Christ continues his sermon this paragraph heading: (The old law and the new).
Under this heading Christ gives the reason for his coming. He tells us that the rules are still the same as they were long ago and he has not come to change them. He states: "Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets." Rather the law and the prophets spoke of him and foretold what he would do. He has come to fulfill the prophecy and until earth and heaven pass away, the law will remain. Now the law applies to the Jews to whom it was given and passed down by their forefathers.
Christ gives his commandments to teachers who will instruct the people on the laws of God. He tells them that whoever does not teach all of the commandments but does away with a small portion of the law will be the lease in the kingdom of heaven. And he who lives by these laws and teaches the law as it is given, will be called great in heaven. Beware teachers!!
It is interesting that this lesson is placed here almost in the middle of the sermon. Christ was saying to those who heard him that day, and to us today, to heed his instructions. He told them and is telling us about our justice, what we consider right and wrong, what measure we us to make judgements, what moral rules we use as our compass. As an example, he tells us that our basic rule of justice has to exceed that used by the Scribes and the Pharisees. In that day the people may have known what rule of justice was used by the Scribes and the Pharisees. Today, up to this part of the scriptures, we have no information that tells us what measure of justice was used by these two groups. We desire to enter into the kingdom of heaven but we lack the proper tools to do so, not having that information provided to us at this time. Maybe that moral compass will be given to us in later verses, to give us a perfect picture of what we must do to have a justice that exceeds the Scribes and the Pharisees.
Christ often spoke in parables and riddles and mysteries, never revealing the complete meaning of his thoughts. The meaning is left for us to ponder, to search for meaning in our hearts, to seek understanding through the Holy Spirit. This is one of those times that we must ask for understanding. We must earnestly seek and earnestly desire to know what he means by these words. As we continue to read the scriptures, keeping this verse in mind and other verses in our thoughts, the meaning will be revealed to us.
What is the justice of the Scribes and the Pharisees?? This is the question that we must ponder in our thoughts and in our hearts. We must read with an inquisitive mind, seeking to add meaning to these words so that our eyes will be opened and our hearts enlightened to the understanding that Christ spoke and the meaning that God wants us to have.
This is like a puzzle. We have part of the pieces and seek to fit them all together so that we have a complete picture. So, pick up every piece, looking for one shape that will fit into another shape. We compare the colors of the face of the puzzle piece to see if it matches the color and shade of the piece that we are trying to fit it with. Magically, after going through enough pieces we discover that one piece that fits with another. Then, if we have kept similar pieces together we can begin to fit more and more pieces together so that now our puzzle begins to take shape and a pattern is forming that makes the puzzle come together. And then, comes that final moment when all of the pieces come together and we are finished with the puzzle and we step back and see the complete picture.
Keep this in mind as we continue to read through the scriptures. What is the justice of the Scribes and the Pharisees?? We want to assure ourselves the kingdom of heaven and exceed the justice of the Scribes and Pharisees.
Under this heading Christ gives the reason for his coming. He tells us that the rules are still the same as they were long ago and he has not come to change them. He states: "Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets." Rather the law and the prophets spoke of him and foretold what he would do. He has come to fulfill the prophecy and until earth and heaven pass away, the law will remain. Now the law applies to the Jews to whom it was given and passed down by their forefathers.
Christ gives his commandments to teachers who will instruct the people on the laws of God. He tells them that whoever does not teach all of the commandments but does away with a small portion of the law will be the lease in the kingdom of heaven. And he who lives by these laws and teaches the law as it is given, will be called great in heaven. Beware teachers!!
It is interesting that this lesson is placed here almost in the middle of the sermon. Christ was saying to those who heard him that day, and to us today, to heed his instructions. He told them and is telling us about our justice, what we consider right and wrong, what measure we us to make judgements, what moral rules we use as our compass. As an example, he tells us that our basic rule of justice has to exceed that used by the Scribes and the Pharisees. In that day the people may have known what rule of justice was used by the Scribes and the Pharisees. Today, up to this part of the scriptures, we have no information that tells us what measure of justice was used by these two groups. We desire to enter into the kingdom of heaven but we lack the proper tools to do so, not having that information provided to us at this time. Maybe that moral compass will be given to us in later verses, to give us a perfect picture of what we must do to have a justice that exceeds the Scribes and the Pharisees.
Christ often spoke in parables and riddles and mysteries, never revealing the complete meaning of his thoughts. The meaning is left for us to ponder, to search for meaning in our hearts, to seek understanding through the Holy Spirit. This is one of those times that we must ask for understanding. We must earnestly seek and earnestly desire to know what he means by these words. As we continue to read the scriptures, keeping this verse in mind and other verses in our thoughts, the meaning will be revealed to us.
What is the justice of the Scribes and the Pharisees?? This is the question that we must ponder in our thoughts and in our hearts. We must read with an inquisitive mind, seeking to add meaning to these words so that our eyes will be opened and our hearts enlightened to the understanding that Christ spoke and the meaning that God wants us to have.
This is like a puzzle. We have part of the pieces and seek to fit them all together so that we have a complete picture. So, pick up every piece, looking for one shape that will fit into another shape. We compare the colors of the face of the puzzle piece to see if it matches the color and shade of the piece that we are trying to fit it with. Magically, after going through enough pieces we discover that one piece that fits with another. Then, if we have kept similar pieces together we can begin to fit more and more pieces together so that now our puzzle begins to take shape and a pattern is forming that makes the puzzle come together. And then, comes that final moment when all of the pieces come together and we are finished with the puzzle and we step back and see the complete picture.
Keep this in mind as we continue to read through the scriptures. What is the justice of the Scribes and the Pharisees?? We want to assure ourselves the kingdom of heaven and exceed the justice of the Scribes and Pharisees.
