Where Do You Stand on the "Christian Constitution"?
Dear Good News Magazine Subscriber,
In May I stood on the traditional site of the Mount of the Beatitudes and tried to imagine the scene as Jesus Christ preached His famous "Sermon on the Mount." This was no sleepy Sunday morning sermon. "The people were astonished" when He finished (Matthew 7:28).
There's a lot to be astonished about if we read it with fresh eyes. There are many surprising concepts, even in the well-known beginning parts.
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Did Jesus really mean the meek will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5)? What about heaven?
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Did He really mean He didn't come to destroy the law and that "whoever does and teaches" even the least commandments, "he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19)?
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Did Christ really mean calling someone a fool and lusting in your heart are capital offenses like murder and adultery (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28)?
Even Jesus' famous commands seem too hard to the average Christian:
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Turn the other cheek.
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Love your enemies.
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Do not worry.
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Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
The Christian constitution?
Some have called the Sermon on the Mount the constitution of Christianity, the foundational explanation of what it means to follow Jesus Christ. If the Sermon on the Mount is a kind of constitution, where do you stand on how to interpret it?
With the U.S. Constitution, there's a lot of talk about how potential Supreme Court judges, like Elena Kagan, view it. Do they interpret it strictly? Do they try to understand and go by the authors' intent, or do they look to the developments of legal precedence over the centuries as more important?
I am not a lawyer, nor am I about to put the U.S. Constitution on the level of Scripture. But the analogy of how the Constitution is interpreted is interesting to me. Especially since I believe the Author of the Sermon on the Mount—and the whole Bible—was able to give us timeless truths that are truly practical and meaningful in every age.
We want to understand what Jesus originally meant, and we believe that is amply explained in the entire body of Scripture—Old and New Testaments. There is no need to give priority to the judgments of church councils or the developments of theological arguments. In the Bible God gives us what we need to know to live a life pleasing to Him now and forever.
Take a fresh look
So if you haven't read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7) lately, I encourage you to blow the dust off it, so to speak, and to take a fresh look.
Does it say what you thought it said? Does it give you practical advice you can use today? Does it give you the keys you need to deepen your relationship with our Savior? Does it give you motivation and purpose in your life?
I believe it can do all these things. Give this Christian constitution a chance to change your life.
For a study that addresses one aspect of Jesus Christ's foundational message, see "Did Jesus Christ Abolish the Law?"
As always, we welcome your suggestions, questions and comments.
Warm regards,
Mike Bennett
Editorial content manager
PS: Are You a Sermon on the Mount Expert? - Take this 10-question quiz!
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