What is his reason for this strict ethic that cuts right across the mentality of our age? Jesus said:. The marriage union is God-ordained and God-made.
In his teaching here Jesus points out that behind the swearing of oaths there is actually a lack of honesty and integrity, because if we were people who were known for our honesty and integrity there would never be any need for us to swear an oath to borrow integrity from the name of God. Study the verses below.
What do they teach us about the dishonesty, lack of integrity and deceptiveness that are behind the perceived need to swear an oath? Why does God value honesty and integrity and hate dishonesty and deception? Conversely, the devil, his enemy, is the great deceiver and the father of all lies and deception.
Read and discuss the verses listed below. The nature of our Father in heaven. The nature of our enemy and former master. John ; , 32; ;. Revelation ; Now discuss the inappropriateness of the children of God, who is truth, displaying the characteristics of Satan, who is the arch deceiver. Whatever injury she sustained was to be inflicted on the one who hurt her. Whatever he had planned to do to the accused was to be done to him. It would seem, however, that it had degenerated into a popular validation for retaliation.
Of these perspectives, number 3 is the legal median. Having made this clear he then takes it further and teaches that instead of exacting revenge and standing on our rights we should actually love our enemies []. He gives us several reasons for this high call:. Study Matthew List below the reasons and motivations Jesus gives for this extreme call to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us?
Reflection and response:. How does this Kingdom ethic compare with the ethical values of contemporary society? How does this Kingdom ethic compare with contemporary Christian practice?
Can this radical ethic work today? When contact with God is lost, a destructive process sets in in which the dignity which God bestowed on humans is increasingly lost and in which our self-perception is reduced to an idea that we must be sexually stimulated and satisfied at all costs, and in which our perception of others is reduced to viewing them as sexual objects to be used, misused or abused to fulfil our own desires and then to be discarded when they no longer stimulate or satisfy.
Sex becomes addictive: God ceases to be the source of meaning, joy and comfort. Sex takes over the role of God and is an insatiable task-master, constantly demanding more and more, always lusting for new avenues of excitement and fulfilment, but never satisfied. We are on this planet for God, not for our own satisfaction. We do not belong to ourselves — we belong to God, who has purchased us by the blood of Christ and made us his own possession. Therefore the purity of our bodies and what we do with our bodies should be very high on our priority list.
We need to keep in mind the famous quote by C. Professing that Jesus is Lord, however, comes with the moral imperative of a transformed life. A context in which the life, words and deeds of Jesus provide the guide — the play book, rather than rule book — that enables moral choices to be made.
For Jews, the understanding of covenant provided the context of behaviour, with Jewish morality being based on the divinely revealed law of the Bible. Imitation of God through obedience to the Law was the single most important ethical doctrine defining morality. For example, the rabbinic tradition tried to provide a comprehensive set of laws for every aspect of human life, both private and public. Jesus placed the onus on individuals and communities to apply the principles from his teaching to their particular circumstances and concrete situations.
Heb — In contrast to the interpretation of Torah by others in Jewish society such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes who sought to make the law fit into the conditions of the world, Jesus emphasised reliance on God, which may have meant breaking with the customs of the day. Central to the Christian moral vision is the role of the Bible in providing moral authority as the normative self—revelation of God in Jesus Christ, [30] and in providing the appropriate ways to respond to Christ.
The life and death of Jesus is the greatest call to love since the ultimate demonstration of love is to lay down your life for a friend John In the Gospels of Mark and Luke especially, the disciples were called to follow and imitate Jesus and therefore display this type of love.
As already mentioned, the concepts of loving God and neighbour were well established in Jewish society. However, a specific feature of love as taught by Jesus is the non-reciprocal expression of love, in that love does not give up when it fails to elicit a response from the receiver. For even sinners love those who love them. His reinterpretation of neighbour went even further to include the love of enemies.
Love was not just expressed between individuals but found its fullest expression in communities whose attitudes were not determined by the patriarchalism of the day. As the first disciples found, to respond in neighbourly love to the love of God required a life within a community of love, repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. By loving God, neighbours, and enemies, and displaying love in community, the disciples were called to concrete action towards others as an expression of their relationship with God, through Jesus, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The moral teaching of Jesus thus forms the paradigm that provides scenarios for action. This takes place not just in the lives of individuals but also in the context of community, [49] where ethics shapes the praxis of the Christian community as an embodiment of the biblical text. What are the situations in our society that require a Christian voice centred on the moral teaching of Jesus?
The answer to this question will change over time, however, in our fast-changing world there are an increasing number of challenges that are re-shaping how society shows love. Such challenges include: becoming both more individualised and more nationalistic; facing issues around migration and refugees that are changing population and religious dynamics; loneliness, anxiety and depression are becoming common-place. This is to say nothing of issues of identity and gender diversity that are at the forefront of our culture, while we also wrestle with how we should care for the vulnerable at the beginning and end of life.
Therefore, the basic theological understanding of the Christian faith is still applicable in the context of new ethical situations as followers of Jesus respond in obedience to God. Jesus then remains the exemplar of the Christian life in relation to the norms of justice and love that are applicable in all situations.
Loving your neighbor as yourself was part of the Mosaic Law. You may surely reprove your neighbor, but you shall not incur sin because of him. Of course, love confronts because love works for reconciliation. God has been always concerned about the inward stuff. Under the Old Covenant, the Israelites were forbidden to harbor grudges or to hate. Those are inward things.
Thanks for joining me.
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