February 18–24. Matthew 5; Luke 6: ‘Blessed Are Ye’
Jesus' sermon on the mount.
I'm sure there are many people out there who love these verses. But I think I've mostly seen them as a guilt trip, with maybe a cherry on top. I think Jesus sets an impossible standard for the mortal being. One that I've sought my whole life trying to understand, as a person who has endured much ridicule and abuse, and has always tried to return kindness for hurt.
But always striving to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, and never feeling able to say no when asked... I don't think these things are turning me into a very Christlike person. Always giving, makes me desire refuge in solitude. Never standing up for myself, makes me feel worth less than everyone else. I'm constantly running on empty, while my anxiety continues to grow, and my mental health declines...
I can't imagine that the point of the sermon on the mount is truly for us to be doormats, allowing others to take from us and abuse us endlessly, and we should just be happy about it!
It can't be. I don't believe it.
I've had a huge breakthrough this time around studying this sermon, a giant shift in my perspective. I don't think the above is what Christ was trying to teach at all. Maybe it's just news to me, but I see the sermon in a whole new way now, and here goes me trying to explain it:
Prior to Christ's ministry the people were living the law of Moses, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. [Matt 5:38] When you were wronged by someone, the law required recompense from them.
Law of Justice: Lose an Eye = Owed an Eye, Lose a Tooth = Owed a Tooth
Then comes the higher law [Matt 5:39-42] if they smite your right cheek, give them the other, if they sue you for your coat, give them your cloak also, compel a mile, go two... etc., which gives me this image:
Law of Mercy: Lose an Eye = Give other eye, Lose a Tooth = Give other Tooth
And that is where I've sat for decades, trying to understand how that is Christlike. Jesus wasn't a pushover. He set boundaries. He went off into the wilderness alone to recharge. He cleansed the temple (side note: do you realize this was a premeditated act? I noticed this time that He braided the whip Himself, ahead of time, it was not a spur of the moment, anger driven act), He stood up for Himself and many others marginalized by society, the lowest of the low. He wasn't always gentle and kind, He offended many by speaking the truth to them.
So what have I been missing?...
He didn't just erase our payback, and expect us to be ok with that.
He didn't consign us to endless giving and suffering.
Instead, drumroll please... He simply wants us to seek recompense from a different direction.
Lose an Eye (or a Tooth) = Receive recompense from Christ
The higher law puts Christ in the middle, the answer for both parties.
Take an Eye (or a Tooth) = come under judgment & accountability to Christ for your actions
His endless giving and suffering makes justice and mercy available to both parties.
After all, if we look back at an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, what was it actually doing? In most cases, just spreading the misery. If you kill my child, then the law demands that I kill yours. Does it bring back my child? No. But now you will suffer as I do. Another life is lost. More hurting. That is a brutal form of justice, but where is the mercy? Someone (attributed to several) said an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth just makes the whole world blind and toothless...
There are a great many stories written about seeking revenge, two that come immediately to my mind are The Count of Monte Cristo & Sweeney Todd. I recall neither story ending well, the fruits of vengeance are not peace and healing, but devastation for all involved.
Christ Atoned for our sins. He is the great Healer. We often talk about Christ as our advocate with the Father. That His Atoning Blood pays the price for our sins and makes it possible for us to return to God. But we don't often talk about how Christ is also our advocate with each other. He has paid the price for all hurts, for all injustices. The Sermon on the Mount asks us to change directions, instead of seeking revenge, and retribution from each other, turn to Christ. Seek healing instead of more hurt. Allow Him to make it up to us. Let our amends to come from Him, and leave it in His hands to exact justice from the other party.
Our lives then become only between Christ and us, it doesn't matter what is done to us, or taken from us by another party, as we look to Christ, all will be made right by Him in the end. Through His sacrifice, He can satisfy both the laws of mercy and justice. And that should be very comforting to us, as quite often in life we end up (knowingly or not) being the party inflicting the hurt. Sometimes we will just have to trust Christ to heal those we've hurt. No matter what we do, we cannot make amends, we cannot go back, we cannot fix it.
Instead of a two dimensional mortal back and forth that brings both down, we have a triangle, with Christ at the head, raising all up. That is the key to the sermon on the mount. I no longer see a guilt trip, but a message of both justice and mercy, and an invitation to live a higher way. He asks us to allow Him to carry our burdens. And to trust Him to make all things right in the end, instead of desiring others to hurt as we do right now.
The law of Moses instructed in all things, I don't think the Sermon on the mount was intended to be that literal. So going back to His examples of how we should act when... should I stand up to someone or lay down, turn the other cheek or turn in the bully, walk an extra mile or walk away?... I don't think Jesus is giving us an always answer. I think there are right times for each response in these scenarios. There are proper boundaries that need to be set and kept, times when we have more to give, and less.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, speaking of Christ asking us to forgive, said, "He did not say, “You are not allowed to feel true pain or real sorrow from the shattering experiences you have had at the hand of another.” Nor did He say, “In order to forgive fully, you have to reenter a toxic relationship or return to an abusive, destructive circumstance.” But notwithstanding even the most terrible offenses that might come to us, we can rise above our pain only when we put our feet onto the path of true healing. That path is the forgiving one walked by Jesus of Nazareth, who calls out to each of us, “Come, follow me.” The Ministry of Reconciliation, Oct. 2018
I think we have to continuously learn the language of the Holy Spirit as God speaks to us, and listen to His direction in all of our moments. We need to seek after the true nature of God, and desire to have love as the base driver in all of our actions. Then we can become like Him. Our intent can be pure, even if our actions falter and we make a great deal of mistakes along the way. He already planned for that, and paid for it, so it's up to us to make certain His Atonement doesn't go to waste.
"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." [Matt 5: 44-45]
His endless giving and suffering makes justice and mercy available to both parties.
After all, if we look back at an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, what was it actually doing? In most cases, just spreading the misery. If you kill my child, then the law demands that I kill yours. Does it bring back my child? No. But now you will suffer as I do. Another life is lost. More hurting. That is a brutal form of justice, but where is the mercy? Someone (attributed to several) said an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth just makes the whole world blind and toothless...
There are a great many stories written about seeking revenge, two that come immediately to my mind are The Count of Monte Cristo & Sweeney Todd. I recall neither story ending well, the fruits of vengeance are not peace and healing, but devastation for all involved.
Christ Atoned for our sins. He is the great Healer. We often talk about Christ as our advocate with the Father. That His Atoning Blood pays the price for our sins and makes it possible for us to return to God. But we don't often talk about how Christ is also our advocate with each other. He has paid the price for all hurts, for all injustices. The Sermon on the Mount asks us to change directions, instead of seeking revenge, and retribution from each other, turn to Christ. Seek healing instead of more hurt. Allow Him to make it up to us. Let our amends to come from Him, and leave it in His hands to exact justice from the other party.
Our lives then become only between Christ and us, it doesn't matter what is done to us, or taken from us by another party, as we look to Christ, all will be made right by Him in the end. Through His sacrifice, He can satisfy both the laws of mercy and justice. And that should be very comforting to us, as quite often in life we end up (knowingly or not) being the party inflicting the hurt. Sometimes we will just have to trust Christ to heal those we've hurt. No matter what we do, we cannot make amends, we cannot go back, we cannot fix it.
Instead of a two dimensional mortal back and forth that brings both down, we have a triangle, with Christ at the head, raising all up. That is the key to the sermon on the mount. I no longer see a guilt trip, but a message of both justice and mercy, and an invitation to live a higher way. He asks us to allow Him to carry our burdens. And to trust Him to make all things right in the end, instead of desiring others to hurt as we do right now.
The law of Moses instructed in all things, I don't think the Sermon on the mount was intended to be that literal. So going back to His examples of how we should act when... should I stand up to someone or lay down, turn the other cheek or turn in the bully, walk an extra mile or walk away?... I don't think Jesus is giving us an always answer. I think there are right times for each response in these scenarios. There are proper boundaries that need to be set and kept, times when we have more to give, and less.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, speaking of Christ asking us to forgive, said, "He did not say, “You are not allowed to feel true pain or real sorrow from the shattering experiences you have had at the hand of another.” Nor did He say, “In order to forgive fully, you have to reenter a toxic relationship or return to an abusive, destructive circumstance.” But notwithstanding even the most terrible offenses that might come to us, we can rise above our pain only when we put our feet onto the path of true healing. That path is the forgiving one walked by Jesus of Nazareth, who calls out to each of us, “Come, follow me.” The Ministry of Reconciliation, Oct. 2018
I think we have to continuously learn the language of the Holy Spirit as God speaks to us, and listen to His direction in all of our moments. We need to seek after the true nature of God, and desire to have love as the base driver in all of our actions. Then we can become like Him. Our intent can be pure, even if our actions falter and we make a great deal of mistakes along the way. He already planned for that, and paid for it, so it's up to us to make certain His Atonement doesn't go to waste.
"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." [Matt 5: 44-45]
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