Prophets and Mileposts

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)

I have recently started a sermon series entitled, “Okay, Jesus, Now What?” We have just celebrated Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Jesus has arrived (again). Fine and dandy, but what now? This sermon series focuses upon the Sermon on the Mount, found in the fifth through seventh chapters of the Gospel According to Matthew. The basic idea behind the whole series is that Jesus came in order to move us into a higher level of awareness, consciousness and action in the world that he called the “kingdom of heaven,” or, as I like to phrase it, the “realm of heaven.” The Apostle Paul liked to refer to this as having “the mind of Christ.”

This week I am exploring what Jesus says in Matthew 5:13-20. Today my focus is upon what he says in verses 17-20, as quoted above. Immediately, a few questions emerge for me:

1.    What does Jesus mean by fulfilling the law and prophets, and how will we know when “all is accomplished?”

I notice that he says the law and the prophets. Of course, that is a way of describing the collection of scriptures considered to be authoritative at that time, but it is also interesting to consider how one fulfills the prophets. Christian teaching in many expressions of Christianity has focused upon how scriptures predict and foretell the coming of Christ, and how Jesus fulfills various promises and descriptions in the prophetic teachings. But there is much more in the prophets than simple predictions about Jesus. I think of Micah proclaiming that all that God requires of us is to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8), or Amos, “Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate,” (Amos 5:15), “…let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). If Jesus has come to fulfill both the law and the prophets, that fulfillment must also include justice. But it is not enough simply to talk about justice, the issue is how to do it. This is where the metanoic expansion of consciousness comes in. The little mind sees the world in terms of one’s own personal survival and dominance of others. The bigger mind of God-consciousness (= realm of heaven) sees the world in terms of what benefits the whole human and non-human communities. That is the basic definition of justice.

 

     2.  How can we exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees?

Their righteousness was based upon scrupulously observing the externalities – the public performance, as it were – of the rules and regulations of faith and religious life. But they did not necessarily allow that observance to change their inner life, which manifested itself in certain attitudes of superiority and hypocrisy of action.  By observing strictly an external performance, it was like putting on a costume, but not being transformed. The commandments describe a way of becoming perfected, but they also describe what a righteous life looks like. They are indicators to us of when we are making progress. They are more like mileposts on a journey. Yes, we do the things to achieve that milepost, but we also use the milepost to tell us how far along we are. But it is for us to observe, not to hold against anyone else who may not be at that milepost yet.

Inevitably, whenever people observe the externalities of faith, they pick and choose. They pick to be measured according to the things they have already achieved or that characterize traits they already possess. True inner work of the realm of heaven involves a careful self-assessment that looks at our own strengths and shortcomings, which then helps us to focus on what we need to do within ourselves. This theme is repeated throughout Jesus’ teachings.

Tomorrow I want to look closer at what this realm of heaven, higher-consciousness is all about. As a teaser, think Tardis (for all you Doctor Who fans out there).

(Image credits: http://www.laurajamesart.com/p_sermon.jpg;   http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Amos-prophet.jpg/220px-Amos-prophet.jpg;   http://www.orthodoxwitness.org/over-the-rooftops/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/prophet-micah.jpg;