I want you to travel with me to the Mount of Olives. It is a beautiful place, a place that sits immediately opposite the city of Jerusalem. High on a hill side you look down to the Kedron Valley, the Garden of Gethsemane and the climb up to the old city gates.
Today of course, the mount is a tourist destination. Everyday literally thousands of pilgrims and tourists arrive to look down on the beautiful views of Temple Mount and the city. But it is interesting to turn around and look up the hill. Because it was here that Jesus most likely delivered the most famous of all his lessons, the Beatitudes. In biblical times, to climb a hill was significant. Firstly, it drew one closer to God. God is high above in heaven, and so a hill moves us physically closer to him.
But the other reason is that a hill was a natural classroom. Standing above the crowds, his voice carried down and over them. They could see him and hear him, and we just take that sort of thing for granted in our modern world. Imaging just being there, watching and listening to the man who would change the world preaching what would become his most famous of passages.
The section of the Gospel we hear today comes immediately after the famous Beatitudes, the Blessed are the poor, Blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, etc.etc. In this section Jesus focuses on the law. There is a seeming juxtaposition in his words. His gear has shifted from a message of love and blessings to a message about the rules. Why does he do this?
Jesus was an observant Jew. Remember that during his lifetime he not only kept the law, but he cherished and loved it in a Jewish way. To an observant Jew, the Laws contained in the first 5 books of the Old Testament are Holy. They are God’s laws and were handed down by him directly. They should be studied, understood, cherished and passed down from one generation to the next. They are the lifeblood of the Jewish faith.
So, when Jesus speaks in verse 18 and says:
18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
He is reminding his audience that his new message, his new way of living, is one that can co-exist within Jewish law. This is really important for us to comprehend because so often we think of Jesus as a rebel, an exciting figure who challenged the authority of the Jewish leaders and turned so much of the world upside down.
But what happens next is even more interesting. Jesus immediately teaches on specific laws. He interprets the law and expands on it. He demonstrates his rabbinical skills by making quite abstract links to the law. Look at what he says on murder.
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
Jesus states the law. It is simple and straightforward. If you kill you will be subject to judgement. But then he brings the law into the realm of the everyday. He uses an Aramaic word which doesn’t translate too well, to describe anger – Raca. It means something like “I hate you,” or “I have contempt for you.” Jesus tells us that if we have these feeling towards others, we will be judged. He tells us that if we call someone a fool, we will be in danger of the fires of Hell.
Now I don’t know about you, but there are plenty of people I get angry with. And there are times when that anger is fierce. I am judgemental and self-righteous, and I can be dismissive of those who I see as being in the wrong. So, am I in danger of the Fires of Hell?
Well, on one reading of Jesus’ words I most definitely am, but when we look at what he says next it helps us understand why we are saved; Jesus warns against presenting sacrificial offerings at the temple when we are in a state of anger.
Those who are to be confirmed next week have been learning how to live in a state of grace. Hopefully they would all be able to speak about the cycle we seek to live in a Christians.
We accept that we are sinful, we seek forgiveness and repent, we receive the sacraments of the church, and grace is restored.
So here on the Mount of Olives, high above the city, with Golgotha, the place where he would die for us, Jesus explains why he has come to fulfill the law. Put simply, no matter how hard we try to keep God’s law, we will always fail. That is the nature of our humanity, and it is something Jesus was trying to explain to his Jewish audience.
So, when we speak of Jesus dying on a cross for our sins, it is for all of our sins. This is the passage of text when he is looking to the cross, his journey is shifting towards its fulfillment. Jesus must die so that the law can be fulfilled, because we can never do it on our own.
Whenever I stand on the Mount of Olives I am in awe. It is understandably overwhelming to be in such a place. But as I have drawn closer to Christ through my adult life, and particularly as I have morphed from a headteacher into a theologian, I have begun to understand the significance of Jesus’ teachings in a deeper and more personal way.
So don’t just believe that just died for you, live life in a way that proclaims it. Understand what Jesus meant when he said he was the fulfillment of the law. He fulfills it because we can’t, because try as we might we fail. But that doesn’t mean we give up or don’t try because it’s too hard.
A while ago I spoke about the sacrament of confession. I explained that it is about drawing closer to God and Jesus. It is about reconciling those things that are so entrenched in our humanity that we cannot properly pit them away. This is what Jesus is speaking of when he teaches about the Law. Yes we know we shouldn’t kill people, that’s taken for granted. But how do we deal with anger, bitterness, jealousy, rage, envy and the multitude of sins we all commit? Yes, we pray to God and ask for forgiveness and we know it is freely givem. But does that reconcile these actions?
When Helen Prejean wrote her book Dead Man Walking, she witnessed her work with death row offenders. After one execution, she encountered a relative of a victim of the executed man standing outside the prison looking bereft. She spoke gently to him and tried to help him make sense of the feeling he had. He thought the death of the killer would bring closure, but he was wrong and was left with a complex set of feelings of guilt, anger and betrayal.
Asking for forgiveness is one thing, but when our lives are blighted by sinful feelings, they sit deep within us and often never go away. The sacrament of confession is exactly what this is about. It is about helping our souls to heal from the things which have deeply hurt us and affected our lives.
Next week we will witness a number of people who have made the decision to change their lives by drawing closer to God in the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. These are sacraments that can only be conferred once. But confession, or reconciliation is always available, and lent is a good time to think about making yours. If you haven’t done so before and would like some help, just ask me. We have to play our part in letting our Lord be the fulfilment of the law and the prophets. And this is one step you can all make on your journey.