Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill

 "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 5:17-20

 We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, which began with Monday's reading.  Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught, "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."

 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."  Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions, my study bible tells us.  He does so by first of all, performing God's will in all its fullness (3:15); secondly, transgressing none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30); by declaring the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He is about to deliver to those He addresses; and finally, by granting righteousness -- which is the goal of the Law -- to us (Romans 3:31, 8:3-4, 10:4). 

"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."  It is the word amen/ἀμήν (Greek borrowed from Hebrew) which is translated here as assuredly.  It means "truly" or "confirmed" or "so be it."  Jesus uses it as a kind of oath or a solemn affirmation of truth.  My study bible calls Jesus use of this word at the beginning of certain proclamations (rather than at the end) unique and authoritative.  He's declaring His words to be affirmed even before they're spoken.  It is a way of telling us to pay special attention to what He's about to declare.  A jot (iota in the Greek) is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet.  A tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  Therefore, Jesus says that the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of His new teaching.  All is fulfilled, my study bible says, 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.  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 according to the Law is a unified whole.  In that sense, the observance of all the least commandments means to observe the whole Law, while the violation of the least commandment is considered a violation of the whole Law.

Jesus is leading us to a fuller, more whole sense of the Law, which He will subsequently extend to an internal awareness of what righteousness is.  Thus, He will give us a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.  Here, He reassures His disciples that He is not breaking away from Jewish spiritual history but rather comes in fulfillment of the same.  The Law is not something He will do away with but rather will fulfill.  The Prophets also are fulfilled in Him.  As Christians and believers in Christ, it is our tradition that He, as Son, is the Lord of the Old Testament.  He is, in this divine sense, the giver of the Law.  As Incarnate human being, He is the fulfillment of the Law.  It is He who told Moses "I AM" (Exodus 3:14), just as Jesus will echo these words to the leadership in John's Gospel with another "amen" statement like that in today's reading  ("Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" - John 8:58).   Therefore as the Word Incarnate it is entirely appropriate that Jesus fulfill all righteousness (3:15).  In today's part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has just given the Beatitudes, or the blessedness of the Kingdom, and He is beginning to address the Law as it is understood and practiced.  He is leading into what it is to live a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.  What we know as good and true remains good and true.  But Christ has come to reveal a deeper truth, to fulfill, to give us a righteousness that exceeds what we know, to illuminate what is there but hidden until it is time to reveal it.  The early Christians who would turn from various pagan religions would find their own truth, goodness, and beauty fulfilled in Christ in a similar fashion.  As Logos, Christ is the Person who is Truth; thereby what was true and good and beautiful remained so, but in service to the teachings of Christ.  Greek philosophy was rendered in service to the Church, and thereby gave us theology.  Even the very word Logos became fleshed out, more deeply understood by the revelation of Christ -- as would other words known to the Greek philosophers but transformed through Christian faith.  None of this is accidental nor fanciful. The Truth comes into the world in the flesh to more fully flesh out and reveal deeper realities hidden to us in the truths already revealed, if we can but grasp hold of that.  Let us consider the depth to which He is leading and leads us, even in our very lives and prayers in the here and now, as we follow on the path of His faith.

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

Yesterday, we began reading in Matthew's Gospel.  The lectionary takes us to chapter 5.  This is the Sermon on the Mount, beginning with the Beatitudes, or the blessings of the Kingdom.  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."  Jesus has named the blessings of discipleship in the The Beatitudes (above, yesterday's reading).  He now describes the role of disciples in the world, using metaphors of salt and light.  Salt held the greatest importance in the ancient world, in ways many of us may have forgotten. Salt has preservative powers, it's necessary for life, and also had religious and sacrificial significance.  (See Leviticus 2:13; also Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5).  To eat salt with someone meant to be bound together in loyalty, my study bible tells us.  If Christians are the salt of the earth, therefore, they are the preservers of God's covenant, as well as giving true flavor to the world.  Salt may lose its flavor through humidity; the particular molecule of salt being leached out through moisture. 

"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."  God is the true and uncreated Light, says my study bible, and all light is reflected from this Source.  In the Old Testament, light is symbolic of God (Isaiah 60:1-3), the divine Law (Psalm 119:105), and Israel as a 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).  We need light in order to see clearly and for life itself.  Faith relies on divine light to see clearly, to be illumined with wisdom.  In living our faith, believers become "sons of light," through participation and communion (John 12:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:5).  Such light shines in a perverse world (Philippians 2:15).  At Easter, many of the Eastern churches begin the liturgy with a candle presented to all, and the invitation:  "Come receive the Light which is never overtaken by night."  Jesus makes it clear here that the blessings of discipleship don't work simply for us as individuals, but become that light that shines in the world and are therefore shared with others.  In so doing, virtue becomes not simply personal but also public.  My study bible says that in living discipleship, 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 says that Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions in several ways.   He performs God's will in all its fullness (Matthew 3:15).  He transgresses none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46; 14:30).  He declares further along in this Sermon the perfect fulfillment of the Law, and He grants to us righteousness, which is the goal of the Law (Romans 3:31; 8:3-4; 10:4).  He fulfills the Prophets by being and carrying out what they have 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."    Assuredly is translated from the original text in which Jesus begins His statement with the word "Amen."  It means "truly" or "confirmed," or "so be it."  It's a solemn affirmation used here by Jesus as a kind of oath pertaining to what He is about to say.   At various times in the Gospels Jesus uses "Amen" at the beginning of certain proclamations (rather than at the end).  My study bible calls this usage by Jesus unique and authoritative:  He declares His words are affirmed before they are even spoken.  A jot ("iota" in the Greek)is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet; a tittle is the smallest stroke in some Hebrew letters. Thereby, the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of Jesus' new teaching.  All is fulfilled, says my study bible, refers to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. 

"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."    My study bible says that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole.  What that means is that the observance of the least commandments is to observe the whole Law, while a violation of the least commandment is considered a violation of the whole Law.  In our future readings, we will read the commandments Jesus is speaking up, His new commandments that take us deeper into an understanding of righteousness.

In yesterday's reading, Jesus prepared the way in the beginning of His Sermon on the Mount by teaching us the Beatitudes, the blessings of the Kingdom.  That is, He gave us discipleship as the blessed way of life.  These blessings are not material.  They transcend circumstances.  They come from a lived faith, and grow as we deepen our communion with Him, and continue a life of participation in His love:  this kingdom of Father, Son, Spirit and the whole of the communion of saints.  Life in the Kingdom must grow our own blessedness:  the comfort that comes to those who mourn, our understanding of what it is to be pure in heart, poor in spirit, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be peacemakers, to be merciful, and all those things that become the spiritual fruits of discipleship.  In these things we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  He invites us to grow in these things, sharing them with the world, glorifying God -- and building up that glory in those who will also accept it around us.  This is a very different picture of what we commonly call blessings, but it is the blessedness of the Kingdom, of life in the Kingdom as we live in this world.  And this is what He assures His followers:  that living such a life is indeed finding the full righteousness of the Law, a righteousness that even the scribes and Pharisees don't know.   He will go much further as He continues with His sermon in teaching us exactly what that kind of righteousness looks like.  But above all else, we have His life in the world as fulfillment of such, as a kind of record and example, a fulfillment of all righteousness -- so that we, too, may share in such.   Ultimately, to fulfill such righteousness through Christ becomes a job for each one of us, and He is laying out the way, His Way.  To become the living salt of the earth, or the light of the world begins within us, not "out there" with what we think can be fixed.  Let us be attentive.

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill

 "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 5:17-20

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  It began with the Beatitudes.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "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."

 "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 tells us that Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions in several ways.  First, He performs God's will in all its fullness (3:15).  In addition, He transgresses none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46; 14:30).   Also, Jesus declares the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He is about to deliver.  Finally, the goal of the law is righteousness, which He grants to us (Romans 3:31, 8:3-4, 10:4).  He fulfills the Prophets in that He is and does what they foretold; like the Prophets He calls the people back to God and the true fulfillment of God's promises and teachings.

"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 expression translated as "assuredly" is Amen in the original Greek.  It means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it."  This is used by Jesus as a solemn affirmation, a kind of oath.  He uses this word at the beginning of various proclamations (as opposed to at the end) in a unique and authoritative way:  His words are declared affirmed before He speaks them.  (In John's Gospel the expression appears several times doubled:  "Amen, Amen," such as in John 3:3, where it is translated "most assuredly" in the NKJV.)  A jot is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet; a tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  Therefore, the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of Christ's new teaching.  All is fulfilled refers to His 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.  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."  My study bible says that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole; it's not something to separate out piecemeal as if our lives are an adding up of commandments filled.  To observe the least of the commandments is to observe the whole Law; violation of the least commandment is considered a violation of the whole Law.  Taken as a whole, Jesus speaks of reverence for the word of God; essentially a reverence for how God wishes for us and teaches us to live our lives, in relationship to God and to the world.

Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by first teaching the Beatitudes, a state of being in which one participates in the Kingdom and in its blessings, its "happinesses" even while in this world and living a "worldly" life.  In yesterday's reading, He spoke of the tremendous investment and value in discipleship; how disciples are the light of the world, the salt of the earth -- and in so being, they glorify God.  In this context, it is blessed even to be persecuted for the sake of the righteousness He teaches, for so were the prophets before.  In today's reading, He begins with a fulfillment of the function of the prophets:  to call all to the word of God, the teachings in letter and spirit.  He is about to give His gospel, the teachings to His disciples, but it comes as fulfillment, not the abolition of what has come before.  In Jesus' words, we read about a kind of relationship established.  To follow the least commandment is not to do so as a kind of legal stricture alone, but to enter into relationship with the whole of the Law, with God.  To disregard or abandon the least is thereby to abuse that relationship, to disregard it or discard it in some sense.  As the Sermon on the Mount progresses, Jesus will teach us what it is to truly enter into relationship in the understanding of the Law, the word of God:  relationship both with God and with community.  He will dig more deeply into how and why it is so, and how righteousness works as "right-relatedness."  In so doing, He is bringing a kind of awareness, a consciousness of a deeper level of God who is love, and who teaches us to be God's love in the world.  If we fail to understand relationship, we will fail to understand Christ.  This is a way to walk a blessed life, the life of the Kingdom.  The fullness of His mission will confer the Spirit, the Eucharist, His Passion and Resurrection:  it is all part of a whole, the fulfillment of all that has come before, and the giving of a way of life for us.

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill

 "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 5:17-20

We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, and began with the Beatitudes.  Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught, "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.

"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 tells us that Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions because He first performs God's will in all its fullness (3:15).  Next does not transgress any of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46; 14:30).  Also, He declares the perfect fulfillment of the Law (which He is about to deliver to His audience of disciples, a multitude who have followed Him from every region, we're told at the beginning of the Sermon).  Finally, Christ grants righteousness, which is the goal of the Law -- to us (Romans 3:31; 8:3-4; 10:4).  Jesus fulfills the Prophets by both being and carrying out what has been foretold by them.

"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."  In the Greek text, Jesus says "Amen" for "assuredly."  My study bible says it means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it."  When used by Jesus in the Gospels, it's a solemn affirmation of something, a type of an oath.  His use of this word at the beginning of certain proclamations ( rather than at the end) is both unique and authoritative.  Jesus declares that His words are affirmed before they are spoken, calling us to pay attention!  A jot ("iota" in the Greek, from which we derive the letter "i") is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet, while a tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  So the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of Christ's new teaching.  My study bible says that all is fulfilled refers to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.

"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 suggests we understand that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole; the observance of the least commandments is to observe the whole Law.  A violation of the least commandment is considered a violation of the whole Law.  Jesus' statement also reminds us of other statements He makes.  In Luke 16:10, Jesus tells us "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much."

"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."   My study says that a contrast between the righteousness that leads to salvation and that of the Pharisees must take into account that theirs was an outward, works-based righteousness.  To exceed that in a righteousness of salvation means communion of heart, soul, mind, and body in Christ.

Jesus begins to explain to us what it is to worship God in spirit and in truth.  In John 4:23-24, He says to the Samaritan woman, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  First He teaches us the Beatitudes, a state of blessedness in discipleship in which we participate in this reality of the Kingdom.  In yesterday's reading, He teaches what it is to hang fast to this new covenant, to be salt and light in the world, to live out discipleship as an active state of being that gives glory to God.  And this is what is linked to the righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees.  It's not just about maintaining outward expression of conforming to commands.  This is the reality of a life lived within a participation in spiritual community, in the Kingdom, and it takes heart, and soul, and mind, and strength (even body as my study bible says).  Of course, Jesus as Incarnate Logos or Word means we've had hints of this through Jewish spiritual tradition all along!  This is perhaps why He specifically names the Pharisees and their approach here.  Psalm 51 declares, "You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;  You do not delight in burnt offering.   The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise."   Jesus Himself quotes two great commandments as those upon which hang all the Law and the Prophets.  The first is  "You shall love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5).  And the other Jesus couples with it is Leviticus 19:18, "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord" (my italics).  In Mark 12:33, Jesus says that to love God "with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  We note that this is a Kingdom of love, and that it has been so through the suggestion we find in both Old and New Testaments, just as the Word has always been the Word, present with God, and through Whom all things were made.  Human beings want, and perhaps need, things to be broken down into things we can follow, things we can do and name, and rote up and claim for others to observe.  But love goes way deeper than that.  To worship in spirit and in truth is akin to love, something that claims all of us far more deeply than an outward observation.  Love is something that keeps us going, pursuing, seeking His way, going further -- finding the things we don't yet know.  Love fuels a kind of constant repentance, it is inseparable from spirit and truth, that search for the things that will help us to grow into discipleship more deeply, to not only dwell within this Kingdom, but to carry it with us as fully as possible, to grow in our ability to shine light, to be salt.    This is the righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees and scribes, and the Gospels will tell us the story of hypocrisy and things done to be seen by others.  To love takes us to a completely different level, and a different kind of obedience, a different "flavor" (as Jesus teaches about salt, in yesterday's reading).  To be in this world but not of it is to be a sojourner, like Moses, to give yet another "flavor" and truth from the Old Testament, but Christ fulfills everything by taking us all into His Kingdom.