Matthew is plowing right along into the life work of Jesus. Chapter 4 1-11 tells us about the Temptation of Jesus in the desert. The first verse says that the Spirit led Jesus into the desert. Then Jesus began to fast for 40 days and nights. How many times in life have we felt led into undesirable places? I have always thought of fasting as a time of extra prayer, b/c what else should you do with your scheduled mealtime if you are not eating food? Jesus confirms this in the first part of the Temptation when the Devil suggests that he turn the stones into bread;
Man cannot live by bread alone, but by the Words from God (keep the conversation open). There are two more Temptations where Jesus responds by quoting more scriptures from Deuteronomy. It is interesting that Jesus quotes from this book of scriptures, which summed up the Law and way of living for the Jews, when in the next chapter Jesus is talking about the Law and our perception of it. The second Temptation was to jump off a cliff so that the angels would lift Jesus up. I thought about this in 2 different ways; 1, would you jump off a bridge just because Sally asked you to? Are you really that caught up in peer pressure or so curious about cause and affect that you would do anything in the moment? 2, I thought of times in my life when it felt like taking a leap would at least get me out of the situation I was in, and almost any consequence
I could imagine would be better. If we don't do the first part and keep the conversation open with God, then we will leap blindly into situations that we are not prepared to handle. God prepares us for every next step if we talk to him. The third Temptation was the Devil offering Jesus all the earthly kingdoms spread out in front of them from the mountain top if Jesus were to bow down before him. First, I wouldn't think that they were the Devil's to give away, but Jesus doesn't say anything about that. He tells the Devil to go away and that God is the only one deserving of worship. This must have a lot to do with the worlds perspective as much as our own. While much of the rest of the world is not right with God, it is easy to see how the Devil would have more leverage over people and would seem to have a more immediate sense of power. God is more powerful, but it is subtle, more consistent over the long run.
The rest of chapter 4 follows Jesus out of Nazareth and into Capernaum, fulfilling more prophesy from Isaiah. Jesus heard that John had been arrested and was picking up where John left off with the preaching. Here is where he gathers some of his disciples as well. Chapter 4 says that Jesus called two sets of brothers away from their fishing duties, and they dropped what they were doing and immediately followed Him. Wow, I have met many the sales person who wished that they had that sort of power of persuasion. As breif as the conversations seem to be, it makes you wonder what Jesus said, or more importantly how he said it to get such a quick response.
Chapter 5 starts with what is commonly known as the Beattitudes. As I get older I can see the truth of this set of scriptures work out in my life. When we are down and out, when we've lost all that we have, we come to a place where God is all there is and (Praise Him), all we need. We are meek when we realize that God must work through us. Hunger and thirst for Righteousness=We can never have enough of what God wants for us. Pure of heart tells me not to get distracted by worldly things that would take my focus off God. Peacemakers: what a chore when it seems the whole world is at war sometimes. Obviously Jesus knows that none of these things come easily and the world will not understand. Plan on being ridiculed, persecuted and ostricized for two reasons; one, when you live your life in God's fashion, people will feel convicted and will lash out; two, people almost always make fun of what they don't understand. This is a simple but tough lifestyle.
The rest of chapter 5 goes into the character of God's people and some legalistic issues. Jesus says that we are salt and light. Salt is amazing in that it draws out the qualities of what it is added to. Salt makes sugar seem sweeter, and cocao more choclaty, and your favorite foods just all around better. Jesus says that with God living and working through us we will be as salt, and what good is salt if it is no longer salty? Again there is this concept of subtle power; salt does wonderous things, but doesn't get a lot of credit until it is missing. Less sublte is the Light. With God in your life you will stand out and be like a beacon showing the way to God's Kingdom.
Jesus is preaching to the Jewish people here in these verses, and the Jewish people have a lot of laws tied up in their religion (we can read how most of this was laid out in the first few books of the Old Testament). Jesus says that he did not come to replace the law, but fulfill it, and you must be familiar with and observant of the law to know the kingdom of God. Then Jesus continues on by referencing legal situations addressed in the Old Testament; murder,adultery,swearing... What I get from these verses (Matt 5:21-48), is that Jesus is distingueshing between being outwardly observant of the law (I didn't kill anyone, I didn't sleep with your spouse) and the spirit of the law. How could the Law be fulfilled if the true intent is not understood? This gets me thinking that we are to live a life where we do not have to justify our actions or our thoughts. It is easy to look righteous to the rest of the world when we have not overtly committed a crime, but we are still very much separated or distracted from God if we seeth with hate, or covet what we don't have. I had been taught that sin is what separates us from God, but I think that sin is what does not draw us nearer to God; a small but important difference. By nature of the Fall way back with Adam and Eve, we have been separted from God physically and spiritually. As babies we are self centered and hard wired to look out for ourselves, but as we grow up and mature we begin to look outside of ourselves. Our spiritual growth begins when we purposfully look towards God for guidance in our personal
and public life. Accepting Jesus and living for Him requires a change in attitude. The Spirit cannot work within us if we actively harbor sinful thoughts and feelings, even the ones we don't act on. Jesus tells us to make the first move in making things right with someone who has a grudge against us. Don't let it go to court as things may not go our way. We are also told to be real clear in what we say and how it corresponds to what we do. Don't say something to make you look good, but then not follow through with your actions. (This is how grudges are started). To finish up Jesus takes it a step further and says that we are to love our enemies. I was just thinking a few days ago about who our enemies really are, even before I read this passage. I do not live my life in such a way that I can name enemies. If detectives came by and questioned my family and wanted to know who might have a grudge against me, I imagine they would be hard pressed to give an answer. So who is my enemy, do I only have rare occasions to express this love that Jesus asks about? I think that my enemies are those people who don't know and or understand me. Those who may be tempted to ridicule, persecute and ostricize (seems familiar). In short my enemy can be anyone not in my inner circle, and my inner circle should be with Jesus and His followers. My enemy can be myself when I get distracted and look away from Christ. Put broadly, I need to stay focused and let Christ Love everybody through me. I alone do not have the ability to decide who is or is not worthy of Love, so by default I should endeaver to Love eveybody. Living a life without a hint of judgement is extremely difficult, and I have been tempted to keep myself separated from some people that push my bounderies in what I consider right or acceptable. I can think of two separate occasions where I decided to overcome my own objections and let Jesus "do His thing". What a remarkable outcome! I have been blessed by getting to know new types of people and expanding my understanding of where people are coming from, and they are blessed by having Jesus touch their lives, even when they don't realize it.
