Matthew 5:17-48 (abridged)
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell...You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart...It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery...Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King...You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also...You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Over the past month or so, we have been taking a fresh look at the Bible, to ask What kind of book? We have looked at the different kinds of writing it contains, from law to history to poetry to prophecy to gospel to letter to apocalypse. We have considered the possibility that we might think of the Bible as myth, not in the sense that it is untrue but in the sense that it contains truth that is deeper than fact. And we have thought of the Bible as a series of narratives, a story that helps us make sense of our own story.
The reflections I have offered during this series have been based on teaching I gave while I was with my previous church in Leeds. We had similarly decided to go back to basics with scripture, and try in new ways to get to grips with the book many of us had already spent a lifetime reading. One of the questions that emerged as most pressing was What does a Christ centred reading of scripture look like? Perhaps that question came because like all good Baptists we knew that “our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the sole and absolute authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice”. Or perhaps we did not need the Declaration of Principle to tell us that, because we had already read and experienced enough to be utterly captivated by the person of Jesus, and to know that it is in him that we find the way and the truth and the life.
In order to try and answer our question, we turned our attention to the Sermon on the Mount, looking for the attitudes and principles and practices that are modelled and depicted by Jesus, and how they might shape the way in which we read the Bible. Here at Stoneygate, we have found ourselves with the Sermon on the Mount several times over the past few years, and that we keep returning to the same few chapters is not just a lack of imagination on my part. As I’ve said before, we could do worse than listen to the Sermon on the Mount on repeat until we fully understand its meaning and live out its teaching. These are words to change the world, and we should never be too far from them. We’ll be considering the Sermon on the Mount as a whole this morning, but I chose the particular passage we heard because it shows us Jesus himself handling scripture.
So how can the Sermon on Mount help us to understand what a Christ centred reading of scripture looks like? What does that even mean? For me a Christ centred reading is one which seeks to read scripture like Jesus and in the light of Jesus, and so here are some of my own thoughts, and some ideas that came out of discussion with members of my previous church. If you would like to have the Sermon on Mount in front of you, it is found in chapters five to seven of the Gospel of Matthew.
the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) reverse our expectations – this may tell us that the Bible will often be counterintuitive
the Beatitudes also challenge the idea that blessing is the result of obedience and the belief that the kingdom comes through force – surely then we must prioritise the prophetic voices of mercy and justice
the call to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) demands that we are wise and useful - I once heard someone say that if your theology doesn’t work when you are face to face and heart to heart with another person then it doesn’t work, and our reading of scripture must lead us to be a blessing to those we encounter
Jesus’ claim that he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it (Matthew 5:17) followed by his repeated use of the phrase “you have heard it said...but I say to you” (Matthew 5:21-48) tells us something of how he understood and used scripture - the word of God is never to be simply discarded, but it is to be heard and understood afresh
Jesus’ approach to the law also turns the focus from action to attitude – we must look beyond the letter to the spirit and ask not just ‘what does this say I should do?’ but ‘who does this say I should be?’
the words we heard on divorce (Matthew 5:31-32) may sound very conservative to our ears, but in a culture in which men could cast their wives out on a whim, they would have offered greater protection for women – we must listen for how the words of scripture would have sounded in the ears of those who first heard them, because it is then that we so often hear the voice of compassion that is beyond all things
the call to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48) is radical and distinctive – if this is the ultimate ethic of Christ then our reading of scripture must lead us to generous and impartial love
Jesus’ words about righteousness (Matthew 6:1-18) are a call to humility and integrity – Bible study is not a place to show off!
the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) is the centre point of the sermon and framed in communal terms – relationship with God is at the heart of all discipleship but it is worked out in relationship with others which perhaps suggests that Bible reading should be a corporate as well as private activity
the Lord’s Prayer also calls for the coming of the kingdom of heaven – if we are to recognise and encourage its breaking through to the kingdoms of earth, then we must look to the scriptures to learn what it is like
the section on treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-24) calls us to ask what our treasures are – this may encourage us to really value scripture
the verses about worry (Matthew 6:25-34) question our priorities – this may prompt us to look to scripture rather than possessions for comfort
Jesus’ caution against judging others (Matthew 7:1-5) is an important corrective – scripture is so often used to criticise others, for not following it or for reading it differently, but that is not what it is given for
the Golden Rule that we should do to others as we would have them do to us (Matthew 7:12) is another guiding ethical principle – it is against these calls for justice and compassion that we must measure every interpretation of scripture
the warning about false prophets (Matthew 7:15-20) is also a wise word with respect to scriptural interpretation – we must think carefully and critically when reading or hearing the arguments of others and judge those arguments by their fruit
That was a fair blast through three fairly dense chapters, but they say much about the conduct and character of Jesus, and the conduct and character he calls us into, including as we engage with scripture. The Jesus we see revealed through the Sermon on the Mount calls us to read with humility and gentleness and integrity, to practice discernment and expect challenge, to seek the spirit of the words and let the words transform our spirit, to pay attention to the voices that speak of compassion and justice and mercy, to look for hope and encouragement and signs of the kingdom, and to read in such a way that we grow in wisdom and love.
When I first prepared this material, I was reminded of a song by DC Talk called Red Letters, named for the fact that some Bibles print the words of Jesus in red ink. The chorus says There is love in the red letters / There is truth in the red letters / There is hope for the hopeless / Peace and forgiveness / There is life in the red letters. I think the Sermon on the Mount gives us good reason to declare that we find all of these things in Jesus, and as he is the Word of God then any word from God must surely be characterised by these same things, so that our engagement with the scriptures may be framed as a quest for love and truth and hope and forgiveness and life.
Comments