Discipling the Undisciplined no.6

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20).  So here Jesus sets up what He is about to teach by connecting it to the law given to Moses and the words spoken by the prophets. So, what Jesus is going to do in this sermon does not get rid of all those things that existed prior to Him BUT to give some better clarification as to what was happening. And that is why what follows is clarifying some of the points made in the Tanakh. Let’s start with the law in its original form. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:2-17). And those are the commandments given in their original form. And Jeus wants us to obey those commandments in His Kingdom. 

So, we start out with God being in charge. He is the one God. And we don’t worship anything above Him. Next, we don’t make anything else that we worship. And then we don’t misuse the name of God. And finally, we take a day to reflect on his awesomeness. Those seem rather simple. Keep God at the center of our worship because He is worthy of praise. He created us. He created everything. He is in charge. Makes it rather an easy concept to make sure I place Him where He belongs at the center of my thoughts and the recipient of my love and obedience and respect. This is His house. We are His children. We need a rest. So, none of these commands are anything out of the ordinary. We are made in His image so additional images would be just unnecessary. Good so far? Superb.

Now let’s continue. Honor your father and mother whether they deserve your respect or not. That might be a little difficult but I think most of us have good or decent parents that are not monsters so that isn’t much of an ask. Now we get heavy. Do not kill people. Seems rather basic. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Both of these are about taking things that are not yours. Don’t bear false witness. So don’t lie about other people. And finally to go back to taking things, we shouldn’t even want the things other people have. So the jealousy and greed of those things are out too.

So, the laws there are rather basic. Those are the laws Jesus has for us. Now let’s see what He does with that framework.

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH