Matthew 5

Yeah, so, I could blame the delay in writing this on the fact that it's a very meaty chapter and my brain kept glazing over and reading on without stopping to think about it. But that would only be part of the truth. The rest is that I'm just a recovering world-addict with a serious relapse problem. Obviously. Moving on to the important part.

5
Ahh, the sermon on the mount. Starting with The Beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." I think it reads more clearly as blessed in spirit are the poor. Surely those that are poor in spirit, or spiritually weak, aren't particularly blessed? Unless I'm reading something wrong. So, the poor are blessed (or happy) in the spirit. Simple enough, and more true than your average American is willing to admit. Logically, their kingdom is heaven, they are less attached to this world by their belongings and can look forward more clearly to the day the Lord comes. Or perhaps, can see more clearly because they aren't hiding behind a pile of stuff, which is wonderful imagery that I'm going to have to try to remember for later use.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." The last part suggests to me more than just human symathy. Which is where the blessing comes in, of course, but it further suggests that one should bring one's mourning before God to receive His comfort. Which only makees sense, but it's the sort of thing you forget when you need it most. Which is probably one reason why Jesus makes it the second thing he says in this very important sermon.

"Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth." Pretty straightforward. Though one assumes that 'gentle' is more of a path than a destination, given humanity. At least, I sincerely pray so since gentle isn't exactly what I'm known for. My wife is much better at that.

I think I need to move swiftly through some of these. Any words which Jesus spoke recorded in the Bible are undoubtedly packed down and overflowing with meaning and valuable insight. But if I sit here and write a great long paragraph for each and every sentence... well I know me a little bit. I'll never get out of this chapter and this will never get posted because I'll get discouraged by my own lack of 'progress.' It's silly and incorrect, but true. So, moving past the Beatitudes let me touch breifly on verse 13. "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men." Wow. So, my study bible has one short line for this. Salt preserves, creates thirst, and cleanses. All true. And if we Christians aren't doing these things then the only thing we're good for is... could that be a reference to martyrdom? Getting ourselves persecuted for the cause? Or is that a simple and straighforward "I will spit you out of My mouth" (REV 3:16) sort of statement? (And I just noticed an interesting numeric coincidence to JNO 3:16.) Hard to say, but based on the 'how can it be made salty again' the throwing out may be an answer to His own question. Suffering has a way of bringing us face to face with God, and that would be sort of a prerequisite to being properly salty. Moving on...

Verse 19 implicitly states that there will be a heirarchy in heaven by comparing those who offer false teachings of the Law ('called least in the kingdom of heaven') with those who keep and teach the commandements ('called great in the kingdom of heaven'). I've thought about this before, simply because we are forgiven doesn't mean that (as an example) not keeping the proper Sabbath isn't a sin. In other words, sin is the same A.D. as it was B.C. So, should we all be keeping the Law as best we can because it is sin to do otherwise? That would require a careful study of Jewish history, culture, tradition, etc to determine how much of that religion is based on God's word and how much is built up from the religious organization and social tradition. In short, how much is God's and how much is man's. But to do that would be mind bogglingly difficult and the mere thought paralyzes me with uncertainty and fear. So, perhaps Jesus will call me sinfully lazy when I stand before Him, but I think he'll understand just the same. I must accept that I will inadvertently (and in some cases knowingly, since the Jewish Sabbath is Saturday as I recall) sin over and over again, but being human and knowing that Jesus counts even the thought as sin it's plain that sin is purely unavoidable anyway and if I can't accept Jesus' absolute forgiveness at face value and get on with it then the whole gift might as well have been in vain for me.

So now that I've pounded out I-don't-know-how-many words on that one verse... I think I'm just going to have to split chapter 5 over 2 posts. I'm about 6 verses short of half way through, but it's after 1AM right now and if I don't post this and go to bed it's liable to languish for another week. I've got to develop a habit here, and not posting simply because I can't absorb the material fast enough is simply not acceptable. So, a-posting I will go, and I've got to try and finish tomorrow.