April 18th, 21

  THERE ARE  NO LOOPHOLES

The readings today are I Samuel 20 -21, Psalm 34, and Matthew 5.  We are reading from the New Living Translation.

Jesus heads up a mountain, and there he delivers his most well-known message – the Sermon on the Mount.    Jesus wants us to clearly understand what the purpose of the Law is, and Matthew helps us by drawing comparison and contrast between Moses and Jesus. Moses went up Mount Sinai – his message was the law and the 10 commandments. Matthew wants us to know that Jesus is a far better Moses.  He’s also on a mountain delivering a message.  Jesus wants us to know that He has not come to abolish the Law of Moses.  He says he’s come to accomplish its purpose

Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. ( Mt 5:17 NLT)

We need to understand the purpose for the law, in our life and in this world.  The Law is not our path to being right with God. It’s not a matter of  keeping the commandments and then God will keep us. But that is how so many of us understand it. In Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, he is making sure that we understand what the law is actually saying.  The standard of the law is perfection.  The chapter ends with “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Mt 5:48 NLT) The perfection required doesn’t just apply to your actions, it also about the attitudes and motivations of the heart.  All of these things have to be perfect.  Jesus doesn’t let us outthink the law and find the loopholes to justify ourselves before God and others. No, Jesus makes sure that there are no loopholes.  Perfection is the standard!  So why was the law given then if it’s not the pathway to justify ourselves before God and it’s not our means of salvation.

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. (Gal 3:19)

The law is good.  It shows us how badly we need God.it draws us to the one who draws us into his perfection. To him Who makes us one with himself. In christ, we are holy, we are perfect.  The law points us to our need for union with God. the Gospel is the declaration that God has done this in Christ for all the world.  

In Christ,  We are free to live the life God always intended for us to live, free from guilt and shame and the crushing demands of the law, lived in the flesh.  The gospel declares that union with God has been achieved in Christ.  And now, we can begin to discover the ways of self-giving, radically forgiving and co-suffering love. It’s a change that goes to the heart of our being. And it is yours. 

You are loved!