TO INFINITY AND BEYOND
1 Chronicles 23:30-31 They were to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. The same in the evening and wherever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on Sabbaths and new moon festivals and appointed feasts.
Mark 2:27 Then He (Jesus) said to them, “The sabbath was made for people, not people for the sabbath.”
“Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy,” one of the Ten Commandments, served with the rest of the nine to consecrate God’s people. These commandments were meant to keep God's people separate and identifiable from all other pagan, polytheistic people groups on the earth, or at least in the general vicinity of Israel. Pagan cultures, which included human-sacrifice as well as other forms of idol-worship, ran parallel with the Hebrews who had just been released by a four-hundred-year Egyptian prison sentence, as it were, slaves to serve the pharaoh.
The Ten Commandments, delivered by the Hand of God through the mouth of Moses, was meant to rule God’s people so that they would not be absorbed by these other surrounding nations. Moving out of Egypt, making the long journey to Israel, required a Shepherd’s Staff to keep the sheep from wandering. But Eve’s serpentine tempter had a condo in Canaan as well. The tantalizing and sensual ways of the world were just too attractive. And don’t eye-catching attractions easily lure well-intentioned people away from such boring restrictions as these Ten Commandments? So, what happened?
If you’ve never read the Old Testament from beginning to end, at least the first five books (Pentateuch), you’re missing out on one of the best Monday Night at the Movies features ever made: The grand scale of the tug of war between Creator and His creation, to the Parent and the rebellious teenager, drawn to the pagan’s sexy fires like a moth to a flame.
But they just couldn’t do it. The Hebrews simply wouldn’t bend the knee to God’s authority. Sure, there were the few strong, amazing leaders like Joshua and the holy voices from the likes of Elijah and Jeremiah, but those voices were drowned out by the rabble-rousing eyes-that-don’t-see and ears-that-don’t-hear. The next thing you know, God’s people are back in the slammer; this time in a nasty place called Babylon (Iraq). They were released in waves, starting about 70 years later, taking about 100 years to complete.
They tried to set up a new Jerusalem, but their attempts were counterfeit. Zeal for the Lord turned to sour pride. Thus, enter the Messiah, the Savior, the One to come to complete all things, even the things of Moses; not to abolish the law of Moses but to give it a much-needed upgrade. Why would Jesus regurgitate the same Ten Commandments that failed to restrain God’s people in the first place? No, when Jesus came on the scene, He brought His Game Face to help people move beyond what they were stuck in.
He increased the stakes and raised the bar. These Twenty Commands were delivered by the ‘O Logos, through the Mouth of the “O Logos, upgrading the former Ten. Even the Sabbath got a make-over.
Jesus didn’t say that the sabbath wasn’t holy anymore. True, that the sabbath was made for people, originally to teach God’s people about holiness, and we saw how that went. Jesus added the condition that holiness can’t be turned on and off once a week. People were made for this holiness, shining lights that never go out.
The Twenty Commands are not a set of checked-boxes, passively obeyed with a few ‘shall nots.’ The Twenty Commands are radically different, requiring the aid of fellow command-keepers, flock members sustaining each other’s charge to value and pray for enemies, rejoice in persecution, do not judge, reconcile differences, turn the other cheek, go a second mile, give to the one who asks, do not be consumed with thoughts. These commands are not passively obeyed but actively and sometimes agonizingly pursued because of a deep desire to value God and value Neighbors, a charge that needs to be sustained.
Galatians 6:2 is most often translated: “Carry one another’s burdens.” But the Greek Bible allows for other translation options: “Sustain one another’s charge.”
This Galatians translation makes better sense. I need help and support to keep strict these genuinely difficult commands that Jesus expects. He expects them because they are commands - twenty Greek verbs written in the grammatically imperative mood. Not to get complicated with Greek grammar, but it’s the Greek grammar that highlights that these verbs are not suggestions or recommendations. We need to sit up straight and take this little Sermon on the Mount more seriously than we Bible readers have.
Matthew 16:24 is a good reminder of who we are, those of us who are willing to face the difficult life of a disciple: “If anyone desires to come behind Me, he is renounced, his cross is raised, and imitate Me.”
Keeping strict Twenty Commands is the charge to help a disciple imitate Jesus. Who is sustaining your charge?
