St Matthew, Chapter 5, verses: 17 - 20, The Sermon on the Mount: The fulfillment of the Old Law and the establishment of the New Law.

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.

St Matthew, Chapter 5, verses: 13 - 16, The Sermon on the Mount: You are the Salt and Light of the World.

The Heading for our paragraph study today is:  (The disciples compared to salt and light)

We have finished with the Beatitudes and continue with the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus gives us additional teachings.  In this paragraph he starts by telling us that we are the salt of the earth.  Salt is a basic element necessary for life.  We find it in all living things on this planet.  Yet Christ speaks to us as though we are the common element that is used by everyday people to give flavor to their foods.  You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt looses it strength, what will it be salted with??   There is something within those that he spoke to, and within us, that was and is basic for all christians, life.  Out of all of the people that lived during the life of Christ only a small percentage heard this sermon.  And Christ was speaking to them because there was something special about them.  There was something special about them that brought them to see and to hear his sermon on that day.  There was a desire in them that needed fulfillment.  There was a hunger within them that required feeding.  There was a hole in their lives that needed to be filled and in this sermon he gave them the basics of life. 

Those people then and we who seek the Lord now, have a desire to know him.  We have a hunger that needs to be fed with the words of life and Christ feeds us with his words.  But if we loose this life, this salt, what good are we.  If we loose this life, that is within us, what will we be salted with, what will our life be reignited with??  We become of no use except to be thrown out of the kingdom and to be trodden under foot.    We become like the weeds that are gathered and put into the fire to be burned forever. 

We are the light of the world, Christ continues in his sermon.  He gives us examples of what it means to be the light.  A city on a mountaintop cannot be hidden.  A lamp placed on a lamp stand is there for a purpose, to give light for all who enter the house.  Even so are we.  We are given light so that we may shine in the darkness.  We shine so that others may see and that we may give light to those who are near to us.  We are placed above the floor, on a stand to give light to all.  We are elevated so that the work that we do may be seen by all men and bring glory to God in heaven. 

Let your light shine before men.  Where is your light??  DO YOU KNOW that you have light??  Do you shine before men??

St Matthew, Chapter 5, verses: 11-12, The Beatitude: Blessed are you when men Reproach, Persecute and Speak falsely against you.

We finish up the Beatitudes today with:  11Blessed are you when men reproach you, and persecute you, and, speaking falsely, say all manner of evil against you, for my sake. 12 Rejoice and exult, because your reward is great in heaven were before you.; for so did they persecute the prophets who were before you.

Christ gives us the last Beatitude with, what we find is common in our society today.  In our social circles, at work, at play, formally or informally, we are reproached.  It is common practice to talk about and gossip about the habits and behaviors of other people.  We see it in our favorite programs on TV and on cable.  We find it in our social networks.  We read it in the news.  We live it within ourselves and think nothing about what we do.  It is only when our talk results in serious harm or detriment to others, that we give what we say some thought.  A young boy hangs himself because his secret of his sexual orientation is spread all over the internet.  Children hang themselves because of the fear of the talk in school.  We live on reproach, we thrive on persecution, and we love to speak falsely about anyone that will win us favors within our circles of influence.  Did you see, did you hear about, what happened last night at the...??  All, are our common compulsions and obsessions in society today. 

Christ says that those who know him and suffer for his name sake are blessed.  It is not popular to be a christian.  If we profess our faith at work, in social circles, at play, we are labeled as freaks, and no one likes being labeled as a Jesus freak.  Christ congratulates those who suffer.  He says that they should rejoice and be glad because they have a great reward in heaven.  They are the blessed ones.  They are the ones who can walk with their heads held high because they know that the word of God is truth and God does not lie.  So anyone who suffers reproach for Christ, who suffers persecution for Jesus' name sake, who suffers false gossip behind their backs are blessed and rewarded.  They did the prophets the same way that they are doing you today.   You will be rewarded.  Rejoice!!!

 Suffer with knowledge.  Suffer with dignity.  Suffer with truth, for the name of Jesus Christ.  Persecution for Christ is a blessed thing.  It is bitter, yet it is sweet, for it brings great rewards.