The “Sermon on the Mount” is the great teaching of Jesus in the New Testament. It is when Jesus saw the crowds, and “went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying…” (Matthew Chapters 5-7).
Jesus begins not by a list of “thou shall nots” as Moses did in the Old Testament but with “blessed”. A blessing to those who are poor, who mourn, the meek, who hunger for righteousness, who are pure in hearts, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted. He warned quickly his audience that this is NOT an abolishment of the old but in his words a fulfillment (Cf. Mt 5:17). He went on to repeat a famous pattern which acts as a kind of template for most of this chapter; “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times… But I say to you that…”
I have heard it often asked why is the Old Testament in Christian Scriptures? Why do the Latin rite Churches read it at Mass and the Maronites in their daily divine office? Why do we allow such portrayal of violence and murder sometimes in the name of God to be read aloud and call it the “word of God”?
There are many answers, a key one being that you cannot really read the New Testament properly and deeply and draw out real meaning without knowing the Old Testament. All the key messages, stories, analogies, symbolism used by Jesus and the authors stem from the Old Testament. As an old saying put it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New (St Augustine).
But for me I want to keep the Old Testament for another anthropological reason.
The Bible is a book that understands humanity at its core. Human beings in there social, personal, spiritual, psychological and physical aspect is best understood by the Bible. There is violence and betrayal in Scripture. Yes, precisely because we humans can be violent people. We can also be gentle, kind, loving, evil, loyal, cowards and strong, faithful, joyful and sorrowful. We are hateful and peaceful. The bible as a whole (old and new) like no other book, is the book of the human person par excellence. We have been and can be the devil incarnate and at the same time capable of divinization. The bible reflects this well. The Old Testament in its horror and beauty is IN and part of us. We have the Old Testament in all of us yet we are capable and are called to live the New Testament.
The Letter to the Hebrews speaks to us of the divine pedagogy whereby “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb 1:1-2).
The “law of gradualness” as Pope Francis calls it where God was patient with his people (AMORIS LÆTITIA 295). God was so patient with our growth despite people in the Old Testament killing the prophets and messengers, despite their unfaithfulness and ingratitude, violence and tribal wars. After giving them the law because of the “hardness of their hearts”, God sent his son for God “loved the world so much” in order to save it.
He sent him despite our violence. “God became human so we can become God” said St Athanasius. He came so that we may have life in abundance. To go beyond the Old Testament, beyond our animal like instinct and our temptation to retaliate, betray and hate others. To do more than “love those who love us” and do “good for those who do good to us”. The bar has been raised. God expects more of us. This is the great call; to forgive our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. There are seeds and examples of this in the Old Testament but this transcends it. This is New Testament territory. And so it is with us, we must go beyond and into new uncharted territory. Christ has done this before us and we are Spirit-Filled disciples. We are people of the New Testament.
Burning Hearts 