Painting: Christ before Caiaphas, by Matthias Stom, early 1630s, Milwaukee Art Museum
I arrived back in Winnipeg from Seoul two weeks ago. Although it was a sad event in my life, the loss of my dear brother that took me back home, I had lots of comfort foods during my stay in my home country and also had a blessed time to reunite with my old church friends.
It is unbelievable, though, that one of the poorest counties in the world has become a G20 member. The sixth tallest skyscraper in the world is in Seoul – 123 floors. I hope that one day you explore my home country Morning Calm, and you know whom to ask to be your tour guide.
Putting aside this tourism promotion, what I can assure you is that even in sadness and shock caused by a sudden death of a beloved, it is a great comfort in knowing that our beloved is resting in peace in God’s arms, and we are assured that we will meet again one day. The most encouraging element of that great future event is that “we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess 4.17).
Meanwhile, our journeys on earth continue, travelling back and forth, whether short or long, whether westward or eastward, northward or southward. Sometimes you have to set your clock forward by 24 hours if you cross the International Date Line. Thus, be prepared for jet lag that has physiological implications from a sudden change in time zones.
At the same time, we might as well think about a spiritual or emotional jet lag that may affect us in our lives. Perhaps we don’t really see any radical change today from yesterday, but it is a remarkable journey we have, undergoing great shifts in time. Twenty years ago there was no Facebook. Google had been launched just a few years before Facebook. How do you cope with or adapt to changes around you?
We are on board in life together, through storms and rainbows, seeking well-beings, love, a sense of belonging, and dreams. When you say Happy New Year, how do you define happiness? What is the most important thing to you to hold onto in your life journey to be happy and stay happy?
Let us go back to the scriptures we have read to seek wisdom from God’s Word.
A few weeks ago we started with chapter 5 of the gospel of Matthew in which Jesus talked about the Beatitudes. Understanding the Beatitudes is so critical to understand God’s Kingdom. Today we continue this chapter on which Jesus builds his case towards God’s Kingdom. The Beatitudes describe the blessedness of those who have certain qualities or experiences peculiar to those belonging to the Kingdom of Heaven.
As the season of Epiphany is winding down, let us revisit the meaning of the epiphany of God, through the lens of the Beatitudes. In them, we find the radically bold statements of Jesus about the ethos of the Kingdom of Heaven, which will bring true peace and freedom for all who dare to follow him.
We must take caution not to conclude that the Beatitudes are eschatological blessings that only will be realized at the end of the age. They are statements of grace, not law, but an invitation to those awaiting God’s blessing in our earthly journeys.
At the end of any journey we embark on, it matters to land right and safely. “Keep your seat upright.” Travellers by air hear this instruction when the plane takes off and when it lands. This is to make it easier to evacuate the plane in the case of an emergency, and it can limit injuries because most airplane accidents happen upon take-off or landing.
When landing, as I put my seat upright, I prepare my mind for the touchdown, with a prayer of thanks to all the crew who served me and a prayer for safety for the continued journey on ground for myself and co-passengers who will get off soon.
Our everyday life is like that. We start and end a day with a prayer of thanksgiving, safety and protection, and blessings. Keep your seat upright. The Kingdom Blessing of God is found in both the present and the future where we move to conform external behaviours to our inward values. When saying thank-you, you mean thank-you. When saying sorry, you mean sorry. Moreover, it’s better to show those trueful statements in action than words.
External righteousness without due regard to inner righteousness is what Jesus refers to as hypocrisy. He declares that the righteousness of the Kingdom of God is first internal, a matter of the heart, which will in turn affect outward behaviour.
We need to think about how to end our life well in order to live well. Eschatological living is not about focusing on the thought of the end of life. Instead, it begins with the right understanding that Christians live as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
God, born in a manger, once appeared to the three magi, manifesting himself in human form to the world, in an unprecedented and unexpected way. Jesus, the incarnate God, reorients our lives, when we are disoriented. Jesus, the New Adam, moves us beyond the old law, inviting us to respond to his message of the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven, by saying: The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry and the thirsty for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted because of righteousness are indeed blessed.
Our recognition of God’s life and work in us is more than attending Sunday services, more than reading or studying the Bible, more than doing the outreach. It’s about the transformation of our hearts and a critical examination of our behaviours and inner thoughts, to walk in the ways of the sanctifying presence of God, to be blessed by God in the land that we are entering to possess – the Kingdom of Heaven.
It goes without saying that the world is changing. How about us? The question for us to keep asking ourselves is if our hearts have been changed from self centredness to Christlikeness.
In life, we go through a spiritual jet lag, as well, while still having an active faith. Although we are here for the worship service right now, our internal clocks might be out of sync, just like the physical jet lag disorder, confused between when to stay awake and when to sleep, crossing different time zones and bearing so much discomfort.
Life is not perfect, of course. Relationships are complex. A budget tells we can’t afford. Democracy is messy. Problems don’t go away. The really important thing, however, is that we strive for progress, not perfection, by recognizing God’s life and work here and now. Let us look inside. He is within us in good times and in not-so-good times.
Today’s Gospel passage doesn’t include any parables or miracle narratives but talks about the Mosaic law, and he demands a new law, contrasting to the old law, by saying, “you have heard that it was said . . . but I say to you . . .” Jesus neither nullifies nor discounts the old law. He uses the traditional teachings as essential grounds for building his case for righteousness and intensifies those teachings for us to apply to every aspect of our ordinary life.
For instance, Jesus talks about the binding nature of oath: “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one” (Mt 5.37). Every yes and every no are observed because the Almighty God is present with us, and here Jesus establishes a different standard of speech, one based not upon oath but upon simple integrity. A clear yes and no would be sufficient for communication. Jesus spurned oaths made by the Temple (Mt 23.16-21).
At his trial, the high priest Caiaphas asked Jesus: “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” Jesus remained silent. Then, the high priest continued: “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus replied, “You have said so. But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mt 26.62-65).
Jesus was silent until a binding oath was placed upon him. How Jesus reacted to Caiaphas’ interrogation gives us a picture of how he handled all his sufferings. We must look closely at the actions and attitudes of Jesus so that we may know how to react to our own sufferings and trials.
In fact, Jesus did not condemn oaths, only the abuse of God’s name in the taking of oaths. Believers should live a life of integrity such that others trust them. This is possible when we give our whole self to the Lord and are willing to be led by him who leads us from the old imperfection to the new abundance.
Let’s pray:
O Lord, you set a guard over our mouth and keep watch over the door of our lips, so that we can hear your wisdom to walk in your ways always: through Jesus Christ. Amen.