For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven

 
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

 

- Matthew 5:13–20 

 

This week, we read through the Sermon on the Mount, in preparation for Lent.  Yesterday we read that,  seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

 

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  My study Bible comments here that salt and light illustrate the role of disciples in society.  Due to its preservative powers, its necessity for life, and its capacity for giving flavor, salt had both religious and sacrificial significance (Leviticus 2:13; see also Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5).  To eat salt with someone meant that people were bound together in loyalty.  To this day salt remains used in chemical processes for its fixative properties.  As the salt of the earth, my study Bible explains, Christians are preserver's of God's covenant and give true flavor to the world.  In terms of light, we know first of all that God is the true and uncreated Light.  In the Old Testament, my study Bible comments, light is symbolic of God (Isaiah 60:1-3), the divine Law (Psalm 119:105), and Israel in contrast to all other nations.  In the New Testament, the Son of God is called "light" (John 1:4-9; 8:12; 1 John 1:5).  Light is needed for clear vision, and even for life itself in this world.  Faith relies on the divine light, and believers become "sons of light" (John 12:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:5) shining in a perverse world (Philippians 2:15).  In many Eastern Orthodox parishes, the Pascha (or Easter) Liturgy starts with a candle being presented as the invitation to "come receive the Light which is never overtaken by night."  My study Bible adds of this last verse here that Christian virtues have both a personal and a public function, for our virtue can bring others to glorify the Father.  

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."  My study Bible explains that Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions.  He does so in the following ways:  He performs God's will in all its fullness (Matthew 3:15); He transgresses no precepts of the Law (John 8:46; 14:30); He declares the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which in this Sermon He is about to deliver to the people; and He grants righteousness -- the goal of the Law -- to us (Romans 3:31; 8:3-4; 10:4).  He fulfills the Prophets both by being and by carrying out what they foretold.

"For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."  The word translated as assuredly is literally "Amen."  It means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it," my study Bible explains.  Here Jesus is using it as a solemn affirmation, which is a form of oath.  His use of this word at the beginning of certain proclamations -- as opposed to the end -- is unique and authoritative, my study Bible tells us.  He declares His words affirmed even before they are spoken.  A jot (Greek ιωτα/iota) is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet.  A tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  So, therefore, the whole of the Law is here affirmed as the foundation of Christ's new teaching.  All is fulfilled refers to Christ's Passion and Resurrection.

 

"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."  My study Bible comments that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole.  It says that the observance of all the least commandments is to observe the whole Law, while the violation of the least commandment is considered a violation of the whole Law.  

"For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."  Righteousness that leads to salvation must exceed that of the Pharisees, my study Bible explains, because theirs was an outward, works-based righteousness.  The righteousness of salvation is the communion of the heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ.  True righteousness is to live in a state of continual communion with God.  By faith in Christ, we receive God's righteousness.  

If true righteousness is an ongoing communion with God, how do we achieve that?  We first need to understand that Christ came into the world as a human being in order to achieve this level of communion, this righteousness, so that we may be justified by faith.  That is, we live, and may receive an eternal life, a more abundant life, through this communion made possible through the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We partake of His life through the Eucharist, seeking to live our faith and to grow in that faith, deepening a communion that extends through all things, as my study Bible indicates when it speaks of the communion of heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ.  Jesus' teachings in today's reading give us clues about how this works through our lives in the comments that we believers are both salt and light.  As salt, we bear His covenant into the world, giving the real "flavor" of this righteousness, holding firm in faith to His teachings and living them as fully as we can, in all these ways named.  As light, we seek to reflect His light back into the world, to carry it within ourselves and share it with others, to add such "illumination" to all the things in which we might participate as part of our life's experience and the living of our faith.  In this way, Jesus says, we glorify our Father in heaven -- and so, in that sense also, we become "like Him," we imitate Christ in the living of our faith.  But Christ's righteousness also includes the fulfillment of both the Law and the Prophets; there is nothing left out.  My study Bible calls the Law a cohesive whole; it says that to violate the least Law is to violate the whole of it, and to uphold one Law is to uphold the whole.  In other words, the Law itself can be thought of as something representing communion in its wholeness.  If we recall that Christ's gospel is the gospel of the Kingdom, then we must consider what it means to be a part of a communion -- this communion of the Kingdom -- to step into it through faith, and for it to grow within us (like the parable of the leaven).   So we consider Christ's teachings and begin to understand that there is a depth of communion we're invited into, and the life's journey that our faith is meant to be for us is one of deepening communion.  In a comment on Romans 3:26, my study Bible notes that righteousness by faith is not a one-time declaration or "not guilty" verdict.  We are to understand it as Christ living in us, and we in Him (Galatians 2:20).  So, to be justified by righteousness is to be in communion with Christ in an ongoing, dynamic, and growing life with Him -- developing a deeper reliance upon Christ through our own struggles with faith, insights, a prayerful life, and the practices of our faith.  This is a dynamic that reaches down into the heart and soul and should be lived (as a goal) with every breath.  Let us simply begin with His images here of salt and light, and imagine what it means to live as both, in such a way as to glorify our Father in heaven, becoming a "child of light" through our Shepherd, Christ. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake

 

 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  You are a light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Now do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

 

- Matthew 5:11-16 

 

Yesterday we began reading the Sermon on the Mount, which starts with the Beatitudes, or blessings of the Kingdom.  Seeing the multitudes who now follow Him, Jesus went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 

 

  "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."  My study Bible comments that those who suffer persecution for Christ walk the road of the prophets, saints, and martyrs.  The Greek for be exceedingly glad means literally to "leap exceedingly with joy."  (See Acts 5:40-41.)

 

 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  You are a light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Now do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  Salt and light are important illustrations give by Jesus of the role of disciples in society.  Because of its preservative powers, its necessity for life, and its capacity for giving flavor, salt had religious and sacrificial significance for the Jews and in the practices of the temple (Leviticus 2:13; see also Numbers 18:19, 2 Chronicles 13:5).  To eat salt with someone meant to be bound together in loyalty, my study Bible explains.  As the salt of the earth, Christians are preservers of God's covenant, and give true flavor to the world.    God is the true and uncreated Light, my study Bible adds, In the Old Testament light is symbolic of God (Isaiah 60:1-3), the divine Law (Psalm 119:105), and Israel in contrast to all other nations.  In the New Testament, the Son of God is called "light" (John 1:4-9, 8:12; 1 John 1:5).  My study Bible adds that light is necessary both for clear vision and for life itself.  Faith relies on this divine light, and believers become "sons of light" (John 12:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:5) who shine in a perverse world (Philippians 2:15).  In many parishes the Pascha (Easter) Liturgy begins with a candle being presented and the invitation to "come receive the Light which is never overtaken by night."  When Jesus teaches, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven," He is expressing a truth that Christian virtues and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) have both a personal and a public function, for such virtue can bring others to glorify the Father.  

Recently I listened to a distraught phone call to a radio psychologist from a mother who was very upset over the problems her daughter was having with "mean girls" in high school.  Although her daughter seemed to be the very responsible and mature one of the crowd (which included even her former best friend's mother), she was the one excluded by the others.  And although this young woman had gone on to make new friends, her former friend (and the friend's parents) continued to spread bad rumors about her in order to hurt her.  It wasn't ever clear to her why this friend had a problem with her in the first place.  Although to many of us the problems of high school age are far behind us, this kind of behavior is not unknown in all kinds of places -- and, as the radio psychologist pointed out, is always about power and how one views the use of power.  This would apply in particular to those who believe that by hurting another, they exercise power.  Into this seemingly trite scenario one might encounter in a TV movie come the words Jesus give us today:  "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."  The young woman in the story might not be a follower of Christ (it wasn't the subject of the telephone call), but it was clear that she was a righteous young woman; she had done the right thing and tried to clear the air, being very honest, and seeking dialogue with the people who had hurt her.  She was also clearly forgiving.  But Jesus teaches us about righteousness, and about the virtuous life -- and also that when we live our lives this way, and when we are victimized by those who use power to hurt the nominally "meek" and virtuous, we should consider ourselves blessed, even when we encounter slander and falsehoods told about ourselves, because "so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."  We might not all be prophets, but in following the teachings of Christ, we do enter into a kind of lineage of righteousness, and it is when we lose sight of the evil and cruelties of the world -- even that there are those who might despise us for our virtue -- that we lose track of the reality of the world and our place in it.  The Church, the Body of Christ, is meant to be a community of those who share such values and support one another in the practice of those virtues.  It is not simply a place where people gather because they agree on a belief statement or an abstract of certain truths.  It is meant to be a place for righteous relationships, in which we are supported in a particular way of life, and grow within that life and our participation -- through ritual and faith practices such as prayer and worship -- in the life of Christ, from whom we are meant to understand that God is love, and through whom that love has been revealed to us and lived in the life of the human Jesus.  There are many ways in which the world will present to us a cruel and merciless life as one that is advantageous, but abuse of power in all its forms is nothing new in this world.  What is "new" is that Christ calls us to the righteous life, despite persecution, and He assures us that such a life is, indeed, "blessed," because we are reviled and even hurt for His sake.  He calls us to be salt and to be light, and this is our never-ending mission, the "way" of Christ for life through this world and all that it offers, so that we are set apart for that which is truly blessed.   In so doing, He calls us "the light of the world."

 

 

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven

Lamps at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

- Matthew 5:11-16

Yesterday we read that Jesus, seeing the multitudes, went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."  My study bible comments that those who suffer persecution for Christ walk the same road of the prophets, saints, and martyrs.  In Greek, the word translated as be exceedingly glad literally means to "leap exceedingly with joy."  (See Acts 5:40-41.)

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  Jesus now gives images for the role of His disciples in society:  salt and light.  In Christ's time, salt was necessary for its preservative powers, necessity for life, and its ability to give flavor.   Because of these qualities, it had religious and sacrificial significance (Leviticus 2:13; see also Numbers 18:19, 2 Chronicles 13:5).   If one "ate salt with another" it meant to be bound together in loyalty.  My study bible says that as the salt of the earth, therefore, Christians are preservers of God's covenant and give true flavor to the world.  The true and uncreated Light is God.  In the Old Testament, light is symbolic of God (Isaiah 60:1-3), the divine Law (Psalm 119:105), and Israel in contrast to the other nations.  In the New Testament, the Son of God is called "light"  (John 1:4-9, 8:12; 1 John 1:5).  We need light for clear vision and also for life itself.  Just as the world is dependent upon the light of the sun, faith relies on the divine light of God, so that believers may become "sons of light" (John 12:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:5) who shine in contrast to a perverse and dark world (Philippians 2:15).   In the last statement here, Jesus teaches us that the virtues meant to "shine" in Christians have both a personal and public function.  Our virtue can bring others to glorify our Father in heaven.

Jesus uses two primary images -- elements of life in this world -- to illustrate the power of holiness.  Holiness is that attribute that is the manifestation of faith, of turning one's life over to discipleship, so that we are filled with Christ's light.  To be the salt of the earth is to manifest those things that make life good, that give it flavor, make it worthwhile.  Salt is not only a preservative (widely relied upon long before refrigeration was possible), but it is also cleansing, antibacterial.  Moreover salt has fixative properties that allow elements to bind together to make something better and useful for the world.   If we understand salt in its natural form, it is possible for the particular element that give it its flavor to be leached out through too much exposure to moisture; hence, Christ's question:  "if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?"  Light is something we all rely upon for life; without the light of the sun, the world would not survive.  Light is necessary for all of the things that grow on this earth, for plants and flowers, for human beings and animals.  The sun, our source of light, is central to our solar system, and so Christ Himself -- God as Light -- is central to our identity as beings and creatures.  That uncreated light of God, which shapes all spiritual reality and gives birth to creation, is the very basis of our being -- of all being.  Just as the sun feeds light to the world upon which life is dependent, so the light of God feeds us in our place of being.  We may "take in" the energies of that light, and become more "illumined" or "luminous" ourselves.  As Christ says, we may thus shine that same light into the world, so that others may glorify its source.  Since we also know that God is love, consider then that the virtues of light are those which manifest love in its varied energies and manifestations.  This includes the practice of mercy and peace, holding fast to the good, and seeking to live that good for ourselves and for others in right-relatedness.  To affix those virtues within ourselves regardless of what others around us do, to live through and shine that light back into the world when there is darkness that seeks to extinguish the light, is to be the disciples Christ calls us to be and to become more fully.  It is the way He teaches.  It is the fullness of true responsibility and self-realization, and the power of grace that is at work in us so that we may all become "sons of light."  Jesus ties this in with persecution for righteousness' sake.  So the light that shines in the darkness may encounter such hostility, and so we are told to be exceedingly glad.  To shine a lamp in the darkness may irritate those who have chosen that darkness, and yet the illumination stands.  This is the way of discipleship.