THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: JESUS’ WISDOM AND LOVE

Now that we have license to interpret, let’s start. The interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is regarded as particularly challenging. It seems to contradict the rest of the Bible in many ways. For example, Jesus’ teaching on giving to the poor:

·       “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:3-4)

Here’s the problem – Jesus just taught the opposite thing:

·       “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.” (Matthew 5:16)

Here, Jesus taught that others should see our “good works.” However, in the other verse, Jesus taught to do good in secret.

How can we resolve this apparent contradiction? We need to look at the context. Jesus’ teaching to give in secret followed His warning about the ungodly motivations of the Pharisees:

·       “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” (Matthew 6:1-2)

The religious leadership had been doing good publicly in order to win the esteem of others and not God. Consequently, “they have received their reward,” consisting of the admiration of others. (Our Lord allows us to have what we want!)

How then should we interpret, “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” Clearly, this is an exaggeration (hyperbole), since hands cannot know anything. It suggests that we give in utmost secrecy. However, the “contradiction” seems to still remain between giving secretly and giving so that the world might see our good works.

Is there a possible interpretation that might fit in comfortably with the rest of Scripture? I think so. We should practice giving secretly. Why? Because we are all Pharisees to some degree, and we need to see our hidden motivations! How? By giving secretly! This doesn’t mean that we should not give publicly. However, before all else, need to be humbled, lest we become self-righteous. Perhaps the best path to humility is to see what we are really all about. When we give secretly, we become aware of the pleasures we had obtained by giving publicly, and we find out that we too are self-righteous Pharisees.

Jesus was the supreme “Doctor of the soul.” He understood that we first had to be healed of our self-trust before we could learn to trust God. He first had to expose our soul-sickness before He would do something about it – to confess and repent. The next several verses are also aimed at exposing the rot:

·       “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6)

Once again, we are confronted with something that looks like a contradiction. Jesus instructs us to pray in utmost privacy. However, He often prayed publicly. He even asked His Apostles to pray for Him (Matthew 26:36). Besides, public prayers had always been part of Israel experience. Why then does He insist in the Sermon on the Mount that we pray in complete privacy? So that we can see what our motivations truly are!

We are people pleasers, who are addicted to the praise and approval of men. We need to know this about ourselves. Why? So we would be humbled; so we would cry out to God for His mercy and help; so we would see that it’s all about His righteousness and not at all about ours.

Jesus is the great diagnostician. Diagnosis must precede healing, and we must have this fatal diagnosis in hand. Only then, will we become willing to submit to His sometimes-painful surgery.

Jesus’ teaching on fasting follows the same pattern:

·       “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18)

The deadliest form of pride is spiritual pride. Why? Because spiritual pride disguises itself as piety! In its disguise, this cancer can metastasize throughout the whole loaf of the fellowship infecting all. While love and humility draw people together, pride drives them apart, forcing everyone to wear a mask so that they too can appear spiritual.

Pride is deadly in many ways. It grants us a sense of moral entitlement and enables us to behave in immoral ways. Elsewhere, Jesus demonstrated the close association between pride (self-righteousness) and immorality:

·       “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” (Luke 20:46-47)

Even worse, self-righteousness cuts us off from God’s righteousness and forgiveness:

·       Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” (Luke 11:52)

How does self-righteousness cut us off from God?

·       And he [Jesus] said to them, “You [Pharisees] are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)

When we practice self-justification we are not seeking the justification or forgiveness that can only come from God. After all, if we can make ourselves acceptable in the eyes of humanity, who needs God.

Jesus has to expose this deadly cancer to the light. How? By requiring that we perform our various spiritual devotions privately! This will expose our self-glorying motivations so that we might be sickened and humbled.

Humility is the foundation upon which the house must be built. If it is built upon pride, the rest of the house is in jeopardy. When I came to the Lord, I was filled with pride. I had assured myself that God had saved me because I was a quality person. Consequently, I looked down on others. I now see that He had to first humble me by showing me the truth about myself so that He could lift me up.

Had I first been lifted up, I would have told myself, “God has blessed me because I deserve it.” However, none of us deserve anything other than judgment. Jesus also made this plain in the “Sermon”:

·       “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:21-22)

These are damning words. All we need to do is to utter “You fool” to deserve eternal judgment. At first glance, this seems so unfair. What wisdom could possibly be buried in such counsel?

This is the same wisdom buried in the Mosaic Law (Deut. 27:26). One little sin will damn us. How unfair, right? Wrong! Why? We are contaminated with sin but refuse to see it. Instead, we convince ourselves that we are spiritually deserving, even if others aren’t. We might realize that we do have a few moral blemishes but we have convinced ourselves that they are nothing compared to our great good and merit.

How does God break through such denial? By demanding sinlessness, and this is something even the hardest heart knows that it cannot attain. We all have called others a “fool” or even worse.

If we really have ears to hear our Lord, any confidence that we might have had in our own goodness, merit, and deservedness should melt away into desperate sobs. And this is the Master-of-our-souls’ intention – to break us down in order to rebuild us into His image.

We can only learn mercy after we have learned our overwhelming need for mercy. We have to learn that we are in a desperate state that can only be addressed by the mercy of our Lord. Only then can we learn mercy towards others. So our Lord lovingly enables us to see our need for His mercy. How? By showing us our unworthiness!

I had boasted to myself that I had never committed adultery. However, our Lord does not allow us to get away with this boast:

·       “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)

This means that we are all guilty and deserve the worst punishment. That’s both humbling and terrifying, and it should be! It means that our only hope is exactly where it should be – in the mercy of the Lord. Without this mercy, our situation is so serious that Jesus counseled:

·       “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30)

This makes it clear that Jesus’ idea of love is not the idea that we have today. We equate “love” with making-nice. Meanwhile, Jesus equated love with whatever measures it takes to connect us with God. Of course, plucking out the eye and cutting off the hand couldn’t achieve this. However, if these harsh measures could, then they would be a small price to pay in order to not go to hell and to enjoy the Lord eternally.

If Jesus had preached so strenuously against sin, perhaps we too must do so. If love is a matter of preaching to break down the barriers to a saving relationship with our Lord, perhaps we have failed to love as we ought.

Are Christians Hypocrites: Jesus’ Parables

“You Christians love to tell others how they’re messing up, but you too refuse to follow Jesus!” he charged.

I asked Bob what he meant. He responded, “Jesus taught you to turn the other cheek, but you want to bomb the snot out of ISIS. Jesus taught you to give to anyone who asks, but you won’t give me a miserable $20!”

This is a serious charge. If Bob is right, then we are hypocrites, telling others to follow Jesus, while we refuse to follow him.

I wanted to answer Bob, but I knew that the answer would not be satisfying. It required more than a one verse rebuttal. Besides, Luke did write:

• "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. (Luke 6:27-30)

Admittedly, this is a difficult set of verses to interpret. One reason that it is difficult is because it seems to contradict many other verses. Paul had instructed that we shouldn’t give to everyone who asks. If someone refuses to work, we would be doing wrongly to support him (2 Thess. 3:10). Even Jesus taught that there are occasions when we shouldn’t give. We shouldn’t waste our pearls of wisdom on those who will turn against us (Matthew 7:6). Even Jesus did not give to all who ask. James and John requested Jesus to make them His co-regents once He’d set up His kingdom. However, He turned them down!

Do we then have a contradiction, or is there a way to resolve this apparent contradiction? Yes! Jesus spoke in parables, often using hyperbole (exaggerated language):

• And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:30)

No one takes this literally. If we did, the church would be filled with handless people. Likewise, no takes Jesus’ command to “pluck out your eye” literally. However, His hyperbolic language makes a powerful point: “If cutting of your hand could keep you from sin and hell, then it would be a small price to pay!”

For years, I had struggled with Jesus’ elusive teachings. Should I turn my cheek when my students were misbehaving, even to the point of threatening other students? Fortunately, I decided against this kind of turning the other cheek. It would have brought utter disrespect upon me and upon the church.

It eventually became apparent to me that if I took Jesus literally, I would violate other biblical commands. If my friend asked to borrow my gun so that he could shoot his wife, such giving would violate the law of love. Perhaps, a ridiculous looking interpretation of giving is ridiculous and wrong-headed.

I began to ask, “Does the context of this teaching give me the justification to take Jesus’ teaching hyperbolically.” I dreaded the idea of misapplying His teaching merely to enable me to live with it. However, I did find grounds in the following verses:

• “Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:31-36)

Often, Jesus gives us the key to unlock the interpretation. It seems that He had in this case. When I began to see His teaching on giving in the light of the over-arching principle of love and mercy, it began to make sense.

I had to be ready to give to others in love. If giving isn’t in the best interests of the other person, then I shouldn’t give. I had to learn the difference between destructive, disempowering, indulgent giving and giving that would empower. Paul had argued against the church supporting certain widows because this would enable them to sin. Instead, he argued that the younger widows should marry and that the widow’s family should support her where necessary (1 Tim. 5:3-8).

Jesus argued that our mercy should reflect the wisdom of God’s mercy (Luke 6:36). What does that look like? It looks like what’s been written in the Hebrew Scriptures, what else! There, we find giving accompanied by accountability. God displayed a major interest in the welfare of the poor and needy but in a loving way. He wouldn’t de-motivate them with handouts but instead required that the fields be available to the poor to glean the remains.  

We have a weighty responsibility for the poor, but it must be exercised wisely, lovingly, and Scripturally. Also seen from the point of view of God’s revelation, “turning the other cheek” was not a command to fire every policeman and tear down every jail. Instead, it was a warning against taking the law into our own hands to seek revenge. (Watch out, ISIS!) Instead, it reflects the Bible’s emphasis on the civil magistrate (Romans 13:1-4) as opposed to vigilantism.

Bob would not sit still for this explanation, but at least I can assure myself that I am not a hypocrite.

A Letter to Frank Schaeffer about Jesus and the Bible

Your father, Francis Schaeffer, was a defender of the Christian faith, and I am therefore so glad to see that you also are a defender of Jesus!

• If Jesus is God as evangelicals and Roman Catholics claim he is, then the choice is clear. We have to read the book–including the New Testament–as he did, and Jesus didn’t like the “Bible” of his day.

Wow, you really threw me a curve ball there. I never dreamed that “Jesus didn’t like the ‘Bible’ of his day. I guess He must have had a different one. Didn’t he say:

• “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. For truly I tell you, 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. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly 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.” (Matthew 5:17-19)

I guess Jesus must have been referring to a different “Law” and the “Prophets.” Whatever, these might have been, it seems that he must have really venerated them. Are you suggesting then that the Pharisees had a different Bible?

I am also puzzled by this statement:

• “Worship in the Spirit and in truth,” is not about a book, let alone “salvation” through correct ideas or tradition.

I started to wonder what Jesus meant by His teaching that we must “Worship in the Spirit and in truth?” So I went back to John 4 and found that Jesus had contrasted this requirement with the Samaritan worship:

• You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. (John 4:22-23) 

I was surprised to find Jesus telling the Samaritan woman that she had to receive the revelation that had come to the Jews if she wanted to be saved – not very inclusive to me! I had thought that there were multiple ways to be saved, but Jesus keeps coming back to the Bible:

• “It is written [in Deuteronomy 8, right?]: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Mat. 4:4)

It certainly doesn’t seem that Jesus hated the Bible. How am I misunderstanding him?

Your next statement really confuses me. Are you saying that the Torah is on the same plain as “church tradition?”

• Every time Jesus mentioned the equivalent of a church tradition, the Torah, he qualified it with something like this: “The scriptures say thus and so, but I say…” Jesus undermined the scriptures and religious tradition in favor of empathy.

You inspired me to go back and to read the Sermon on the Mount, but I couldn’t find where Jesus corrected Scripture with these words: ““The scriptures say thus and so, but I say…” Instead, I found Jesus saying:

• “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder.” (Mat. 5:21)

Hmm? Perhaps I read that wrong? Or perhaps I have a sub-standard translation. Please, be assured that I am convinced that you would never try to mislead anyone! You have always demonstrated such exemplary love and inclusiveness, that no one could ever accuse you of wrongly battering Evangelicals and Catholics. But I was surprised by your statement:

• In evangelical and Roman Catholic fundamentalist terms, Jesus was a rule-breaking humanist who wasn’t “saved.”

I thought that they did believe that Jesus was saved. I guess I just haven’t been around long enough. You, of all people, certainly understand the Evangelical mind. I’m so grateful that I have been able to learn from you. My own reason seems to serve me so poorly. (BTW, I really do enjoy your painting!)

Shane Claiborne and Minimizing Doctrine

Shane Claiborne is the co-founder of The Simple Way, a ministry that is attempting to take Jesus’ teachings into his Philadelphia community. In an interview carried by ALife of the Christian Missionary Alliance, he states that, according to the Sermon on the Mount:

• We are to love our enemy…we’re not to worry about tomorrow. It would flip the world upside down if we really read the Sermon on the Mount and tried to live as if Jesus meant it.

Although much of what Jesus taught shouldn’t be taken literally – He taught us to figuratively pluck out our eyes and cut off our hands and even to “hate our parents" – Claiborne is correct that there is much that Jesus taught that the church has largely ignored to our detriment. Claiborne is probably also correct that our failure to love others as we ought has served to marginalize the church in the Western world.

However, much of Claiborne’s rhetoric is troubling:

• Jesus says at the Judgment all of us will be gathered before God and asked a few questions as we give an account for our lives. The questions are not doctrinal – “Virgin Birth: agree or disagree?” “Creation or evolution: did it really happen in seven days?” According to Jesus we will be asked, “When I was hungry, did you feed me?” “When I was a stranger, did you welcome me?” “When I was in prison, did you visit me?” The real test of our faith is how it works itself out in love and compassion.

Claiborne is correct that real faith “works itself out in love and compassion,” as James affirmed:

• But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? (James 2:18-20) 

A faith that fails to produce obedience is a faith that isn’t real – a faith that doesn’t save. However, a real faith is also one that has content. A changed heart that produces faith also illuminates Biblical truths. According to John, a real faith has the anointing of the Spirit, which teaches us all the things that we need to know (1 John 2:20, 27). One of them is the truth about Jesus:

• My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27-28)

Consequently, if faith doesn’t include certain truths, it is not a saving faith. Saving faith must perceive that Jesus is the Savior – and this is what He requires:

• “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." (John 8:24)

When asked about the “work” that had to be performed in order to be saved, Jesus answered:

• "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." (John 6:29)

However, Claiborne maintains that judgment has little or nothing to do with doctrine:

• Jesus says at the Judgment all of us will be gathered before God and asked a few questions as we give an account for our lives. The questions are not doctrinal – “Virgin Birth: agree or disagree?”

Instead, it seems that faith, and not works, is the key to salvation:

• "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

• "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)

This is certainly not to dismiss or minimize our responsibility to follow Jesus. However, following Jesus is the fruit of believing and being born from above:

• For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day…No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:40-44)

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus taught that bearing fruit must be preceded by the seed of the Word of God:

• But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." (Matthew 13:23)

Hearing and understanding the Gospel must precede the crop! As there cannot be any harvest without the planting of seeds, there cannot be any spiritual growth without understanding the Word. There are many reasons for this:

Without faith it is impossible to please God. The Book of Hebrews explains why:

• Because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Clearly, there are certain beliefs that are essential to a relationship with God. The rest of the chapter then demonstrates how faith served as the engine to produce good works. It was by faith that Noah built the ark and condemned the world (Heb. 11:7-8)

Without the teachings of the Bible, we do not know how to love and to be the light to society. Without understanding the teachings of Jesus in the light of the rest of the Bible, we cannot follow Him. For many, adultery equates with love. For others, the welfare state represents a form of love. The communists believed that their revolution was an expression of love. However, it seems that such “love” has done more to undermine the family and entire communities than it has benefited them.

Good deeds, without a changed heart and Gospel knowledge, inevitably produce arrogance and self righteousness. I have seen so many who have unselfishly sacrificed for others who have developed an entitlement mentality. They subsequently feel entitled to look down on others because they have now become more worthy. In one parable, Jesus demonstrated how the self-righteousness of the Pharisee enabled him to look down on others (Luke 18:9-12; also 7:47).

A good-deeds-mentality tends to give us the wrong idea – that we are deserving. However, Jesus taught that this was the last thing we should think (Luke 17:10). Instead, the only two people Jesus praised were Gentiles who displayed an incredible understanding of their unworthiness (Mat. 8; 15).

Without faith – growing in the knowledge of God – we will not be grateful, an essential quality to serving Christ. Instead, we have to know and remember from where we have come in order to be grateful as a motivation to produce good deeds:

• At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures…But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy…I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. (Titus 3:3-8)

We are what we believe. If I hadn't believed that I was forgiven (1 John 1:9) and totally cleared of all of my sin (Rom. 8:1), I would have remained a dysfunctional mess.

Most importantly, without the Gospel, we cannot be saved. Therefore, Claiborne’s emphasis on a judgment based exclusively on works is, at best, unbalanced. In place of this simple assurance or grace, Claiborne insists that judgment will be based exclusively on works - did I show enough hospitality? Did I feed the hungry often enough? The consequences of this thinking will lead in either of two directions. Either we will become arrogant, thinking that we have performed better than 95% of the church, or we will be morbidly self-conscious and depressed, knowing that we have consistently failed to live up to the example of Jesus (1 Peter 1:15).

While it is true that the fruit of our lives (good works) is relevant to the final judgment, this is only because our fruit reflects something far more important - our faith (who we are before the Lord). As apples reflect the apple tree that bore them, our fruits reflect our changed status before God, and this is the most important thing!

Claiborne’s understanding of judgment is superficial. It focuses on works and not the changed heart that produces them. Although a number of verses do associate judgment with works, these works are significant because they reveal the state of the heart:

• "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." (Jeremiah 17:10)

Our deeds reveal the more important question of the heart and the mind. For our Lord, it is the tree (the heart of faith, the heart that clings to Him) that has priority over the resultant fruit. Consequently, if we are His – and this is the main issue - we will follow Him, however imperfectly.

Believing and following are inseparable. Therefore, if we are judged by what we do, ultimately, we are judged by the renewed heart that enables us to do.

Claiborne claims that his outreach to his Philadelphia community has “been fun.” There’s nothing the matter with fun, but what happens when the fun stops. We are instructed to not weary of doing good (Gal. 6:9). This is because good deeds can become wearying. They loose their psychological payoff.

What will happen to Claiborne and the rest of the Emergent Church when they become weary? Will they have the theological roots to keep them on course, or will they simply dry up when the hot sun scorches their ground?