At the Feet of Jesus

Friday, January 5th - Matthew 5:1-26

What would it be like to be taught by Jesus?

On an average day, as the crowds started to grow, as a result of the increasing excitement about Jesus' travels and healings and the cult of personality, Jesus sat down on the mountainside and began to teach them. Not to jump ahead, but as I picture this, a verse from Matthew 7 keeps ringing in my head - "the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority - quite unlike their teachers of religious law."

The teachers of religious law were serious about their job and their role in society. As in any group of sinful people, some of them truly desired to know and follow the Law they studied; others were committed and dutiful while, perhaps, less than passionate; some, I'm sure, simply aspired to be noticed in society. They studied the Law, and they taught the people. They'd made an art out following the letter of the law, and challenged people to behave righteously.

But then there was Jesus, a new Rabbi. I don't know for sure if the things Jesus said in verses 3-12 were brand new to the people or if they were similar to the things their teachers had been saying for years. But something was different. Can you imagine the passion that must have poured out from Jesus, as he, the Living Word of God, spoke God's truth? As the Holy King of Kings spoke about righteousness?

I imagine it must have taken some of them by surprise, because by verse 17, Jesus works hard to make it clear that he's not throwing out the law, but that his desire is to fulfill it. But then he drops the bomb. He calls it a warning: anyone who wants to enter the Kingdom of Heaven must be more righteous than the Pharisees. Until Jesus started speaking, most of these people thought the Pharisees were about as good as anyone could get; many of the Pharisees might have, too. But Jesus challenges us to see that it's not enough for our actions to appear righteous; our hearts, our motivations, our thoughts must be pure, as well. After centuries of people passing down God's laws from generation to generation, God sits on the mountainside with them, starts from scratch, and communicates the message of his law again.

Whether you're convicted with me, because you can't count the number of times you've used the term, "idiot" to refer to someone else while driving, or because, as merciful as we've been, we know that wouldn't describe us all the time, or because all of a sudden we realize that what we thought was was a hunger for justice in the world is little more than a desire for revenge against the people that have hurt us, the message of Jesus is clear. None of us has what it takes. This righteousness is different. It's real, and maybe even scary.

As I picture myself sitting with Jesus on that mountain, I begin to despair. I'm desperate to learn how I can find Jesus' kind of righteousness, so that I may enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Thankfully, as we read on beyond this chapter, we discover that Jesus' purpose was not simply to reveal or reinforce God's law, but to fulfill it, to satisfy it. And he graciously fulfilled it on our behalf through his death and resurrection, as he who had no sin became sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we read together, may Jesus make his words come alive for us. May the words that are new transform us, and may the familiar become fresh again, so that we find ourselves again at his feet on this mountainside, challenged, renewed, and ready to respond to his words of life.