Exodus 19:20; 20:1-17; Matthew 5:1-12
8th Sunday after Trinity
St Barbara’s; 21.07.2024
Rev Tulo Raistrick
Today we come to the end of our series looking at how the Old Testament was understood and interpreted by the early Christians, and how they took it and applied it to their lives in the light of Christ. And today we take one of the most famous parts of the Old Testament, the ten commandments, and ask, how was this understood by the early church.
Just last month in the American state of Louisiana, in a highly controversial act, the State Govenor, Jeff Landry, signed a law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom. The law even states the size font it needs to appear in. At the signing ceremony, he said: “If you want to respect the law, you’ve got to start from the original law-giver, which was Moses”. And the state law-maker, standing alongside him, said: “it is about returning a moral code to classrooms.”
My initial reaction on hearing that news report was to shake my head in despair. Did the state governor really believe that he could change the moral fabric of his state by putting up a poster of the Ten Commandments in every classroom? Did he not perhaps see the incongruity behind requiring all schools to display a poster that said “Do not murder” whilst also passing laws that allowed for fairly indiscriminate gun ownership? And having travelled to a number of countries where all classrooms and shops and public buildings are required to display pictures of their country’s dictatorial ruler, wasn’t there any possible discomfort that such an act could be understood in a similarly freedom-denying way.
But then I wondered, how would the early Christians have responded to such an injunction? Would they have shared my despair or would they have delighted that such an important part of their faith was being given prominence in public life?
For the Ten Commandments were the cornerstone of their upbringing. Just as the Old Testament stories we have thought about over the last few weeks – creation, Adam and Eve, the calling of Abraham, the sacrifice of Isaac, the Passover meal – would have been stories known by heart, told as they were around the fireplaces and in the synagogues, so also would have been the Ten Commandments, this clear, simple and divinely given code for right living.
The Old Testament account leaves us in no doubt as to their importance. Moses goes up a mountain, Mount Sinai. He is enveloped in cloud, a sign of God’s presence, and the people hear God’s voice speaking to Moses. There is thunder, fire, the sound of trumpets – all signs of God’s presence. And the Commandments are inscribed on two tablets, “written with the finger of God”. In other words, these are hugely important, divinely inspired words.
And they are given to a people at the beginning of a new start. Liberated from slavery in Egypt, they are now on their journey to the promised land, to live as a new people. And here is the guidance they need.
The early Christians could identify with that journey for they felt they were on a similar journey too. In coming to know Christ, they felt liberated from sin. In getting baptised, like those Hebrews crossing the Red Sea, they felt they had come to freedom through the waters. And they too were heading towards the Promised Land, the land where God’s will be done, his kingdom come, on earth as in heaven.
So for this new life, were the Ten Commandments all they needed as well or was there more? They would have looked back to the teaching of Jesus for their answer. For Jesus both affirmed the Ten Commandments, but then went beyond them.
Jesus was asked to summarise the whole teaching of the law and the prophets, and he did so by saying: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.” It was a brilliant summary of the Ten Commandments, for they naturally fell into two parts – the first dealing with our relationship and obligations to God (“have no other gods before me…do not make an idol… do not misuse God’s name… honour the Sabbath”) and the second part dealing with our obligations and relationships to others (“honour your father and mother… don’t murder…don’t commit adultery… don’t steal… don’t give false testimony against your neighbour… don’t covet things belonging to others”). And Jesus did so in a way that framed these commands in the positive terms of “love” rather than in the negative terms of “do not…”
And when he spoke about specific commands, he did not contradict them, but rather went beyond them. Matthew records Jesus’ words: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “You shall not murder”… but I tell you anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment… You have heard that it was said: “You shall not commit adultery”, but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman has already committed adultery.”
Jesus was highlighting to his followers that more important than the letter of the law was the spirit of the law, that the code for living he was giving them was not restricted to limiting the harm we could do, but about releasing the good we were capable of in his strength. It was not about what we should not do, but about what we could positively embrace. Not so much about fulfilling requirements, but about the attitude of heart and mind.
And that comes across most powerfully in the teaching of Jesus that equates closest to a new set of commandments, the Beatitudes, that we heard in our gospel reading. Matthew helpfully gives us a clear hint of this, telling us that the disciples received Jesus’ teaching up on a mountainside, just as Moses had gone up Mount Sinai to receive the commandments of God. Matthew is deliberately drawing a clear parallel.
But these new commandments are not about rules and laws. They are about attitudes and behaviours. They are about how we live and who we are.
They are about encouraging us to live humble lives, lives that acknowledge our need of God in every aspect of our lives, that acknowledge that we cannot do things in our own resources but need his help. That means acknowledging those times when we need his forgiveness, when we are sorrowful for things we have done and said. It means being servant-hearted, not putting our interests above the interests of others, and being passionate for justice, desiring fairness for all. It means being merciful, working for peace. And it means living a life of honesty and integrity.
The early Christians quickly understood that holy living, following Christ in the way of love and freedom, was not about slavish obedience to the letter of the Ten Commandments. It was about putting love into action in our thoughts, words and actions. It was about a change of heart and mind. I think they may have felt the Louisiana governor had somewhat missed the point.
May God help us all to live in the way of Christ this day.
