origen.

[14] Quote found in The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries, Adolf Harnack.  

[15] https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/the-spread-of-the-early-church-11629561.html

[16] Christian identity emerged as relationships developed. “Casual contact” was the most common means of communicating the attractiveness of the faith to others and enticing them to investigate things further because of the Christians’ character, bearing, and behavior. Around 200, Tertullian, in Carthage, was concerned that members of his house church would “worship too vociferously,” bothering the inhabitants of neighboring apartments in what was evidently a large apartment building. It was not Christian worship that attracted outsiders; it was Christians who attracted them. Outsiders found the Christians attractive because of their Christian lives, which catechesis and worship had formed. (The Patient Ferment of the Early Church)

Harmony #19: The Beatitudes Part 2 (Matthew 5:1-12; Luke 6:17-26)

The first three beatitudes provide a foundation for makarios, blessedness:

• honest brokenness over our sin

• humble mourning that leads to repentance and salvation

• harnesssed servanthood that leads to flourishing

These are three requirements for entering into life with God and building the kind of Kingdom God has planned. [1]

The desire for righteousness is next.  This is a worldview shift.  There are lots of things for which to hunger: riches, money, power, physical pleasure. But hungering for righteousness is hungering to know how to be in the world in the right way, and how to use the things we have in the right way. That’s a simple definition of righteousness. A hunger for “right”ness as defined by God.  The fruit of brokenness, repentance and harnesses servanthood is a longing to live well in the path of rightness. And when we hunger to find this, “we will be filled." Our hunger has an answer: the righteous path of God as revealed in Jesus and in his word.

The more they see the good in the world that results from their harnessed labor, the hungrier they get.  They are not content to just remain as they are.  They want more. Once they get a taste of flourishing, they not only long for it in themselves, they long to see it in others.

In this beatitude, for the first time, we see people actively seeking for God.  They are glad God pursued them; they are now pursuing Him as well. They are not content simply to be. These people are blessed, because God will “reward those who diligently seek him.”[2]

These people have a passion for righteousness in their own lives; however, it’s more than that. They long to see honesty, integrity, and justice in the church and the culture. These people desire not only that they may wholly do God's will from the heart, but also that justice may be done everywhere, and they actively engage in bringing this about. All unrighteousness grieves them and motivates them to display the goodness of righteousness through the testimony of their lives.

In contrast, the miserable are those who are hungry for the same old thing that never satisfied them before….. unrighteousness, I suppose, which will always leave you with what C.S. Lewis called “an ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing return.”[3] Those who hunger after unrighteousness always want more too.  The difference is that what they are consuming is making them emptier. They “taste and see that X is fun, or entertaining, or gets me friends, or distracts me, or numbs me,” and don’t realize it is not good, and that it will never fill them, no matter how much they consume.

• If you hunger for money, you always need one more dollar.

• If you hunger for things, there is always one more toy or one size bigger of what you already have.

• If you hunger for pleasure, you will long for the next experience before you are done with the first one.

• If you hunger for fame, you need one more click on our website, one more follower, one more platform or you can’t rest.

• If you hunger for power, there will never be enough people you control, or enough promotions, or enough positions of authority.

If you find yourself beginning to notice that you are never satisfied, consider that a warning flag.

And there is a ripple effect here too. If the righteous long to see righteousness benefit the world and lead to the flourishing of others, the unrighteous build the opposite momentum.

• The longer they value systems or things over people, the more they will value things over people.

• The longer they don’t care about others, the less they will care about others.

• The longer they determine what’s right for themselves (#serpent #eden), the less they will care how their choices impact those around them.

This is why I keep saying that God’s righteous boundaries/path is for our good. Jesus didn’t come to squelch the life in us or take the joy out of the world; Jesus came that we might have abundant life. There is a reason that at Christmas we sing, “Joy to the world; the Lord has come.”

Jesus’s next category is the first category that gives a specific righteous action: In one ’s relations with other people — when one reaches beyond oneself toward another — one should be merciful.

All mercy requires is a position of the barest advantage over another, even for the most fleeting of moments.  Being merciful involves understanding the proper use of authority. Whenever the merciful are in a situation where their actions can have an impact, they show mercy.  With power comes responsibility, and the merciful are always thinking about how to pass on the mercy they were shown. They want to be a mirror of God to the world.

To be merciful means to be actively compassionate. We see it manifest in different ways: withholding punishment from offenders who deserve it, or helping others who cannot help themselves. God showed mercy in sparing us from the judgment which our sins deserved and in demonstrating kindness to us through the saving work of Christ. We imitate God when we pay this foundational mercy forward.[4]

In contrast, the miserable are the merciless, those who take every penny of power they have and try to turn it into a pound. Literally, they pound people with power. They are users of others to benefit themselves. If the merciful think of their responsibility toward others, the merciless plunder other people’s usefulness to them.  Jesus told a parable about this very thing as recorded in Matthew 18:23-29.

“Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

“His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

“When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you”?

When we think of the merciless or the exploitive, we might think of obvious things like human trafficking or slavery, but there’s much more common ways:

• It’s the boss who exploits her workers.

• It’s the predatory dater who sexually uses people over and over.

• It’s the landlord who soaks every last penny possible from his renters.

• It’s the friend who manipulates and controls and uses you.

As you might imagine, the unmerciful are cursed. What they sow, they will reap. The merciful are blessed because the mercy that they show to others will be returned to them. 

The next group blessed are the “pure in heart.” These are the uncorrupted. Their heart is unmixed, “holy”, set apart in the truest sense of the word. The Bible uses the language of metals and alloys to make this point.

“All of them are stubbornly rebellions…they are bronze (copper + tin) and iron (iron oxides); they, all of them, are corrupt. The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on...” (Jeremiah 6:28-29)

“I will…refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” (Zechariah 13:9)

For [God] is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the [priests][5] and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. (Malachi 3:2-4)

Notice: the pure in heart are going to go through the fire. However, the pure in heart are blessed, because they begin to better understand God’s nature as they participate in His character.

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul talks about how the “ministry of the Spirit…brings righteousness…we are being transformed into His image with ever increasing glory...” This is a state where not only our minds – our worldview – mirror God’s mind, but our allegiances do too. The reality of “Christ in us”[6] is becoming clear to all.

Miserable, then, are the devious, the corrupt in heart.  They do not think like God, they do not feel like God, and they wallow in it.  Even if they do good things, it is not because they want to. It is because they have to, or because they have found a way to blend self-serving acts with what appear to be good deeds.  They do not desire what God desires, and they don’t feel about the world as God feels.  No only are they negatively alloyed instead of pure, but they want to be.

The corrupt in heart will not see God, because they keep undermining their ability to see well.

• It’s like me sitting at a KFC buffet, reading an article about people whose arteries aren’t clogged, and muttering, “Why can I not have unclogged arteries too?“

• Here’s another true story: all the years I spent at the gym to lose weight, then go home and use the fact that I exercised as an excuse to eat what I wanted, then constantly being frustrated at the health industry: “They said I needed to exercise.”

Yeah, I have dual allegiances to my arteries and my belly: I want to be healthy, and I want to indulge. I’m just not going to see or experience the life I want because my heart is not pure – my heart is unified within itself in pursuit of a goal.

By the way, remember that Jesus is talking largely to a Jewish audience: the people of God. We see this later with Peter when he drew his sword in the garden. Jesus rebukes Peter, who was trying to protect Jesus. Why?

“Peter’s focus wasn’t pure, meaning it wasn’t singularly set on heaven’s agenda and heaven’s way of winning. It was divided, mixed, interested in heaven’s wisdom to some degree, but trying to make room for earth’s agenda and earth’s way of winning too.” (Jasmine Holmes)

The pure in heart see God because there is a unity of allegiance and purpose in their desires, which translates into their lifestyle. As a result, they “see God” in that they understand God more and more as they are increasingly transformed into the kind of image bearer God intended.

After the pure in heart come the peacemakers. If mercy has to do with the generous use of power, just as God generously used His power for us, a desire for peacemaking will reflect our desire to pass on the peace God, through Jesus, has made with, within, and among us.[7]

Peace Makers seek out hostile environments, and they make peace as far as it depends on them (Romans 12:18). We think of it often as what happens in war zones, or in genocidal countries, but it can happen in your house...in this church…. at school, at work, among your friends. We make peace by…

• leading with love

• speaking truth with grace

• healing brokenness with patience

• addressing sin with humility

• diffusing violence with compassion

• pointing toward Jesus while building a bridge between those who are at odds with one another

Peacemakers share God's peace with those around them by imitating Christ's sacrificial love and participating in His work.[8] Peacemaking can be difficult work. It cost Jesus a crucifixion; it will cost us too.  However, peacemakers are recognized as children of God.[9] This is not how they become children of God—that can only happen by receiving Jesus Christ as Savior (John 1:12). By making peace, believers will be recognizes as children of God. They bear the family likeness.[10]

In contrast are the chaotic, those who disturb the peace. They have not experienced the mercy or peace God has offered them, so they don’t pass it on. They leave a trail of discord behind them wherever they go.

• abuse of all kinds: physical, emotional, verbal

• manipulation and bullying

• cutting sarcasm, constant criticism, and the incessent highlighting of what wrong with everything but self.

• spreading gossip, lies and slander

• unforgiveness

• the love of drama and the creation of it when there is none.

It’s TV reality shows in real life.  Instead of seeking out situations in which to make peace, they seek out situations in which they can create strife.

But, if we persevere in peacemaking, we will be called children of God because there will be a family resemblance with the Great Peacemaker who bridged the gap created by our sin, granted us peace with him, and works in us so that we can introduce peace to those around us.

Jesus next mentions “those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness….when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”

In this group, we find those whose desire for right has been translated into action. They are bold; they have to be. This will not be easy.  Difficulties may follow, but they are dedicated to bringing Truth and Mercy and Peace and Life to everyone. They are willing to pay whatever it costs for the sake of the Gospel. The persecuted will be in the company of a class of people of whom the writer of Hebrews said the world is not worthy (Hebrews 11).[11] This is the bookend to the ‘poor in spirit’ who get this Kingdom of heaven; those who go through this will also inherit the Kingdom of heaven.

There are three different things that full under the umbrella of this beatitude:

• Persecuted (dioko) – hunted; put to flight

• Insulted (oneidzo) – mocked; disgraced

• Falsely say (pseudomai) – lie; willfully misrepresent

Some Christians have experienced all three; the majority of Christians have not had to deal with physical violence. All three provide an opportunity to respond with meekness, righteousness, mercy, and  pureness of heart. Remember, you participate in life with God when you experience this. “Rejoice…your reward is great in heaven.”

For Christians, times that the going gets tough because of our righteous reflection of God is not cause for fear or anger. It’s too be expected. Empires don’t like Kingdom citizens. The way of the Lamb threatens the way of the Dragon (#revelation) and spells its doom. I’m afraid I too often see Christians (especially online) panicking: “What is happening!!??” Life. Life is happening. And yet Jesus says, “Rejoice. The Kingdom of Heaven is yours!”

Why?  We will see next week that the very next thing Jesus says introduces the two most common images for Christians: “You are the salt of the earth….light of the world.”  

The rise of moral decay and spiritual darkness in the world are reasons to mourn, but not to fear or lash out. It’s more opportunity for followers of Jesus to go into the world to bring the preserving and enlightening hope of Jesus. It’s what we were made to do.

__________________________________________________________________________________

[1] I recommend two books on the beatitudes. The first is called World On Fire: Walking In The Wisdom Of Christ When Everyone’s Fighting About Everything. By Hannah Anderson, Jada Edwards, Rachel Gilson, Ashley Marivittori Gorman, Jasmine Holmes, Rebecca McLaughlin, Jen Pollock Michael, Mary Wiley, and Elizabeth Woodson. The second is What If Jesus Was Serious, by Skye Jethani.

[2] Hebrews 11:6

[3] HT C.S. Lewis

[4] Believers Bible Commentary

[5] “sons of Levi”

[6]  Colossians 1:27

[7] “Some Judeans and Galileans believed that God would help them wage war against the Romans to establish God’s kingdom, but Jesus assigned the kingdom instead to the meek, the merciful, the persecuted, and those who make peace.”  (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[8]  Orthodox Study Bible

[9] In the light of the Gospel, Jesus himself is the supreme peacemaker, making peace between God and us (Eph 2:15-17; Col 1:20) and among human beings. Our peacemaking will include the promulgation of that Gospel. It must also extend to seeking all kinds of reconciliation. Those who undertake this work are acknowledged as God's "sons". In the OT, Israel has the title "sons" (Dt 14:1; Hos 1:10). Now it belongs to the heirs of the kingdom who are especially equipped for peacemaking and so reflect something of the character of their heavenly Father. (Expositors Bible Commentary)

[10] Believers Bible Commentary

[11] CBS Tony Evans Study Bible

Harmony #18: The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12; Luke 6:17-26)

Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. When he saw the crowds, Jesus went [back] up the mountain. After he sat down his disciples came to him. Then looking up at his disciples, he began to teach them by saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Blessed are those who mourn or weep, for they will be comforted and laugh.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst now for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject you as evil and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me. Rejoice in that day and jump for joy because your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

There are two Greek words that Matthew could have used for blessed; Matthew chose the word makarios. This word was used by the Greeks for the kind of happiness and well-being the gods themselves enjoy. When Jesus talked about the makarios, the blessed ones, he meant those who participate in life with God, as God intended.

The “blesseds” follow an interesting pattern.  Starting with the poor in spirit, they seem to lay out a progression of how to move into deeper spiritual, relational, and emotional life. We are only going to cover the first three this morning, but I think you will see that progression emerge.

You might also notice that the qualities described and approved are the opposite of those that empires typically value.  Per A. W. Tozer:

“A fairly accurate description of the human race might be furnished one unacquainted with it by taking the Beatitudes, turning them wrong side out, and saying, ‘Here is your human race.’ ”

So as we go through the Beatitudes, we are going to look at what characterizes a blessed Kingdom life with God, and by implication, what characterizes an unblessed life without God. 

We begin with the “poor in spirit.” These are the ones who understand their spiritual situation: they are broken. They are struggling with the chains of sin; they are in a spiritual battle against principalities and powers, and they have at times fought with the enemy instead of against him. But in spite of this, they are living in a blessed state. Recognizing the problem is the first step in inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven.

The fact is that each person was once dead in sin and will continue to take damage points from sin on this side of heaven. As Switchfoot would say, “There ain’t no drug to make me well, ‘cause the sickness is myself.” The first beatitude gives the correct diagnosis: we need a doctor, not just to save us from death, but to continue to heal us. We have to see this to find life. We will see this later in Luke’s gospel.

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

I think this first beatitude is meant to be one on which the others are built. If the original sin was pride; the original virtue – humility - is the opposite of it. And, I might add, a powerful way to engage in spiritual warfare.

The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it. (Vincent de Paul)

Kingdom people recognize their own inadequacy and insufficiency apart from God. To quote from the first step in a lot of recovery groups, “We admit that we are powerless, and our lives have become unmanageable.”

This kind of humility or ‘poorness of spirit’ is not self-loathing. It’s not incessantly focusing on our weakness, or thinking of ourselves as less than we ought. We are, after all, image bearers of God. If we are a follower of Jesus, we are an ambassador, a son or daughter of God, a temple – so much language in the Bible explaining our worth.

Humility involves not thinking more highly of ourselves than we should. It’s being realistic about the broken and sinful parts of who we are. It’s knowing the limit of our abilities; it’s seeing where we are weak and acknowledging it. The poor in spirit are very much just…honest about themselves.

The opposite is pride. The proud live in a cursed state; they think they are okay, that they are all put together. They would say, if they were in a group, “I admit that I am powerful, and my life will be what I make it.”[1] They don’t see how they are damaged and enslaved by sin, or how this unaddressed sin is hurting those around them.

If there is one sin which God hates more than another, and more sets Himself against, it is the sin of pride. Like a weed upon a dung-heap, pride grows more profusely in some soils, especially when well fertilized by rank, riches, praise, flattery, our own ignorance, and the ignorance of others…

Those, perhaps, who think they possess the least pride, and view themselves with wonderful self-admiration as the humblest of mortals, may have more pride than those who feel and confess it. (J.C. Philpot)

One of the hardest things to deal with is people who say, “I’ve got this!” when you know they don’t got that. The hardest kids to coach are not the ones who knows they are terrible; it is those who can barely dribble who think they have a shot at the NBA. The hardest person to counsel…the hardest musician to train…the hardest spouse to live with… they all follow this pattern. They have so much to prove; so much weight of being amazing; so much perfection to defend.

Here’s how C.S. Lewis describes God’s plan for the poor in spirit:

[God] wants you to know Him: wants to give you Himself. And He and you are two things of such a kind that if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble—delightedly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life.

He is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible: trying to take off a lot of silly, ugly, fancy-dress in which we have all got ourselves up and are strutting about like the little idiots we are.

 I wish I had got a bit further with humility myself: if I had, I could probably tell you more about the relief, the comfort, of taking the fancy-dress off—getting rid of the false self, with all its 'Look at me' and 'Aren't I a good boy?' and all its posing and posturing. To get even near it, even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in a desert.

Only by stopping my attempts to rule in the Kingdom of Me, where I must increase while God and other decrease, can I enter the kingdom of God. Only by being humbly and desperately dependent on the saving and transforming grace of God can we become what God has created us to be.[2]

Next come the mourners. The context indicates that these are mourning over sin and evil; they especially mourn their own, but they also mourn the failure of mankind to live righteously.[3]They have moved beyond being aware of the problem to bemoaning the broken state of the world. The godly remnant of Jesus' day wept because of the humiliation of Israel as a result of their sin, both personal and corporate. Weeping for sins, to the Israelites, was a deeply poignant[4] act that covered personal as well as societal sin and all who participated.

Mourners are not only thinking about the situation the way God thinks about it, they are feeling about the world the way God feels about it. God grieves over the sin and brokeness of the world (Ephesians 4:30; Mark 3:5), and we should too.

This is not sadness that leads to despair (see 2 Corinthians 7:10), because God has promised comfort to his people (Isaiah 40:1; 51:3; 61:2 – 3; 66:13).  Holy sorrow is part of repentance, conversion, and virtuous action.[5] We are blessed as this drives us to the comfort of salvation. When know we are sick, and we want the cure, and we find the right doctor, we will be okay. 

In contrast, “Cursed are the hardened.” They know there is a problem, but they think it is too hard to address it. They convince themselves that they will be okay, or that’s it’s nothing to be worried about, and they detach the proper emotion from this reality, and off they go with a smile fixed on their face. They distract themselves or drown their emotions in a flood of parties, distractions, and work projects. Even if they see the diagnosis, they don’t hate the sickness enough to take the cure.

Because - let’s be honest - the cure is hard. It requires mourning. If you know anything about Old Testament precedent, it was sackcloth and ashes, and fasting. Who looks forward to mourning brokenness and failure? But….not mourning is hard too. The hardening of our lives has its own consequence. The things we use to drown our emotions will eventually drown us. The walls we build to wall off parts of ourselves we want to avoid will eventually be walls that separate us off from others, because - let’s be honest - people who refuse to address their own issues are hard to be around.

Two paths, both of which are hard. Choose the one that leads to life.

 “Which is better, to laugh or to cry? Is there anybody who wouldn’t prefer to laugh? Because repentance involves a beneficial sorrow, the Lord presented tears as a requirement and laughter as the resulting benefit…So crying is a requirement, laughter the reward, of wisdom.” - Augustine

If we want laughter (think ‘joy’) the beatitudes teach that we begin by embracing transformative sorrow. Counterintuitive, I know. But it’s the way to life, because God is at work in the midst of that process. In fact, the word used for “they shall be comforted” is parakaleo, from which we get parakletos, the Holy Spirit, our comforter who is also an advocate[6] for those whose mourning has led them to repentance and into salvation.

These first two beatitudes deliberately allude to the messianic blessing of Isaiah 61:1-3, which we have seen used by the gospel writers before. It’s the one Jesus read in his hometown to announce who he was. Here it is again:

The Lord has appointed me for a special purpose. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to repair broken hearts, and to declare to those who are held captive and bound in prison, “Be free from your imprisonment!” 2 He has sent me to announce the year of jubilee, the season of the Eternal’s favor: for our enemies it will be a day of God’s wrath; for those who mourn it will be a time of comfort. 3 As for those who grieve over Zion, God has sent me to give them a beautiful crown in exchange for ashes, to anoint them with gladness instead of sorrow, to wrap them in victory, joy, and praise instead of depression and sadness.

That’s where mourning is headed: gladness, victory, joy, and comfort. But it starts with mourning.

Then there are the gentle, or meek or humble.  The same word is used in the Greek in a variety of ways:

• bulls that pull a plow

• horses that pull a chariot

• the image in Job 39 of the war horse pawing as he waits for his rider before entering the battle.

The meek are the ones who are willing to be harnessed into the service of the Kingdom. Our pattern for meekness or gentleness[7] is Jesus, who submits to the will of His Father.

“Meekness is His enabling strength to do what His Word prescribes. It is genuine, quiet strength comfortable with self by making peace with God.” (Donald Hanna)

Though Jesus set the pattern, we need this harnessing in ways Jesus did not in order for us to flourish in this blessed life. Unharnessed, we are wild and untamed. The humble (the poor in spirit who mourn the effect of sin) know they need to be controlled, because on their own they will just tear things up; they know that they need a yoke; they know that if their life is harnessed in the right cause, they can be strong in the service of something greater than themselves. They began to gain a sense of what their life might mean to others.

In meekness, we see the beginning of a sense of community.

Because the meek are God-controlled, the Holy Spirit brings about the strength to have mastery over passions and emotions. Meekness is not passive weakness, but strength directed and under control. The meek don’t become emotionless; they have emotions harnessed to bring about good. The meek don’t become weak; their strength is harnessed to bring about good.  

• If you physically bully people, the problem isn’t that you are too strong; it’s that you use your strength to break the world instead of fix it.

• If you verbally abuse people, the problem isn’t that you can speak; it’s that you use the power of your words to bring death instead of life.

• If your emotions lash out in a way that manipulates or wounds people, the problem isn’t that you have emotions; it’s that your emotions are unharnessed and destructive.

The problem with Hurricane Ian wasn’t that there was wind and rain; it was that it was untamed and destructive. It left devastation in its wake. None of us look at that think, “Well, rain was a terrible idea.” No, we look at it and say, “Two feet of rain in a hurricane is a problem.”

So it is with the things constrained by meekness. Holy Spirit empowered meekness orders our lives for our good and the good of others. The whole world flourishes when we surrender to God’s constraint to fulfill His design.

In contrast, it is a curse to remain wild, living an unconstructive or an unstructured life. The wild don’t want authority over them; they want to do their own thing, follow their own heart, put their strength toward themselves and not bring their lives into submission to others.  They are all about the self.  I remember years ago watching a video for a Bon Jovi song called “It’s My Life.” It starts with, “This ain’t a song for the broken hearted,” so, well, shots fires toward the poor in spirit. The chorus notes that, “Like Frankie said, ‘I did it my way,’ and concludes with “It’s my life.”

Catchy song, entertaining video that tells a story of young man doing anything he can to make it to a Bon Jovi concert. But if you watch the video, the main character who embodies the song leaves a trail of chaos in his wake. The simplest is how he scatters a pack of dogs a lady is walking. He disrupts a race. He creates havoc as he runs through traffic. He vandalizes cars by running over them. He almost causes a semi with what looks like a load of fuel to crash because he jumps in front of it.  He’s mayhem from the commercials.

When I teach my ethics class at NMC, a key question that keeps coming up is this:  “What would it look like if everybody lived like you?” or “Would you like other people if they lived by your standards?” It’s a way of talking about the Golden Rule: “Do to others what you would like for them to do to you.”

The meek have a sense of community. They see how their lives are situated in the midst of the lives of others. The meek seek to live out the Golden Rule: they want those around them to live with constrained power that brings about the flourishing of everyone, so they do it to.

The law of meekness is: If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, not only give him drink, (which is an act of charity), but drink to him, in token of friendship, and true love, and reconciliation; and in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, not to consume him, but to melt and soften him, that he may be cast into a new mold. (Matthew Henry)

The meek, the harnessed, the blessed, will experience reward.[8] The earth that the meek will inherit is not power or possession in this world, but the new earth, which is everlasting (Rev 21:1).[9] One day the owner of the earth will pass an inheritance on to them. The ones who know what it’s like to be stewarded know how to steward well in turn, both in this life and the next. [10] 

* * * * *

The first three beatitudes lay a foundation:

• honest brokenness over our sin

• humble mourning that leads to repentance and salvation

• harnesssed servanthood that leads to flourishing

We see here three requirements for entering into life with God and building the kind of Kingdom God has planned.

_________________________________________________________________________

[1] Psalm 10:4 “In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.”

[2] The kingdom of heaven, where self-sufficiency is no virtue and self-exaltation is a vice, belongs to such people. (Believers Bible Commentary)

[3] They mourn over both personal and corporate sins (see Ezra 9:1–4 as an example from the Old Testament).

[4] Ezra 10:6; Psalm 51:4; Daniel 9:19-20)

[5] Orthodox Study Bible

[6] It’s not like God doesn’t know about our repentance and salvation. It’s an earthly analogy (the biblical audience knew what a parakletos was and did in society) to illustrate a spiritual reality.

[7] The same Greek word is translated “gentle” elsewhere.

[8] The specific OT allusion here is Ps 37:9, 11, 29. Entrance into the Promised Land ultimately became a pointer toward entrance into the new heaven and the new earth, the consummation of the messianic kingdom. (Expositors Bible Commentary)

[9] Orthodox Study Bible

[10] The ultimate fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, whom Paul calls “heir of the world” (Rom. 4:13; cf. Heb. 11:16). (ESV Global Study Bible)

Harmony #17: Mission, Character, Message (Mark 3:7-12; Matthew 5:25; 12:15-21; Luke 6:17-19)

Jesus withdrew with a large number of his disciples to a lake, where they had gathered along with a vast multitude from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, Idumea, beyond the Jordan River, and around the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon [who] came to him when they heard about the things he had done. They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.

Because of the crowd, he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him so the crowd would not press toward him.For he had healed many, so that all who were afflicted with diseases pressed toward him in order to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing them all.

And those who suffered from unclean spirits were cured,[1] for whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.[2]

This fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I take great delight. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick. Finally, justice will be victorious, and in his name the nations will hope.”

MISSIONAL OPPORTUNITY

This withdrawal happened after the Pharisees began to plot to kill him. It reads as if Jesus found out about this, and he moved on to get away from their plans. This is interesting to me, as often I think we get the message that avoiding persecution or removing ourselves from difficult or fruitless situations makes us cowardly, weak or outright unfaithful. But Jesus avoided places at times (never returning to his hometown after they tried to kill him, for example), as did Paul (Acts 9), as did the disciples at Jesus’ command.

“Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet… When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another…. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” (Matthew 10:12-14; 23)[3]

The need for Gospel truth is everywhere. Moving on from a place that needs to hear the gospel to another place that needs to hear the gospel is not always a sign of failure; it can be a sign of wisdom. We want to sow seeds of the gospel in the right kind of ground. There are times when we are on tough mission that staying is better than leaving – and times when leaving is better than staying.

The rejection of the Gospel in one place has often been the means of sending it to and establishing it in another. - Adam Clarke

This is what you see happen here. Jesus moves on to a place where he is attracting massive crowds who hear his message. Neither I nor the Bible have a formula for when we know to shake the dust off of our feet and move on and when we ought to stay. I suspect that individual people are called to different expression of faithful presence in the world when it comes to particular people or places.

• Some of you, God has built to stay in a situation or with people from which he is calling others out. You will need to fight the tendency to judge those who move on as weak.

• Some of you, God is calling to leave places or people and move one. You will need to fight the tendency to think that those who remained are probably compromised.

 I have three bits of advice that may only be worth two bits:

• Be faithfully honest about where God calls you to be and what God calls you to do. 

• Don’t require others to be you. 

• Learn from each other.

KINGDOM CHARACTER

The gospel writers describe Jesus by quoting Isaiah:

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged before establishing justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” (Isaiah 42:1-4)

This picture is of a bringer of justice who shows gentleness and humility while speaking (11:29).[4] One thing that impressed me when studying this week was just how counter-cultural Jesus’ approach is in probably every time and culture, and our time is no exception.

This King who is God’s “servant” will not reach His rightful place of eminence by any of the usual means of carnal force or political demagoguery. (McClain)[5]

He should not do his work in any passion or roughness, nor carry on his kingdom with any strife or violence… not crying out to stir up any sedition; not setting a trumpet to his mouth, when he had wrought a miracle, that people might take notice of it. (Matthew Poole's Commentary) 

He shall not contend…in a clamorous way, using reviling and [scornful] language, or menaces and threatenings; but, on the contrary, he silently put up all abuses, and patiently bore every affront, and behaved peaceably, quietly, committing himself and cause to a righteous God. (Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)

The spirit of Christ is not a spirit of contention, murmuring, clamor, or [argument]. He who loves these does not belong to him. (Adam Clarke) 

I’m not sure how popular Jesus would be today. There is a new kind of ‘muscular Christianity’ – especially on social media - that reflects values that rise from the empire, not the Kingdom. This approach admires abrasiveness and even mockery, and thinks deliberately triggering offense is admirable. It get clicks and likes, builds an audience, and even jump starts careers. It’s just not Christ-like.

This is made clear in the analogies of the bruised reed and smoking flax. The weaknesses aren’t signs to pounce and finish the breaking or snuff out what life and hope was there. They are opportunities for ministry. Because I got soaked in thinking about this, I’m going to pass some what I read on to you.

“He would not trample on the dispossessed or underprivileged in order to reach His goals. He would encourage and strengthen the broken-hearted, oppressed person. He would fan even a spark of faith into a flame.” (Believers Bible Commentary) 

The “bruised reed” is the type of one broken by the weight of sorrow, or care, or sin. Such a one people in general disregard or trample on. The Christ did not so act, but sought rather to bind up and strengthen. The “smoking flax” is the wick of the lamp which has ceased to burn clearly, and the clouded flame of which seems to call for prompt extinction. Here we read a parable of the souls in which the light that should shine before men has grown dim. Base desires have clogged it; it is no longer fed with the true oil. For such, the self-righteous Pharisee had no pity; he simply gave thanks that his own lamp was burning. But the Christ in His tenderness sought, if it were possible, to trim the lamp and to pour in the oil till the flame was bright again. (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)

What is pictured is a ministry so gentle and compassionate that the weak are not trampled on and crushed till the full righteousness of God triumphs. Small wonder that the Gentiles ("nations") would put their hope in his name (cf. Isa 11:10; Ro 15:12). [6]

I love that we serve a God like this. How often have we been bruised, near breaking? How often has our faith, either in belief or action, smoldered instead of burned? God did not come into the world to condemn the bruised and smoldering, but to save it. Which means God does not send His people into the world to finish the breaking or extinguish the smoldering, but to take His message of salvation and hope.

GLOBAL MESSAGE: “He will proclaim justice to the nations.” 

The word for justice in Isaiah 42 is used quite a few times in the Old Testament. To give you an idea of what is expressed by this word, here’s how it is used in some other passages (there are more, but these passages capture all the uses I could find):[7]

• Genesis 19:18 – keeping the way of the Lord

• Genesis 19”25 – doing what is right

• Genesis 40:13; Exodus 21:9 – custom or manner

• Exodus 15:25; Exodus 21:1 – statute, ordinance, regulation

• Exodus 26:30 – plan

• Exodus 28:15 – making just decisions

In the Bible, justice means fulfilling mutual obligations in a manner consistent with God’s moral law. Biblical justice creates the perfect human society,[8] or perfect order.[9]

 In other words, through Jesus first and then the church, the message of the goodness of God and His Kingdom will be spread throughout the world. Where Kingdom principles of justice flourish, the kind of harmony and order God intended will follow. One thing that will tell you it’s happening is when the bruised reeds and smoldering wicks are cared for, healed and brought back to life rather than trampled.

It’s a promise about the transformative power of the gospel going everywhere. Jesus transforms individuals to be sure, but the good news does not stop there. What happens in individuals trickles out into society: family, school, church, business.

* * * * *

I’ve been having an oddly hard time organizing my thoughts on this passage. I’ve spent the week feeling like a well-ordered conclusion that wraps this up in a nice bow has been eluding me. I think I just have so many thoughts about the implications of this bouncing around in my head. So I’m just going to bounce them out to you to talk about over lunch J

1.  As we go through the gospels, each Sunday is a snapshot of Jesus that makes up a bigger picture that emerges when all the snaphshots are put together. If this is the only snapshot we see, we can forget something important: Isaiah and the gospel writers don’t say in this passage what Jesus will do to the proud and the powerful. But based on other passages, God confronts the arrogant, the cruel, the hardened in a very different way. We’ve already seen this on some level with his confrontation (and even public embarrassment) of the Pharisees. Sometimes, as was the case with Saul, getting knocked off your high horse is the kindest thing God can do for you. If you don’t see your own bruises, and the ways in which you smolder instead of burn brightly – if all you see are all the losers and failures and weakling around you - heads up. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.[10]

There is a time and a place for us to apply both these things. We will cover other scenarios as we get there. Today, let’s remember the gentle kindness Jesus has shown us, and think about what it looks like to pay that forward.

2.  Our alliances matter. Jesus’ character and message supported his mission. Our character and message need to support our mission.  Jesus rejected the witness of evil spirits even though they spoke truth in that moment.  I’m pretty sure that those with whom we consistently and publicly align ourselves ought a) to consistently share our values when it comes to character and b) consistently share our worldview when it comes to message. Are the people, groups and organizations we align ourselves building our witness with the same character and message or are they undermining it? Let’s look at some contrasts from what has come up in this passage about Jesus. Are we known for yoking with those who are:

• Abrasive and insulting or speaking truth with grace?

• Creating strife with menace and scorn or speaking with gentleness and care?

• Arrogant and pompous or humble and kind?

• Deceptive or truthful?

• Trampling the wounded and struggling or protecting them?

• Crushing the poor and powerless or helping them?

• Dismantling justice or building it?

Why does this matter? Because we will be connected to the company we keep.

“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.” (Proverbs 13:20) 

“Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

I’m also not suggesting there is never a good reason to seek justice in the world by uniting with others who share our passion for a common good. I’m just wanting us to consider that we need to be careful with whom and how deeply we yoke. When two parties get too intertwined, people will assume those yoked together are on the same mission. “Unequal yokes” can be deeply, deeply confusing.[11] We must consistently walk those who are wise and of good character.

3.  This passage should reorient how we think about ourselves when we see our bruises through the smoldering ruins in our lives. Shame can be powerful. Self-loathing is such a heavy burden. We can look at our lives and just see failure and disaster. But Jesus doesn’t plan to dismiss us, shame us, or rub it in. He’s here to heal and restore. He plans to turn our shack into a temple. If God is for us, let’s not give up on us. Our history is not our destiny when Jesus is in the house.  

4.  This passage should reorient how we think about and respond to others. Neither Isaiah nor Jesus said why people were bruised or smoldering. They just were, and that was enough for Jesus to bring humble, gentle nourishment that brought healing and hope to the sick and hopeless. Other people abused and wounded them? Jesus was there to gently show them how to re-order their lives in the glorious and healing truth about Christ and His Kingdom. Those broken by their own sin or dumb choices? Jesus was there to gently show them how to re-order their lives in the glorious and healing truth about Christ and His Kingdom.  The Good Samaritan didn’t ask why that guy got beat up. He just helped him because he was beat up. The Good Shepherd didn’t ask why that one sheep wandered off. He just went and got him. This is how grace works. We don’t need to deserve it. God gives it to us because we need it.

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14

So while we lunch together today, remember that you are sitting across from someone who I promise you has bruises somewhere, and whose candles are down to the nub somewhere. Love them well. And then do it again next Sunday J

___________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Side note: I’ve heard (in some Christian circles) the idea that all sickness = spiritual attack. This paragraph alone demonstrates that’s not accurate. There are those who are simply sick; there are others in whom evil spirits bring about sickness.

[2] Why does Jesus silence them? In the first-century setting, most would have considered it ominous for demons to shout out a name in recognition. They would assume either Jesus and demons were connected, or that they were attempting to control him by pronouncing his divine name. (This comes up later with the Pharisees, who accuse him of casting out demons by the power of the devil.) I suspect Jesus silenced them because he would not receive the witness of evil spirits. He didn’t want voices of evil preparing the way of the Lord. Jesus doesn’t want there to be any confusion about with whom he had aligned himself.

[3] Adam Clarke says, in relation to Jesus leaving the Pharisee’s murderous environment:

It is the part of prudence and Christian charity not to provoke, if possible, the blind and the hardened…a man of God is not afraid of persecution; but, as his aim is only to do good, by proclaiming everywhere the grace of the Lord Jesus, he departs from any place when he finds the obstacles to the accomplishment of his end are, humanly speaking, invincible.” - Adam Clarke

[4] Expositors Bible Commentary

[5] Believers Bible Commentary

[6] Expositors Bible Commentary

[7] “By judgment, understand the Gospel, and by victory its complete triumph over Jewish opposition and Gentile impiety. He will continue by these mild and gentle means to work till [Christianity is brought to the whole world], and the universe filled with his glory.” (Adam Clarke).

[8] ESV Global Study Bible

[9] NIV Study Bible Notes

[10] James 4:6

[11] “Several years ago, a combative atheist wrote that his fellow atheists should drop the word atheism because it gave too much weight to theism. The ultimate goal, he argued, was not to spread atheism but to emphasize that belief in God is so lacking in credibility that it doesn’t deserves to be seriously entertained. His arguments included no little sarcasm about the perceived stupidity of Christianity, along with strategies to move people away from their supernatural “myths” toward what he saw as realism—a world without God. That same atheist spoke at a recent pastors’ conference. He has appeared in videos by evangelical groups to accuse other evangelicals of being “woke” and—in an unacknowledged, dizzying irony—of denying the sufficiency of Scripture. In his view, the dividing line between the “sheep” and the “goats” is the “correct” view on political causes, not belief in Christ or fidelity to the gospel.”  - Russell Moore, “The Rise of the Evangelical Heretic,” Christianity Today

Sabbath Rest

So, Jesus said the Sabbath was “for” us. We talked about that being true of the Law in general; today, I want to talk about the rest that is the gift of the Sabbath in the Old Testament and the Lord’s Day in the New. Let’s begin with the passages in the Old Testament that talk about the command to the Israelites to honor the Sabbath.  

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. ‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you….The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. (Exodus 31: 12-16)

 “Sabbath” is related to the Hebrew word for “rest.” It is the only one of the 10 Commandments given as a covenant sign. We see elsewhere in the Old Testament that covenants have signs: the sign of the Noahic covenant is the rainbow (Gen. 9:8–17); the sign of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision (Gen. 17).[1]

The observance of Sabbath was a constant re-honoring of the covenant between God and Israel.  It was an act of covenant renewal, a reminder of and a refocusing on the God with whom they had a covenant. Resting wasn’t just for personal renewal; it was for relational renewal with God.

As the Jewish people came to understand it, their primary duty was to stop working. We might think about it as getting out of the ‘rat race,’ but it became a lot more than that. Over time, the rabbis listed 39 categories of Sabbath work that was out of bounds.  This was called “putting a fence around the Torah,” a well-intentioned effort to make sure they honored God as precisely and carefully as possible. See if this list makes you restful.

• ripping up a piece of paper or sharpening a pencil was forbidden since it resembles “cutting to shape” or could be confused with it.[2]

• agreeing to buy something was prohibited, because #“writing”

• climbing a tree is forbidden, because it may lead to breaking twigs or tearing leaves, which could be construed as “reaping” (i.e., separating part of a growing plant from its source)

• adding fresh water to a vase of cut flowers (“sowing” — any activity that causes or furthers plant growth).

• Opening an umbrella or unfolding a screen (“building”).

• Wearing eyeglasses not permanently required (“carrying” from private to public domain and vice versa).[3]

• You could carry on your property, but on public property you could only carry the clothes you needed to wear – even keys and handkerchiefs had to be left at home.

• They didn’t blow a temple shofar when Rosh Hashana happened on the Sabbath. Sure, there was a shofar at the temple, but what if it got broken and someone had to carry one there to replace it?

• A Sabbath’s journey could be no longer than 2,000 cubits (3,000 feet) from one’s house. In some parts of Israel today, residents have been known to throw stones at those driving through their neighborhoods on Shabbat. However, they must set aside the stones for use on Shabbat.[4]

 There is some irony here: Sabbath was supposed to remind them how God freed them from bondage, and it turned into bondage to the Law.[5]  Which wasn’t the point at all.  Sabbath was a gift designed to bring us rest. That doesn’t sound like rest.[6]

While it is the only one of the Ten Commandment given as a covenant sign, it is also the only commandment referred to as a type pointing toward the True Sabbath. Many of the New Testament writers compared Sabbath to the other covenant sign, circumcision: both were physical ways of enacting a covenant with God; both were now enacted spiritually in Christ.

“True circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. “(Romans 2:28-29)

"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." (Colossians 2:16-18)[7] 

“There still remains a place of rest, a true Sabbath, for the people of God because those who enter into salvation’s rest lay down their labors in the same way that God entered into a Sabbath rest from His.” (Hebrews 4:9-10)

 Literal Sabbath Day rest functioned as important reminder of the spiritual rest in Christ. The seriousness with which the Old Testament treats the observance of Sabbath rest was admirable, but Jesus pointed out that so many of the Pharisee’s laws were missing the point of Sabbath. Sabbath is for us. It had become a burden to keep, and it should not have been a burden. It should have been a blessing. After all, 

"Sabbath isn't about resting perfectly; it's about resting in the One who is perfect." - Shelly Miller

Jesus didn’t un-command it, but – like all the times he said, “You have heard it said…but I say unto you,” he clarified that there was something more going on. I like how Justin Martyr summarized it about 100 years after Jesus’ death:

“The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you…if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent… if any one has impure hands, let him wash and be pure. Then he has kept the sweet and true sabbaths of God.“

 One of the reasons Sunday rose in importance vs. Saturday in the early church had to do with the question of where we find rest in New Covenant enacted by Jesus.

• In the Old Covenant, rest followed our work at the end of the week (Saturday) Once we had accomplished, we got a reward for what we did.

• In the New Covenant, it is only after resting in Christ’s completed work for us on the first day of the week (Sunday) that we even begin our work. Our rest comes not from what we did, but from what Jesus did.

• The Sabbath commemorated the first creation; the Lord’s Day is linked with the new creation. The Sabbath day was a day of responsibility; the Lord’s Day is a day of privilege.[8]

The new covenant radically alters the Sabbath perspective. Current believers do not first labor six days, looking hopefully towards rest. Instead, they begin the week by rejoicing in the rest already accomplished by the cosmic event of Christ’s resurrection. Then they enter joyfully into their six days of labor. - O. Palmer Robertson, (slightly modified)

“The Sabbath teaches us that we do not work to please God. Rather, we rest because God is already pleased with the work, he has accomplished in us.” A.J. Swoboda

I want to talk more about resting in God’s completed work in us by looking at some principles for observing and experiencing rest in Jesus as an ongoing experience, not just something we pursue one day a week. Let’s start by expanding our view of a verse we looked at last week.

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is usefully kind, and my burden is light.”—Matthew 11:28-30

Come to Jesus and take His yoke.  “Take my yoke” was a common saying of rabbis. It meant, “If you are going to be a disciple, you must obey my teachings and follow my example.” If you want rest – deep, spiritual rest of the heart and soul - don’t pursue rest. Pursue Jesus. Jesus will lead you to rest.

Learn about Jesus, and you will find rest for your souls.    Rest is connected to trust. My cat sleeps on me without a care in the world because she trusts me. If you trust the driver, you can rest on a trip. I can bare my soul to my wife because I trust her. Rest is connected with trust. If you can’t seem to rest in Christ, learn more about a Savior you can trust.

Is there a formula for how we can practically experience this rest (and I’m talking about soul rest that permeates every aspect of our life)? Formula is not the right word, but there are habits (spiritual disciplines) that are helpful. I am going to offer a couple ideas built from a list taken from some of Tim Keller’s writing on the Sabbath. 

First, consciously enjoy[9] God and His good gifts. Practice acknowledgment of God throughout the day by improving purposeful contact with God.  

• Consciously appreciate salvation, sanctification, grace, forgiveness, the fruit of the spirit, the love and faithfulness of God: basically, the good and perfect gifts given to us by Jesus.

• Celebrate the freedom Jesus offers from all kinds of slavery: slavery to sin, slavery to achieve, slavery to impress, slavery to earn, slavery to addictions of all kinds, slavery to your past, slavery to the gnawing need to be good enough to matter…

• Consciously rest in the identity we have in Christ. We are loved children. We aren’t perfect children, but God’s love for us never depends on our perfection. It flows from His.   

 Second, do something that frees you from the tyranny of being amazing.  This has to do with accomplishing, making a mark on the world, being noticed. The rabbis who created the “fence around the Torah” understood the importance of getting out of the rhythm of the ‘rat race’ and into the rhythm of the Kingdom.

"If we only stop when we are finished with all our work, we will never stop, because our work is never completely done... Sabbath ... liberates us from the need to be finished." —Wayne Muller

It turns out that the world turns even when we take time off! (I know, right?) Israelites had to let their fields lie fallow every seventh year. (Leviticus 25:1–7). This stopped them from over farming.  They could enjoy whatever grew on its own. You need time to make sure you don’t “overfarm” your life or your schedule; plan fallow time, and enjoy it. Consciously let God take care of the ‘being amazing’ part.

• some meals can just be Ramen noodles and leftovers

• your house can be a mess when people come over

• your lawn doesn’t have to be immaculate all the time

• you can let down your guard and cry in front of others

• you can show up at church looking like you need a hug

• you can let your burdens show, and ask others to help you.

• you can make mistakes, do dumb stuff, show up grumpy, post something you regret

• you can own your sin in front of God and others

• you can go back and apologize (which, I know, means you were wrong in what you did or said or thought)

I love this quote from Barbara Brown Taylor:

“At least one day in every seven, pull off the road and park the car in the garage. Close the door to the toolshed and turn off the computer. Stay home, not because you are sick but because you are well. Talk someone you love into being well with you. Take a nap, a walk, and hour for lunch. Test the premise that you are worth more than you can produce – that even if you spent one whole day of being good for nothing you would still be precious in God’s sight.  

And when you get anxious because you are convinced that this is not so – remember that your own conviction is not required. This is a commandment. Your worth has already been established, even when you are not working. The purpose of the commandment is to woo you to the same truth.”

 You can’t be amazing all the time.  Jesus knows this – and friends, I hope we all do too. God forbid we use this as an excuse to be lazy, but God forbid we don’t rest in a Divine love that has covered a multitude of our sins and imperfections on the Cross.

Sabbath ceasing means to cease not only from work itself, but also from the need to accomplish and be productive, from the worry and tension that accompany our modern criterion of efficiency, from our efforts to be in control of our lives as if we were God, from our possessiveness and our enculturation, and, finally, from the humdrum and meaninglessness that result when life is pursued without the Lord at the center of it all. —Marva J. Dawn

When we are weak, the strength of God shines. His glory is perfected in our weakness. We don’t try to be weak so His glory can abound, but we rest in knowing that God uses our worst to point toward His best.

Plan rhythms that lead to spiritual rest. Notice fear/worry/anxiety and invite the peace of Christ.  I don’t know what your schedule is. Sometimes we are at a place in life when we have time to stop everything and carve out chunks of time. Sometimes our days (or weeks or months) keep us hopping. Either way, 

• I can breath a prayer in the checkout line instead of check my phone.

• I can listen to music in my truck that points me toward God.

• I can download a Bible App or get a short devotional book that orients my mind.

• For parents with young kids, bring ‘em to church when we offer stuff for kids and take some time to re-orient and rest.  Hmmm…I bet a ministry of babysitting would be deeply appreciated….

It is so easy to get swept up in life – it comes at us relentlessly at times. Paul summarized the solution this way in Philippians 4:

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

Do something that refreshes you when you can. Hopefully, the things mentioned above do that. In addition, there are activities you (hopefully) have time and opportunity to do in addition to engaging in church fellowship and worship. Enjoy things that are good and that you find beautiful, and thank God for it. I know what those things are for me: puzzles and podcasts; fishing; napping (is that recreation?), gardening, sitting by a fire pit and watching a sunset… I’m not sure what they are for you. I just think they involve enjoying God’s good world. Find the green pastures and still waters that restore your soul.

Focus on passing on the grace God has given to us. I love this account of what an early Lord’s Day observance looked like in the church. This is from around A.D. 155. 

 “ And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things.  

Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons.  

And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who supports the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.  

But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead.

For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration. (Justin Martyr, First Apology Chapter LXVII.—Weekly worship of the Christians. [A.D. 155])

Contribute to restful spaces. In relationships, seek peace and as much as it is up to you, and pursue it. (Psalm 34:14) As much as is possible, live at peace with all. (Romans 12:18) Like Jesus said, peacemakers are blessed. (Matthew 5:9) Do not be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

 Let the Lord who leads us into the Sabbath rest of salvation rule and reign your heart and mind such that those around us experience the peace God has given us. Peacemaking can involve hard truth and bold confrontation at times – but it will never be absent the kind of Christ-centered agape love that motivates to be broken and spilled out as we work for the good of God’s image bearers and children.

“I have come to think that the moment of giving the bread of Eucharist as gift is the quintessential center of the notion of Sabbath rest in Christian tradition. It is gift! We receive in gratitude. Imagine having a sacrament named “thanks”! We are on the receiving end, without accomplishment, achievement, or qualification. It is a gift, and we are grateful!” ― Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath as Resistance

_______________________________________________________________________________

[1] Circumcision was not unique to the Israelites. Egyptians, for example, appear to have used circumcision as an act of initiation or rite of passage for boys entering manhood. Circumcision was an act of initiation; the style of circumcision showed what you had been initiated into. This may seem odd to us, but it made sense to everyone in the Ancient Near East. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/55911658.pdf

[2] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shabbats-work-prohibition/

[3] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shabbats-work-prohibition/

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_on_Shabbat#cite_note-23

[5] “Anyone who cannot obey God's command to observe the Sabbath is a slave, even a self-imposed one. Your own heart, or our materialistic culture, or an exploitative organization, or all of the above, will be abusing you… Sabbath is therefore a declaration of our freedom. It means you are not a slave—not to your culture's expectations, your family's hopes, your medical school's demands, not even to your own insecurities. It is important that you learn to speak this truth to yourself with a note of triumph...” -Keller

[6] “If we do not allow for a rhythm of rest in our overly busy lives, illness becomes our Sabbath…our accidents create Sabbath for us.”  ― Wayne Muller, Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives He doesn’t mean that if you get sick or dangerously sloppy, it’s always because you dishonored God’s command to rest. His point is that our bodies need rest, and if we don’t set time aside for to rest our bodies (as best we can), our bodies keep score in some fashion. For me, it was a nervous breakdown. God didn’t smite me: my body needed rest that I wasn’t giving it.

[7] “So, when you ask why a Christian does not keep the Sabbath, if Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, my reply is, that a Christian does not keep the Sabbath precisely because what was prefigured in the Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ. For we have our Sabbath in Him who said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Augustine, reply to Faustus,Book XIX.-9)

[8] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[9] Also got some good ideas here: https://tifwe.org/the-sabbath-and-your-work/

Harmony #16: The Sabbath Was Made For Us (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5)

At that time Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick some heads of wheat, rub them in their hands, and eat them.[1] But when some of the Pharisees saw this they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath.”

To be clear, the Old Testament does not prohibit this; the disciples were not farmers doing a harvest on the Sabbath. The Pharisees’ objections were based on an oral tradition that had grown in complexity over time.[2] Here we are, back to the old wineskins of tradition. This suggests we are going to learn something new about the Sabbath as opposed to how the Pharisees understood it.

Mark 2:25-26; Matthew 12:4-5 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry— how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, took and ate the sacred bread,[3] which is against the law for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?  Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty?”

Jesus is using a Jewish hero to highlight a clear precedent in the Old Testament:  God’s laws were never meant to stop us from doing good or necessary things. In addition, the priests technically violated the Sabbath by working as they offered sacrifices and did other duties on the Sabbath (Num. 28:9, 10), yet they were considered blameless.[4]

At minimum, Jesus is pointing out that the Pharisees are not consistent with how they understand the Law. At maximum, they have badly missed the point and turned Sabbath observance into something God never intended for it to be.

Matthew 12:6-7; Mark 2:27-28” I tell you that something greater than the temple [Jesus and His Kingdom] [5] is here.If you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. For this reason the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

There was active debate in Judaism concerning how much a person was willing to sacrifice to give honor to God and his holy day. This went beyond the actual act animal sacrifice; this included how much one was willing to hurt: financially, emotionally, physically, etc. It was as if the most holy were the most self-deprived; the ones who were hurt the most by the Sabbath must understand it the best.

The Qumran community was more rigorous than most: “No one should help an animal give birth on the Sabbath day. And if he makes it fall into a well or a pit, he should not take it out on the Sabbath” (CD 11:13–14). Even if people fell into water, others were not to take them out by using a ladder or a rope or a utensil (CD 11:16–17).[6]

Jesus does not challenge the institution of the Sabbath; Jesus points out the actual intent of the Sabbath—to bring rest and well-being in the context of valuing mercy.[7] The Sabbath was given by God as a gift to us, but the Pharisees had made it a burden at best and a contest at worst.

Luke 6:6-11; Mark 3:1-7a; Matthew 12:9-15a On another Sabbath, after Jesus left that place, he entered the synagogue and was teaching. Now a man was there whose right hand was withered. The experts in the law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely, and asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” so they could find a reason to accuse him.

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Get up and stand here among all these people.” So he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good and heal on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” But they were silent.

Jesus said to them, “Would not any one of you, if he had one sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, take hold of it and lift it out?[8] How much more valuable is a person than a sheep![9] So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

After looking around at them all in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.[10] But the Pharisees, filled with mindless rage, went out immediately and began debating with one another, plotting with the Herodians against him, as to how they could assassinate him.

Jesus contends that the higher principle on the Sabbath is not abstaining from activity but doing good.[11] The Law has always been for our good and the good of others, to the glory of God. Should our understanding of the commands of God prevent us from flourishing as human beings bearing God’s image, or if our understanding of the Law hinders us from loving God or others well, we are misunderstanding his commands.

I want to take time today to talk about the implications of the Sabbath being made for us. I think the principle Jesus explains here holds true of all of God’s laws that describe righteous living. They are for us. They are intended to help us flourish as God designed us to flourish. The Old Wineskin of the Pharisees was that the yoke of the Law was a harsh burden; the New Wineskin is that the yoke of righteous living is a gift. 

Matthew places the two stories about the Sabbath immediately after Jesus told his disciples,

“My yoke is easy (xrestos,[12] “usefully kind”); my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30)

Following Jesus means we are yoked with him into his service. It’s an image that a farming community would have understood. We are yoked with Jesus into the Law of Love that, when lived out, looks (in many ways) an awful lot like the moral[13] Law revealed in the Old Testament. While Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial and purity laws, he actually upped the expectations in the moral law[14] while simultaneously stressing it would be kind and easy. So, how does that work?

The Law was given within the context of the overall story of God’s work in the world. The story in which the Law appears begins with Creation, with a God of power and care and personality who pulls order from chaos, light from darkness, mankind from dust, who created a world and called it good.  Part of the goodness was seen in a world of boundaries:  the sea and land had their place; there was a difference between the plant and animal kingdom; there was another division between people and the rest of Creation.  God placed Adam and Eve in garden of paradise, but even that garden had boundaries. 

The goodness became corrupted, however, and the father and mother of humanity learned quickly what we all learn at some point in our lives:  Like everything else in God’s creation, we need boundaries, or we will destroy what is good within and around us.  

Jump ahead in the story of God to the Exodus of God’s chosen people from the land of bondage in Egypt.  It’s almost another creation event: a new nation arises from a land of bondage and spiritual darkness and moral chaos.  And once again, God gives boundaries. 

The story is not taking a new path.  The Old Testament laws given at Mount Sinai were an integral part of the ongoing revelation of a God who specializes in taking things that seem chaotic, and frightening, and oppressive, and making something new.  And that new thing always involves boundaries.

We see in Exodus the echoing of the a similar story line begun in Genesis: order from chaos; light from darkness; a good thing from a bad thing; a story that has continued throughout history, from the biggest of world events to the smallest of individual lives.  God does this over, and over, and over again. 

At Mount Sinai, he offered them a covenant as a groom to a bride. Exodus 24: 7 specifically says the Law was the “Book of the Covenant.”  This Covenant has been compared to a Hebrew marriage ceremony, like a prenuptial agreement that clarifies what our obligations are to God if we choose to covenant with him. The Hebrews would have recognized this as the ketubah, a legal document agreed upon and signed by both parties.  It was a comprehensive summary of the expectations of this covenant relationship explaining the kind of behavior that was consistent with covenant membership. The bride and groom were to be clear about what they were agreeing to enter into, and what it would take for this relationship to work. 

Some translations phrase this God-given ketubah, the Ten Commandments, as, “You will not recognize any other gods….you will not take the name of the Lord in vain…you will not kill. “  Future tense.  God seemed to be saying,  “If you want to covenant with me, this is what this covenant will look like.”  It was as if God, the groom, was saying,  “Do you, Israel, take me, to have and to hold, from the day on, for better…worse… rich…poor... in sickness and in health…”  And Israel responded, “We do.”

The Law was not given as a means of salvation, but as a gift from a gracious God to allow His people to know Him better and to flourish in their design and their relationship with God.

The Hebrew people embraced this revelation. It put ethical, Godly living directly within reach of the most ordinary of people. David places the law alongside Creation as one of the great declarations of God:

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. 
The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. They are more precious than gold, they are sweeter than honey…” (Psalm 19:7-10)

Think of this maybe as an instruction manual. They come with almost everything you buy if it has any complexity at all. “Use it this way and things will go well; use it that way and you will break it and probably whatever it is you are working on.”                                                              

The Israelites were called to live a particular way that, when understood and lived rightly, would bring wisdom, joy, and insight. In addition to this individual benefit, keeping Law was a means of showing the character of God to the rest of the world (Duet. 4:5-8):

“ See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."  What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?”

Jesus himself made clear in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) the power of obedient living as a means of evangelism. Jesus told his audience:

“You are the light of the world… let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.”

Immediately, he follows that up with this:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place… 19  whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

When righteous deeds follow transformed hearts, people will see those good works and glorify God. Love-inspired obedience is a fantastic witness to the goodness and wisdom of God. God’s revelation of Himself and His way was always meant to benefit the world, not just the individuals who love and follow Him.

• Because God was compassionate, they were to show compassion.

• Because God was generous, they were to be generous.

• Because God forgave them, they were to forgive others.

• Because God loved them, they were to love their spouse or kids or neighbors.

Righteous actions and godly living was never reduced merely to what one person’s life looked like; it was always understood in the context of community and the world. How will our Godly or ungodly decisions effect the world around us? Will it bring order or chaos? Life or death?

Time after time, the Old Testament showed that if the people forgot God and went after other gods, their society would be characterized by injustice, oppression, cruelty and excess. The principle is one that transcends times and cultures: If you choose the wrong God, you get the wrong society. This pattern seems clear in world history.

• When our gods are constantly at war, we generally turn to  violence for problem-solving; we see those who have the ability to be effectively and proficiently violent as heroes.

• When our gods are all about sex, we tend to associate “the good life” with good sex and base our identity/worth in our sexiness (the degree to which others desire us).

• When we worship gods of wealth, the only “good life” is the rich life, and greed and exploitation flourish as we willingly sacrifice those around us in the pursuit of the almighty dollar.

• When we worship gods of luxury, we associate comfort and pleasure with the “good life,” and we demand these things as a right as we order our lives around them.

• When we worship gods of power, we will loved manipulation and control above all else and see the acquisition of power as the answer to the world’s problems as well as our own.

• When we worship gods of freedom/independence, we eventually demanded radical unaccountability to anyone but ourselves so that we can “do that which is right in our own eyes.”[15]

  The god you choose will be reflected in the culture, because the people’s priorities always reflect the priorities of their gods. Here are a few examples to make my point.

1. In many of the cultures surrounding the Hebrews, possessions were of more worth than human life. One’s life was forfeit for theft or property damage; if the people wanted a good crop harvest, they killed other people. Gods of corn and stone idols required the elevation of corn and stone, not the people around them.  Not in Israel.  Possessions never were more important than life, because one of those things was created in the image of God, and it wasn’t the property.  So theft required restitution, not death; bad crops were never cause to kill people (or anything). If you choose the wrong God, you get the wrong set of cultural priorities.

2. The French Revolution was a decidedly atheistic, humanistic attempt to change the world.  Voltaire, one of the fathers of the movement, had a statue of Diana, the Goddess of Reason in his home.  The results were disastrous. When Madame Roland was brought to the guillotine in 1792 on false charges, she bowed mockingly toward the statue of liberty in Place de la Revolution and said, “Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name.”[16] If you choose the wrong God, you destroy liberty and freedom.

3. Hitler, ironically, referred to the law given to the Jewish nation as the “life-denying 10 Commandments.”  In the process of trying to eradicate the chosen people of the “tyrannical God” whose commands robbed people of life, he experimented on and slaughtered millions of people he considered sub-human. The legacy of Nazi eugenics and racism has lived on around the world in many terrible ways over the decades since, always at the expense of the value, dignity and too often the life of people. If you choose the wrong God, you get a false view of the value of human life.

4. Alfred Kinsey, who has set the tone of sexual discussion in the 1950’s, viewed humans not as people who bore God’s image, but as little more than animals. When he researched human sexuality, he expected to find that people behaved like animals, and (surprise!) he did. Perhaps that is why the closing credits in the 2004 film “Kinsey,” a film meant to celebrate the man who liberated us from all the old-fashioned Jude-Christian prudishness about sex, show nature films of animals copulating in the background. If you choose the wrong God, you get a false view of sexuality.

This list could go on and on. How we feel about God has implications far beyond living a personally ethical life and feeling good about our decisions.  Worship has a ripple effect. Nothing exists in a vacuum, especially our moral choices. 

Perhaps that is why there is an order to the commands:  The first four are about God, the last six about people. If you begin with a correct view of God, you end with a correct view of people. It’s the same order Jesus gave:  “Love the Lord…love your neighbors.” As Lauren Winner notes inReal Sex:

“The Mosaic law does…protective work, pointing to, guarding, and returning God’s people to the created order, the world as God meant it to be…To see the Biblical witness as an attempt to direct us to the created order…is to recognize the true goodness of God’s creation…the law cares for us and protects us, written by a lawgiver who understands that life outside of God’s created intent destroys us.  Life lived inside the contours of God’s law harmonizes us and makes us beautiful.  It makes us creatures living well in the created order.  It gives us the opportunity to become who we are meant to be.”

Just as the Sabbath was made to serve us, God’s righteous boundaries serve us as an instruction manual from the Creator that shows what is good. It gives us the opportunity to become, with God’s help, the kind of faithfully present image bearers He intends for us to be.

If I would call you to something this morning, it’s this: Remember that the Creator’s ‘owners manual’ about who you are and how you are designed to live is for our good. It is for us.  Obedience does not in itself bring us salvation; that work was done by Jesus on the cross. Being yoked with Jesus into living out the Law of Love is God’s design for us to find and to bring flourishing life to the world, for our good and the glory of the One who has shown us what it means to truly live.

__________________________________________________________________________________

[1] At least one Galilean, Rabbi Yehuda, was in agreement with Jesus and permitted rubbing grain in the hands on the Sabbath. This may be an example of a rift between Galilean rabbis and Jerusalem rabbis. (NIV First Century Study Bible)

[2] ESV Reformation Study Bible

[3] Twelve loaves of bread were baked and placed in the tabernacle each Sabbath as an offering. The bread was to be eaten by the priests (Lev. 24:5–9). (ESV Global Study Bible)

[4] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[5] So what is the “something  greater than the temple”?

· It’s Jesus, Immanuel (“God with us”), is the true temple, to whom the symbol pointed (John 1:14; 2:21).. Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath fulfills all aspects of the meaning of the Sabbath (Col. 2:16, 17).[5]

·The kingdom of God.[5] The Sabbath is a symbol of God’s sovereignty over the whole created universe (Ex. 20:8). It is a reminder of His redemption of His people (Deut. 5:12), and it is a representation of the hope of eternal rest that begins spiritually now and extends into eternity

· Both. It’s the kingdom Jesus is inaugurating as the one who ushers in the Messianic Age.  (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[6] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Of The New Testament

[7] ESV Global Study Bible

[8] The Dead Sea Scrolls community specifically prohibited removing an animal from a pit on the Sabbath. It’s possible Jesus was directly challenging their interpretation. (NIV First Century Study Bible)

[9] Jesus seems to have been employing a rabbinic teaching technique called qal v’homer (“light then heavy”). This system of logic pitted one idea against another by using the phrase “how much more.” (Ibid)

[10] It is worthy of remark, that as the man was healed with a word, without even a touch, the Sabbath was unbroken, even according to their most rigid interpretation of the letter of the law. (Adam Clarke)

[11] NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible

[12] Fun fact: It "appears as a spelling variant for the unfamiliar Christus (Xristos).” (HELPS Word Studies) 

[13] Largely distinct from ceremonial and purity laws….sermon for another time.

[14] From Matthew 5: 21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment… 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart….38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person... 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighborand hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

[15] Judges 21:25

[16] Peter had to warn the new church pretty quickly: “Don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.” (1 Peter 2:16)

Harmony #15: New Wineskins (Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39; Matthew 9:14-17)

In Matthew, Mark and Luke, this account follows on heals of the feast that Matthew, the tax collector, threw for Jesus after Jesus called him to be a disciple. I suspect they will connect.

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.[1] So they came to Jesus and said, “John’s disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but your disciples continue to eat and drink and don’t fast.”

Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast and mourn while the bridegroom[2] is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they do not fast. [3] But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and at that time they will fast.” (Mark 2:18-20; Luke 5:33;Matthew 9: 14-15)

Let’s talk about this bride/bridegroom imagery. God in the Old Testament was portrayed as a groom to His bride, Israel.

“Your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth” (Isaiah 54:5).[4]

But the prophets portrayed Israel as committing spiritual adultery by worshiping false gods and forsaking Yahweh. Eventually, God passed this message on through Jeremiah:

“I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. . . . Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood [idols].” (Jeremiah 3:8–10).

To make matters worse, God (through Jeremiah) asked a rhetorical question:

“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again?” (Jeremiah 3:1).

According to the Law, no. A man who had divorced his wife could not remarry her (Deuteronomy 24:1–4). Israel had been divorced by God, so, according to the law, that was it. No second chances. However…

“‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful…I will not be angry forever… I am your husband. I will choose you . . . and bring you to Zion” (Jeremiah 3:12-14).’”[5]

The law forbade that a divorced wife return and be restored, but Jesus had just told them (in relation to calling and feasting with tax collectors and sinners) that he required mercy more than the ritualistic sacrifices that kept the letter of the law but not the spirit of it.[6] Here, he illustrated God showing mercy through Jesus to an undeserving and faithless people. 

This marriage language continues throughout the New Testament.

• Paul notes in Ephesians 5:32 that marriage is a mystery, like the marriage of Christ and the church.

• Revelation 19 makes a pretty big deal about the future marriage supper of the Lamb, which is the feasting imagery for an eternity that the bride, the church, will spend with their Divine groom.[7]

So when Jesus said a time of wedding feasting had arrived, he was making an important claim: the exile was over, the divorce had ended; the groom (God) and the bride (God’s people) were reunited through Jesus. The age of the Messiah had begun.[8]  That was a cause for feasting.

He also told them a parable: “No one sews a patch of unshrunk new cloth on an old garment, because the new patch will pull away from the old garment and the tear will be worse. The piece from the new will not match the old.  

And no one pours new wine[9] into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.  Instead new wine must be poured into new wineskins.  No one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’ “ [10] (Luke 5:36-39; Matthew 9:16;Mark 2:21-22)

Jesus’ illustrations announced the arrival of a New Era, which we refer to as the New Covenant and which is revealed in the New Testament.

There have been 3 main ways people have understood these short parables to be making that point, mainly because it seems like the new wine is preferable here, but that seems at odds with the last comment about the old wine being better b) there are differences of opinion about what the old garment/wineskins represent.

OLD/NEW WINE = OLD/NEW COVENANT

One approach is to see Jesus declaring radical break between the Old Covenant through Moses and the New Covenant through Jesus.

• “God never intended Christianity to patch up Judaism; it was a new departure.”[11]

• “Grace and law, God’s righteousness and man’s, will never mix. The new wine of the gospel must be placed in the new wineskin of grace, not into the old one of law.”[13] 

• “The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.”[14]

 Clearly, there is a reason the New Covenant Jesus establishes is called “New.” But I’m not sure Jesus was intending to create an almost antagonism between the Old and New to such a degree that it almost sounds like we would be better off chopping off the first half of our Bible. That is clearly not how Jesus or the New Testament writers saw the Old Testament.

It’s not so clean as “didn’t have the Spirit”/”now have the Spirit.” The Spirit works and moves in the Old Covenant; the time of exile between the Old and New Testament was a time that the Jewish people mourned what they perceived as the removal of God’s Spirit.[15] Though the Holy Spirit now lives within, the Holy Spirit always lived with God’s people and “came upon them” at times.

It’s not a clean “OT era is irrelevant”/”NT era is all that matters.” Jesus and the New Testament writers constantly referred to the Old Testament, calling it Scripture that was God-breathed and capable of completing us and equipping us for every good work.[16] They didn’t ditch it at all; they built on the foundations in the Old Covenant to explain life in the New Covenant (and used the New Covenant to clarify the purpose of the Old Covenant).

It’s not a clean “The Old Testament was all Law”/ The New Testament is all Grace.” Grace actually saturates the Old Testament,[17] though clearly that message had been lost on Jesus’ audience of Pharisees. Jesus himself said that he didn’t come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.[18] It’s not as if the Law no longer offers a constraint that keeps us in the path of righteousness. If life is like bowling, the Law is the bumpers that keep us from rolling into the ditches of sin. And, as Paul makes clear, there is a very foundational New Covenant Law that was already captured in the 10 Commandments:

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

That’s what is often referred to The Law Of Love – in the New Covenant. So, I don’t think law and grace are enemies. God established them both; they both play a God-ordained purpose when rightly understood and rightly applied to our lives,[19] namely, obedience as a response to God rather than a means to God.

Something new is bursting forth in the New Covenant, but it’s a fulfillment of that to which the Old was pointing, a fulfillment in which the role of God’s amazing grace in the midst of our bumbling human effort is featured front and center as the only hope on which we build a foundation that will last into eternity.

OLD WINESKINS = TRADITIONS/NEW WINE =BIBLICAL TRUTH

Another perspective is that the old garments and old wineskins are a reference to traditions established over the centuries by the rabbis that arose around the Bible and not from the Bible. In Mark, the Pharisees are told:

“You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” (7:9).

Jesus’ new message of true faith and true worship was going to mess up those old traditions. In this reading, the new wine and new garments  are Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets rightly understood, and the old garment and old wineskins as what the Pharisees in the first century called the tradition of the elders. The point Jesus was making is that the true gospel is going to wreck man-made traditions[20]

I think there is important truth in this perspective. Struggling to separate human tradition and cultural bias from the true message of Scripture has been an ongoing problem. For 2,000 years, there has been a constant need in the church to discern the difference between what God would have us take from Scripture and what we would have us take from Scripture. 

In our own nation’s history, the Bible was used to defend slavery as if it was God’s will as revealed in Scripture. Thankfully, there were always prophetic voices who said, “No. You are reading into the Bible what you want to find, not what God wants you to find.”

And thank God that the Holy Spirit illuminated Scripture to those in slavery such that they saw the truth not just of Jesus but of their humanity and worth in the pages of Scripture even when the preachers their masters forced them to listen to did not. [21]

Reading these parables as showing a clash between the powerful allure of human tradition and the challenging nature of divine Scripture rightly understood fits the context of the clash that had just occurred over Jesus’ calling of Matthew and feasting with sinners.

NEW (WINE)SKINS  = NEW (REVELATION)DISCIPLES

This brings me to the third and final perspective. The Jewish sages were known for referring to vessels for containing wine as people. The wine is the teaching that the individual consumes or contains. The parables would then look something like this[22]:

• New garment/wineskin = previously uneducated students

• Old garment/wineskin= previously educated students

• wine=teaching

Disciples who studied Torah in the various schools of the Pharisees would be inclined to disregard new teaching because they assumed they had been given a superior education. It makes me think of all the situations in life where it is so hard to undo what we have been taught through words and actions.  

• In basketball, it’s much easier to teach someone to shoot than it is to correct the form of someone who is already shooting.

• When AJ went to run track at Cornerstone. They undid all his previous coaching. He probably would have been better off not having run track before he got there.

• If you saturate yourself in a media bubble, it becomes increasingly hard to even conceive that you might not be right about an issue when you hear a different perspective.

• Depending on your family of origin, you know how hard it is to undo unhealthy, formative training in all kinds of areas.

• Even as Christians, we have been raised in churches that exist in communities, countries, traditions, denominations that absolutely form us in ways that undoubtedly get intermingled with traditions, some good and some bad. I know I have found that as I have learned how Christians around the world read and apply Scripture, it has been humbling to concede that I might not have been “rightly dividing the world of truth.”[23]

 This fits the context in which these parables are found, namely the call and selection of Jesus' disciples. He was choosing fishermen, tax collectors and "sinners" who had not been educated by the rabbis. (Only the very gifted went on to study beyond the age of 13; only the truly exceptional became disciples of the rabbis. The fact that Jesus was calling adults likely reveals they weren’t qualified or weren’t overly interested in following a rabbi.)

That criticism was that Jesus’ disciples were not at all like the disciples of John or the Pharisees. And Jesus says, “Correct. I need a different kind of disciple than the ones you have.”[24]  It takes a new kind of person to believe and embrace the reality of Jesus and His Kingdom. New garments, new wineskins and new students.[25]

This has come up several times in the first few chapters of the gospels. True change will only happen in our lives when we experience the miraculous salvation and transformation that only Jesus can bring.

• We will not work our way into salvation. (Ephesians 2:8)

• All of us fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

• We will not earn the right to be saved. (Romans 11:6) I don’t care who we are – we don’t deserve to be saved. (Romans 5:8)

• It is by grace we have been saved (Ephesians 2:8-9), and it is by grace that God remains faithful to us when we commit spiritual adultery. (2 Timothy 2:13)

• This gift is available to all. “All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

“New” disciples are characterized by:

• Humility (about ourselves and our perspectives/traditions)

• Grace (paid forward from Jesus to everybody around us)

• Love (as the grace-motivated fulfilling of the Law)

• A generous invitation to the feast with Jesus

_______________________________________________________________________

[1] As a sign of contrition and penitence associated with prayer, fasting was a part of Old Testament piety from the time of the judges (Judg. 20:26; 1 Kin. 21:27), sometimes becoming an empty ritual (Is. 58:3). The Pharisees and their adherents apparently fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12).  ESV Reformation Study Bible

[2] In the OT, God the Father was the bridegroom (see Isa. 62:5; Hos. 2:19–20).  ESV Global Study Bible

[3] Fasting was often linked with mourning, whereas weddings were considered a time for rejoicing. Many rabbis taught that weddings took priority over many religious obligations. (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[4] The story of Ruth and Boaz is a story about a Husband/Redeemer scenario.

[5] Isaiah said basically the same thing (Isa 54:5–6; 62:4–5. When God commanded Hosea to find his unfaithful wife and buy her back from slavery, he said, “Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods” (Hosea 3:1).

[6] James would later write that “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13) The apostle Paul would write, “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! . . . And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again” (Romans 11:1–6, 11, 23).

[7] I got a lot of good information for that whole section from the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible.

[8] NIV First Century Study Bible

[9] New wine less than a year old was really popular (Nehemiah 10:39; Proverbs 3:10; Hosea 4:11; Haggai 1:11.  Luke records (Acts 2:13) that the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit led people to the conclusion that the disciples were “full of new wine.” (Ellicott’s Commentary)

[10] 10Do not abandon old friends, for new ones cannot equal them. A new friend is like new wine; when it has aged, you can drink it with pleasure.  (Sirach 9.10)

[11] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[12] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[13] Thru The Bible Commentary

[14] Orthodox Study Bible

[15] https://www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/blog/the-holy-spirit-in-the-old-testament/

[16] 2 Timothy 3:16-17

[17] https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/grace-in-the-old-testament

[18] Matthew 5:17

[19] An article at doctrine.org entitled “Paul and the Law” has some helpful explanations. https://doctrine.org/paul-and-the-law

[20] “Luke 5:39—What are the Old Wine and the New Wine Mentioned Here?” Mineko Hondahttps://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/229750848.pdf

[21] I highly recommend African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation, by Lisa M. Bowens, as well as Stony The Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation, by Cain Hope Felder.

[22] https://www.bethimmanuel.org/articles/new-wine-and-old-wineskins-parable-luke-536-39-re-examined

[23] I found the following books to be very insightful. None of them are perfect – there were question marks in the margins to match text I highlighted – but they jarred my thinking loose in some very important ways.

·      Kenneth Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes,  and Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes, as well as The Cross and the Prodigal

·      Lois Tverberg, Walking In The Dust Of Rabbi Jesus

·      Scott McKnight, The Blue Parakeet

·      John Walton, The Lost World of Genesis 1

·      Esau McCauley, Reading While Black

·      Shane J. Woods’ series on Revelation

·      The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series

[24] In Acts 4:13 Luke writes, "Now as [the Sanhedrin] observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus."

[25] https://www.bethimmanuel.org/articles/new-wine-and-old-wineskins-parable-luke-536-39-re-examined