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Tim Bulkeley's 5 minute Bible
Hi, last time i suggested that
the way Jesus talks about the Bible in Matthew 5 verses 17-20
suggests that
what he wants us to do, in reading Scripture is not to treat it as law
as casuistic rules
to make it extreme
to treat it
or to take from it
apodictic
goals
and as an example we looked at verses 21 and 22
where Jesus deals with the command not to ***
And I left you with a question
Is this Jesus' consistent way of dealing with Scripture
or am I just looking at one example to prove my point
Okay, so let's look at some others and first
in this podcast
let's look at the rest of chapter 5
because Jesus goes on to deal with a whole series of Scripture passages
so verse twenty seven
"You've heard that it was said: 'You shall not commit adultery'"
again from the ten commandments
"but I say to you" (verse twenty-eight) "that everyone looks at a woman with ***
has already committed adultery with her in his heart"
Exactly the same procedure
not
how does this rule apply
what are the subclauses and what are the ways in which we can get round this
by finding loopholes
But raher, what sort of person would I be
if this rule
was the guiding principle of life
what sort of person doesn't commit adultery
Well, the sort of person who doesn't adultery is the sort of person who doesn't think lustfully
and then Jesus makes it even more extreme with the advice in verses twenty nine and thirty
You see, make the rule stricter!
Or again, verse thirty-three
"Again, you head that it was said to those of ancient times. ' You shall not swear falsely
but carry out the vows you made to the Lord'"
(Verse 34) "But I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of
God
or by the earth for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great
King
and do not swear by your head for you can't make one hair white or black
Let your word be yes yes or no no anything more than this comes from the
evil one."
So once again
the rules say
don't swear falsely
carry out any vows you make to God
what sort of person this is describing well, it's the sort of person whose word is their bond
the sort of person who says something and does it.
doesn't matter whether they have sweared to God
anything they swear, they do
and so equally it doesn't matter whether they swear by heaven or by the earth, or by...
the hairs on their head or by anything else
either some one will keep their word, or they won't
either they are the kind of person who keeps their word, or they are not
So, apodictic command: Be the kind of person who keeps your word
Verse thirty eight
"You've heard it was said: 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth'
a rule from the Pentatuech
designed to limit vengeance
Verse thirty-nine
"But i say to you, do not resist an evil doer but if anyone strikes you on the right cheek
turn the other one also, if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat
give your cloak as well!
If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also a second mile
give to anyone who begs from you, don't refuse anyone who wants to borrow from
you
So, this rule that was designed to limit vengeance
and about which, if we were treating it as a rule, we could start asking questions
like
does it only apply to eyes or does it only apply to physical injuries?
and such like questions
Jesus says
What sort of person would it be?
and then gives us the apodictic goals to aim at
of being the kind of person who doesn't take vengeance
of being the kind of person who when someone wants to do you a wrong
does them a good
So, verse forty-three: "You've heard it was said you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy
but I say to you, love your enemies
pray for those who persecute you
You see, time and again, time and again
what Jesus does
ius to turn a rule
into a goal
to turn casuistic law
into apodictic command
don't worry I'll look at some other passages from outside Matthew five next time
In the meanwhile you might like to look back at the podcast on how Jesus fulfilled
the Old Testament
becausethat will be useful background
Bye for now,
God bless