Hi everyone. Welcome back to the logical.
Bible study podcast today, we're looking at a quite a long
reading, Matthew 5, verses 17 to 37.
And so we're going to do things a little differently in today's
podcast because this long section of text from Matthew 5
is actually broken down into shorter chunks during the
weekdays. And so what I'm going to do in
today's podcast is just make some overall comments about this
overall text because it's such an interesting complex one.
I don't think I'll be able to do it justice in such in the short
time, we have to look at this long passage, but then, when
this passage comes around again, in the weekday time, we'll break
it down into the chunks as it appears every day in the week
days. so let's start by reading this long passage from Matthew
chapter 5, verses 17 to 37 Jesus said to his disciples do not
imagine that. I have come to abolish the law
or the prophets, I have come not to abolish but to complete them.
I tell you solemnly, till Heaven and Earth disappear, not one
dot, not one little stroke. She'll disappear from the law
until its purpose is achieved. Therefore the man who infringes
even one of the least of these Commandments and teaches others
to do the same will be considered the least in the
Kingdom of Heaven, but the man who keeps them and teaches them
will be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
For I tell you if your virtue goes, no deeper than that of the
scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of
heaven. You have learned how it was said
to our ancestors. You must not kill.
And if anyone does kill, he must answer for it before the court,
but I say this to you, anyone who is angry with his brother
will answer for it before the court.
If a man calls, his brother fool, he will answer for it
before the Sanhedrin and if a man calls him Renegade, he will
answer for it in Hellfire. So then if you are bringing your
offering to The Altar and there remember that your brother has
something against you leave your offering there before the altar
go and be reconciled with your brother first and then come back
and present your offering. Come to terms with your
opponent, in good time, while you were still on the way to the
court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the
judge to the officer and you'll be thrown into prison.
I tell you. Solemnly, you will not get out
until you have paid the last penny.
You have learned how it was said, you must not commit
adultery. But I say this to you.
If a man looks at his at a woman, lustfully he has already
committed adultery with her in his heart.
If you're right, I should cause you to sin, tear it out, and
throw it away for it will. Do you less harm to lose, one
part of you than, to have your whole body thrown into hell?
And if your right hand should cause you to sin, cut it off and
throw it away for it will, do you less harm to lose one part?
Out of you than to have your whole body.
Go to hell. It is also been said, anyone who
divorces his wife wife must give her a writ of dismissal. but I
say this to you, everyone who divorces his wife, except for
the case of fornication, makes her an adulteress and anyone who
marries a divorced woman commits adultery Again, you have learned
how it was said to her ancestors, you must not break
your oath, but must fulfill your Oaths to the Lord.
But I say this to you, do not swear at all either by Heaven
since that is God's Throne or by the Earth.
Since that is its foot his footstool or by Jerusalem, since
that is the city of the great king.
Do not swear by your own head. Either since you cannot turn a
single hair white or black. All you need say is yes.
If you mean yes? Know if you mean, no anything
more than this comes from the evil one?
So that's our long passage today.
From Matthew Chapter 5, which comes from The Sermon on the
Mount, which in which is where Jesus gives a long discourse in
the gospel of Matthew and there's so so much that could be
said about this passage. It's The Sermon on the Mount has
been interpreted many different ways and misunderstood in many
different ways. I think.
And each of these mini paragraphs, we've heard today
could have a lot said about it. And so, I'm not going to be able
to break down things in the way. I'm normally would with such a
long text. So I'm just going to make some
overall comments. But when week, 10 of ordinary
time comes around, we do here this passage broken down into
little paragraph. So, on the Monday, we get to
hear from three or four verses and then on the Tuesday, Etc,
there's three or four more verses.
So, when week 10 comes around and this podcast comes around
for week 10, I will break it down a little more and that will
really get into the nitty-gritty of The Sermon on the Mount and
help. You understand what Jesus is
saying, specifically in each sentence.
So, here we have Jesus, starting to be attitudes.
And the most important concept that we heard from this
particular passage, is that overall Jesus is contrasting.
The righteousness of the Pharisees with the true
righteousness. He desires, that's the principle
of the entire thing. He says, you cannot enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. If you only do what the
Pharisees do, and the Pharisees were really good at doing
external. All righteousness things, but
they'd forgotten about internal righteousness.
And Jesus says, if you want to get into the Kingdom of Heaven,
you need to have internal righteousness.
Not just external. So, he actually says that early
in the, in the verse that he says, for, I tell you if your
virtue goes, no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
And then he goes on to make these contrasts.
You have heard it said, you must not kill and then he contrast it
with its deeper meaning. So the ferry You were really
good at the externals of, do not kill.
They believe that, and they practice that, but they'd
forgotten the true heart, and the true purpose of the law.
And so Jesus, in this section is trying to get his hearers and
his disciples to recognize the original intent of the law.
And that they need to fulfill the original internal intent of
the law. And not just the external that's
basically in a nutshell. What this passage is all about,
although he does go into some specific teachings in there as
well. So, he says the external
legalistic way of the Pharisees, although, it is something it's
not the internal righteousness that's required for the kingdom
of heaven. So that's the whole point, the
Pharisees were not showing the kind of righteousness that's
required for the kingdom. And so Jesus, at the start of
this passage says, if you want to get into the kingdom, you
need to obey these Commandments. Those who obey the Commandments
and teach others to do. The same will be considered
great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who don't will be
considered the least as in This is Jesus introducing things
saying I'm about to give you some Commandments of what the
law really means. If you follow them, you'll get
into the kingdom. If you don't, you won't get into
the kingdom. So that's the basic idea of this
passage. Now the catechism develops The
Sermon on the Mount in. So so many ways, it's one of the
most frequently referenced part of the catechism because of all
the specific teachings that Jesus gives here about how to
live as a question, what it means to live a moral life.
What the Commandments mean what it means to say that Jesus
fulfilled, the law that all gets unpacked in the catechism.
So in this podcast, I just want to mention a few which give an
overall summary of the meaning of the Beatitudes and the sermon
on the The mound. So paragraph 577 is in the
section about Jesus in the law it says at the beginning of the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus issued a solemn warning in which
he presented God's law, given on Sinai.
During the first Covenant in light of the grace of the New
Covenant, quote do not think that I have come to abolish the
law or the prophets. And then that paragraph 577 goes
on to quote, quite a few verses from the start of what we heard
today from Matthew 5 paragraph, 5 9 2 in G in the section about
Jesus and Israel's faith. It says, Jesus do not abolish
the law of Sinai, but rather fulfilled it with such
Perfection that he revealed its ultimate meaning and redeemed
the transgressions against it. So here we see the Catholic
Church's teaching that Jesus did not abolish The Ten Commandments
or the law on Sinai. In fact he came to give it its
most deepest fulfillment, it's true fulfillment.
And obviously, that's unpacked here in The Sermon on the Mount.
Paragraph 1967. There's a discussion about what
is the new law or the law of the Gospel.
The law of the Gospel, fulfills refines, surpasses and leads the
Old Law to its perfection in the Beatitudes, the new law.
Fulfills the Divine Promises by elevating, an orienting them
toward the Kingdom of Heaven. It is addressed to those who are
open to accepting this New Hope with faith.
The poor, The Humble, The Afflicted, the ER, of heart,
those persecuted on account of Christ.
And so marks out the surprising ways of the Kingdom.
Paragraph 2054 in the section on teacher.
What must I do? Says Jesus acknowledged The Ten
Commandments but he also showed the power of the spirit at work
in their letter. He preached a righteousness,
which exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees as well as
that of the Gentiles. He unfolded all the demands of
The Commandments you have heard that it was said to the men of
old you shall not kill but I say to you that everyone who is
angry with his brother Will be liable to judgment.
And then in paragraph 2262, there's a discussion about
respect for human life. It says in The Sermon on the
Mount, the Lord recalls the Commandment you shall not kill
and adds to it. The prescription of anger hatred
and Vengeance. Going further Christ asks his
disciples to turn the other cheek to love their enemies and
it goes on from there. So there's so so much
interesting stuff in The Sermon on the Mount.
And Jesus is actually doing more than one thing here at once.
When he preaches the Sermon on the Mount, he's saying multiple
things at once and there's multiple layers to what he's
saying and it's well worth unpacking.
So I invite you to come back. If you continue listening, and
then, in week, 10 of ordinary time, we'll unpack each of these
little paragraphs of Matthew 5 in a little more detail.
Thanks for listening, please Tune In Tune in again tomorrow,
and we'll continue to look at the gospel of Mark will continue
where we will pick up, where we left off, in yesterday's
podcast.