Day 5: The Sermon on the Mount, Part 1

Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He opened his mouth and taught them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished. Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. “You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not murder;’ and ‘Whoever shall murder shall be in danger of the judgment.’ But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of the fire of Gehenna. “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are with him in the way; lest perhaps the prosecutor deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. Most certainly I tell you, you shall by no means get out of there, until you have paid the last penny. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna. If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna. “It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’ but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery. “Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,’ but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Oh, my. Forty-eight verses, and every one of them just chock-full of meaning. Chapter 5 of the Gospel according to St. Matthew begins, “Seeing the multitude…” What multitude? Chapter 5 begins, in a way, with the concluding verses of chapter 4:

Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them. Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

Clearly, His was a message they wanted to hear; and the miracles of healings added to the curiosity factor that drew many, as well as those who desired to be healed. We do not know the place where this event occurred, apart from being on a hillside able to accommodate a large number of people.

Now, to be honest, this would be a fantastically long blog entry, even if all that I did was to highlight one point of each verse. I taught a class that was five one-hour sessions covering this material! Can you imagine the length of the transcript? St. John Chrysostom preached four sermons just on chapter 5! As you may know, his sermons were anything but brief. You can find them here.

The chapter’s teaching begins with the Beatitudes. If you are not already familiar with these from church, may I suggest you make an concerted effort to get to church before the Divine Liturgy begins? The best place to learn our faith, after all, is in the worship of the Church. Other forms of instruction – even silly little things such as this blog – can be helpful; but nothing can take the place of being there for worship – and that means in body, mind and spirit – not just standing in church while your mind goes wander… The Beatitudes address the way to true happiness; a blessed state that the world cannot give. We have to understand at least some small part of this before we can pursue the things that will allow us to be transformed, and so achieve what our Lord tells us is possible: the peace of God that passes all understanding, by which we can endure all hardships without condemning or striking out at others, and be patient and gentle and loving and forgiving, and anything but weak.

Our Lord tells us we are salt and light. Salt has two main uses: to flavor food, and to preserve food. St. John Chrysostom tells us that our human nature was flawed; in terms of food, it was spoiled, rotten, decaying. We had “lost our savor.” No amount of salt could change that situation; but our Lord can, and did, renew our nature. Now our nature has need of salt, so that it is preserved, and not allowed to spoil again. What is the nature of this salt, which we represent, which we are? It is the ascetic way of life; it is living the Beatitudes: poor in spirit; mourning for our sins; meek; hungering and thirsting for righteousness; being merciful; being pure in heart; being peacemaker; enduring persecution; being diligent in the struggle against the passions that lead us into sin, and fighting them with all our might. Not only is this good for us, to preserve the new life we have been given, the new nature freed from corruption; but by living in this way we also add savor to the lives of those around us, making their lives better, and helping to draw them closer to the Lord, so that they, too, may become salt.

We are light. Light banishes the darkness; light reveals what is before us. We stumble and fall in the dark; but it is easier to avoid doing so in the light. A city on a hillside cannot be hidden; and, indeed, in our world today, a city cannot be hidden in the night – unless there’s been a power failure. The light shines out from the city into the surrounding darkness; and, like moths to a flame, we are drawn by our nature from the darkness to come into the light – unless we have learned to love the darkness because, in the darkness, our vile deeds and desires are more easily hidden. You’d think we would immediately recognize that anytime we’re trying to hide something that we’re doing for fear of being caught, that we’d recognize how inherently wrong that whole scenario is, and we would change our behavior. May God grant us to make it so! Similarly, what’s the point of lighting a candle in a dark room, and then covering the candle, so that its light is hidden? As a candle is put on a candle stand to light a room, so, too, are we meant to be candles bringing the light of our transformed being, the light of Christ in us, to shine in the darkness of this world, so that those who still dwell in darkness may see the light, be drawn to it, and walk the path of salvation with us. The light, we are told, comes from our good works: works of mercy; works of patience; works of love; works of giving, helping, caring, feeding. Clothing, of spending time with those who are sick or in prison or are otherwise alone. When we go against the grain of the culture of the world, and think of others rather than focusing primarily on ourselves, a light shines in the darkness, and some will come to the light. How will they see it if we don’t live it?

I’ve already written more than I had intended! Let my conclude today’s entry with a quick summary. The remaining part of chapter 5 is our Lord taking the Law that had been given by God to Moses, and showing its deeper truth, and its deeper power, and its deeper meaning. He is preparing us for the change in the Law that will soon be inaugurated for us. The Law, prior to this time, was written by God on tablets of stone. In a way, it is an exoskeleton; something from outside of our being that guides us to a way of life that is beneficial to us and to others, and pleasing to God. But soon the Law will be written, not on tablets of stone, but on the hearts of those who come to Christ; and then it will no longer be an external that we put on, but instead come from the core of our being, and reaches out beyond us – but I’m getting ahead of where we are…