"Think not that I am come to destroy the law,
or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say
unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so,
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do
and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I
say unto you, That except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case
enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Mat. 5:17-20).
This following part of the Sermon on the Mount, which goes up to the end of
the 5th chapter of the Gospel from Matthew, is devoted to explaining what true
love is. For clarity, the Lord compared His teaching with the existing
religious views among the Jews. The Jews, accustomed to hearing detailed
discussions about rites and customs from the lips of their law teachers, might
have thought that Jesus Christ was preaching a new faith running counter to the
laws of Moses. The Lord Jesus Christ explains further on in His sermon that He
is not preaching a new teaching, but revealing a much deeper meaning of
the laws they already knew.
Because they did not possess the blessed restorative power, the Old
Testament laws could not lead a person to perfection. It could not help a
person overcome the evil within himself, but mainly
drew a person’s attention to his acts. At the same time, the Old Testament laws
had a negative character: "Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit
adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness."
The Old Testament law was powerless to renew the spiritual nature of a person.
The very understanding of righteousness in that time was simplified. A person
was considered righteous if he did not commit crude or obvious crimes, and
observed the prescribed ritual laws; the scribes and Pharisees boasted of their
thorough knowledge of all the ritual laws.
It is known that while the roots of a wild and harmful plant remain
untouched, to cut off its branches only temporarily slows it down from
spreading. Likewise, while the passions hold fast in a person — sin is
unavoidable. It was for this that the Lord came into the world, to destroy the very
roots of sin in a person, and to reestablish in him the image of God which
had been tarnished. In the New Testament, the external and potentially
ostentatious execution of the directives of the law appear
inadequate, for God requires love from a pure heart.
The Lord Jesus Christ addresses this issue, speaking to the Jews: "Think
not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to
destroy, but to fulfil" (Mat. 5:17). Further on, the Lord shows
in metaphoric comparisons what the "fulfillment," or true
implementation of the law consists of. The Lord dwells on those laws which
forbid murder and the violation of marital fidelity, as well as the fact that
the Jews considered oaths, revenge and hatred toward enemies admissible. The
Lord shows them the superiority of perfect Christian love.
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not
kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say
unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in
danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be
in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in
danger of hell fire" (Mat. 5:21-22). The sixth law of Moses forbade the taking of a person’s life. The Lord
takes the idea of the sixth law deeper, and calls attention to the evil
feelings which prod a person to kill, such as anger, malice and hatred. In
essence, these unkind feelings urge a person to insult and demean his fellow
human being. A Christian should restrain himself from any expression of malice
against his fellow man, such as insults and humiliating words.
So that we do not hold malice in our hearts, the Lord calls us to forgive,
and to hurry in reconciling ourselves with those who offend us: "Therefore,
if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother
hath aught against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way;
first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree
with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou are in the way with him; lest at any
time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the
officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no
means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing [i.e.,
small change]" (Mat. 5:23-26).
The Lord then pauses on the seventh Old Testament law, which states:
"Do not commit adultery." He calls attention to those unclean
feelings which give rise to marital infidelity and other physical sins: "But
I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Mat. 5:27-28). In
other words, the sins of adultery or dissipation arise in the heart of a
person. For this reason, any sinful desires must be severed at their origin, so
that they are not given the opportunity to take control of our thoughts and
will.
The Lord, who sees the hearts of men, knows how difficult it is for a person
to fight with carnal temptations. For this reason He teaches us to be
decisive and ruthless toward ourselves when we see that someone or
something is leading us to sin. "And if thy right eye
offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable
for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body
should be cast into hell" (Mat 5:29).
This, of course, is metaphoric speech. It can be rephrased in this way: if
anything (or anyone) is so dear to you as your own eye
or hand, but it is tempting you, rid yourself of this thing decisively and stop
all associations with the seducer. It is better to lose a friendship than to be
deprived of eternal life.
After explaining how to fight sinful desires, the Lord pauses on the
indissolubility of marriage. The Lord returns to this topic later in His
discussion with the Sadducees, and explains that a mystery of God is fulfilled
in marriage, in which two — husband and wife — become one flesh. For this
reason, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put
asunder" (Mat. 19:6). In other words, no one has the right to grant a
divorce between two people. Once the promises are given, the marital tie is
completed. The spouses must then find a common ground and work out their
differences.
The Lord then returns to the theme of anger. He pauses on one of the
varieties of this passion, revenge, which the Jews had made lawful. For
overcoming it the Lord gives Christians the weapon of love, saying thus:
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto
you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and
take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel
thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from
him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath
been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate
thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you,
and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in
heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what
reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more
than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect"
(Mat. 5:38-48).
While it permitted revenge, the Old Testament law did in fact try to limit
it. In the event that one person willingly or accidentally caused another some
physical harm, the law did not permit the injured man to repay evil to the
offender without limits. The law tried to limit revenge by "repaying in
kind": for a lost eye, an eye; for a tooth — a tooth; and so on. During
the times of Moses, the law limiting revenge was very timely, for without it
revenge exceeded all boundaries; the person who accidentally caused someone a
loss or injury found himself in danger of receiving any injury from the angry
party. However, limiting revenge did not resolve the main issue: eradicating
animosity between people completely.
The Lord gives us the opportunity to eradicate animosity at its very outset.
Toward this goal, He orders us to forgive offenders and to refuse to
enter into mundane arguments with people. "Resist not evil: but
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."
Just as fire cannot be extinguished by fire, anger cannot be rooted out by
revenge. The only weapon against evil is love. Perhaps a fellow man will not
immediately come to his senses from our condescension. We have submitted
physically but are victorious spiritually; for this victory we must thank God —
it is an eternal victory.
Of course, with the words "resist not evil," Christ did not teach
us to submit to evil, to accept its right to citizenship — as Leo Tolstoy
cunningly misinterprets these words of Christ. Here the Lord only prohibits settling
scores for personal motives. In instances where there is a direct violation
of the laws of God, and in particular, when there arises a temptation for the
faithful because of this, the Lord orders us to fight evil, saying: "If
thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault... If he
will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more ... witnesses ... And
if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to
hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican" (Mat.
18:15-17). This is to say that one must try to make a sinner understand his
error. If, however, the person is so numb in his sin that he will not give in
to any admonitions, then one must cut off all contact with him. The Lord does
not give the Church any other weapon against the rebellious but banishment and
excommunication.
In concluding His teaching about overcoming all enmity and vengeance, the
Lord shows us what the highest expression of love is. The Old Testament law is
not devoid of the understanding of love, but limits its
to relations with those near (Lev. 19:17-18).
The scribes cunningly supplemented the order to love those near to you with the
permission to hate those who are not near, especially enemies. The Lord
explains that love toward those who are near is so elementary that even sinners
are capable of it. A more perfect love is expected from a Christian, and the
Lord says: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute
you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the
just and on the unjust" (Matt. 5:43-45).
In this manner we see how the Lord, teaching us to overcome all the forms of
anger, gradually raises the thoughts of a person higher and higher, bringing
them nearer to imitating the unlimited love of the Heavenly Father. Love has many
forms and hues of expression. The most elementary expression of love is to
prevent hatred among people, then — to overcome the desire of vengeance and to
make efforts to forgive those who offend us. Later, higher forms of love appear
as meek patience which endures unpleasantness from people, and giving help to
those whom we do not like. Finally, we are brought to the highest forms of
love: the feeling of sympathy for our enemies, love toward them, prayer for
them and desiring good for them. An example of such perfect love was shown by
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, when he prayed for his persecutors on the Cross.
Thus, in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord raises the Christian to the peak
of righteousness: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect!" (Mat. 5:48) Here is the ideal,
here the highest goal of a Christian — to resemble His Heavenly Father! At the
same time, the Christian must remember that he rises to perfection not through
his own efforts alone, but mainly with the assistance of the grace of the Holy
Spirit.
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