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Here are some words of wisdom that Jesus gave to his disciples, though anyone else was welcome to listen.
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You are the world's salt. But, if the salt loses its zest, how can it be made salty? It is worth nothing and so is thrown out, where people walk all over it.
You are the light of the world -- like a city on a hilltop that can't be hidden.
No one lights a candle and puts it under a basket; it is put on a candlestick and sheds light for everyone in the house.
Similarly, let your light shine before people so that they may see your good works and praise your heavenly Father.
Don't think I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I am not here to destroy, but to fulfill.
Very seriously I tell you: Before the world ends, not one jot or dash will vanish without everything in it being fulfilled.
Whoever breaks one of the least of these rules, and teaches people to do likewise, will be called the least in heaven's realm. But whoever does them and teaches others likewise will be called great in heaven's realm.
I am telling you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you are getting into heaven's realm.
Salt...
You, once you become born again, are supposed to be DIFFERENT from the mass of humankind. If you are no different, then you are wasting time just playing church.
The difference shows in your behavior, especially your behavior toward others. If you have the light of Christ in you, how can your walk not change as you attempt to be guided by that light?
As we may know from various old-fashioned salted meat recipes, salt is a preservative that tends to retard spoilage. So, the true Christian ought to count for something, to make a difference. If he is just like everyone else, what use is he? In fact there are quite a few nominal Christians whose activities don't differ significantly from the behavior of the worldly. Jesus here is pointing the way toward the inward change that should begin as people hear his word and which will show in outward behavior, especially once they are reborn of the Spirit. By turning back to your old self, you have made yourself pretty much useless.
You are the bearers of hope to the fallen world. You are the antidote to the misery and despondency everywhere. But if you sink back into that pool of gloom -- perhaps by self-interest run wild -- how are you any different from the suffering lost? You won't be offering them even a ray of hope.
A person may say, and even (perhaps doubtfully) believe, that he has been born again, without that assertion being so. For example, consider Billy Graham, who had grown up in a Protestant church but who had not fully responded to Jesus. Yet he tells us that when he heard a call at a particular church service, he was convinced by God's Spirit that he was in dire need. That act of obedience led to his being used by God as an evangelist who reached large numbers of people for Christ.
Once Graham was endued with the Spirit, there was no longer concern that he wouldn't have enough zing for God.
Light of the world...
You can tell a real Christian by his Spirit and by his deeds. Talk by itself is insufficient. You don't necessarily have to make a big fuss about being a Christian. Your compassion, friendliness and actions will say it all. At least some people will thank God for you. Even so, don't try to hide your faith in Jesus. Christ's light is supposed to reach people through you, once you are born anew.
The Law and the Prophets...
Jesus, as the Christ, or Messiah, is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament. Everything in them was pointing to him.
Before the world ends...
With respect to the words "Before the world ends..." (or "Before heaven and earth pass away..."), I offer a suggestion, which you may regard as a stretch, but which to me accords with how God sometimes operates. Recall that when Jesus died, according to MK 15:33, a great darkness fell across the land, lasting three hours. So at this time "the sky" along with "the earth" -- which became very hard to see -- "passed away." The old system was done away with, and the new dispensation was at hand: a new heaven and a new earth were brought into force.3* For some, this could mean the start of the Millennium (Jesus ruling the hearts of the born again who do not die, even if they do die), while the unregenerate see nothing much.
Clearly one can come up with a "natural" explanation of the atmospheric darkness. The idea of an eclipse has been debated; another thought is that an exceptionally heavy sand and dust storm shrouded the region. In addition, Palestine sits in the Great Rift Valley, which is known for the volcanic activity caused by plate tectonics. One of the volcanoes along the Arabian coast might have erupted. But, even if such is the case, the miraculous element is not curtailed one iota.
When Jesus says, "Sky and land [=the natural world] will vanish, but my words will not pass away," he means that God's mind upholds all. The Father is speaking through him: I am the cause of all.
Least of these rules?
We should beware seeing this Scripture as a proof-text of the notion that somehow we must earn our way into heaven. You can't earn God's free gift (free to us, costly for him). Just as John the Dunker admonished some miscreants: Don't fake repentance, but show that you mean it by what you do! If you have truly turned your heart over to Jesus, you will want to behave accordingly.
In any case, my first question for this saying is: WHICH rules (or commandments) is the evangelist talking about? Is the Torah (Hebrew Scriptures) meant? Or are Jesus' specific teachings meant? Was a writer of Matthew intending to lay down some alternate, revised "law"? Whatever that writer's intention, the fact is that Jesus was pointing to the perfection of God, arguing that no person can match that -- thus no one is "too good" to need mercy and pardon.
People think that Jesus taught an impossible list of don'ts. What he was driving at, however, is that God has a very high standard, one that is surely right, but one that shows us, with no wiggle room, that we have all sinned and come short of God's standard. If you think you don't need forgiveness of sin, think again! Who has perfectly followed any moral code?
Certainly not the Holier Than Thou crowd. In his day, many of the Pharisees were pious frauds. You can't get anywhere with God by showing off! You must have a truly repentant heart. That's the ticket for entry into Christ's realm.
Scribes and Pharisees...
Paraphrasing Jesus:
You, once you become born again, are supposed to be DIFFERENT from the mass of humankind. If you are no different, then you are wasting time just playing church.
The difference shows in your behavior, especially your behavior toward others. If you have the light of Christ in you, how can your walk not change as you attempt to be guided by that light?
As we may know from various old-fashioned salted meat recipes, salt is a preservative that tends to retard spoilage. So, the true Christian ought to count for something, to make a difference. If he is just like everyone else, what use is he? In fact there are quite a few nominal Christians whose activities don't differ significantly from the behavior of the worldly. Jesus here is pointing the way toward the inward change that should begin as people hear his word and which will show in outward behavior, especially once they are reborn of the Spirit. By turning back to your old self, you have made yourself pretty much useless.
You are the bearers of hope to the fallen world. You are the antidote to the misery and despondency everywhere. But if you sink back into that pool of gloom -- perhaps by self-interest run wild -- how are you any different from the suffering lost? You won't be offering them even a ray of hope.
A person may say, and even (perhaps doubtfully) believe, that he has been born again, without that assertion being so. For example, consider Billy Graham, who had grown up in a Protestant church but who had not fully responded to Jesus. Yet he tells us that when he heard a call at a particular church service, he was convinced by God's Spirit that he was in dire need. That act of obedience led to his being used by God as an evangelist who reached large numbers of people for Christ.
Once Graham was endued with the Spirit, there was no longer concern that he wouldn't have enough zing for God.
Light of the world...
You can tell a real Christian by his Spirit and by his deeds. Talk by itself is insufficient. You don't necessarily have to make a big fuss about being a Christian. Your compassion, friendliness and actions will say it all. At least some people will thank God for you. Even so, don't try to hide your faith in Jesus. Christ's light is supposed to reach people through you, once you are born anew.
The Law and the Prophets...
Jesus, as the Christ, or Messiah, is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament. Everything in them was pointing to him.
Before the world ends...
With respect to the words "Before the world ends..." (or "Before heaven and earth pass away..."), I offer a suggestion, which you may regard as a stretch, but which to me accords with how God sometimes operates. Recall that when Jesus died, according to MK 15:33, a great darkness fell across the land, lasting three hours. So at this time "the sky" along with "the earth" -- which became very hard to see -- "passed away." The old system was done away with, and the new dispensation was at hand: a new heaven and a new earth were brought into force.3* For some, this could mean the start of the Millennium (Jesus ruling the hearts of the born again who do not die, even if they do die), while the unregenerate see nothing much.
Clearly one can come up with a "natural" explanation of the atmospheric darkness. The idea of an eclipse has been debated; another thought is that an exceptionally heavy sand and dust storm shrouded the region. In addition, Palestine sits in the Great Rift Valley, which is known for the volcanic activity caused by plate tectonics. One of the volcanoes along the Arabian coast might have erupted. But, even if such is the case, the miraculous element is not curtailed one iota.
When Jesus says, "Sky and land [=the natural world] will vanish, but my words will not pass away," he means that God's mind upholds all. The Father is speaking through him: I am the cause of all.
Least of these rules?
We should beware seeing this Scripture as a proof-text of the notion that somehow we must earn our way into heaven. You can't earn God's free gift (free to us, costly for him). Just as John the Dunker admonished some miscreants: Don't fake repentance, but show that you mean it by what you do! If you have truly turned your heart over to Jesus, you will want to behave accordingly.
In any case, my first question for this saying is: WHICH rules (or commandments) is the evangelist talking about? Is the Torah (Hebrew Scriptures) meant? Or are Jesus' specific teachings meant? Was a writer of Matthew intending to lay down some alternate, revised "law"? Whatever that writer's intention, the fact is that Jesus was pointing to the perfection of God, arguing that no person can match that -- thus no one is "too good" to need mercy and pardon.
People think that Jesus taught an impossible list of don'ts. What he was driving at, however, is that God has a very high standard, one that is surely right, but one that shows us, with no wiggle room, that we have all sinned and come short of God's standard. If you think you don't need forgiveness of sin, think again! Who has perfectly followed any moral code?
Certainly not the Holier Than Thou crowd. In his day, many of the Pharisees were pious frauds. You can't get anywhere with God by showing off! You must have a truly repentant heart. That's the ticket for entry into Christ's realm.
Scribes and Pharisees...
Paraphrasing Jesus:
"Holier-than-thou" won't work to get you into God's realm. Let me tell you what true morality is... (Don't be angry, don't divorce, etc...) So you see, you can't get anywhere with your religious formalities. Don't you see? You are all sinners -- and "being religious" won't cure that. If you want to get into God's realm -- which is dawning right now -- you have to stop spinning your wheels and get real. You must admit your sin -- face yourself -- so that you can seek entry. Humility, not pride, is the ticket, friend.
NEXT PAGE:
Who are my brothers and my mother?
https://secretpath191.blogspot.com/2020/11/who-are-my-brothers-and-my-mother.html
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