Beatitudes revisited

Not for the last time, I think, we return today to Matthew 5.  It seems that these homilies I hear on Tuesdays will become a weekly source of discussion.  The readings this week are from Deuteronomy 4 and Matthew 5.  I have included the whole Sermon on the Mount for completeness.  In my prior piece on this passage, I focused on Mathew 5:17-20.  Let’s move on down the list of imperatives to the last verse of Matthew 5.

 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

For you red letter only readers, those letters are in red.  This means we are going to have to deal with this statement.  We can’t say that this is just Paul adding his spin to what Jesus said, because this is Jesus who said it.  Luke tells this part slightly differently.  Merciful is not the same as perfect, is it?  Well, we shall see.

In Matthew 19:21, in the parable of the rich young ruler, Jesus comes back to this same word, “perfect.” As we have said in other posts, parables are operating on more than one level.  This passage is not saying that wealth condemns a man.  What it is saying is about righteous behavior under the Law.  Jesus is saying that the standard of the Law is perfection.  By placing the kibosh on the man’s wealth, Jesus is pointing out that wealth is that man’s idol.  It could be any idol just as well.  The point is about the perfection that is necessary under the Law.  Is mercy a part of perfection?  Absolutely.  Luke’s recollection of this event is consistent with that of Matthew.  These are Law passages.  Whether or not Luke records the word as merciful or perfect, the imperative is the same.  Jesus is demanding a higher standard than man can achieve.

The cross references whenever Jesus speaks in the Bible are always a maze of scripture.  Ironically, let us end with the first book of the Bible.  Notice in Genesis 17:1 that God tells Abraham to precede before him blameless.  This passage may be the one of the most important OT passages in the Bible.  To understand the meaning of this passage, it is important to understand what is going on here.  God is making a treaty or covenant with Abraham.  In the ancient near east, when treaties were made, it was called cutting a treaty for reasons that will become plain.  That is where we get the expression “cutting a deal.” Notice this passage from Genesis 15.  What is described here is the ceremony of cutting a treaty.  The two participants pass through the pieces, first the higher king, who guarantees safety to the lower king as long as the lower king keeps up the imperatives.  The implication is that if the lower king, who passes through second, fails in the imperatives, the fate of the pieces through which they are passing will befall the lesser king.  In other words, if you break this deal, the higher king is going to cut you into little pieces.  The ritual involved in this practice also includes a reciting of the history of the higher king and his involvement with the lesser king at a feast.  There is also a sprinkling or pouring of the blood from the animals on the lesser king to seal the deal.  What is different about the Covenant with Abraham is that God takes on all the responsibility of fulfilling the Covenant; he passes through second.  The blood of this Covenant we will see later, of course.

What is important here is that God is in the covenant making business.  We must be perfect under the Law.  The Law condemns, but there is a New Covenant in Christ, that was made with Abraham and fulfilled by Christ.  In that New Covenant, through the imputed righteousness of Christ, through His penal substitutionary atonement and through His propitiating sacrifice, we are made perfect in Christ.  Then we can be presented as mature in Christ, perfectly righteous before the Judgment Seat, and worthy recipients of His Holy Kingdom.

--Ogre--