Matthew Chapter 5
Jesus begins to teach. This section
encompasses so much that a lifetime could be devoted to its study and yet more
would still remain to be discovered. But a lifetime of study would miss the
point of it because Jesus’ teachings are about actions. Real actions in a real
world require real attitudes. Study leads to understanding, which is important,
but can often lead to legalism, the Law. A life lived in these words of Jesus,
leads to compassion and acts of righteousness. This section is all about a
transformed heart which allows the Law to be lived as it should be, through
compassion, not legalism.
Jesus begins with the beatitudes.
Attitudes to hold in life. Attitudes which will bring blessings. These
attitudes will end in persecution, just as they persecuted the prophets, and in
time, Jesus. How can persecution be a blessing? The blessings are earthly
possessions but rather the ability to handle life in a peaceful and godly
manner. Persecution comes because we are the salt and the light, which is too
much for the world to handle. The world is used to a bland, dark world. To
challenge it with salt and light invites persecution.
The Law had been turned into a
legal system bent on control. Jesus is going to free the Law and therefore the
people, from legalism. The Law starts in the heart. Actions start in the heart.
Without a heart set on God, transformed in the spirit, the best it can do is
legalism. And the worst it can do is evil. But a transformed heart makes sense
of the Law through compassion, mercy and peace. The spirit of the Law which moves a transformed heart is an
attitude of mercy, hope, forgiveness and compassion. It is going beyond the
expected, the strict confines of what is required to the openness of a tender
heart intent on right actions. Righteousness and legalism may look similar in
actions but are worlds apart in intention. Righteousness is only possible
through an open and transformed heart intent on God through the spirit.
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