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Craig L's Blog

Commonplace Holiness

Tag: The Sermon on the Mount

  • On Peace, Love and Perfection – Matthew 5:38-48

    On Peace, Love and Perfection – Matthew 5:38-48

    In this passage Jesus is continuing the series of antithesis statements he began in verse 21. In these he fleshes out what he means by coming not to destroy the law but to fulfill it. He goes beyond the law — not relaxing it, but pushing it further — pushing it toward its spiritual fulfillment. Jesus challenges us to consider more than just outward fulfillment; he pushes us to examine our motivations and inner lives.

    In verses 21-37 the issues were: destructive anger, covetous sexual desire, divorce, and the swearing of oaths. Here the issues are vengefulness, enemies, peace, and universal love for all.  Here the issue is how we treat — and think about — each other. This passage can be seen as a unit because of its closely related themes.

    This is also one of those passages in the New Testament that uses the word τέλειος — often translated “perfect” — which gave rise to the phrase “Christian Perfection”— often used by John Wesley (and his followers) to talk about the spiritual life. The phrase has been misunderstood from the beginning and continues to be misunderstood today, and it’s easy to see why Looking at verse 48 in its context may help to sort out some of the confusion.

    My goal in looking at this passage is much larger than that one issue — it is to understand how Jesus interprets the Old Testament law and applies it to life.

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  • How Jesus Fulfills the Law – Matthew 5:21-37

    How Jesus Fulfills the Law – Matthew 5:21-37

    Jesus has already stated that the purpose of his ministry was in no way to destroy the Law and the prophets (that is, the Old Testament) but to fulfill them.

    In this passage he begins to flesh out what that means. He seeks to bring the Old Testament law and teaching into its fulfillment by expounding its inner intent and purpose for the people of his own day. In “fulfilling” the law, he fills it up with meaning, demonstrating how it reveals to us the will and purpose of God.

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  • Light, Salt, and Righteousness – Matthew 5:13-20

    Light, Salt, and Righteousness – Matthew 5:13-20

    I often speak or write — or think — about the mission of the Church. It is natural for religious professionals (or even former ones like me) to get in the habit of thinking that the mission of Christ is the mission of the Church. We start to think of the Church as the necessary mediator of the grace of God — as not just the ordinances of the Church but also its very activities as saving. I think it’s a false teaching, myself — but one easily fallen into — to restrict the activity of God to the activity of the Church — and to (unconsciously) fall into the falsehood of thinking the Church is the necessary mediator of grace.

    There is, in fact, a mission of God larger than the Church — out of which the Church was born as a response. The Church did not create this mission and the Church does not own it. It belongs to God. Jesus came into the world as the living expression of the mission of God in the world. The Spirit of God was given to empower the Church in its witness to Christ.

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  • The Beatitudes – Matthew 5:1-12

    The Beatitudes – Matthew 5:1-12

    19th Century Campmeeting

    In the summer of 2014 (as I recall) I preached for the evening services at the Family Bible Camp at the Albright Park Camp & Retreat Center in Reed City, Michigan. It was a very natural place for me to be, and I was glad to preach there. I have a fondness for the tradition of the holiness camp meeting (as you may have noticed), and it felt right to be there preaching in that old tabernacle.

    It occurred to me: why not preach on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew? I remembered the importance of the Sermon on the Mount in the preaching of John Wesley, and I wondered if a series of messages suitable to a camp meeting could be delivered based on it. I think it went very well.

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