Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Matt 4:18-25
Haha! I just realised that I accidently skipped this. I'll get back to this in a few days. There's no point in overwhelming any of us.
Matthew 5:1-16
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
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Well sisters, I've been procrastinating on putting out this post because I've felt a little intimidated about diving into the sermon on the mount. I see it as the bread and butter of the gospels. Here is where our king lays down his constitution.
The blessings here are so challenging. May we all be found worthy so that we can share in the kingdom of heaven, be comforted, inherit the earth, be satisfied, receive mercy, see God, be called sons of God, and have a great reward in heaven! Could anyone desire anything more?
I think that I've heard about 100 sermons on the salt and light section in my evangelical days. People like to wax eloquent about the characteristics of salt and how we are like that but really we just don't know exactly which characteristics he was thinking of. Sure salt is purifying, makes things taste better, is persevering, etc but it's also stings in a wound and too much of it will kill you. It's not good interpretation to just expand an illustration in all the directions that suit you and reject the ones you don't like. What we do know about this, though, is that Jesus was saying that if we become useless we are about as useless as saltless salt (probably sand in that day).
The light paragraph gives me pause because Jesus seems to suggest that we should do our good works so that others might see us. In chapter 6, in particular, he then emphasizes how we should not do our good so that others will see us. How can this be reconciled? I think what he's really saying is that we should do our good works so that others will give glory to our father who is in heaven. Let us keep our purpose to this.
May you all be blessed today, sisters. Do you have any thoughts?
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
--------------------
Well sisters, I've been procrastinating on putting out this post because I've felt a little intimidated about diving into the sermon on the mount. I see it as the bread and butter of the gospels. Here is where our king lays down his constitution.
The blessings here are so challenging. May we all be found worthy so that we can share in the kingdom of heaven, be comforted, inherit the earth, be satisfied, receive mercy, see God, be called sons of God, and have a great reward in heaven! Could anyone desire anything more?
I think that I've heard about 100 sermons on the salt and light section in my evangelical days. People like to wax eloquent about the characteristics of salt and how we are like that but really we just don't know exactly which characteristics he was thinking of. Sure salt is purifying, makes things taste better, is persevering, etc but it's also stings in a wound and too much of it will kill you. It's not good interpretation to just expand an illustration in all the directions that suit you and reject the ones you don't like. What we do know about this, though, is that Jesus was saying that if we become useless we are about as useless as saltless salt (probably sand in that day).
The light paragraph gives me pause because Jesus seems to suggest that we should do our good works so that others might see us. In chapter 6, in particular, he then emphasizes how we should not do our good so that others will see us. How can this be reconciled? I think what he's really saying is that we should do our good works so that others will give glory to our father who is in heaven. Let us keep our purpose to this.
May you all be blessed today, sisters. Do you have any thoughts?
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