After a three month absence, my quiet times have resumed. there were actually a few days on vacation in August that never made it on the site, but it's been too long since I had a regular QT. Thanks to Justin for the prompting and the accountability to do what I know is good for me.
Mathew 5:3 - Humility seems to be something I lack these days. I've had this uncomfortable realization that I think myself more highly than I ought. I've been frustrated by the lack of recognition at work and thinking I ought to be more respected in general. In a performance review at the office, one of my peers (anonymously) said that I think that my way is the only right way. Ouch.
Luke 6:24-25 - I can't help but wonder what these woes mean for us in the USA. We are so amazingly wealthy. I fear that many will miss God because of their wealth. I can only pray (as I type on my laptop in my easy chair in my living room, wirelessly connected to the internet) that I will not be one of them. With wealth comes great responsibility, I think. It makes me wonder, what am I doing with my riches besides making my self comfortable? What good am I doing with them? How can I do more?
Mathew 5:13 - May I never loose my 'salt', that is, may I never blend in with this world.
Mathew 5:19 - What does this mean? Breaking God's law and promoting the breaking of God's law, yet they are in heaven. Or is 'the kingdom of heaven' referring to something else? If so what? It seems odd.
Mathew 5:27-30 - One of the hardest scriptures for a man to reconcile with. Jesus' teaching here gives insight into how important our actions, our deeds, are to God.
Mathew 5:44-48 - Why love our enemies? Because that is what God does. You don't see God withholding blessings or good things from non-Christians. If so, we'd be able o tell easily who was God's by their blessings. "Did you see the Smith's lawn? God must not love them."
Mathew 6:33 - I've heard 'His Kingdom' in this verse equated to the church, or rather this church or that church. But is Jesus referring to the church, even the universal church, here? Or is it a bigger concept of just seeking God and His ways. I suppose that those two, God's church and God's ways, are somewhat interchangeable.
Luke 6:37 - Is Jesus telling us, as some would believe, that to judge is a sin? It's not really what he says. But put this verse with those that follow and there's a clearer picture of what he's trying to teach. If we insist on being overly critical and judgmental, that is how God will judge us as well. And the fact of the matter is that the most trivial of sins in others are obvious to us while we cannot see the glaring iniquities in our own lives. We must be careful how we look at others.
Matthew 7:7-8 - What a promise! If we are looking for answers, we are promised that we will find them. The question is, are we open to the answer which is outside of the possibilities we see? Or will we only be content with the answer we think we'll find?
Matthew 7:24 - Jesus' words is the solid foundation upon which we should build our lives. Our opinions and reasoning change, but his words do not. Actually, it's not just his words, it's our following them. The difference in this parable between the wise and foolish was not the lack of His words, it was the lack of keeping them.
I think 5:19 in context refers to the futility of finding righteousness in the works of the law. Jesus is saying that even if you've only violated the least of the commandments, you earn the dishonor of "least" in the kingdom.
It's not really about a system of hiearchy in heaven; it's about how even a violation of the smallest letter of the law makes one a violator of the whole law.
With that in mind, v.20 only reinforces the impossible ideal Jesus sets up not only in apparent tension with the Law but also as the Law's fulfillment. He says that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. But this is on the surface impossible since nobody kept the Law better than those guys.
So our righteousness must be found somewhere outside the letter of the Law.
I have been slowly but surely blogging through the Sermon on the Mount at Mysterium Tremendum. You can read my entry on Matthew 5:17-20 here:
http://thinklings.org/jared/index.php?p=298&more=1&c=1
Sheesh, Jared, it only took me one night. What's taking you so long? :-)
So, do youn think that our Lord is being a bit ironic here? The best of us is the least in the kingdom - What then of the worst?!? Can they be worse than the least?
What do you think of the term there in Matt. 5:19 'the kingdom of heaven.' Is he also being ironic. Sort of, 'you're in God's kingdom but you sin too. And even if your sin is only the least important commans, you are the least.' Or does it mean something else? I agree that it's not the central part of the passagee, but I'm intrigued as to the meaning.
Matthew's use of "kingdom of heaven" is synonymous with the other Gospels' use of "kingdom of God." The concept does not refer to the "heaven" we think of -- the post-mortem place of Paradise -- although that concept may be in view.
John the Baptist and then Jesus both preached that the kingdom of God/heaven was at hand, and so we must take them at their word. The reality is that Jesus was bringing with and in Himself the presence of the kingdom of God. He was and is king, and even though we do await a future consummation of history in our Lord's second coming, the kingdom of heaven was inaugurated in Jesus' life and ministry and established in his death and resurrection.
The Sermon on the Mount ought to be looked at as a description of life inside the kingdom of God. The reason Jesus mentions sinning and what-not is because this kingdom life is present on earth this side of the parousia, so we still live in a fallen world and wrestle with sin.
So, do youn think that our Lord is being a bit ironic here? The best of us is the least in the kingdom - What then of the worst?!?
I don't know about irony, but hyperbole may be in use. I think my "the best" he means those who have followed the letter of the law but may not actually have righteous hearts. The Pharisees were great at appearing righteous, great at following the Law. But not for nothing did Jesus call them hypocrites, brood of vipers, whitewashed tombs, etc.
One of the prevailing points of the Sermon on the Mount is that it is the heart/character that matters, not our works/behavior. The latter flows from the former, but the entire sermon is set against using the latter as a means to righteousness. By subverting this traditional approach to the Law, Jesus sets up an impossible standard (being holy in our innermost insides as God is) for us to acheive righteousness and thereby sets Himself up as the only way for us to achieve that holiness.
Sheesh, Jared, it only took me one night. What's taking you so long? :-)
I know you're just joking, but it really shouldn't be taking me this long. I'm taking my time really because I am doing a somewhat in-depth study with several commentaries, and my blog posts are meant to be my own commentary on the passages (you'll notice I'm doing several paragraphs of notes on one or two verses at a time). So it's a little more involved a task than just reading it and writing a few thoughts. If I was taking a more devotional/reflective approach, I could do it rather quickly.
My study of the Sermon on the Mount has sort of grown out of the study in Jesus and the Gospels I've been going through for the last two years. I've taught a few classes at church on the subject, so I see this time in The Sermon as a long-term project more than as a pit-stop in my daily devotional time.
But you're right -- I need to pick up the pace!