Matthew on a Mount

For my “Matthew in its Jewish Setting” class, one of the requirements is to read through the Gospel of Matthew in one setting and then write a reflection paper on our experience.  Last Friday (ah! That seems like forever ago), Maria and Megan and I climbed up to the top of the Mount of Olives on the East side of Jerusalem and sat there for a good 2 hours and 30 minutes and read through ALL of Matthew.  I have a few thoughts on the experience that I thought would be good to share.

In the Sermon on the Mount, I could hear Jesus charging the people and calling them to the standard higher than that of the law through a dependence solely upon His grace.  Some Jews would argue that Jesus was seeking to abolish the law as given to the Jews by Moses at Sinai, yet Jesus says quite clearly early on in the sermon: “I have not come to abolish them [the Law and the Prophets], but to fulfill them.”  Within the context of the book, I began to realize that the higher standard is not some ultra human, unreasonable expectation that the Lord has placed upon His people.  We “come unto [Him]… for [His] yoke is easy and [His] burden is light” and through the death and work of His Son on the cross, we too pick up our crosses (10:38, 16:24) and die to “self” in order that we might live up to the new standard set forth under grace.  What is this new standard?  Instead of not killing, we ought not even being angry with our brothers.  Instead of not committing adultery, we not even look at a woman with lustful intentions.  Rather than not swearing falsely, we should not take an oath at all.  So, we as Christians are called to a standard, and that standard is often higher than the legal requirements of the law.  We, on the other hand, have God’s grace that enables us to live in such a way.

I also found a paradoxical tension between that which was done or revealed in secret and that which is proclaim or accomplished in public.  Jesus condemns the Pharisees for their openness in prayer and fasting, yet calls His followers to the following: “What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetop.”  The “righteous” actions that might be used to secure our own glory are those which should be done in secret.  Ironically, when we as His followers take that time to pray and fast in secret, focusing only upon deepening our relationship with the Father, the Lord does indeed reveal His will, His power, and His purposes.  Then we can better glorify Him by proclaiming “from the rooftops” what He has done for us in the stillness and quiet of our own hearts, rather than what we did for our own glory in the public places.

The Mount of Olives really was the ideal place to work through this exercise.   We could see the Temple Mount, the city of David, and Gethsemane.  We were right along the road that marks the traditional spot for Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  As we sat on the Mount of Olives, we were awed by Jesus’ comparison of the hypocritical Pharisees to the whitewashed tombs, “which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.”  When Jesus claimed that “something greater than the temple” had come into existence, we could see the top of the Temple Mount.  The book has such a sense of continuity and coherence that one does not really does not grasp one has done this exercise.  Thank you, Dr. Cohen!!

Shalom, y’all!