People Flocked to Jesus and were Taught by Him (Contd): Let us examine some of the teachings of Jesus with authority as part of his proclamation of the Good news of the Kingdom and as elements of his preaching the love of God.
Authority of Jesus: The disciples of Jesus should resemble two things of our daily life routinely used by us. They are salt and light. The disciples are salt to the world and if the salt becomes tasteless, nothing can restore its saltiness. It has to be thrown out to be trodden under foot by people. The disciples are light for the entire world and should shed light among their fellow-humans. They should do it in such a way that seeing the good works they do, people should give glory to the Father in heaven (See Matthew, 5: 13-16) Please consult our earlier Post on the 'Glorification of God the Father').
Since Jesus was teaching with complete authority, a question could have naturally arisen in the minds of his listeners. If so, what about the Law of Moses? Has the Law any relevance any more ? Besides declaring that he did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to complete them, he teaches with authority with an introduction of the phrase " I tell you" that nothing from the Law will disappear as long as heaven and earth endure. Jesus distinguishes three categories of people on the basis of their observance or otherwise of the Law. Those who set aside even the least of the demands of the law or teach others to do the same will have the lowest place in the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who keep the Law and teach others to do the same will stand high in the Kingdom of heaven. The third category of people is introduced authoritatively again with an "I tell you" phrase. These are the people who will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven if they don't turn out to be better people than the Pharisees and the doctors of the Law (See Matthew, 5: 17-20). This teaching of Jesus shows that there is a huge difference between actually keeping the Law and making a show of keeping it.
The Law of Moses: In conformity with what has been said above, Jesus explains how the Law has to be kept by going over and above it and completing it. Where the Law waits till the end of the process culminating in murder to forbid it, Jesus forbids anger that is at the beginning of the process leading to murder. All abuses and sneering associated with anger are strictly forbidden by Jesus. Not only that, even one's duty to worship God at the altar is subordinated to the demand of making peace with one's brother. "If, when you are bringing your gift to the altar, you suddenly remember that your brother has a grievance against you , leave your gift where it is before the altar. First go and make your peace with your brother, and only then come back and offer your gift" (Matthew, 5: 23-24).
It is important to bring out into the open a secret objection we might have about the teaching of Jesus as against the injunction of the Law. The demands Jesus makes on us seem to be severe and harsh compared to the requirements of the Law. While the Law only requires that we don't commit murder and is not bothered about anything that happens before that, Jesus enjoins upon us not even to get angry with our brother and goes even further back and forbids us from abusing or sneering at our brother. There is a sound reason for Jesus in doing this, which may be explained by means of a parable. Let us suppose that we want to build a dam on a river with strong currents and we go about doing it with our common sense. We assemble all the materials required, bring workers and show them the place where the dam should be built. Since the currents are so string that the workers are not even able to station themselves at the spot they want to build, how would they ever put together the materials and build the dam? There comes a civil engineer who is well-versed in hydraulic laws and asks the workers to stop all work and get back to the upper regions of the river. He wants them to build dykes or even bunds in different spots far above the spot where the dam is intended to be built. he will readily agree with them that he too wants to build the dam exactly on the spot they planned to do it for which he is taking action by building dykes or bunds far above it. This way the current of the river will be stopped or restrained so that the workers could get back to their original spot to build a perfect dam. Here we can see that the objection from the uninitiated to the waste of time, money, and man-power used in building dykes has no "locus standi" to building the dam.
Similar is the case with the feelings of severity and harshness associated with the demands of Jesus. He is the one, like the engineer in the parable, who knows the laws of the Kingdom of God and the intricacies of human nature besides the vile of Satan. For, Satan has a special capacity to disguise himself as our benefactor as he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Taking the form of a serpent, he advised our first mother that the real reason God forbade Adam and Eve from eating the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was to prevent them from becoming like gods (or God) (See Genesis, 2: 16-17; 3: 1-7). Thus Paul tells us that although the law and commandment are holy in themselves, sin finds an opportunity in the commandment to seduce and kill us (See Roman, 7: 7-13). Even though the law is spiritual, as I am not spiritual I am not able to do what I want to do. The will to do good does not issue forth in good deeds (See Romans, 7: 14-25).
The Law of Sin: Let us try to understand the intricacies of human nature a little further. The law of sin emanating from Satan is in constant conflict with the Law of God given to us to become like God Himself. Sin lurks behind every action we perform according to the Law given by God after the commandment to the first parents was violated. An inherent infirmity is built into every law including the Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments in that while it forbids an action it does not give power to obey it. Reformation of an individual is beyond the scope of the law that commands and punishes the violators of the law. Punishment is seen as meeting the ends of justice. Deprived of the power to execute the dictates of the law, the humans invariably break them and are punished. The greatest punishment of breaking God's Law is death that is inbuilt into those laws as wages of sin. The death meant here is eternal death , a state where a person is driven out of the presence of God, of which our physical death is only a symptom. (To be Contd).
Authority of Jesus: The disciples of Jesus should resemble two things of our daily life routinely used by us. They are salt and light. The disciples are salt to the world and if the salt becomes tasteless, nothing can restore its saltiness. It has to be thrown out to be trodden under foot by people. The disciples are light for the entire world and should shed light among their fellow-humans. They should do it in such a way that seeing the good works they do, people should give glory to the Father in heaven (See Matthew, 5: 13-16) Please consult our earlier Post on the 'Glorification of God the Father').
Since Jesus was teaching with complete authority, a question could have naturally arisen in the minds of his listeners. If so, what about the Law of Moses? Has the Law any relevance any more ? Besides declaring that he did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to complete them, he teaches with authority with an introduction of the phrase " I tell you" that nothing from the Law will disappear as long as heaven and earth endure. Jesus distinguishes three categories of people on the basis of their observance or otherwise of the Law. Those who set aside even the least of the demands of the law or teach others to do the same will have the lowest place in the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who keep the Law and teach others to do the same will stand high in the Kingdom of heaven. The third category of people is introduced authoritatively again with an "I tell you" phrase. These are the people who will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven if they don't turn out to be better people than the Pharisees and the doctors of the Law (See Matthew, 5: 17-20). This teaching of Jesus shows that there is a huge difference between actually keeping the Law and making a show of keeping it.
The Law of Moses: In conformity with what has been said above, Jesus explains how the Law has to be kept by going over and above it and completing it. Where the Law waits till the end of the process culminating in murder to forbid it, Jesus forbids anger that is at the beginning of the process leading to murder. All abuses and sneering associated with anger are strictly forbidden by Jesus. Not only that, even one's duty to worship God at the altar is subordinated to the demand of making peace with one's brother. "If, when you are bringing your gift to the altar, you suddenly remember that your brother has a grievance against you , leave your gift where it is before the altar. First go and make your peace with your brother, and only then come back and offer your gift" (Matthew, 5: 23-24).
It is important to bring out into the open a secret objection we might have about the teaching of Jesus as against the injunction of the Law. The demands Jesus makes on us seem to be severe and harsh compared to the requirements of the Law. While the Law only requires that we don't commit murder and is not bothered about anything that happens before that, Jesus enjoins upon us not even to get angry with our brother and goes even further back and forbids us from abusing or sneering at our brother. There is a sound reason for Jesus in doing this, which may be explained by means of a parable. Let us suppose that we want to build a dam on a river with strong currents and we go about doing it with our common sense. We assemble all the materials required, bring workers and show them the place where the dam should be built. Since the currents are so string that the workers are not even able to station themselves at the spot they want to build, how would they ever put together the materials and build the dam? There comes a civil engineer who is well-versed in hydraulic laws and asks the workers to stop all work and get back to the upper regions of the river. He wants them to build dykes or even bunds in different spots far above the spot where the dam is intended to be built. he will readily agree with them that he too wants to build the dam exactly on the spot they planned to do it for which he is taking action by building dykes or bunds far above it. This way the current of the river will be stopped or restrained so that the workers could get back to their original spot to build a perfect dam. Here we can see that the objection from the uninitiated to the waste of time, money, and man-power used in building dykes has no "locus standi" to building the dam.
Similar is the case with the feelings of severity and harshness associated with the demands of Jesus. He is the one, like the engineer in the parable, who knows the laws of the Kingdom of God and the intricacies of human nature besides the vile of Satan. For, Satan has a special capacity to disguise himself as our benefactor as he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Taking the form of a serpent, he advised our first mother that the real reason God forbade Adam and Eve from eating the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was to prevent them from becoming like gods (or God) (See Genesis, 2: 16-17; 3: 1-7). Thus Paul tells us that although the law and commandment are holy in themselves, sin finds an opportunity in the commandment to seduce and kill us (See Roman, 7: 7-13). Even though the law is spiritual, as I am not spiritual I am not able to do what I want to do. The will to do good does not issue forth in good deeds (See Romans, 7: 14-25).
The Law of Sin: Let us try to understand the intricacies of human nature a little further. The law of sin emanating from Satan is in constant conflict with the Law of God given to us to become like God Himself. Sin lurks behind every action we perform according to the Law given by God after the commandment to the first parents was violated. An inherent infirmity is built into every law including the Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments in that while it forbids an action it does not give power to obey it. Reformation of an individual is beyond the scope of the law that commands and punishes the violators of the law. Punishment is seen as meeting the ends of justice. Deprived of the power to execute the dictates of the law, the humans invariably break them and are punished. The greatest punishment of breaking God's Law is death that is inbuilt into those laws as wages of sin. The death meant here is eternal death , a state where a person is driven out of the presence of God, of which our physical death is only a symptom. (To be Contd).
No comments:
Post a Comment