WwtW: OT A 6, getting to the heart of the matter

Confession time: I struggle with anti-nomial tendencies, especially when laws afflict me.  This is one of the most inconvenient sections of the Sermon on the Mount, intensifying the beating heart of the law.  Remember being delighted last week to be called salt and light?  Well... this is what that means.  I'm also going to add: below are Bible Study notes.  In pastoral conversation or preaching, I wouldn't present this so matter of factly, but would try to walk with people as we all struggle together to live out this vision, straining to rest in the loving mercy of God, but always falling short.

Gospel:           Matt 5:17-37

Context.           We continue reading of the Sermon on the Mount, the first of the five main discourses of Matthew’s gospel. The Sermon is preceded by an account of Jesus’ healing and preaching ministry and his call of the first disciples.  It began with the beatitudes, proclaiming blessing for the persecuted Church.  Blessing comes before demand.  Next, we moved us from indicative to imperative (be what you are!; salt and light) in very general terms.  Now, after a reminder on the continued relevance of Torah, the instructions start getting a lot more specific.  This is how to be salt and light.

Interpretation. We have two sections here: the comment on continued relevance and the start of the so-called ‘antitheses’ (which will conclude next week).  The key statement is that Jesus fulfills the law, but what does ‘fulfill’ mean?  It can’t just mean that he complies with it, but it also rules out him totally eradicating it.  One meaning is that the Law is a statement of God’s will, which is most powerfully expressed in Christ’s life, teaching and deeds.  The Law is decentered: now the Christ is the best access to God’s will.  What this means for his instruction is that he transcends the Law: the reaffirms, radicalizes and applies it, going beyond its letter to demand even more.  Those who water down the Law are not necessarily excluded from the kingdom of heaven, but will have low rank in it.  (cf. Dante’s Paradiso for an eloquent imagining of rank in heaven).  Matthew is probably faced with two problems: Christian laxity towards the law, and Jewish claims that he has abandoned it.

The ‘antitheses’ (as they’re commonly called) are not contradictions with the Law of Moses.  For a start, Jesus introduces them with a divine passive (“it was said…” ie., by God).  They are radicalizations.  This is very clear in the first one: the Law outlawed murder, Jesus finds the root cause of murder (anger) and outlaws that in addition.  “Raqa” is an Aramaic insult meaning ‘fool.’  Next, we have a positive command which seeks to root out anger: one should practice reconciliation with Christians (brothers) and non-Christians (opponents) alike.  Next, Jesus gets to the root cause of adultery, looking with (the intent of) lust.  Intent is clearly signaled by the Greek grammar and this is obscured by our translation.  As Davies and Allison put it, “the sin lies not in the entrance of a thought but in letting it incite passion.”  Radical sacrifice must be practiced to avoid this.

The third example also seeks to avoid adultery, by banning divorce.  The Law had regulated and limited divorce.  Again, Jesus does not contradict, but goes further.  The exceptive clause is very hard to understand.  It could mean adultery, or it could mean incest (Hillel vs. Shammai).  Finally, oaths are banned, because they will be unnecessary if everyone always practices honesty (the root virtue commanded).  Some (including my teacher, Msgr. John Meier) have claimed that this is an overturning of the Law, which commanded oaths in certain circumstances.  But, Deut 23:22 reads “if you refrain from vowing, it will be no sin in you.”