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 

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew chapters 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 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, first of all, performing God's will in all its fullness (Matthew 3:15).  Moreover, He transgresses none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46; 14:30).  He also declares the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He is about to deliver to the disciples in this sermon.  Finally, Jesus 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 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 a translation for the word "amen."  Coming from Hebrew, rendered in the Greek αμην/amin.  My study Bible says that this word means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it."  Here it's used by Jesus as a solemn affirmation, which is a form of an oath.  Jesus' use of this word at the beginning of certain proclamations (rather than at the end, as in our prayers) is unique and authoritative:  He is declaring His words affirmed before they are even spoken.  A jot (ιοτα/iota in Greek) is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet (it corresponds to the English "i"); 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.  All is fulfilled is a reference 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.  So, therefore, 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.  

 

In today's reading, Jesus declares that His disciples will not be able to enter heaven unless their righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees.  According to St. Hilary of Poitiers,  Jesus therefore "bypasses what is laid down in the law, not for the sake of abolishing it, but for the sake of fulfilling it."   Jesus emphasizes here that He comes into the world within a fairly strict tradition, within the lineage of the inheritance of the Hebrew Scriptures and Mosaic Law, and in fulfillment of all that is predicted in the prophets.  According to my study Bible, He is alluding to the fulfillment that will only be completed through His Passion and Resurrection.  There are many places in the New Testament where we read of Christ's fulfillment of prophesy, such as when He cleansed the temple.  In St. John's Gospel, we're told that the disciples came to understand this as fulfillment of the psalmist's words, "Zeal for your house has eaten me up" (see John 2:13-17; Psalm 69:9).  He fulfills the Law through His righteousness, as when He was baptized by John the Baptist, and John wanted to refuse Him, because clearly He needed no baptism of repentance.  But Jesus told the Baptist, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."   Whereupon completion of His baptism, the revelation and manifestation of the Holy Trinity occurred (see Matthew 3:14-16).   It's important for us to remember that in the completion of Christ's mission of the Incarnation, His Passion, death, and Resurrection, this sacrifice is what makes possible the setting right of all things in this world.  Through the Incarnation, Christ defeated death for all of us, and enables us to emerge from the effects of a sinful world into a life of hope, of reconciliation with the Lord, and to enter and participate in His life that He offers to us.  It is in all of this that we understand Christ as the fulfillment of all the aims of the Law, and all the foresight of the Prophets who awaited such a One as Christ.  He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).  He became the suffering Servant and Man of sorrows, humiliated and abused for love of us, even becoming the lamb led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53).  In these and so many ways, He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.  But there is more to the story here, as we are asked, as His disciples, to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.  He calls upon us to be like Him, to fulfill the commands that He gives us, and to find His way for us.  For He has gone before to show us the way, and invite us to participate in His life and mission as we can, and enter into the labors of those who came before, and who will come after (John 4:38).

 

 

 

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

 

 And seeing the multitudes, He 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." 

 

- Matthew 5:1–10 

 

On Saturday we read that Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

 

  And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  My study Bible tells us that in the Old Testament, only a select few were chosen to hear God directly (see Exodus 19:3-13).  Here, God Incarnate speaks to the multitudes face to face.  The mountain is a place where divine action enters human history, the place where God reveals Himself to humankind (Matthew 17:1; Genesis 22:2; Exodus 3:1, 19:2; 1 Kings 18:20).  To be seated is the traditional Jewish position for teaching with authority.  Some early Christian preachers, such as St. John Chrysostom, sat while the people stood.  

 

 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: . . .  According to my study Bible, Matthew mentioning that Jesus opened his mouth emphasizes this teaching is "one-way," that Jesus has come to speak with authority (Matthew 7:29), and the disciples are there not to discuss or debate, but to listen.

 

 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  To be blessed in this context is meant to indicate heavenly, spiritual exaltation rather than earthly happiness or prosperity.  My study Bible notes that in Hebrew, "poor" means both the materially poor and also the faithful among God's people.  The poor in spirit therefore are those who have the heart of the poor, the same attitude as the poor, and are totally dependent upon God.  

 

 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  My study Bible tells us that those who mourn sorrow over the sufferings of this life (Matthew 9:23), the sufferings of others (John 11:35), the state of the world (Luke 19:41), and their own sins (Luke 7:36-38).   All of these, it says, are comforted by the power of God both in this world and in the age to come.  What is understood as holy sorrow is part of repentance, conversion, and virtuous action, and it is the firstfruit of infinite joy.  This is to be distinguished from ungodly sorrow, which is a sadness that leads to despair (see 2 Corinthians 7:10).  

 

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  My study Bible explains that meekness is an attitude of being content with both honor and dishonor.  This is in imitation of Christ, who said, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29).  It says that the meek are God-controlled and have mastery over their passions, especially anger.  Additionally, we are to understand that meekness is not passive weakness, but strength directed and under control.  The earth that the meek will inherit is not power or possession in this world, but the new earth, which is everlasting (Revelation 21:1).

 

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness see the presence God and God's Kingdom as the most important thing in life.  My study Bible describes this as a desperate craving for what is right before God, comparable to a starving person's craving for food (see Matthew 6:33, also Psalm 42:1).

 

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."  What is mercy?  My study Bible describes mercy as love set in motion, expressed in action.  It explains that God's mercy in taking our sufferings on Himself in order to grant us His Kingdom sets us free from captivity to the evil one.  In view of God's mercy to all, we are in turn meant to be merciful to all.  

 

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."  In this context, my study Bible tells us, "pure" means to be unmixed with anything else, unadulterated.  The pure in heart are completely devoted to the worship and service of God and accept no compromises.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, those who achieve purity are described as practicing all virtue, having no conscious evil in themselves, and living in temperance.  This is a level of spirituality which is attained by few, but all people may strive for it.  When the soul's only desire is for God, my study Bible says, and a person's will holds this desire, then that person will truly see God everywhere.  

 

 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  As He is the source of peace, my study Bible explains that Christ found no price sufficient for peace other than shedding His own blood.  In so doing, Christ reveals Himself to us as the Reconciler, the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6; Ephesians 2:14-16).  The Holy Spirit gives peace to those who imitate Christ.  So, peacemakers share God's peace with those around them, imitating Christ's sacrificial love and participating in Christ's work.  By God's grace, my study Bible tells us, peacemakers become sons of God themselves.  

 

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Children of God uphold truth, refuse to compromise with the ways of the world, and they give themselves to no other (Matthew 6:24, 33; see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Like Jesus, my study Bible says, these will be persecuted for righteousness' sake (see John 15:18-20).  Christ's kingdom is the crown awaiting the righteous.  

 

 In today's reading we begin what is known as the Sermon on the Mount, which is perhaps the most significant single Scripture passage in which we receive the gospel message of Jesus in "one place," so to speak.  That is, in a single sermon.  The Sermon on the Plain, found in St. Luke's Gospel (Luke 6:17-49), is perhaps the other passage of Scripture in which we find a similar grouping of lessons and teachings on Christ's gospel.  But the Sermon on the Mount is perhaps what we'd call a landmark in New Testament Scripture.  It is the place where Jesus addresses the multitudes and presents His gospel in a fullness not found in a record of a single sermon elsewhere.  Of course, we do not take a single passage of Scripture and expect it to give us the fullness of Christ, His message, and ministry, nor the complete understanding of the Church as to what that means for us and for our spiritual lives and practice of our faith.  However, it's notable that the Sermon on the Mount is given to us so relatively soon in St. Matthew's Gospel, as Jesus has just begun His public ministry, and He's become famous in a rather short period of time.  It's also "early" in St. Matthew's Gospel as a whole.  Here in today's passage we begin with the Beatitudes.  It's possible that these are among the most famous and most quoted teachings of Jesus that we know.  As my study Bible points out, it's important to understand that He's setting out for us what are the blessings of the Kingdom, and what is that "blessed" life He's speaking about.  So often we think about blessings in material terms, but that is not at all the message of these Beatitudes, these blessings that Jesus is teaching us about.  Like so much of the whole of the Bible, and possibly in particular the Old Testament that has come before the New, Jesus' blessings stand the worldly sense of life on its head.  What's exalted on worldly terms is humbled in Christ's terms of blessings, and what is humble in the world's terms is exalted in Christ's teaching.  Jesus teaches that those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who are merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those persecuted for righteousness' sake are all blessed in His sight, and He gives us the reasons why all of this is true.  We notice how these beatitudes begin and end with the reward of the kingdom of heaven.  As my study Bible puts it, citizenship and belonging in this Kingdom is the crown for those who enter and dwell there.  Lest we misperceive this message, the kingdom of heaven isn't simply an afterlife or a world we might experience after we live our worldly lives.  The kingdom of heaven is one which dwells within us (Luke 17:21).  It's one that grows and expands, and with surprising results and capabilities (Matthew 13:31-32).  It is one that pervades all things and changes their quality (Matthew 13:33).  Additionally, it's a tremendous treasure that's worth the price of everything, and surpasses everything else in quality and preciousness (Matthew 13:44-46).  Moreover, it's one of ultimate discernment, and judgment -- casting all things into their proper places, separating the bad from the good (Matthew 13:47-50).  And, ultimately, the kingdom of heaven is the greatest collection of treasure of all time (Matthew 13:52).  How do we reach and and dwell within this kingdom?  By practicing all the things He says, cultivating all of these qualities He names in today's reading.  We live in a world with tremendous emphasis on the material.  Perhaps in our age we face a great deal more of this emphasis than ever in the past.  Social media tends to amplify the emphasis placed on image, and especially our image within the socially desirable qualities or achievements that are most valued or correspond to social rank.  But Jesus stands all of this on its head, elevating what it is to be poor in spirit, to be meek, to be a peacemaker, to be humble, pure in heart, to deeply desire righteousness before all else, even to be persecuted for one's righteousness.  Those things are a high price to pay within a culture that values material image, status, and social power to the extent that ours does.  But in Christ's words and teachings, the pearl of greatest price -- of highest value -- is life in this kingdom.  And so we find what is worthy of our sacrifice of what's needed in the social order in order to gain what the heart's desire would claim as exaltation and joy that cannot be found otherwise.  This is our choice, and it's the wisdom of life, even our greatest prize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth

 

 "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.  They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.  And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.  But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.  But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  

 

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  

 

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

 

- John 16:1–15 

 

 This week we have been reading through Christ's Farewell Discourse, which was given to the disciples at the Last Supper.  Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, which tell of the manner in which the Eucharist was instituted, John's Gospel gives us the meaning behind Christ's ministry and the institution of the Eucharist, the substance of communion.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer to I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another.  If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out  of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.'  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.  But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'   But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning." 

 

  "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.  They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.  And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.  But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart."  Here Christ elaborates on His warnings to the disciples of what is to come when He is no longer with them in the flesh, as Incarnate Jesus.  My study Bible explains that sorrow, in Christ's use here, means "extreme grief leading to despondency or despair," which is a sinful passion.  It quotes St. John Chrysostom, who comments, "Great is the tyranny of despondency."  Moreover, it adds that this sin is constantly referred to in the writings of the Desert Fathers.  When the world persecutes the believer or when God seems to be absent, Christians are called to fight against this despondency, taking comfort from the presence of the Holy Spirit (the theme of verses 5-15).  

 

 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  "Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."  Once again, we recall that the word in Greek translated here as Helper is Παρακλητος/Parakletos, sometimes rendered in English as Paraclete.  It literally indicates one who comes by one's side when called, as in participating in one's defense at trial.  This title also means "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."  My study Bible notes on this passage that through the illumination brought by the Holy Spirit, the world will be convicted; that is, it will be proven wrong.  It will be convicted concerning first of all its sin, of which the ultimate is denying Jesus Christ.  Furthermore, of righteousness, which it failed to accept from Christ with faith and thanksgiving.  And finally judgment, for all who reject Christ, according to my study Bible, will receive the same penalty that Satan, the ruler of this world, has already received (see Matthew 25:41).

 

 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He  will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."  My study Bible explains that because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and because this Spirit abides in the Church, the Church is the guardian of all truth.  

 

 My study Bible comments that because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and because this Spirit abides in the Church, the Church is the guardian of all truth.  While over the centuries, the Church has contended with many heresies, many sects, and many divisions, this comment may make some wonder how it is that the Church can be the guardian of all truth.  But the Church exists as the institution founded by Christ and built, in a particular respect, by the Holy Spirit.  The Church also contains within it the whole of the "great cloud of witnesses" referred to by St. Paul (Hebrews 12:1).  That is, all the saints and the angels, those who have come before us, and in the sense in which the Church is an eternal spiritual construction, those who will come afterwards.  The Church is also a kind of divine-human construction.  While the Spirit is active in the Church, the Church also relies upon human beings in its ranks.  That is true at every level, from the highest to the lowest in authority, from parishioners to priests and pastors and bishops and hierarchs.  In other words, in this divine-human effort, we are also fallible human beings who are capable of making errors and mistaking the ways in which we come to know and understand the truth of the Spirit.  Nonetheless, despite this and our own capacity for problems, the Church remains the repository of truth; as my study Bible puts it, the guardian of all truth.  For everything is there that we need to find when we seek Christ, and desire to come to know God and our place in God's salvific plan for creation.  In St. Matthew's Gospel, when Jesus begins speaking in parables about the kingdom of heaven, He gives three that are particularly pertinent to this topic (Matthew 13:44-52).  First He speaks of the kingdom of heaven as being like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid, and for joy he sells all that he has and buys the field.  Second, Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, having found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.  Finally, Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea.  Here we come close to our understanding of the Church and the working of the Holy Spirit in it, for this dragnet is cast out and gathers some of "every kind."  But when it was full, the good was gathered into vessels and the bad thrown away.  This is a parable of judgment at the end of the age -- that which Christ speaks of in today's reading when He reveals the work of the Holy Spirit in the world, and the Spirits active and ongoing mission, which convicts the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, and at the same time guides the faithful into all truth, and glorifies Christ.  Finally, Jesus ends this teaching in parables by saying, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."  And this treasure out of which every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven brings out things new and old is the Church.  This is the image of the repository of the Church as guardian of all truth -- a treasure to be cherished, upheld, lived, and grown into so that by its fruit it glorifies Father, Son, and Spirit.  Those who wish simply to use that treasure for their own gain or purpose will incur judgment, as will those who refuse to honor or receive its value.  That includes, as Jesus says in today's reading, "the ruler of this world," also called the father of lies (John 8:44).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your father's guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

 

 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

- Matthew 23:27–39 

 

On Wednesday we began reading Christ's final public sermon, an indictment of the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees.  In yesterday's reading, He continued that sermon, saying,  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  Here is Christ's vivid description of a hypocrisy that masks behavior that leads to death, not life.  

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your father's guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." My study Bible suggests that the reference to Zechariah (as in Luke 11:51) may refer to the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), while there is another opinion it may refer to the father of St. John the Baptist, who, according to tradition, was also murdered in the temple.  

 

 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"   My study Bible comments that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of His people, yet most do not want Him.  The desolate house refers both to the temple and to the nation itself, for "house" can be used to mean "family" or "tribe" (see Psalms 115:12, 135:19). Both the temple and the nation will be without God's presence once Christ departs.  Noteworthy here is the feminine, loving, protective motherly image Christ gives for Himself as a hen who seeks to gather her chicks under her wings.  

 

 Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  In this image of the whitewashed tombs Jesus describes, we discover what we may look at as an illustration of what is called "the two ways."  These are the way of life and the way of death.  The two ways are specifically laid out for the people by God in the Book of Jeremiah, in which the prophet Jeremiah is instructed as follows, "Now you shall say to this people, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death'" (Jeremiah 21:8).  In Jesus' preaching, we are taught about the two ways in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus teaches, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:13).  My study Bible tells us that the description of the two ways was widespread in Judaism (Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Proverbs 4:18-19, 12:28, 15:21; Sirach 15:17), and also in early Christian writings (Didache, Barnabas).  In the struggle for the better way of the narrow gate, we as human beings wrestle against sin and human weakness in addition to spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12).  These varied forces and influences define the external focus of the religious leaders whom Jesus criticizes, who are like whitewashed tombs.  They are careful to appear to the world as pious and upholding religious law and doctrine, but their inner lives follow another way.  Hence Jesus' description, that all this beauty of the whitewash hides not only the sins done against others for gain (even "dead men's bones" that may allude to the prophets murdered by those in whose footsteps these men follow), but also their own neglect of their souls.  In Jesus words, they will "fill up the measure" of their "fathers' guilt."  Their hypocrisy, then, is a "way of death," another bad road leading to a bad end.  Jesus prophesies of those whom He will send out in the world:  "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city."  But this bad road of hypocrisy in which, despite their words to the contrary, they follow the priests who stoned and killed the prophets before them, will lead to a particular end.  Jesus tells them, " . . . that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."  Those dead men's bones, and all uncleanness therefore includes not only the state of their souls in their turning from the love of God but also the sins of their ancestors whose ways they follow.  This is what it means that He calls them "sons of those who murdered the prophets."  We have to recall the repeated warnings to Israel by the prophets, constantly calling the people back to God, and persecuted and rebuked, even murdered, by those holding these responsible positions.  Jesus says to them that all this will come down upon this particular generation.  We must note that this passage ends with Christ's great, sad, and loving lament over Jerusalem, and her repeated refusal of the Lord's prophets who have been sent to her.  The Lord's "motherly" lament over His lost children echoes and expands upon David's mournful weeping over the loss of his rebellious son Absalom, and the transcendent love of the father for his lost son in Christ's parable of the Prodigal (2 Samuel 18:33; Luke 15:32).  Once again, we need to remind ourselves that these words of Jesus are not meant to simply teach us about the past, but to warn us about our own paths in life.  We are given grace to help us follow His light, to find His way of life for us (John 8:12).  I once spoke to a modern psychotherapist who put it this way; he said, "You're either going the right way or the wrong way."  In Christian terms, we follow the light or we don't.  To follow the light, as grace makes possible for us, is to find our lives in Him and where He leads.  To refuse is to find ourselves in darkness.  And this is what repentance is for, to come back to the way of life.  For He always awaits and calls us back.

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

 

 And seeing the multitudes, He 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." 

 

- Matthew 5:1–10 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. 

 

 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: . . . My study Bible states that in the Old Testament, only a select few were chosen to hear God directly (see Exodus 19:3-13).  Here, it is God Incarnate who is speaking to the multitudes face to face.  The mountain is a place where divine action enters into human history; this is the place where God reveals Himself to human beings (Matthew 17:1; Genesis 22:2; Exodus 3:1, 19:2; 1 Kings 18:20).  Additionally, to be seated is the traditional Jewish position for teaching with authority.  Some early Christian preachers, such as St. John Chrysostom, sat while the people stood.  My study Bible tells us that St. Matthew using the expression that Jesus opened His mouth emphasizes that this teaching is "one way," that in fact He has come to speak with authority (Matthew 7:29), and the disciples are not there to discuss or to debate, but to listen.

 

 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  To be blessed in the sense that Jesus uses it here in the Beatitudes indicates heavenly, spiritual exaltation, rather than earthly happiness or prosperity.  My study Bible explains that in Hebrew, "poor" means both the materially poor, and the faithful among God's people.  Those who are poor in spirit are those who have the heart of the poor; that is, the same attitude as the poor, and complete dependence upon God.

 

 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  Those who mourn, my study Bible explains, sorrow over the sufferings of this life (Matthew 9:23), the sufferings of others (John 11:35), the state of the world (Luke 19:41), and their own sins (Luke 7:36-38).  All of these are comforted by the power of God both in this world and in the age to come.  My study Bible adds that holy sorrow is part of repentance, conversion, and virtuous action, and is the firstfruit of infinite joy.  This is distinguished from ungodly sorrow, a sadness that leads to despair (see 2 Corinthians 7:10).

 

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  Meekness is an attitude of being content with both honor and dishonor.  This is an imitation of Christ, my study Bible says, who is the one who told us, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29).  My study Bible further explains that the meek are those who are God-controlled and have mastery over their passions, especially anger.  It notes that meekness is not passive weakness, but rather strength directed and under control.  The earth that will be is to be inherited by the meek is not power or possession in this world, but it is the new earth, which is everlasting (Revelation 21:1).  

 

 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."  My study Bible tells us that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness see the presence of God and God's Kingdom as the most important thing in life.  It says that they have a desperate craving for what is right before God, comparable to a starving person's craving for food (see Matthew 6:33).  

 

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."  What does it mean to be merciful?  Mercy is love set in motion, according to my study Bible; that is, love expressed in action.   It says that God's mercy in taking our sufferings on Himself in order to grant us God's Kingdom sets us free from captivity to the evil one.  In view of God's mercy to all, we in turn are to be merciful to all.

 

 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."   According to my study Bible, to be pure is to be unmixed with anything else, unadulterated.  The pure in heart are those therefore who are completely devoted to the worship and service of God and accept no compromises.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, those who achieve purity practice all virtue, have no conscious evil in themselves, and live in temperance.  This level of spirituality, it says, is attained by few, but all may strive for it.  When the soul's only desire is God, and a person's will holds to this desire, then that person will truly see God everywhere.  

 

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  As Christ is the source of peace, He found no price sufficient for peace other than to shed His own blood.  In this sense He is our sacrifice shared in communion, and reveals Himself as the Reconciler, the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6; Ephesians 2:14-16).  According to my study Bible, the Holy Spirit gives peace to those who imitate Christ.  Therefore, peacemakers share God's peace with those around them, imitating Christ's sacrificial love and participating in His work.  By God's grace, peacemakers become sons of God themselves.  

 

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  My study Bible declares that children of God uphold truth, refuse to compromise with the ways of the world, and give themselves to no other (Matthew 6:24, 33; see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Like Jesus, these will be persecuted for righteousness' sake (see John 15:18-20).  Christ's kingdom is the crown which awaits the righteous. 

 

My study Bible tells us that the sense of blessedness conveyed in the Beatitudes indicates a heavenly, spiritual exaltation, rather than earthly happiness or prosperity.  In our every day lives, we think of our blessings as all the things we might possess, or perhaps our talents, or health.  But these are the blessings of the Kingdom that Jesus is telling us about, and the Kingdom does not necessarily operate as does the world and our material lives.  In fact, it is these blessings of the Kingdom that may color and add light, or illumine, our experiences of the world.  The things we might think of or experience as loss might not feel as loss according to the Beatitudes of the Kingdom, the blessings we may very well experience, that don't necessarily make worldly sense.  This is akin to the "peace that passes understanding" found in Philippians 4:6-7.  That's a peace that doesn't necessarily correspond to worldly understanding of peace, and may even be found in the midst of tribulation and difficult circumstances.  It is a sense in which these beatitudes, or blessings of the Kingdom, transcend not only circumstances but even time, for they come from Christ's eternal kingdom.  These blessings are not simply transcendent, but they are also transformational.  Like Christ's presence, they transfigure whatever they touch.  A sad circumstance, like the illness of a parent, or the struggles of a child, can be transfigured through our perception of such blessings. When we practice mercy, we find an added dimension to life, another meaning layered over whatever we are experiencing, a giftedness of blessing even in a sad or difficult circumstance.  When we learn meekness, or perhaps we should say the particular kind of "meekness" implied here, we grow in learning both humility, and to perceive capabilities inherent in a perhaps limited circumstance that we didn't see before.  We give up manipulation when we are not able to change something, but in exchange find some grace that allows us to change and accept God's plans wherever we are.  To be poor in spirit is to accept God's kingdom and dominion, authority and power, as the fullest expression of authority we know, reaching into the places of grace and transcending everything else.  We are meant to live for this kind of life, this kind of blessedness as our experience, for this is what it is to "walk with God," and to know Christ in our lives.  Let us consider what it is to be poor in this sense, to exchange our fullest dependence upon the riches of the world, and accept instead the great grace of the blessedness of God, which remains even when all else is gone (Matthew 5:19-20).  There are many wealthy people who can tell us how hollow and empty such a life can be in and of itself; but with God all things are blessed.  

 

 

 

 

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth

 

 "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.  They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think he offers God service.  And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.  But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.  But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  

 

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

 

- John 16:1-15 

 

 In our current readings, Jesus is giving what is called the Farewell Discourse to the apostles.  The setting is the Last Supper, before Jesus goes to His arrest leading to the Cross, His death, and then to Resurrection.  This readings and commentary on this Discourse began on Monday.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught the apostles, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another.  If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.'  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.  But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'  But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds  from the Father, He will testify of Me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."

 

  "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.  They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think he offers God service.  And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.  But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.  But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart."  My study Bible defines the use of sorrow here to mean "extreme grief leading to despondency or despair," which it names a sinful passion.  St. John Chrysostom is quoted:  "Great is the tyranny of despondency."  This sin, moreover, is constantly referred to in the writings of the Desert Fathers.  When the world persecutes the believer or when God seems to be absent, my study Bible notes, Christians are called to fight against this despondency, taking comfort from the presence of the Holy Spirit.  

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now."  Of course, the Helper is the Holy Spirit.  The word translated as "Helper" from the Greek was used in ancient times for a legal aid, a lawyer; it was extended to mean also "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."  It literally indicates one who comes (by one's side) when called.  My study Bible comments on this passage that through the illumination brought by the Holy Spirit, the world will be convicted; that is, proven wrong.  It will be convicted concerning first, its sin, the ultimate of which is the denial of Christ.  Second, righteousness, which it failed to accept from Christ with faith and thanksgiving; and finally judgment, for those who reject Christ will receive the same penalty that Satan, the ruler of this world, has already received (see Matthew 25:41).  

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."  My study Bible tells us that because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and because this Spirit abides in the Church, the Church is the guardian of all truth.  

It seems important to remember, when considering Christ's words about judgment, that the Holy Spirit (the Helper, the Spirit of truth) is at work in our world all the time.  When Christ speaks about the Spirit doing the work of judgment and conviction, we should remember that, first of all, Christ is the Knower of all hearts (that is, He knows the depths of our hearts we might not even know), and second, the Holy Spirit will give help and opportunity to all regarding response to the spiritual truth it offers, in ways that none of us can know about anyone else.  This extends to ourselves as well, in terms of our own awareness of just what we are being presented with in our choices all the time.  So when we read Christ's words (and my study Bible's understanding) we can be certain that God presents us with opportunities all the time in terms of our response to this truth, to the work of the Holy Spirit in us and around us, which is always ongoing.  God's judgment is not like our judgment, and only God knows the true depths of who we are to make that judgment, so this is effectually, a great mystery to us all on our human, worldly level, and is something belonging only to God in terms of prerogative.  We cannot be the Judge, but what we can do is accept Christ's words and His commands, especially the commands to love one another which have gained so much importance in this final Farewell Discourse to Christ's apostles.  We can rely on and trust in the Spirit of truth to be present to us and with us at all times, an Advocate, a Helper, a Counselor, One who offers us the closeness of one closer to our hearts than we know, and who always has our best interest in mind.  Jesus also speaks at the same time of persecutions that are coming; emphatically, He tells them even in this vivid language that "the time is coming that whoever kills you will think he offers God service."  This is a picture of the spirit of the Antichrist at work in the world, so that we understand this complex life in which we live, and the great and courageous mission into which the apostles were about to engage.  These conditions remain with us, and come in new and myriad forms, but our basic struggle is the same.  We trust in Christ (this is what it means to have faith), we follow His commands, and above all, we are to do so as our love for Him.  As Christ has said, He receives love from the Father, and shares that love with the disciples, and with us.  This love, as He has said repeatedly in this Discourse, is that with which He abides in us, and we abide in Him, so that our joy and peace may be a part of us all the time, no matter what is presented to us in the world, if we remain His disciples.  Let us rely upon this Spirit of truth, our Comforter and our Helper, to find our way through, even in a world that is hostile.  The Holy Spirit, Spirit of truth will bring to remembrance all the things Christ has taught, taking of what is Christ's to declare to us from the Father, giving us the capacity to witness to Him in the world.   

 

 

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.