Connecting in Community

April 18, 2010

Background Scripture: Matthew 5:17 – 20; 22:34 – 40
Lesson Passage: Matthew 5:17 – 20; 22:34 – 40

God is a loving and gracious father. One only need to look to the law and the prophecies that God has given over millennia to see that this is the case. The law of God was given to benefit those that put their trust in God and it is to be heeded. The word of prophecy from God was given by God to provide both precious promises as well as stern warnings to his followers. Prophecy is to be respected for it can spare those who receive it much pain and anguish in the future and it can also provide continuous hope to those who are in the midst of difficult times. Love is the fulfillment of the law of God and the basis for prophetic utterance. Early in his ministry, Jesus proclaimed his mission. Jesus did not come to destroy what God had given because it was good. Indeed, Jesus came to fulfill what God had promised. Jesus demonstrated the law of love and fulfilled the prophecy of God. Much of the word of God had been misinterpreted, misapplied, and in some cases replaced by man’s own traditions. Jesus set many things straight by demonstrating the proper interpretation and application of the word of God. It is not surprising that his greatest critics were the religious leaders who benefited personally from the abuse or ignorance of scriptures. Their supposedly superior knowledge of scripture and oral tradition had caused many of the religious leaders to become aloof and disconnected from the very people they were charged with leading. They indeed led them but they led them in the wrong direction. Jesus referred to them as blind leaders who were going in the wrong direction and leading their followers to destruction. The general population was under such condemnation by their leaders that they saw their leaders as clearly being separated from them. The title Pharisee meant separated one. They seemed to major in public display of righteous acts. Jesus demonstrated something very different. Jesus connected with the most despised of the outcasts of religious society—publicans and sinners. Jesus spent time with them in meals and conversation. He did not see them as wretched but as lost sheep. The religious leaders even accused Jesus of being unrighteous because of this. Jesus exposed the religious leaders as hypocrites because of their false righteousness. Jesus taught that righteousness does not come through shallow or empty deeds but only through faith in him. Faith in Jesus Christ is the tie that binds the community of faith together. We all come to Jesus in some sense of despair or hopelessness. We were all spiritual outcasts in one way or another. For some, even religion had become the main problem itself. But we all found the same connection—faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus demonstrated through his deeds and words that what God had provided was what the world truly needed. It is only within the community of faith that we have this connection.


Robert C. Hudson
April 7, 2010