Jesus teaches us the Sermon on the Mount

Today’s Sunday gospel is a lengthy one; it is about the Sermon on the Mount and this is one of our Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching to the multitude of people who were awed by him. If we listened or read carefully, we too should be awed by his teaching. You can read this in your Bibles in Matt.5: 17-37.

 “[Jesus said to his disciples;] 17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others too so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 20 I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

21 You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. 22 But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, “You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

23 Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, 24 leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

27 “You have heard it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body into Gehenna.

31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) cases her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

33 Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that your vow.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. 36 Do not sear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.” Anything more is from the evil one.”

This teaching by our Lord Jesus Christ is quite controversial then and it still is controversial even now, especially when he said, “But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This means ogling at scantily clad women in the shopping malls means that you have already committed adultery. It is for this reason why our parish priests are quite strict in how women dress up while hearing mass, because they just might be too sexy for other men, who do not only get distracted, but causes them to commit the sin of adultery. Consequently her manner of dressing has also caused her to sin.

When he was still with us, the Great Pope John Paul II issued a more controversial statement when he declared, “If you look at your wife with lust, you commit adultery.” This brought a howl from many husbands. But if you read the thoughts of our Lord Jesus Christ, Pope John Paul II was within the bounds of his teaching … the object is not to look at your wife with lust, but with love in your heart.

It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow and a lot of couples would throw love out of the window in exchange for lust. That’s why hotels, resorts, restaurants and motels consider Valentine’s Day their most profitable day. Perhaps someday, we humans would understand how God thinks the way he does, which is not the way we understand us humans.

Perhaps the most important teaching that our Lord Jesus Christ imparts to all of us is about the reconciliation of feuding families, a brother or sister before we offer our gifts to the altar. This is part and parcel of The Lord’s Prayer when we say, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” St. Francis of Assisi too has a prayer which goes, “It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.” I hope you learned well the teachings of Christ.

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