Luke Carbis It’s more complicated than 42.

To chop, or not?

I’ve been struggling with some bible verses recently, and I’m hoping that either:

a) People will see this bible and struggle with me (this would be good, sometimes struggle is the beginning of change)

or b) Someone will explain this to me

Here’s a passage from Matthew 5, 7-20, Jesus speaking:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

So on a very basic level here,  Jesus is saying (in my opinion, this is ALL in my opinion, I could be wrong), that he has come to do what the Prophets said he would do, and follow every part of the Law. Which he did, no questions there.

I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

First of all, Jesus mention until heaven and earth disappear. As far as I know, heaven is eternal, so to me, this means at the very least until Christ’s second coming, or forever.

Secondly, Jesus is quite forceful with his language here. He reiterates ‘not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen’. This to me means that what he is saying is very very important and concrete – he wants to be very clear about this.

Thirdly, I wanted to mention the ‘until everything is accomplished’ part. Simply because I don’t really understand what he means by this, or why he said it. Perhaps it was oddly translated, I don’t know. Right now, I’m assuming it to mean until heaven and earth disappear, and I think that’s a fair interpretation.

So the basic gist of this passage is that we should not forget even the smallest part of the Laws, or the Prophets (I’m assuming this to mean the old testament). It is concrete and Jesus does not change it.

We’re often taught in church that Jesus came so now we don’t have to do things like circumcision, or the feast of the tabernacle – but I feel like this verse is challenging that. Jesus is being very clear in telling us that not even a single letter of the Laws should be forgotten because of him.

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teachers others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,

This verse continues, but I’d like to stop there a second. I wanted to mention two things. Firstly, I think the ‘and’ is important, I think Jesus is stressing that breaking the commandments is kinda bad, but teaching that we can break them is worse. Also, he mention ‘called least in the kingdom of heaven’.

The bible is very clear on the fact that all we have to do is believe that Jesus died for our sins, that all we have to do is call on God, confess our sins, and we will be allowed into heaven.

But what Jesus says is interesting. It’s one thing to get into heaven, but what you will have in heaven is another thing. You can be called least or great in heaven, in Chapter 6, verse 16-18, Jesus talks about storing up treasures in heaven. This is starting to get a little more complicated then we first thought.

Of course, we all want to be called great in heaven, so let’s see what Jesus tells us about how that will happen.

but whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Firstly, I am assuming ‘these commandments’ refer to the Law and the Prophets which were mentioned earlier. I think that this is pretty obvious, but it’s something you might question.

Saying that, it raises this question:

Should we follow the commandments of the old testament in order to be called great in heaven?

Now, as far as I can tell, the bible and Jesus is pretty clear on this one, and the answer is yes. Unless there’s another way of interpreting this all which I don’t see. Also, is there more to this story, mentioned in other verses, which completely changes what Jesus is so clear in saying, and if so, why doesn’t he mention it here? Why does he make it very clear here?

There is one more part to this which I haven’t mentioned yet, and I’ll get to that, but I wanted to mention something first.  I’m not trying to make a point, and back it up with scripture. That’s not what this is about. This is about a scripture which I came across that I am only able to interpret one way and it really challenges me.

Having said that, this verse, even though I don’t really understand it or see it’s relevance, is related to what Jesus was saying, before he gets on to another topic (murder). I don’t understand why he said this part, or what it’s purpose was, but maybe it will help your interpretation, or help you understand something that I don’t. Here it is:

For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

So there you go. What are your thoughts? Is this challenging for you? Do you see it a different way to what I do? Anything you’d like to add? Please leave it in the comments.