Sermon on the Mount
The Koran teaches that Jesus is the Messiah and that He will come again to judge
the world. But it denies that he died on a cross. That, it says, was someone else.
Mormons have a much different view of Jesus, but they also eschew the cross in
many ways. You will not see a cross on a Mormon temple. LDS President, Gordon
B. Hinckley, explains, "On Calvary he was the dying Jesus. From the tomb he
emerged the living Christ. The cross had been the bitter fruit of Judas' betrayal, the
summary of Peter's denial."
For evangelical Christians, the cross is not the fruit of something Judas did, but
God's plan from the beginning.
The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved
it is the power of God. — 1 Corinthians 1:18
In light of those words, it's not surprising that so many critics attacked the film, "The Passion of Christ," for emphasizing the death of Jesus and giving little
attention to His teachings. Writing for the online magazine, Slate, David Edelstein
wrote that the film defined Jesus, "not by his teachings in life — by his message of
mercy, social justice, and self-abnegation, some of it rooted in the Jewish Torah,
much of it defiantly personal — but by the manner of his execution."
He's right that it was a violent and imperfect film. Time Magazine's Richard Corliss made a fair point when he described its audience as "true believers with cast-iron
stomachs."
Many reviews contained some of the nicest things about Jesus that you will ever
read in present-day secular publications, even though the compliments were a way
to pan the movie. One of the best was in The New Yorker. David Denby wrote, "In ‘The Passion of the Christ,' Mel Gibson shows little interest in celebrating the
electric charge of hope and redemption that Jesus Christ brought into the world. He
largely ignores Jesus' heart-stopping eloquence, his startling ethical radicalism and
personal radiance."
Powerfully said. Nice.
Mr. Denby could be funny, too. He speaks of Hollywood's past Jesus-movies "with
their Hallmark twinkling skies, [and] their big stars treading across sacred California
sands."
He quotes an essay by John Updike describing Christ as a "paragon of vitality and
poetic assertion."
But the cross was an instrument of execution, and doesn't seem well-suited to a "paragon of vitality."
"The Andy Griffith Show"
This television series is an all-time favorite, not just because it made us laugh. Lots
of shows are funny. Andy's show regularly demonstrated goodness and beauty —
usually centered around family or friendship, often using music. In one episode, as
Andy and Barney work around the jailhouse, they're humming a lovely old hymn.
Barney stops and asks, "What's the name of that song?"
Andy thinks a second and answers, "And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all
their guilty stains."
Even in those days, network television rarely quoted Christian hymns, especially
hymns that spoke of sinners and guilt and redemption. But Mayberry was a Bible-belt town and the sentiment seemed sweet and quaint.
The problem is, Andy was wrong. He quoted the second half of the first verse. The
real title? "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood." The melody is beautiful and
you can understand why the writers chose it. You can also understand why they
chose not to give the real title. The first verse says:
There is fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
In that context, Andy's answer to Barney ceases to be quaint. And there's nothing
sweet about a fountain filled with blood. It's no longer regional to the American
South. It's universal, and it's hard and dramatic and breath-taking. It's a fountain filled
with blood.
Here's the really interesting thing. You can't get to the second half of the verse,
without going through the first half.
A scripture for the scripture-less
If non-Christians have a favorite passage in the Bible, it might be the Sermon on the
Mount. You often see it compared to the teachings of other renowned religious
leaders. You see it praised for its blessing on peacemakers and for the seeming
pacifism of turning the other cheek. Also, it contains the all time favorite verse of
many, the verse known and quoted by people who know no other verse —
Matthew 7:1 "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
The Sermon on the Mount is great, but it isn't fun. Even if no other passage of
scripture had ever been passed down to us, this alone is enough to condemn every
human being to an eternal separation from all that is good — hell — were it not for the
cross.
Let's look briefly at a couple of passages:
"Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye
shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." — Matthew 5:20
To 21st century American eyes, "the scribes and Pharisees" may seem like
mealy mouthed little hypocrites. But imagine how those listening to Jesus that day
felt when they heard Him say those words. The scribes and Pharisees were full-time
law keepers. They spent every waking hour working to keep every rule and tradition
of Judaism. That's what defined them.
Can't you just hear Bob the Shepherd somewhere near the back saying, "Are you
kidding me? I've got to be better than them? They keep rules I've never even heard
of!"
To most of His listeners that day, this had to sound like an almost impossible
standard. But Jesus wasn't through. The very next verses say:
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever
shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is
angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever
shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." — Matthew 5:21-22
Later He would say something similar about adultery:
". . . whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her
already in his heart."
— Matthew 5:28
This isn't the gospel of self-esteem. People who were feeling pretty good about
themselves when the meeting began are, about now, starting to feel like dirt. Many
were safely keeping the outward part of the commandments, but Jesus reminded
them of a truth found in their scripture and ours — 1 Samuel 16:7:
"
. . . the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart".
Jeremiah 17:9 makes a devastating companion verse:
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
Think you're good enough? Think you're up to God's standard? Think you're
perfect? Jesus told them what the law had been saying from the beginning. "You're
sinners and you need a Savior."
"For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through
Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His
cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven." — Col 1:19-20 [NASU]
Peace and reconciliation with God come "through the blood of His cross." Without
the cross, the words of Jesus condemn us, and leave no hope of redemption. But
Jesus knew why He came, and it wasn't just to teach. It was also to die a brutal
death, taking on Himself the sin of the world.
". . . at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself". — Hebrews 9:26-27 [NASU]
Posted: 1-25-2008
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