When Fr. Daron shows how Matthew draws parallels between the life of Jesus and the history of the tribes of Israel, the sermon on the mount becomes more than just a moral teaching. The pharaoh's slaughter of infant boys, the flight of young Moses out of Egypt, 40 years in the wilderness, and the crossing of the Jordan parallel the birth of Jesus, the sojourn in Egypt, the 40 days in the wilderness, and the baptism by John. So when Matthew writes that Jesus went up on the mountain, we should be thinking of Moses; and the sermon on the mount parallels the giving of the Law.
Fr. Daron explained a puzzling little phrase in Matthew: "Jesus opened his mouth and spoke." Why not "Jesus spoke?" How else could Jesus speak except by opening his mouth? But when Moses met God at Sinai face to face, the Hebrew expression for that is "mouth to mouth." Ah HA!
Like the first four commandments, the first beatitudes concern our spiritual relationship to God. The latter commandments and beatitudes guide our relationships to others. Fr. Daron stresses that the word translated as "righteousness" connotes "justice," so it's not about our own obedience to the law, but about seeking social justice. Fr. Daron challenged us to think on one beatitude a week.
Today, Fr. Daron took up the part of the sermon where Jesus couples what you have heard it said with but I say to you. You have heard it said, do not kill; but I say to you that you have committed murder if you bear hatred in your heart. Ditto fornication and lust, divorce and adultery, oaths and dishonesty -- a person's honesty should be known from his way of living, not dependent on an oath. The Pharisees' strict compliance with the law wasn't strict enough because it falls far short of fulfilling God's purpose, which was to change our hearts (cf. Isaiah and Amos).
The Pharisees had a question, Fr. Daron said. When the original temple was built in the time of Solomon, we read that the Lord's presence descended and filled the temple. Nothing like that happened when the temple was rebuilt after the Jews' exile in Babylon, in the time of Ezra and Nehemia, about 500 years before Jesus. Why had the glory of the Lord not descended on the temple again?
The Pharisees concluded from numerous scriptures that God would come down only when His people were obedient. So the Pharisees enforced obedience, and hedged the law with even more laws so that no one came even close to breaking a commandment. This would bring God down to expel the Romans and restore the Davidic line of kings. Jesus undercut their authority and their whole mission: no wonder they wanted him to die.
When Jesus says he came to fulfill the law, he meant literally, fill it to the brim. It's not about what we don't do. Every day that you don't kill someone or don't commit adultery, you have NOT necessarily fulfilled God's will. We are to move beyond anger, respect women, and live with integrity. It was never about getting to heaven when you die, but about how we live now.
[See an appreciation of Fr. Daron and a decade of his sermons at More than Skin Deep: The First Ten Years (10/2022)]
No comments:
Post a Comment