etcetera:

a reminder of Sunday’s lesson

from Sean McKelvey

I often hear things preached on Sunday that I want to apply in my life, but then forget to think about them as my week and/or work captures my attention. Maybe checking back here can help us keep growing, keep thinking about what God is doing in us and where he is leading us.

Application:

At the end of each day, think about what I did that day and identify examples of where I “got it right.” (“Right” means “did what Jesus taught.”)

• Let’s try to focus and celebrate our growth and successes rather than trying to fix our mistakes and failures.
• Thank God for his help making those moments possible, and ask him for more moments like them tomorrow.

Last Sunday, May 31, Al led us to look at some reaction to the beatitudes. They sounded pretty different from the way people talked about God’s covenant with his people: full of mercy and care, less “do this, don’t do that.” In Matthew 5:17-20, people are wondering “Is he changing everything? Is this new?” and Jesus answers them: no…

“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.” (Mt 5:17; see the translation read in the service at the bottom – it’s a little different than the standard English translations)

Al described what 
”abolish” and “fulfill” would have meant in the context of rabbis (teachers) in Jesus’ time:

• To abolish something in the law was to either (a) teach a wrong interpretation of the law and prophets, or (b) to teach the right interpretation of something in the law and prophets but to then DO something else (something inconsistent with scripture).
• To fulfill the law meant teaching both a right interpretation/understanding of it AND then living accordingly.
• When Jesus says he came to fulfill the law, he is specifically saying he came to live it out as God intended; he is saying “Watch me, this is how to do it.” And his teaching about the beatitudes is part of this fulfillment.
  • Think about Jesus’ life and teaching in the gospels: is it consistent with the beatitudes? What are examples of him “getting it right” or not?

Matthew 5:17-20

17 Don’t suppose that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to abolish them; I came to fulfill them! 18 I’m telling you the truth: until heaven and earth disappear, not one stroke, not one dot, is going to disappear from the law, until it’s all come true. 19 So anyone who relaxes a single one of these commandments, even the little ones, and teaches that to people, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But anyone who does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 Yes, let me tell you: unless your covenant behavior is far superior to that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get in to the kingdom of heaven.