Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Matthew 5,38-48. 21st Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Matthew 5,38-48; Luke 6,29-36 5115 21. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 066

Cleopas, Luke 24,18

25. Oktober 2015

1. O Merciful, Righteous and Eternal God, We appeal to Thee, for the evil one is bold and we are powerless against him. We call upon Thee to: overcome evil with good. Amen. (VELKD, Prayer for 21. Sn. n. Trinitatis § 1 2015)

2. Jesus taught the crowds, saying: „You have heard that it was said: »An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.« [Leviticus 24,20] But I say to you: ‘Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.’ „You have heard that it was said: »You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.« [Leviticus 19,18] But I say to you: ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.’ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.“

3. It is easy to read these verses of Jesus’ Beatitudes and conclude that Jesus is a kinder, gentler Moses, who softened the law into easier exhortations, such as loving God and neighbor from the heart (Horton). Instead of following a lot of rules such as are found in the old testament, God expects only love and heartfelt surrender in the new testament (Horton). Such an understanding would also make Jesus a kinder, gentler Pharisee. Jesus, it seems, reduced the Pharisees 613 laws, commandments and traditions into only two: love God and love your neighbor.

4. But hear again what Jesus teaches. The old commandment said an eye for an eye, but Jesus says not just an eye for an eye but turn your cheek and be slapped on both sides of your face, walk the extra mile than is required, don’t just give you tunic but also your cloak and love both your friends and your enemies, and furthermore, pray for them. Jesus taught to go beyond what the Pharisees were teaching, and the Pharisees had a very rigorous ideal of law-keeping. The Pharisees believed they were righteous because they meticulously kept their 613 commandments. Jesus says you must go beyond righteousness and be perfect as God is perfect. Jesus is not a kinder, gentler Moses but a more rigorous and demanding Moses. These Beatitudes are not exhortations that leave us with the impression that God does not expect the perfect righteousness prescribed in the law, but a generally good heart and attitude and avoidance of major sins. Instead, the Beatitudes exhort us to perfect obedience to the law.

5. Such an approach often leads us to despair and anguish. How can we be perfect when we know full well we do not measure up to what God expects of us? If the average Jewish person in Jesus day could not live up to the expectation of the Pharisees, then how can we live up to the more rigorous expectation of Jesus? Many Christians have lamented over this dilemma throughout the millennia. Martin Luther was one of those Christians who early in his life was filled with despair and utter terror.

6. Luther tribulations revolved around the verse found in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans: »The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel.« [1] Luther writes about his agonizing struggle and says: „It was commonly explained by saying that the righteousness of God is the power of God by which God Himself is formally righteous and condemns sinners. This is the way all teachers except Augustine had interpreted this passage: the righteousness of God, that is, the wrath of God. But every time I read this passage, I always wished that God had never revealed the gospel, for who could love a God who is angry, judges and condemns?“ (Luther 158; WA 43,537).

7. Luther spent many anxious, sleepless nights wrestling over his unrighteousness. Luther spent countless hours reading the Bible in an attempt to extinguish the tormenting flames of his guilty conscience. Luther eventually had his eureka moment while re-reading Romans 1,17. He later preached in the Wittenberg Church: „Terrible. Unforgiving. That’s how I saw God. Punishing us in this life, committing us to purgatory after death, sentencing sinners to burn in hell for all eternity. But I was wrong. Those who see God as angry do not see Him rightly but look upon a curtain as if a dark storm cloud has been drawn across His face. If we truly believe that Christ is our Savior, then we have a God of love, and to see God in faith is to look upon His friendly heart. So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God. Where He is, there I shall be also“ [2] (Luther movie).

8. Jesus demands perfection in His Beatitudes, but only God can be perfect. So Jesus is perfect for us in our place. Jesus kept every one of the Beatitudes He spoke in today’s Gospel pericope. He did so during His public ministry and more so in His suffering and crucifixion where He merited our righteousness and redemption.

9. What does Jesus intend for us to now do with the Beatitudes? First, the Beatitudes are not a list of things we must do to earn or assure ourself of eternal life with God. Jesus has taken care of that by being our Savior; He has earned our salvation before God. Second, The Beatitudes are present tense declaratives and realities that Jesus spoke to His disciples. Jesus declares us perfect and He makes us perfect on account of His propitiation for sinfulness. Jesus has atoned for sin, paid the ransom price and has merited the forgiveness of sin. This is why you are now declared perfect by Jesus.

10. The Beatitudes show us was a Christian life of faith looks like, and this life of faith is one of love. It is a love that suffers all for the neighbor and redeems them back to God the Father. How do we love? Just as Jesus loved us. It is a love that suffers all for the neighbor: helping them when they are in need, giving to our church so she can continue on with the proclamation of the gospel and putting the best construction on things that we hear people say or do. Such love is not easy, for it is a costly love, but Jesus gives us the strength and the will to love this way for this is how He loves us. May the Holy Spirit work in each of us to love in this way, for by such love the Holy Spirit uses His Church and His Christians to be a blessing to the world in many diverse ways. May the Holy Spirit work in each of us to: First, receive the promise that we are already perfect because Jesus has declared us to be perfect; second, strive to live this perfect life with the Beatitudes as our guide.

11. Let us pray. O Lord, Thou Steadfast Love of the Heavenly Father; inspire us to sing Your praise so that may hear of the righteousness and justification You have merited for us. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Horton, Michael. http://www.whitehorseinn.org/free-articles/the-law-the-gospel-by-michael-horton.html

[1] cf. AE 34,336-338

[2] „Anyone who regards Him as angry is not seeing Him correctly, but has pulled down a curtain and cover, more, a dark cloud over His face. But in Scriptural language to see His face means to recognize Him correctly as a gracious and faithful Father, on whom you can depend for every good thing. This happens only through faith in Christ.“ (Luther 21,37).

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, October 26, 2015

Matthew 5,38-48. 21st Sunday after Trinity

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