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Chapter 5
“Where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also”
Interpreting the ethical teaching of Jesus
Everyone becomes like what he
loves. Do you love the earth?
You shall be the earth. Do you
love God? Then I say, you shall
be God.
-St. Augustine
Interpreting the ethical teaching
of Jesus
-Each
individual carries a unique image of Jesus in one’s
heart yet no one image is complete
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) contains the
heart of Jesus’ ethical message, also called the summary of
the gospel
-
-This
chapter examines Matthew’s intent in writing the
gospel and what “Kingdom of God” means for
Christian ethics
Interpreting Scripture
Exegesis- study of scripture texts in their original context,
analyzing language, historical content and religious
traditions
Hermeneutics- task of interpretation with reference to
something else
We use exegesis to understand the context in the gospel
and hermeneutics to apply the findings of exegesis to
understand the texts for our time
Matthew’s Gospel
-Written
in the city of Antioch (now Turkey) 50-60 years after
Jesus’ death
-Primarily
addresses a Jewish community concerned with the
division between those who followed Jesus and those who saw
him as subversive to the Jewish tradition
-After
the destruction of the temple, those who followed the
Pharisees formed Judaism while those who followed Jesus became
known as Christians
Matthew wanted to write Jesus’ traditions down so the
community could continue to follow Jesus after his death
-
-Matthew’s
the church
is the only gospel in which Jesus speaks of
Matthew’s Jesus- the ultimate
teacher
-Jesus
remains with the disciples through the holy
spirit
-Matthew presents Jesus as an incomparable teacher
Beginning of Gospel of
Matthew:
Jesus is linked to Abraham,
father of Judaism and King
David, out of whose house
would become the Messiah
Matthew’s Gospel
portrays Jesus as one
who brings the
teachings of Moses
to perfection
End of Gospel of Matthew:
Jesus rises instructing his
disciples to teach the world
about him. Jesus returns to
God to be with us until the
end of time
The Torah
-Taught
by Moses and is brought to its fullness by Jesus
-Jesus is the law and the law is the love
-Jesus is the fulfillment of the Torah, Jesus is the new Torah
5 Teachings of Jesus (Moses’ 5 teachings, 5 books of the
Torah)
1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy
Matthew passes on authority that we and the church are
instructed to pass on
Gospel: the “Good News”
3 stages:
1. Jesus’ Ministry, death and resurrection
2. Stories and sayings (oral tradition)
3. Written gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
the “Q” to which Mark and Luke refer to
Matthew’s Church and the Kingdom of God
•
•
Kingdom of •
Heaven •
Comes
among us
The
Church
The Ethics
Also known as the Kingdom of God, is not a place but a symbol or metaphor for God
A central image of Jesus’ message
God is not distant but close at hand
Jesus is someone in whom the kingdom has taken on flesh and bones
• God’s liberating action
• Jesus brought it so close that people could almost taste it, those who were sick tasted
the generosity of healing
• Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God in human history
• The people who follow the way of Jesus and accept the free gift of God’s salvation
• Those who gathered in the church are the “first fruits”, the beginning of the harvest
• Lives in the present time, what the full revelation of God will bring about
• Jesus proclaims the fulfillment of the Torah, Jesus delivers the new Torah from the
mountain of beatitudes
• Beatitudes- form of pronouncement, propose a good or happiness has already been
given or is about to be received
The ethics of the Sermon on the
Mount: the justice of the kingdom
of God
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Already in our midst but not yet fully revealed
“To be perfect as your heavenly father” (Matthew
5.48)
Makes us Righteous
Is an eschatological ethics
To be right with God is to be right with one
another
Gospel Ethics
ALREADY IN OUR MIDST BUT NOT
YET FULLY REVEALED
-About the kingdom of God
-What life is like when God
enters a human scene
-Life lived at the limits of
human possibility
-God’s intense desire to be
part of our lives (Jesus)
BE PERFECT AS YOUR
HEAVENLY FATHER
-God-> Father (Abba)
-Moral life only makes
sense if we have a good relationship
with Abba/Father
-It is our vocation to become “children of the father”
-Abba/Father has made us his sons and daughters
-Heart of the sermon: love all, even your enemies
MAKES US
RIGHTEOUS
-Being
upright, blameless or
morally right
-Act with justice
-“To be put in the right
way”
-Christ’s life within us, the
holy spirit, is what makes us
right before Abba/Father
-God sees his son who lives
in us
IS AN ESCHATOLOGICAL
ETHICS
-”Pertaining to the end “ or “the fullness of the time”
-The encounter with God in time makes the time
eschatological, a time filled with tension
-Strives for the infinite good
- Jesus is a bridge sent by God to share our world and lives
- A response to an experience of being loved
TO BE RIGHT WITH ONE
ANOTHER
- Our relationship with God is
measured in our relationship
with the poor, the mourner,
the meek, the hungry and
thirsty
IT IS A GOSPEL ETHICS
-A
new way of relating to God going beyond the Mosaic law
-Jesus invites us to come along with him, to love as he loves
-The good news that the kingdom of God has come
-Jesus is God’s commitment to us
-Freedom to respond with personal commitment
The New Testament revelation of God
Reveals an enrichment of our understanding of
God, God’s very being is love
-God is an eternal exchange
of love: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit
-One God is threefold love
- Jesus is the incarnation of
God’s love
-The sermon itself is an
expression of the kingdom of
God
-Love urges us to enter into
our commitments with
others
Glossary:
Apocalyptic literature- style of writing that evolved during Israel’s troubled
history around the time of Jesus. It focuses on the end of history and the time of
God’s purifying judgement, wars between good and evil
Beatitudes- form of pronouncement, presupposes happiness/good have been
already given/about to be received, Sermon on the Mount
Eschatological- pertaining to the end of time, in the sense of its fullness. The
coming of the kingdom of God at the end of time, according to Jesus, has already
begun in his life, death and resurrection. Ethics that insist we can already live what
God will realize/reveal to the world
Exegesis- analysis of texts in original content
Gospel- literary genre that proclaims life, death and resurrection of Jesus
Hermeneutics- interpreting texts and events to understand what they mean in
the 20th CE
Inspiration- sacred scripture inspired by God
Parousia- refer to second coming of Christ at the end of time
Torah- 5 books of Moses, contain core teachings: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy