Week 3 - Better
Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
One of the reasons I love baseball is that the tension in a close game is limitless. I remember Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, with the Boston Red Sox one out away from winning the whole thing. Through a series of fluke plays and timely hitting, the New York Mets managed to tie the game. Mookie Wilson came to the plate, and after battling the relief pitcher to a full 3-2 count, fouled off ten consecutive pitches. I vividly remember the knots in my stomach twitching with which pitch, wondering "How long can this go on?" Wilson finally connected on a routine grounder to first, gently rolling through first baseman Bill Buckner's legs, costing the Sox the game and eventually the Series. (You can read all about the game here: http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_86ws_gm6_bosnym)
This passage is kind of the same feeling. After destroying any expectation of a religious hierarchy in His New Kingdom, Jesus then goes on the attack, confronting the power base of the current religious establishment. As the powerful and the powerless listen in, He raises the stakes of the Game, taking away all that the Pharisees depended on for their security.
Jesus does that in all our lives. The things we so often depend on to make it through life, jobs, family, health, are suddenly gone, and we can find ourselves having nothing but Jesus.
That's what Jesus tells the Crowd at the Mount. If your righteousness isn't totally dependent on me, the One Who has Fulfilled all Law, then what good is it?
This passage is our first view of the Grace Clause in the New Covenant. We cannot look to ourselves to bring about the love of God in our lives. We must look to Him, the one that Hebrews calls "the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)." In that World Series Game, two sets of fans experienced very distinct journeys. The Boston faithful, after beginning to dream that their World Series drought would come to and end, now saw, like the Pharisees, their glory slipping away. The Mets fans, who just a few moments before were giving on any hope of greatness, now, like us, began to see that greatness was within their grasp.
Jesus did that. He took away an inaccessible Law that only the elite could trust in, and handed hope to everyone, rich and poor, powerful and powerless, in and out.
Things to think about:
One of the reasons I love baseball is that the tension in a close game is limitless. I remember Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, with the Boston Red Sox one out away from winning the whole thing. Through a series of fluke plays and timely hitting, the New York Mets managed to tie the game. Mookie Wilson came to the plate, and after battling the relief pitcher to a full 3-2 count, fouled off ten consecutive pitches. I vividly remember the knots in my stomach twitching with which pitch, wondering "How long can this go on?" Wilson finally connected on a routine grounder to first, gently rolling through first baseman Bill Buckner's legs, costing the Sox the game and eventually the Series. (You can read all about the game here: http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_86ws_gm6_bosnym)
This passage is kind of the same feeling. After destroying any expectation of a religious hierarchy in His New Kingdom, Jesus then goes on the attack, confronting the power base of the current religious establishment. As the powerful and the powerless listen in, He raises the stakes of the Game, taking away all that the Pharisees depended on for their security.
Jesus does that in all our lives. The things we so often depend on to make it through life, jobs, family, health, are suddenly gone, and we can find ourselves having nothing but Jesus.
That's what Jesus tells the Crowd at the Mount. If your righteousness isn't totally dependent on me, the One Who has Fulfilled all Law, then what good is it?
This passage is our first view of the Grace Clause in the New Covenant. We cannot look to ourselves to bring about the love of God in our lives. We must look to Him, the one that Hebrews calls "the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)." In that World Series Game, two sets of fans experienced very distinct journeys. The Boston faithful, after beginning to dream that their World Series drought would come to and end, now saw, like the Pharisees, their glory slipping away. The Mets fans, who just a few moments before were giving on any hope of greatness, now, like us, began to see that greatness was within their grasp.
Jesus did that. He took away an inaccessible Law that only the elite could trust in, and handed hope to everyone, rich and poor, powerful and powerless, in and out.
Things to think about:
- Other than Christ, what in my life do I depend on?
- What do I believe will get me into heaven?
- How would you define grace?
- What is righteousness to you?
- How do you approach right behavior in balance with grace?
posted by Brian Jenkins at 9:39 AM
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