Day 24: Matthew 5-7
Today’s passage is known as the Sermon on the Mount. In the book of Matthew, it is Jesus’ first public discourse, and it summarizes his teachings about how the people of God should live. Note how many times Jesus says, “You have heard it said… but I say to you…” regarding various commandments and laws. It might seem as if Jesus is completely doing away with the laws and customs of the Old Testament; indeed, Christians today no longer practice many of the culturally-specific laws of the nation of Israel. However, Jesus clarifies that he “did not come to abolish [the Law and the Prophets] but to fulfill them” (5:17).
Many teachers of the Old Testament law would add rules upon rules, all with specific exceptions, which ultimately distorted the original purpose of God’s good law and allowed for injustice to creep in. But here, with each scenario that he presents - murder, adultery, divorce, etc - Jesus takes the original law and moves it to an internal, heart-level issue.
These new commands are much more difficult. Some of them might even seem impossible. Love your enemies, do not look at another lustfully, seek the kingdom of God first, do not worry - much of this seems out of our control. And that’s precisely the point. The external rules and regulations do not transform our hearts, and are therefore not sufficient to save. But even in the Old Testament, God had promised, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep all of my laws” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). This was why Jesus came. We needed to be transformed from the inside out. We needed to be born again.
Questions for reflection and discussion: Of all the various issues covered in the Sermon on the Mount, which one speaks to you most today, and why? What do you find challenging or even impossible? How does this part of Jesus’ teaching relate to the rest of the Bible?
