Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Why Trust Matters


(Audio Version)





Introduction

I’ve heard it said that trust takes years to earn, seconds to break, and forever to repair. It takes countless acts of faithfulness and honest dealings to earn someone's trust; that trust is earned over a long period of time; trust is not owed it is earned. However, that hard-earned trust can be lost in an instant of one single indiscretion or dishonest act. Thereafter, restoring trust can prove to be more difficult than earning the trust in the first place. In fact, if an act of broken trust is egregious enough (although such an act is quite subjective) trust may never again be restored. In such a case, true and intimate relationship is not possible. Trust is a precarious matter. In our culture in particular, trust seems to be easily expendable for the sake of expedience. Husbands are dishonest with their wives, wives are dishonest with their husbands, children are dishonest with their parents, neighbors are dishonest with each other, and politicians...don't even get me started on that! Trust, however, is far more than a matter of being honest or dishonest. Trust is the fundamental element and basis for all healthy relationships and even for the health of any society. Without trust, relationships die; without trust, a society will die. It encompasses our speech, our actions and our attitudes toward one another. If you're not quite sure that you agree or understand my point, consider for a moment if it would be possible for the world to exist if you could not trust anyone. Before you dismiss my point, consider the many times you blindly trust everyday: For those of you who wear contact lenses, you trust that someone hasn't replaced your contact solution with acid. For those of you who have bank accounts, you trust that those at the bank won't steal your hard-earned money. For those of you who are students, you trust that your teachers won't arbitrarily give you an "F" on all of your work. I can give you countless other examples but I'm hoping you get my point that we must trust in order to function in our society. Most important of all is the roll trust plays in our relationships. We can, of course, be in relationship with people without trusting them entirely. However, such relationships are really only functionary. In other words, these are relationships where people just use each other for what they need and/or want. These are not relationships rooted in love for one another—love requires trust. Now think about that in the context of our relationship with God. Love and trust go hand-in-hand; we can’t have one without the other and that’s Why Trust Matters.

Trust is a very important theological concept forged in the fire of the Old Testament first and thereafter passing through the refiner's fire in the New Testament. However, as is often the case, the English translation of the Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek fails to fully convey the relational depth of biblical trust. Therefore, the purpose of this lesson is to take a close look at the biblical meaning of "trust" with particular attention to its use and development in the Old Testament with added elaboration from the New Testament.

Meaning

The Hebrew root for “trust” is bth—pronounced batah. The word occurs 120 times in the Old Testament with 44 occurrences alone in the Psalms and a significant number in the book of Isaiah as well.[1] “Trust is a concept of central importance in the OT. It expresses that which is, or at least should be, central in people’s relationship with God.”[2] Brennan Manning writes,

“Trust is the rare and priceless treasure that wins us the affection of our heavenly Father. For him it has both charm and fascination. Among his countless children, whom he so greatly loves and whom he heaps with tenderness and favors, there are few indeed, who truly entrusting themselves to him, live as veritable children of God. There are as few who respond to his goodness by a trust at once filial and unshaken. And so it is that he welcomes with a love of predilection those souls, all too few in number, who in adversity as in joy, in tribulation and consolation, unfalteringly trust in his paternal love. Such souls truly delight and give immense pleasure to the heart of their heavenly Father. There is nothing he is not prepared to give them. ‘Ask of me half of my Kingdom’ he cries to the trusting soul, and ‘I will give it to you.”[3]

The primary meaning of bth is “to trust” or “to feel secure” while in other less frequent cases it can mean “to be confident,” “carefree” or “unsuspecting.” In the causative Hebrew stem of the word, its usage means “to cause to rely on someone or something” or “to inspire confidence.”[4]

Historical Development

Historically, it is difficult to determine the specific development of the word. In part that’s because its primary use in many of the passages of the Psalms is difficult to date because those particular Psalms are difficult to date. Adding to the difficulty of determining the word’s development is its use to describe man often in a negative sense while at the same time describing God in a positive sense. It is, however, believed that Isaiah was influential in the usage of the word.

“Isaiah played an important role in the history of the word, but it is doubtful whether he really gave so much impetus to its development. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to emphasize that the root bth is intimately connected with Wisdom Literature…Isaiah, whose language is strongly influenced by Wisdom terminology, could have used the form bitchah in order to express the peculiar idea of ‘trust’ in God. Afterward there arose a greater and greater distinction between the two usages of bth depending on whether a particular passage was speaking of man or of God.”[5]

This finding certainly bears out when considering the varied uses of bth throughout the Old Testament. Trust is rarely if ever a quality that is associated positively with man but always a quality associated positively with God.

Usage

The uses of bth can be more specifically categorized as 1) Trust that is taken for granted; 2) False security (trusting in the wrong things); and 3) Trust in God. An example of trust taken for granted can be found in Proverbs 3:29; “Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.” This usage makes clear that there is an unspoken trust that is taken for granted between neighbors that must be honored. Likewise, there are numerous examples of admonitions against false securities throughout the Old Testament. Particularly prominent is the false security in riches as expressed in Proverbs 11:28; “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall…” Although there are countless examples of this throughout the Old Testament, it is particularly useful to recall Jesus’ parable of the rich farmer who, when he prospered, simply built bigger barns for his crops. He trusted his future to his agricultural wealth and neglected the fact that God is the author of life and death—an extremely good example of false security. Another example of false security in the Old Testament is the false security found in fortified cites, weapons, horses, chariots and warriors. For example, Isaiah 31:1 records an admonition; “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.” Ultimately, there are no longer any kingdoms or empires in existence today that existed during the Old Testament age—yet God is the same today as he was then. Finally, the positive usage of the word is particularly prominent in reference to true security that can be found in God alone. This is the clearest usage yet of the word. We can read one of the many examples of this in Jeremiah 17:7; “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.” This stands in sharp contrast to Jeremiah’s admonition a few verses earlier in verse five where he writes, “This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.” When considering the use of bth in its entirety, an unmistakable principle begins to emerge—trust in anything other than God alone is fleeting at best and destructive at worst. Primarily because trust in anything other than God involves being in “relationship” with something or someone (including ourselves) that has been distorted by the ravages of sin. This point cannot be over-emphasized. “Thus the feeling of being secure in God is the only certain support for human life.”[6]

Theological Significance

The concept of trust is crucial within the understanding of our theological construct. As stated previously, “It expresses that which is, or at least should be, central in people’s relationship with God.”[7] It is important to note that there are significant sections of the Old Testament that do not include the word bth. This is particularly important when we consider that those sections are the books of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers and Samuel which include the narratives of such biblical greats as Abraham, Moses and David! “This instantly shows that it would be foolish solely to focus attention of the specific occurrences of a certain Heb. root…and that one must consider the concept of a certain type of relationship with God that is represented by the specific word.”[8] Nowhere is this relational concept more evident than in the words of Christ recorded in John 14:1; “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me.” Although “trust” is derived not from the Hebrew in this case but from the Greek verb pisteuo, which is also translated as “believe,” and the Greek noun pistis which is translated “faith,” the principle of relationship is the same. Christ is building a foundation upon which a relationship with Him can be erected and that foundation is firmly planted on the bedrock of “trust” in a God whom they already knew to be good, holy and faithful. Therefore, when considering both the negative and the positive usage of the word bth, a clear relational theme begins to emerge. Yet a simple word study falls hopelessly short of painting a clear picture of the theological and relational significance that is intended to be conveyed.

“The story line of faith and its relational dynamics are the reasons that word studies will fail theology as a method for discussing faith in the Pentateuch. The hazards of word studies are well illustrated by the virtual absence of ‘trust’ in the Pentateuch. ‘Trusting in the Lord’ is clearly related to ‘faith’ and is well represented in Psalms and Proverbs (batah, ‘to trust’). The idea of trusting or not trusting God is reflected in many of the pentateuchal stories and exhortations, but it is not reflected in the characteristic vocabulary of the Pentateuch.”[9]

Particularly in those pentateuchal narratives, God is depicted consistently trying to realign the relationships of his people away from trusting in governments, people, self, riches, strength, influence or appearances, all of which have been distorted by sin and are destined to perish, and move them back into relationship with Himself—the God who is perfect, holy, unchanging and eternal. Ultimately, the theological concept conveyed by the word bth is perhaps the most important of all biblical concepts. as “The stakes here are enormous, for I have not said in my heart, ‘God exists,’ until I have said, ‘I trust you.’ The first assertion is rational, abstract, a matter perhaps of natural theology, the mind laboring at its logic.  The second is ‘communion, bread on the tongue from an unseen hand.’ Against insurmountable obstacles and without a clue as to the outcome, the trusting heart says, ‘Abba, I surrender my will and my life to you without any reservation and with boundless confidence, for you are my loving Father.’”[10]

Application

            The Bible is replete with characters that model godly trust for us. Whether it’s Abraham leaving his home at God’s command before even knowing where he was going, or Daniel who trusted that God would protect him from Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace, or Peter getting out of the boat to walk on water or Jesus allowing himself to be crucified, we are quite familiar with the biblical examples of trust. But what does this trust look like in our everyday lives? Is trust emotional, psychological, physical or spiritual? The short answer is: It’s all of those things at various times in our lives; We cry out in our sorrow and pain for the God who comforts us, we confidently live our lives in the knowledge that God is sovereign, our actions reflect the fact that God is in control of what we say and do, and our spirit longs for the day when we can spend eternity with God. Don’t get me wrong, trust is far from easy. Nevertheless, “unwavering trust is a rare and precious thing because it often demands a degree of courage that borders on the heroic…It requires heroic courage to trust in the love of God no matter what happens to us.”[11] Trust is a precious commodity in God’s economy and those who trust their families, relationships, finances, careers, etc. to God’s care won’t be disappointed (cf. Rom 10:11). Being in a love relationship with the Creator of the universe requires, devotion, worship, discipline, and humility along with countless other actions and attitudes. However, above all else, our love relationship with God requires trust. Without trust, love cannot thrive and will inevitably shrivel and die.

            I’d like to share an excerpt from William Young’s wonderful novel, The Shack, that illustrates my point about the relational dynamic of trust. Without giving away the story, the main character, Mack, has lost his little girl to a serial child molester/killer while camping with his other two children. In his grief, he searches for her and finds himself in “the shack” where, it turns out, his daughter was killed. There, he has an encounter with all three persons of the Trinity. In the particular scene I want to share, a grieving and angry Mack is having a meal with Papa (the Father), Sarayu (the Spirit) and Jesus (the Son). Mack asks what any reasonable person would ask in his position: Why? That’s where we’ll pick up the conversation with Papa speaking.

            “We created you, the human, to be in face-to-face relationship with us, to join our circle of love. As difficult as it will be for you to understand, everything that has taken place is occurring exactly according to this purpose, without violating choice or will.
            “How can you say that with all the pain in this world, all the wars and disasters that destroy thousands?” Mack’s voice quieted to a whisper. “And what is the value in a little girl being murdered by some twisted deviant?” There it was again, the question that lay burning a hole in his soul. “You may not cause those things, but you certainly don’t stop them.”
            “Mackenzie,” Papa answered tenderly, seemingly not offended in the least by his accusation, “there are millions of reasons to allow pain and hurt and suffering rather than to eradicate them, but most of those reasons can only be understood within each person’s story. I am not evil. You are the ones who embrace fear and pain and power and rights so readily in your relationships. But your choices are also not stronger than my purposes, and I will use every choice you make for the ultimate good and the most loving outcome.”
            “You see,” interjected Sarayu, “broken humans center their lives around things that seem good to them, but that will neither fill them nor free them. They are addicted to power, or the illusion of security that power offers. When a disaster happens, those same people will turn against the false power they trusted. In their disappointment, they either become softened toward me or they become bolder in their independence. If you could only see how all of this ends and what we will achieve without the violation of one human will—then you would understand. One day you will.”
            “But the cost!” Mack was staggered. “Look at the cost—all the pain, all the suffering, everything that is so terrible and evil.” He paused and looked down at the table. “And look what it has cost you. Is it worth it?”
            “Yes!” came the unanimous, joyful response of all three.
            “But how can you say that?” Mack blurted. “It all sounds like the end justifies the means, that to get what you want you will go to any length, even if it costs the lives of billions of people.”
            “Mackenzie.” It was the voice of Papa again, especially gentle and tender. “You really don’t understand yet. You try to make sense of the world in which you live based on a very small and incomplete picture of reality. It is like looking at a parade through the tiny knothole of hurt, pain, self-centeredness, and power, and believing you are on your own and insignificant. All of these contain powerful lies. You see pain and death as ultimate evils and God as the ultimate betrayer, or perhaps, at best, as fundamentally untrustworthy. You dictate the terms and judge my actions and find me guilty. The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don’t think that I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything—the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives—is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me. But you don’t.”
            “I don’t?” asked Mack, but it was not really a question. It was a statement of fact and he knew it. The others seemed to know it too and the table remained silent.
            Sarayu spoke. “Mackenzie, you cannot produce trust just like you cannot ‘do’ humility. It either is or is not. Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved. Because you do not know that I love you, you cannot trust me.”
            Again there was silence, and finally Mack looked up at Papa and spoke. “I don’t know how to change that.”
            “You can’t, not alone. But together we will watch that change take place. For now I just want you to be with me and discover that our relationship is not about performance or you having to please me. I’m not a bully, not some self-centered demanding little deity insisting on my own way. I am good, and I desire only what is best for you. You cannot find that through guilt or condemnation or coercion, only through a relationship of love. And I do love you.”…
            “One last comment,” he [Mack] added, turning back. “I just can’t imagine any final outcome that would justify all this.”
            “Mackenzie.” Papa rose out of her chair and walked around the table to give him a big squeeze. “We’re not justifying it. We are redeeming it.”[12]

            This particular dialogue from The Shack illustrates an important distinction between trusting people and trusting God—people are broken and finite beings not knowing how their words and/or actions might help or hurt others. God, on the other hand, is a perfect and infinite being who knows precisely how to use the events of our lives for only our benefit. Nevertheless, our experience of trust or broken trust with the people in our lives can, and often does, have an impact on our trust relationship with God positively or negatively even though God’s trustworthiness should never be in doubt. That’s Why Trust Matters.

            Let me say something to parents generally and to fathers more specifically: You have a monumental task in raising your children when it comes to not just believing in God but trusting Him. If your children can’t trust you because of your harsh words toward them or because of your erratic behavior, your children will believe God to be harsh and erratic when they are faced with the inevitable struggles of life. If your children can’t trust you to love them through your words and deeds toward them, they will struggle trusting that God loves them through His words and deeds toward them. This is especially true in the case of fathers. Your children do not have the spiritual maturity to be able to make the behavioral distinction between their earthly father that they can see and touch and their heavenly Father who they can’t see or touch until it’s too late. If your children can’t trust you, their earthly father, because of your words and/or actions, I can virtually guarantee that your children will struggle trusting their heavenly Father. That’s Why Trust Matters.

            For those of you who are married, or considering marriage, or hoping to one day marry, believe it or not, the level of trust you have in God can be dramatically affected by the level of trust you share with your spouse. This is especially true if you are convinced that you married the person God prepared specifically for you. If you can’t trust your spouse to love, cherish, and respect you, you may very well struggle trusting the God you were so convinced brought your spouse to you in the first place. That’s Why Trust Matters.

            As you can see, our trustworthiness, regardless of our station in life, doesn’t just affect our earthly relationships but reaches deep into the lives of those God has providentially placed in our lives to either reinforce or tear down the trust that is so critical to a vital love relationship with God. I want to repeat something I said at the very beginning that I’d like you to remember: Trust takes years to earn, seconds to break, and forever to repair. And that’s Why Trust Matters.




[1]Abraham Evan-Shoshan, A New Concordance of the Bible, (Jerusalem, Kiryat Sefer Publishing House, 1997) pp. 164-165.
[2] Willem A. VanGemeren, ed., New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, Vol. 1, (Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan Publishing House, 1997) p. 644.
[3] Brenan Manning, Ruthless Trust, (New York, NY, HarperCollins Publishers, 2000) p. 3.
[4] David J. A. Clines,ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew,(Sheffield, England, Sheffield Academic Press, 1995) p. 120.
[5] Ibid., p. 94.
[6] Ibid., p. 93.
[7] Willem A. VanGemeren, ed., Dictionary of Old Testment Theology & Exegesis, p. 644.
[8] Ibid., p. 648.
[9] T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, eds., Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch, (Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press, 2003), p. 281.
[10] Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust, pp. 6-7.
[11] Ibid., pp. 3-4.
[12] William P. Young, The Shack, (Newbury Park, CA: Windblown Media, 2007), pp. 124-127.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Following Jesus: Simple Doesn't Mean Easy


(Audio Version)



Introduction

            I’ll be completely honest with you—it’s hard being a Christian. I’m not talking about believing in Jesus—that’s simple. I’m talking about following Jesus. I don’t want to shock you but not everyone likes what I have to say! I know! Crazy right {read: sarcasm}? They insist that being a Christian should be very simple and it’s people like me who drive people away from God because I make it too difficult. But I’d like to address this particular criticism, if possible, by saying that I have included, at the top of the web page, what I believe is God’s message to each of us. It’s a very loose paraphrase of John 3:16 which I’ve included specifically as a paraphrase in order to make God’s message of salvation as simple as possible. However, I am more convinced than ever that my job is to help you move beyond the message of salvation and walk with you on the path of being a faithful follower of Jesus. As a pastor, I am compelled to challenge you to join me on the journey of faith that only begins when we accept Christ. “The spiritual leader’s task is to move people from where they are to where God wants them to be.”[1] And that's the objective of my teachings (cf. 2 Peter 3:15-18). There’s a popular church strategy being adopted here in America that has as it’s objective to create an environment where people can “bump” into Jesus. That’s a quaint sentiment and maybe something you’d see on a bumper sticker or in a greeting card but let’s not be naïve, what pastors who adopt this strategy are saying is: “I’m afraid to take you by the hand and lead you into the presence of Jesus because you may not like what He has to say and then you’ll blame me and stop coming to my church.” Is an encounter with Jesus supposed to be accidental or intentional? Well it certainly can be accidental but, more often, the Bible is replete with story after story of people who have been called or confronted by Jesus that have been very intentional about bringing others to meet Jesus—Philip brings his brother Nathanael (Jn. 1:45-46), The Samaritan woman brings her whole town (Jn. 4:28-30), and some men tear a hole in the roof of a house to lower their lame friend down into the presence of Jesus (Lk. 5:17:20). As you can see time and again in Scripture, there is an intentionality—a trajectory—to a person’s faith. Faith is not some abstract, one-time task that a person does and then they’re done and can check it off their “to-do” list. Faith is either active and growing or it’s stagnant and dying. Following Jesus is the ongoing process of being in a dynamic relationship with the most important person in your life.

But in Following Jesus—Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy. On the one hand Jesus says that all we have to do is believe in Him and we will be saved and on the other hand He says we must take up take up our cross and follow Him. Or, we can simply call on Him and He will be there to give us all we need but then we must be prepared to forsake all to follow Him. If you think about it, this dichotomy is the essence of Jesus-the simple faith of a child and the difficulty of faith that may lead to death. Nowhere is this dichotomy more obvious than in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The sermon spans chapters 5 through 7 of Matthew’s gospel. However, for the purposes of this particular teaching, a reading of chapter 5 will serve to make my point with perfect clarity. Let’s take a look at what it says there.

Subject Text

Matthew 5

1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. 25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’
39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Context

            The people lived under the guidance of the religious leaders who were the sole purveyors of God’s instructions for holy living and it was serious business. We get lost in the context of our own culture where we can disagree and oppose our religious leaders and life goes on pretty much as normal. But this wasn’t the case during the time of Jesus. The religious leaders had tremendous power and influence over the people. The average person had little recourse against the religious leaders. The way they interpreted the Scriptures established the rules for living in community. The religious leaders interpreted the Scriptures very narrowly and ruled the people in accordance with the Scriptures as though they were a strict legal instrument. But this was not Jesus’ way. Instead, Jesus wanted to introduce the people to God’s word in the spirit that it was given to them—as a means to be in relationship with God and with others. The way of the religious leaders was complex because of its many intricacies but it was easy because it did not require relationship with God or with people just obedience to the rules. Jesus’ way was different, it was so simple but it wasn’t easy because it required relationship with God through Him and relationship with other people.

Text Analysis

The chapter can generally be broken down into 4 sections:

We find what is commonly described as the “Beatitudes” in vv. 1-12. The verses demonstrate God’s heart for justice and mercy. They are the hope of all those who are oppressed, persecuted and faithful. They contain the promise of God’s reward. They answer the question: “What’s in it for me?” More importantly, “The upshot of the Beatitudes is a complete inversion of the attitude known in our culture as ‘machismo.’ In fact, this attitude is not limited to a particular culture but characterizes humanity’s self-centered, self-arrogating pride which invariably seeks personal security and survival above the good of others. We are enabled to invert these natural, worldly values only when we recognize that God will in turn invert our marginalized status and grant eternal compensation.”[2]

A transition in Jesus teaching in this chapter takes place in vv. 13-16. Jesus goes from the end reward of perseverance and faith in the previous verses to the purpose of our faith in these verses. God calls us to be salt and light to the world so that others will come to know him through the example of our lives. V. 16 is clear that our faith is intended to be an active faith so that people will see our “good deeds” and thereby praise God. There is certainly a personal component to our faith but it was never intended to be specifically private. Instead, our faith is intended to be lived out in full view of the public as a signpost pointing the way to God. Otherwise, “Just as tasteless salt lacks value to the person who uses it, so does a professed disciple without genuine commitment prove valueless for the work of the kingdom.”[3]

Jesus is making the proclamation, in vv. 17-20, that He is the fulfillment of all the things spoken of by the Prophets about the coming Messiah and that He alone is the perfect fulfillment of all the Laws. Jesus makes it clear that he is not abolishing the Law but has fulfilled it. “Jesus has come to show forth the true, transcendent meaning of the law by reaffirming it without repeating it...Matthew’s Jesus is the ultimate goal of the law and the prophets, the one to whom they point. His mission of kingdom word and deed fulfills the ethical standards and eschatological promises of the law and the prophets. Thus he becomes the sole authoritative teacher of the law, and his interpretations take on the character of new law for his disciples. His teachings are not brand new in the sense of having no root in the Hebrew Bible but new in the sense of transcending the traditional understanding of the law promulgated by the religious leaders.”[4]

            Although there are multiple teachings within vv. 21-48, taken as a whole, they represent a radical shift in the way people were to practice their faith. These verses create the dichotomy of faith that I have been talking about. It’s almost like scaling a treacherous staircase with a handrail to make it easier but twisted and uneven steps that turn the routine into a laborious struggle. Let me demonstrate:

Simple

V. 21—“Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.”
V. 27—“Do not commit adultery.”
V. 31—“Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.”
V. 33—“Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.”
V. 38—“Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.”
V. 43—“Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”

Not Easy

V. 22—“But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
V. 28—“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
V. 32—“But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.”
Vv. 34-37—“But it tell you, Do not swear at all...Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’”
V. 44—“But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

“By means of six bold antitheses representing the teaching of Jesus, Matthew now contrasts Jesus’ exposition of the true and ultimate meaning of the Torah with the more common, rabbinic understandings of the commandments. In this way the incomparable ethical demands of the kingdom are set forth.”[5]

Application

Jesus draws a striking and sharp contrast between simple faith and faith that is not easy. The Bible is clear that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. That is absolutely true. However, the Bible is also clear that the life of faith doesn’t end with the profession of our belief in Jesus. My oldest daughter says that spiritual growth means taking responsibility for your faith. That means taking responsibility for your behavior-to yourself, to others and to God. I think she’s right on target. When we are in a love relationship with someone, making a public pronouncement of that relationship and then never or hardly doing anything else is simply not enough to maintain a healthy, nurturing and growing relationship, if it can even be called a relationship at that point. It requires action because “saying” I love you is simple but “doing” I love you is not easy.

In seminary, we learned that many biblical teachings are of the “both/and” variety as opposed to the “either/or” variety. This would be one of those teachings. I'll sum up the life of faith succinctly according to the Bible: Jesus died on a cross to pay for our sins. You can be reconciled to God by accepting that Jesus did that for you. If you’ve already done that then you can be assured that you will have a place in eternity with God! However, until then, there is a cross that awaits each of us as we follow Jesus’ instructions and example-all of them! For those who are willing; those who are up to the challenge of Following Jesus—Simple Doesn’t Mean Jesus.




[1] Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby, Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda, (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2001), p. 20
[2] Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, The New American Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992), pp. 101-102
[3] Craig S. Keener Matthew, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997), p. 109
[4] David L. Turner, Matthew, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), p. 158
[5] Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13, Word Biblical Commentary, (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1993), p. 111