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

 

 "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 

 

In yesterday's reading from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that believers are like Salt and Light.  He said,  "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 Christ fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions in the following 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 the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He is about to deliver to those who listen.  He grants righteousness, which is the goal of the Law, to us (Romans 3:31; 8:3-4; 10:4).  He fulfills the Prophets by both being and 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."   Assuredly is a translation of Αμὴν/Amen from the Greek.  It means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it," according to my study Bible.  Here, Christ uses 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 at the end -- is unique and authoritative, my study Bible says.  Jesus declares His words affirmed before they are even spoken.  A jot (ἰῶτα/iota in the Greek) is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet, while a tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  So, therefore, 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 explains 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 to be 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 their righteousness was outward and works-based.  The righteousness of salvation is the communion of the heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ.  This righteousness starts with God, but is accepted by human beings in faith.  We live that faith as Christ lives in us and we in Him (Galatians 2:20).  This is an ongoing communion, my study Bible says, in an ongoing, dynamic, and growing life with Christ.

 

 What is this communion with God that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees?  According to my study Bible, Christ is asking here for something more; He's saying that He is the true fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, and He repeatedly reiterates the power and authority of the Law, that all of it will be fulfilled.  But in this understanding of who He is, we find Him inviting us into communion with Him, so that we also may fulfill this understanding of righteousness.  Once again, we must revisit the notion of repentance in the Christian sense.  The Greek word for repentance means change of mind.  In common parlance to repent means to address a particular sin, to turn away from it.  But in the true sense of this word in the Gospels and in the tradition of the Church, there is a sense in which repentance is a consistent ongoing process, and it means that we change in relation to our turning to God, to Christ.  In communion then, the objective in this understanding of righteousness is not necessarily that we are looking back on a particular sin and rejecting it, but rather that we seek the kind of fulfillment Christ speaks about here.  We are growing toward something, and this is the ongoing "repentance" process of communion with Christ.  We grow to be more like Him, the One of true righteousness, through a depth of relationship with Him, the proper communion we seek.  This is the key to entering the kingdom of heaven, and its real root is love.  Jesus will teach that the two greatest commandments, summing up all the Law and the Prophets, are as follows:  He said, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40).  In the tradition of orthodox theology, the word that describes our love for God might sound strange to us, who live in a secular culture in which words have changed meaning over time.  But this Greek word ερως/eros is also used to define a deep love and desire for God, and in this sense of loving God "with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind," describes a devotion and passion for God that the commandment indicates.  In this sense, we desire a union with God in the totality of who we are.  When Christ speaks, therefore, of fulfilling the Law and Prophets, we should consider what it means to seek a life pursuing this kind of union with Christ, and the αγαπη/agape (often translated as "charity") love of neighbor that this will lead us toward.  When Jesus speaks of righteousness, it is with a sense of teaching to us this deep-rooted start in love, for God is love -- and from God's seeking us in love, and our responding with love to God, we find the righteousness about which Christ teaches here, that which exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 "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 

 

In our present readings, we are going through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  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 comments that Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions by doing several things.  First, He performs God's will in all its fullness (Matthew 3:15).  Second, He transgresses none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30).  Moreover, He declares the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He is about to deliver to the people as He preaches this Sermon on the Mount.  And finally, He grants righteousness, which is the goal the Law -- to us (Romans 3:31, 8:3-4, 10:4).  Jesus fulfills the Prophets by both being and carrying out what they foretold; a living fulfillment of faithfulness and righteousness.

 

"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, Christ's word translated here as assuredly is "amen."  It means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it," in the definition of my study Bible.  Here (and elsewhere) Christ uses it as a solemn affirmation; it's a form of oath.  My study Bible describes Christ's use of this word at the beginning of certain proclamations (rather than at the end) is unique and authoritative.  He declares His words affirmed before they are even spoken.  A jot (in Greek, iota, what we might read as the equivalent of the letter "i") is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet.  A tittle is the smallest stroke in some Hebrew letters.  So, therefore, the whole of the Law is affirmed here as the foundation of Christ's new teaching, out of which will be a renewed, new covenant.  All is fulfilled, my study Bible tells us, 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 comments here that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole.  It is not meant to be taken piecemeal.  It explains 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."   My study Bible explains that righteousness which leads to salvation must exceed that of the Pharisees because theirs was  an outward, works-based righteousness.  But the righteousness of salvation is the communion of heart, soul, mind and body in Jesus Christ. 

As a Jew, Jesus is a faithful Jew.  He has not come to dismantle or to destroy, but rather to fulfill the aims of the whole Law.  The Law (Torah or Pentateuch, meaning the first five books of the Old Testament) is given as a way to gather community, to create and sustain the community of the people of God.  It is meant to give a code of righteousness, a way to build and create right-relatedness with God as the center of the community.  This is why we must have a sense of what the is as a whole concept.  Like other ancient civilizations, this sense of law or code gave definition to a people, and conferred identity and belonging.  This is why it is taken as a whole; where the observance of the least remains an observance of the Law as a whole concept; and a violation remains a violation of a whole in this sense of what is necessary for community.  The system of sacrifices (meaning communal meals) and offerings and the various teachings in the Law are meant for reconciliation and righteousness within the community, and the sustaining of that identity of a people.  For the ancient Athenians, for example, the word that may translated into "law" in this sense is "nomos" in Greek, and it functioned as well to define people as Athenians.  For this reason, at the time of Christ, there were Jews who became Hellenes (as Athenians) and Greeks who became Jews (John 12:20).  So the sense of being one people was much more a focus on this type of code or set of laws that defined the people, rather than the concepts of race we're familiar with.  This is why, in the early Church, this would become an important issue when Gentiles began becoming Christians.  There were those who believed they should first become Jews, whereas St. Paul advocated that this full observance of the Law should not be necessary for those who were not Jews to begin with.  Eventually the very first Council of the Church decided these new Gentile members of the Church should observe these important mainstays of Torah: "they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality" (Acts 21:25).  As for the identity of those who came from pagan societies such as Athens and Rome, this would have to be forged in the light of Christ.  In other words, they retained their identity, but transfigured in the teachings of Christ and through the work of the Holy Spirit.  This is how, for example, we have theology:  those whom we call Church Fathers were fully educated in the classical culture of their time, which included encyclopedic knowledge of science and philosophy.  The applications of Greek philosophy but which served instead Christ the Lord is how we have theology.  In this sense, whatever was good and true and beautiful could serve the Person who was Truth.  In this way, we have a "renewed" covenant, not disparaging or doing away with the old (and our Bibles retain the Hebrew Scriptures), but rather teaching us righteousness and giving us identity as those who also may become "sons [and therefore heirs] of God."  In this understanding, Jesus teaches a righteousness which exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.   As He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, leaving nothing out, so He may become our means of salvation, our center around which we build right worship and right community, leaving nothing out of the salvation plan of God for the world.  In this context it is most important that we see the Eucharist as essential to worship, for through it we participate in His cup and His sacrifice for all of us and for all time.  St. Paul writes, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).  We are properly to understand it as communion, and communion with God in faith is the foundation of all righteousness.  This is what Jesus will proceed to teach us as He preaches the Sermon on the Mount.

 

 

 

 

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 

 

Currently the lectionary is going through the Sermon on the Mount.  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 comments here that Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions.  He does so in three ways:  first, by performing God's will in all its fullness; second, by transgressing none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30); third,  by declaring the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He was about to deliver to them; and finally by granting righteousness -- the goal of the Law -- to us (Romans 3:31, 8:3-4, 10:4).  He fulfills the Prophets by both being and 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."  Assuredly (in Greek, Amen) means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it," my study Bible says.  Jesus uses this term here as a solemn affirmation, a form of oath.  Throughout His preaching, Jesus has used this word at the beginning of certain proclamations, rather than at the end.  My study Bible calls this unique and authoritative; He declares His words affirmed before they are even spoken.  A jot (iota in Greek) is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet.  A tittle is the smallest stroke in certain letters in Hebrew.  So, therefore, the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of Christ's new teaching here in the Sermon on the Mount, the gospel of the Kingdom.  All is fulfilled refers to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ to come.

"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 notes that the observance of all the least commandments is to observe the whole Law, while the violation of the least commandment is considered to be 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 has to exceed that of the Pharisees as theirs was an outward and works-based righteousness.  The righteousness of salvation includes all of who we are.  As my study Bible describes it, this righteousness is a salvation which includes the communion of the heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ.  

In terms of the righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, my study Bible points us to Romans 1:17 and 3:36.  In the first, St. Paul teaches this righteousness of Christ as one that is "revealed from faith to faith," and cites from Habakkuk 2:4, "The just shall live by faith."  My study Bible says that this combination used by St. Paul in Romans 1:17 ties together -- as Christ is doing first in the Sermon on the Mount -- both Old and New Testaments.  "The just shall live by faith" is the most often internally quoted passage in the entire Bible.  This cements the centrality of faithful living -- a faith that runs thoroughly within us -- as the key to the fullness of righteousness.  "From faith to faith" indicates that as we receive Christ through faith, then we must live by faith.  My study Bible says that in both Old and New Testaments, humanity has always participated in God's righteousness on the basis of faith.  Faith is more than belief; it is a way of life, from the inside to the outside -- and this constitutes what is understood as "purity," unadulterated by anything else.  My study Bible says that the faithful actively participate in God's righteousness through both belief and obedience.  In turn, this living by faith in Christ is meant to exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:7; 15:13).   So, therefore, the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets happens through this kind of faith.  That is, faith not merely as an assertion of intellectual belief, but as a life really turned over to Christ, so that we are thoroughly participating in that life which He brought into the world and lived faithfully as the "first fruits" for us.  As Christ became Incarnate, so He lived the life of obedience to the Father as a human being, and transfigured human life for all time, even ascending into heaven, merging both.  As we seek to participate, then, in Christ's life, we in turn are meant to be transfigured, a process which is steeped in mystery, as it includes the mercy and grace of God working in us, as we cooperate with our own obedience, faith, and love of God.  The desire to serve God which we will find in our hearts serves as a kind of engine for this process, a fire that drives us to  be open to God's guidance, to an instinctive love and need within ourselves, and to be healed by God in all the many ways we need it and the world needs it.  This is a love that works in our depths, and it is also a love that is "in action."  Like Christ, when we feel compassion to help others, to serve community, to give a good word, to heal -- in all of these activities prompted by love of God and neighbor we may participate in this active love.  This is righteousness, an active love and obedience lived in faith.  The desire to know God is likely the deepest desire human beings have in our souls.  It is my belief that many hungers and thirsts for other things are simply distractions and covers for this truly deep need for God's love, healing, and communion with our Creator.  For it is there we truly find ourselves, our lives, our purpose -- and the light that leads to that fulfillment which eternally beckons us forward.  That place is the kingdom of heaven where we wish to dwell, to truly live, at all times.  This needs our active seeking and cooperation and engagement, a true faith of righteousness.

You cannot serve God and mammon

 

 "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.  Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?  No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon." 

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.  And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.  For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.  The law and the prophets were until John.  Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.  And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.  

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."

- Luke 16:10-18 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus also said to His disciples:  "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.  So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you?  Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'  Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?  For my master is taking the stewardship away from me.  I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.  I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.'  So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'  And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.'  So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'  Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?'  So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.'  And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'  So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.  For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.  And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home."

 

  "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.  Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?"    My study Bible comments that the test as to whether God will bestow heavenly blessings (true riches) on a person is directly related to how each person spends one's money.  The money which we consider to be our own, my study Bible says, is actually another man's.  That is, all wealth ultimately belongs to God -- or at least to the poor in need.  In patristic commentary, a person's failure to give money to God's work is seen as stealing.  Theophylact comments that such failure is "nothing less than the embezzlement of money belonging to someone else."

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."   Taken in the context of Christ's comments prior to this (as well as the parable in yesterday's reading -- see above), Jesus puts it plainly.  You cannot serve God and mammon.  Therefore even "unrighteous mammon" (wealth or money) is to be used to serve God and God's purposes.  There is one highest priority that comes first, and all things are subject to that priority.

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.  And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.  For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God."  My study Bible comments here that the things which are highly esteemed among men include money, power, position, and praise.  Again, Jesus is elaborating on the statement that one cannot serve God and mammon, and if we but look closely, all these things which are "highly esteemed among men" also fall into the category of mammon, of material life. 

"The law and the prophets were until John.  Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it."    In preaching the kingdom of God, Jesus is fulfilling the law and the prophets (see Matthew 5:17).  My study Bible comments that Jesus fulfills the law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions.  First, He performs God's will in all its fullness (Matthew 3:15).  Second, He transgresses none of the precepts of the law (John 8:46; 14:30).  He also declares the perfect fulfillment of the law, the gospel of the Kingdom; and this gospel grants righteousness -- the goal of the law -- to us (Romans 3:31; 8:3-4; 10:4).  He fulfills the prophets by both being and carrying out what they foretold.   

 

"And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail."  Additionally, righteousness according to the law is seen as a unified whole, and not separate categories one either checks off or does not.  That is, the observance of all the least commandments, my study Bible explains, is to observe the whole law, while the violation of the least commandment is considered a violation of the whole law.  See Matthew 5:19.

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."  Here Jesus seems to be making note about the law, and in this context here, criticizing the easy divorce that was possible for men at His time.  My study Bible comments that because of the misuse of divorce in that day, Jesus repeatedly condemns divorce (see, for example, Matthew 5:31-32; 19:8-9), and He is emphasizing the eternal nature of marriage, and in this sense relating this to the perspective of the kingdom of God.  

In today's reading, Jesus' preaching emphasizes the supremacy of the kingdom of God before all else.  The Pharisees were lovers of money, our text tells us.  But moreover, we know from Christ's criticisms of their hypocrisy they were also lovers of the "praise of men" -- doing many nominally pious things simply in order to be seen by others.  This is the foundation of their hypocrisy, which Jesus roundly condemns in many ways in Matthew 23.  But in saying that one cannot serve both God and mammon, that we must choose between one and the other, Jesus seems to go a step further, and is including those things which are "highly esteemed among men" and calling them an "abomination in the sight of God."   In modern terms, we might consider that what Jesus is referring to here is a kind of purely transactional viewpoint on life, in which only material good is considered as value -- and as part of that material good would be included those things which give one "currency" (that which is "highly esteemed among men").  As my study Bible says, these things include "money, power, position, and praise."   Whether that is reputation, or publicity, or whatever is done purely with the goal of social currency of some sort, becomes a part of this world of mammon, as it is divorced from putting God and God's kingdom first.  For this is the true righteousness that Christ preaches, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets:  seeking to please God first, to participate in God's kingdom even as we live our earthly lives.  Jesus says, "The law and the prophets were until John.  Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it."  This seems to be a parallel with His statement in Matthew 11:  "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come" (Matthew 11:11-14).  This "violence" is a reflection of everyone pressing into the kingdom He has preached, heralded by the spirit of Elijah returned in John the Baptist -- and thus the signal for the fulfillment of the law and prophets in Christ's gospel of the kingdom.  And so we live at this time in which we are invited to participate in this Kingdom, this righteousness He offers to us.  But, of course, mammon is with us still, and in some ways possibly more than ever.  Our faith in technology seems to some to have become a kind of replacement religion, even as technological capabilities have reached extraordinary new levels -- much of which offers yet new uncertainties for our future.  In light of Christ's preaching, let us take this to heart with every new turn of the modern world we see before us.  We are commanded to know that even "unrighteous mammon" has uses which can be defined by the priorities of the kingdom of God, and so we put our faith first in living faithful lives.  This is the one defining thing we know.  Regardless of what we think we see and experience around us, there is still the Kingdom in which we dwell, which we carry with us through how we choose to live, how we pray, how we even go into our secret rooms with God who sees in secret (Matthew 6:6).  Perhaps what is true now is these practices are more important than ever, for it is there we find our true treasure, and the way to carry our cross daily through the world.

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 Christ's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  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 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." 

 "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 by, first of all, performing God's will in all its fullness (Matthew 3:15); second, transgressing none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30); third, declaring the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He is about to deliver to them; and finally, granting righteousness -- which is the goal of the Law -- to us (Romans 3:31, 8:3-4, 10:4).  Christ fulfills the Prophets by both being and carrying out what they experienced in visions of Christ and His mission given from God.  

"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 (in the Greek, ἀμὴν/amen)means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it."  This word is used here (and elsewhere in the Gospels) as a solemn affirmation, a form of oath.  My study Bible explains that Christ's use of this word at the beginning of certain proclamations (rather than at the end) is unique and authoritative.  In effect, He declares His words affirmed before they are spoken.  A jot (ἰῶτα/iota) 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 the Passion and Resurrection of Christ (John 19:30), the fullness of His ministry and mission.

"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 says that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole.  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 because theirs was an outward, works-based righteousness.  My study Bible notes that the righteousness of salvation is the communion of the heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ. 

Jesus teaches, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."  Let us consider what it means to "fulfill."  In Greek this verb is πληρόω/plero).  We encounter another form of this same Greek word in the liturgical holy hymn based on Isaiah's vision of the heavenly hymn of angels and archangels to God (Isaiah 6:3), "Heaven and earth are full of your glory" (my italics).  When we echo these words we might notice that Isaiah wrote of the whole earth being filled with God's glory; but we sing "heaven and earth" precisely because of what Jesus teaches here.  The fullness of His work and mission as Jesus Christ included His Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension; and we understand that fullness to include His words, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18).   Christ's next words after this declaration to His disciples also tie with today's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, and complete Matthew's Gospel:  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age"  (Matthew 28:19-20).   At the fulfillment of which Christ speaks; that is, His Passion and Resurrection and Ascension, there is this new "fullness" announced, and a new command and new covenant.  The fullness of God's glory in the earth will be fulfilled through the ongoing mission of the Church announced at the end of this Gospel by Christ:  that His followers go out to world with these teachings, given in all of the Gospels, but perhaps most fully expressed in this particular Sermon we're reading, the Sermon on the Mount.  The things Christ is teaching us therefore relate to fulfillment in a most special and specific way:  He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, all the things given to Israel by the God of Israel.  But He is also, in the fullness of His saving mission, giving a new covenant, a new declaration, and a new fullness for the world, and that is the realization of His teachings through the lives of His followers, through our own loyalty and participation in His life, which is also to spread His "light and salt"  into the world (see yesterday's reading, above).  We achieve this both through following His commandments and teachings ourselves, and sharing them with others.  In John's Gospel, Jesus is asked by the people, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  And He replies, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:28-29).  The fullness of Christ's mission, and the new teaching that He gives to us, is a question of faith:  of hearing and doing His commands, an ongoing life in which we grow closer to Him, participating in His life through prayer and worship, but living our faith -- bringing His light into the world and more deeply into ourselves.  This is the new "fullness" and the ongoing work of "fullness" -- even as all authority in heaven and earth are His.  In this sense, His mission will be fulfilled, as He announces, in us -- in those who hear and do, who love Him and live the life that faith in Him asks of us.  For faith comes down to what and Whom we love and trust, which translates into the way we live.   This is the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, the doctrine of 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

 "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

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 comments here that Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions.  This happens when He performs God's will in all its fullness (3:15), as He transgresses none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30), He declares the perfect fulfillment of the Law which He was about to deliver to them, and finally by granting 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 the very things that 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."  In Greek, what Jesus says here (translated as assuredly) is "Amen."   My study bible defines "amen" as meaning "truly" or "confirmed" or "so be it."  Here, Jesus uses it as a solemn affirmation, a type of an oath.  His use of this word at the beginning of various proclamations (as opposed to at the end) is both unique and authoritative according to my study bible.  Jesus declares, in effect, His words affirmed before they are even spoken.  A jot (in Greek, iota) is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet (equivalent to letter "i").  A tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  Therefore the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of Jesus' new teaching.  All is fulfilled refers to the fullness of 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.  That is, the observance of all the least commandments is to observe the whole Law.  At the same time, 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."   My study bible says that righteousness that leads to salvation has to exceed that of the Pharisees, as theirs was an outward, and works-based righteousness.   The righteousness of salvation, it says, is the communion of heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ.

There is a fullness in Christ that calls us to wholeness.  That is, to a perspective of wholeness in terms of our entire lives.  This wholeness seems to extend, also, in many directions and is not a simple understanding.  For example, Jesus talks about the fullness or wholeness of the Law, saying that not a jot or tittle is left out.  Elsewhere He will say that "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" (after telling the parable of the Unjust Steward; see Luke 16:1-13).   In the final verse of the same passage, He remarks that, "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."  Thus, He gives another aspect of what it means that the righteousness He teaches is one of wholeness in which nothing is left out:  our hearts are serving one thing or another.  There is no exemption.  We must make a choice:  either we're "all in" for God or else we're not.  A partial righteousness isn't really righteousness; God calls us to fullness.  In this sense of a righteous life, it isn't as if we add up all our little discrepancies on one side and our fidelities on the other, and the biggest total wins.  It's more like our heart -- the center of ourselves -- is either with God or not.  Somehow there is something we love and prize above all else, and that guides our lives.  The message seems to be that it is not as if there are a few things that count and the rest doesn't or is unimportant.  It's all important.  It all matters.  And that's where we start.  While we will all make mistakes, the fullness of the life Christ teaches us about is a way of life through participation in Him, or rather in the life He offers us.    We love or we do not love, we seek that communion or we don't.  Each of the beatitudes or blessings of the Kingdom which Jesus taught at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount is important (see this reading), and He is still referring to these things which make His disciples "salt" and "light" for the world (see yesterday's reading, above).   We might prize being a peacemaker but leave out the part about meekness, accepting life on the terms we need to and bringing it all before Christ to find a righteous way through.  We might think that to be poor in spirit or to fully depend upon God is a worthy goal, but how do we actually do that if we decide we can leave out being merciful as part of our way of life?  It is in this kind of fullness that we really see the whole meaning of redemption and salvation, that it is for all the fullness of what it means to be you or me with nothing held back or left out.  Because if I leave out a piece of my heart, there is no telling where that little piece of exception will lead the rest of me, nor how it affects my thinking in all other dimensions.  I can't really tell, moreover, what I might be missing about the bigger things when I'm allowing myself to be distracted and pulled away by the littler things I think don't really count.  Jesus is telling us that His righteousness is all of a whole, just as our lives aren't fragmented into little pieces but are all a part of us, who we are.  And it is in the fullness of identity that we really find true discipleship, because in our communion with Christ is where we find who we truly are.  If our focus is only partial, we're dividing ourselves into fragments and pieces; the entire practice of discipleship, on the contrary, is meant to pull us all together in one place with one focus and all under the umbrella of Christ and where He places us.  Let us note also the focus on teaching that is brought up in today's passage.  Jesus says, "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."  Just as in speaking about believers as salt and light in yesterday's reading (above), Jesus is very conscious of speaking to His disciples as those who will set an example, who will not only be the nominal leaders of His Church, but also the faithful who mirror His righteousness so that everyone learns and understands from them.  If I sit at table as an upright person who brings honor to a community, but steal one of the spoons when I think no one is looking, then the little child to whom I pay no attention but watches what I do is going to learn precisely what from my example?  On the other hand, if I show mercy under the same circumstance, when I think no one is looking, and the child I'm not paying attention to observes that, what do you think that child learns about righteousness from me?  Each act will make an unforgettable impression, as each of us no doubt has had similar experiences.  Each acts speaks to the fullness of an attitude toward righteousness, either deprecating or elevating its importance in our esteem.  Let us consider, then, Jesus' words for today.  Is there some little corner of life that has been let slide because of its seeming unimportance?  This isn't about following rules so much as it is bringing everything to a prayerful presence in our communion with Christ.  We aren't being called toward a kind of obsessive-compulsive or overly scrupulous practice of our faith.  Rather, we're called to this wholeness, a life in which we bring our whole hearts to God for all things and grow and learn through time in that dependence.  Let us live this prayerful life aware of God's presence and tender mercies with us through all things.

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

Cross of Life - 5th century, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy

 "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

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."  Christ fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions, my study bible says.  This fulfillment happens through the performance of God's will in all its fullness (3:15), by transgressing none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30), by declaring the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which Christ is about to deliver in this Sermon, and through granting righteousness, which is the goals of the Law, to all of us (Romans 3:31, 8:3-4, 10:4).  He fulfills the Prophets both 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 amen/ἀμὴν in the Greek.  My study bible gives its definition as "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it."   This word is used as a solemn affirmation, a type of oath.  Jesus uses this word at the beginning of various proclamations (as opposed to the end), which is a unique and authoritative way of doing so:  He is declaring His words affirmed before they are even spoken.  A jot is iota/ἰῶτα in the Greek, 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 the new teaching of Christ.  My study says that all is fulfilled refers to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.  Let us remember also Christ's words to John the Baptist:  "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (3:14-15).

"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 explains that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole.  To observe the least commandments is to observe the whole Law, and 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."  The difference between the righteousness of the Pharisees and the righteousness that leads to salvation is the difference between an outward works-based righteousness and one that must exceed such an appearance-based system.  That is, the righteousness of salvation, as my study bible explains it, is a communion of heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ.  In the verses that follow, Jesus will go on to explain this depth of communion through various examples of violations of the Law, and His teachings on them.

St. Paul writes, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:16-17).  My study bible explains that "the righteousness of God" is to be in a continuous state of communion with God.  This state of "being right with God" originates with God and is accepted by mankind in faith.  This expression of the fullness of the Law, and the righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees, is where Christ is going in His Sermon.   In the verses that follow today's reading, Jesus will give us specific examples of violations of the Law, together with expressions of the deepening awareness of the heart and soul as to a true state of righteousness.  He will teach the fulfillment of faith and in interaction of loving creature and loving God.  In this model, it is the center of the self (or the "heart") which dwells within that active, living, ongoing communion of faith.  This is a mystical connection which works through grace within us.  In Christ's perspective, the ongoing model of faith is one in which this communion works thoroughly and holistically within a person, in which faith leads to works -- rather than being exclusively works-based.  That is, in the purity of heart He preached in the Beatitudes, we also act.  Christ offers us a depth of psychological understanding that the Law, or an exclusively works-based system, cannot.  As He says, He does not diminish or abolish the Law, but rather fulfills it.  Where a works-based understanding of life or faith may engender a great deal of hypocrisy (also in the examples He will give both in the Sermon on the Mount and throughout the Gospels), Christ preaches a fulfillment of the Law which includes every single part of who we are.    In order to achieve such righteousness, we must begin with the heart rather than leaving it out of the equation.  We go to the place where God works actively within us, and all the things we do to shore up our faith work to take us to that place of active communion.  Let us begin there, cleaning the inside of the cup, so that the outside also reflects that work!  Let us also understand that in this work we have the ongoing help and support of a loving God and communion of saints, and those both seen and unseen.  Repentance is always just a step away, and welcomed with loving acceptance.

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.

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 have been reading chapter 5 of Matthew's Gospel, which begins the Sermon on the Mount.  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."  Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself and in His words, and in His actions.  My study bible explains that this happens through His performing God's will in all its fullness (3:15); by transgressing none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30); in declaring the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He is about to deliver in this Sermon; and by granting righteousness -- the goal of the Law -- to us (Romans 3:31, 8:3-4, 10:4).  Christ fulfills the Prophets by both being and 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."  In the original Greek, assuredly is "amen/αμην."  It means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it."  It is used by Jesus as a solemn affirmation, a type of an oath.  His use of this word at the beginning of certain proclamations (as opposed to at the end) is both unique and authoritative.  He declares that His words are affirmed even before they are spoken.  A jot (iota/ιωτα in the Greek) is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet.  A tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  So Jesus is affirming the whole of the Law as the foundation of His teaching.  My study bible adds 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 tells us that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole.  The observance of all the least commandments is to observe the whole Law -- and 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 because of their emphasis on outward or works-based righteousness.  Here Jesus returns to His theme:  the kingdom of heaven and what it is like.  The righteousness of salvation, my study bible says, is the communion of the heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ.

So what is the kingdom of heaven like?  How do we enter it? What does it have to do with the Law and the Prophets?  Jesus speaks of Himself as One who has not come to build, or extend, or to reform, but rather to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.  Fulfillment is related to concepts of the "end," in the sense that the fullness of something is its absolute, its totality, its ultimate end point or full flowering.  In this case, the Law and the Prophets are entirely related to the concepts of the living kingdom of heaven that Jesus brings and preaches.  All of the blessings given in the Beatitudes, the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount, are about the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, the fullness of not just a way of life but also the presence of a spiritual reality, a kingdom in which we dwell and which dwells also in us.  It is the fulfillment of the promise of all that has come before in Jewish spiritual history.  What we ought to bear in mind is that Christ, as Truth, brings a kingdom with Him, spiritual in nature, one in which we "live and move and have our being," which St. Paul says in Acts 17 (verse 28).  In fact, we would do well to read the full passage of St. Paul's preaching to the Athenians (vv. 16-34).  In order to understand that while salvation is of the Jews, and Jewish spiritual history gives us preparation for the Messiah, the Christ, we may also take the message from Paul's preaching that as Truth, He is also the fulfillment of the good and true and beautiful that has come before in the Hellenistic world.  The ancients saw Christianity in this way when they chose to build churches where temples to pagan gods stood, as fulfillment.  It seems to me that we must continue to understand Christ this way, as fulfillment, as the Alpha and Omega.  What we know in our lives as true can only be further extended, developed, and fulfilled in Christ, made more fully manifest, opening our eyes to new things we had not anticipated but are nevertheless also true and good and beautiful.  The kingdom of heaven is a living reality, both within us and among us, as the Greek implies in Luke 17:20-21.  Its reality, and its flowering, are contained in those blessings that Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes, things that not only make our lives full of true substance and beauty and goodness, but also continue to build fruit in the world and in us as we live and bloom and produce fruit in His grace.  To do so is to live a life of true repentance, a change that fulfills and manifests through our growth in what He brings to us as persons who seek His righteousness.  How do you dwell in that Kingdom?  How does it live in you?  How is His fulfillment always and continually at work in your life and your world?