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Matthew 5-7 – A Righteous Movement
Jesus is beginning more than a religious movement; He is laying the foundation for a righteous movement. Reaching backwards to Judaism and forwards to Christianity His words still move more than any others, transforming the way people think and act. Religious movements trying to transform Christianity often focus as much on forms as do those they are trying to reform. True transformation does not come from changing worship, but by changing worshippers. This is the power of “but I say to you.” History is filled with new religious movements, some far more righteous than others. From the Reformation to the Restoration people wanted to purify religion from its own burdens and bloated self. The Reformation led people back to the Bible with its Sola Scriptura (Scripture Only) theme. The Restoration, 200 years later, saw a new need to get back to the scriptures only, and emphasized “Where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the bible is silent, we are silent.” Why this continual need to rediscover Christianity? Ideas, including religion, have a tendency to get more complicated and less pure over time. The Pharisees began as a religious movement to protect and purity Judaism. They became experts in the law. Hermeneutics is never simple, no matter how simply it might be stated. Simply put though, there are three parts: Scripture (i.e., facts); Interpretation (i.e. meaning, opinion, belief); Application (i.e. practical obedience). All three of those steps are necessary. The Pharisees built their hedges and we travel the “‘infallibly safe course.” The Sabbath was the Pharisees’ most egregious example of violating God’s law. I wonder what is ours. If we think restoration is a religious movement and not a personal transformation, then we need a righteous movement.
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