The Sermon on the Mount is about *Hasidut*
Imagine yourself as a first-century resident of Capernaum. You have heard Jesus speak and seen him heal people, but you have also heard a lot of criticism. Some have accused him of being soft on the law, saying that Jesus is undermining the Torah and leading people astray.
So now, as you sit on the hillside with thousands of others, you listen carefully to what Jesus is telling the crowd:
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. For truly I tell you, 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. (Matthew 5:17–18)
. . . unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (5:20)
You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. (5:27–29)
Instead of loosening things up, Jesus seems to be tightening the screw. Rather than merely repeating the stricture against adultery, for instance, he tells you that a mere lustful glance makes one guilty of adultery. And then he links anger to the sin of murder. Ouch!
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Lois had a great discussion on the Disciple Dojo Youtube channel
I recently had an excellent discussion with James-Michael (“JM”) Smith on his Disciple Dojo Youtube channel. If you want to hear about
…how a nice Lutheran girl with a Ph.D. in Biology started writing about Jesus’ Jewish context
…some spicy discussions on highlights of my three “Rabbi Jesus” books
…and how you can win a set of my Rabbi Jesus books along with three others I wrote or edited (a $72 value!)
Click on the link below for the full episode, which goes about two hours. (He’s trying to become the Joe Rogan of biblical studies, I think.)
For busy people, JM made three short excerpts with highlights…