Sermon on the Mount - 8

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The Sermon on the Mount - 8

 

The Salt of the Earth (Matthew 5:13-37) - Part 3

 

[ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not

[ come to destroy, but to fulfil.

[ For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one

[ tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

[ Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and

[ shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of

[ heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called

[ great in the kingdom of heaven.

 

Jesus did not come to destroy the existing religion. He came to clean the

ancient religion off the dross that had collected over it in due course of

time. This happens to all religions. Buddha came to clean Hinduism. Sankara

came. Sri Ramakrishna came. As time passes by, the essential religion is

pushed to the side, and empty rituals and dogma take their place. These

prophets come to put the genuine and essential part of religion back to its

deserving place. They never replace old customs; they refine them and infuse

new life into them.

 

[ For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the

[ righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter

[ into the kingdom of heaven.

 

The scribes and Pharisees are followers and preachers of the religion

which Jesus has come to infuse new life into. He asks his disciples to

follow an ethical code which is much more stringent than those followed

by the scribes, but in spirit than in letter. This will be detailed by

Jesus in the following words.

 

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