The Ethical Standards of the Teaching of Jesus Christ - Research Paper Example

 The Ethical Standards of the Teaching of Jesus Christ Introduction The Sermon on the Mount is entails the essence of the ethical teaching of Jesus in Mathew chapters’ five to seven. Another shorter but similar sermon typically called the Sermon on the Plain is found in Luke chapter six. This is because of a dissimilar explanation of the scenery. The sermon of the mount is the sole Jesus’ teaching that has enjoyed such broad control and forceful examination. Its exclusivity derives from the fact that some of its parts have attained typical status on their own and its impact in totality.1 The Sermon on the Mount has captured the mind and thoughts of its spectators all through the history of humanity. People were overwhelmed at his set of guidelines after hearing it. This is because he trained them as one having power, and not as the scribes. The supremacy of what Jesus said completely astonished the multitude. Never had they heard such discerning broad words of wisdom, in complexity depth and imminent. The minds of the original hearers of this sermon were exploded by the reality of the Sermon on the Mount since lots of them were unwilling to have their reputation before God evaluated by Jesus' authoritarian values.2 The Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount gives Christians the chance to discover and dialogue with the current apprehension for virtue in current Christian ethics and ethical values. In fact, focusing on the Beatitudes can provide precise content to what is regularly an excessively broad approval for virtue with no sufficient contemplation as to which virtues Christians should foster. The Beatitudes, though, should not be implicit as splendid standards that Jesus urges us to live up to in order to merit entrance into God’s kingdom, but rather as expressions of God’s participative grace.3 The Sermon on the Mount did not only affect the immediate audience in a great way. Those reading its message all through history keep on being effected by it surprisingly. In effect, history itself has been a victim – the Sermon on the Mount has changed it too. The sermon has induced great pressure than any other mass of Scripture of equivalent size since the second century. Passages from this sermon were quoted more than those from any other part of the Bible in the pre-Nicene period. These words still deeply challenge non-Christians as well as Christians to the current day.4 All Christians have the mandate of manifesting all these characteristics of the Sermon on the Mount. In other words, it is not that a number of Christians are to manifest one characteristic and others to manifest another. This also means that they are not merely meant for all Christians, but of requisite, all Christians are required to manifest them all. It is not correct to say that some are meant to grieve and some are meant to be poor in spirit; some are meant to be peacemakers and some are meant to be humble and so on. Every Christian is meant at the same time to manifest every one of them and to be each of them. In some Christians however, some will be extra manifest than others. This is due to the imperfections that still exist in Christians but not for the reason that it is meant to be so. All these characteristics will be manifest totally, when all Christians are at last perfect. It is however not possible to actually manifest one of these graces, and to conform to the blessing that is prominent upon it without certainly showing the others also. The Beatitudes cannot be separated since they are an inclusive whole. They are meant to be there at the same time though the virtual magnitude may differ.5 The Sermon on the Mount had astounding effect on its immediate listeners and in the shaping of history of those who have studied its message. Due to this, a watchful examination of its setting is vital. Any careful assessment of background material for the Sermon on the Mount must comprise the sermon's listeners, its scenery, its premise outline and its interpretive input.6 The Sermon on the Mount is not a code of principles or morality but an explanation of character. It is not to be considered as a law or a set of policy and set of laws for Christians to observe .It should rather be regarded as a portrayal of what Christians are meant to be, outlined in certain particular compliments. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus communicates immense ethical values and the ways in which they have an effect on the lives of those inside the kingdom, but does not set a new code of lawful regulations.7 The Gospel explains a related impacting outcome of Jesus Christ’s ministry. Both His power and His content amazed his direct audience such that even opposed officers had to reply to the Pharisees, “Never a man spoke like this man." Since the very beginning, the people listening to Jesus that day ought to have been enthralled. The very first sentence should have engrossed them since Jesus was telling them things that on the surface seemed illogical.8 How the church can both serve as a substitute, counter-cultural society and as a shepherd becomes the fundamental question. The counter cultural society is based on ethical life while the shepherd is shaped by the participative grace of God and the ethical life of a wider community. This difference is somehow overstated and the huge propel of Kingdom ethics is toward the development of the ethical witness of the Christian society.9 The beatitudes have an explanation of what each Christian is destined to be. This is not purely the description of some special Christians. Everything enclosed in these Beatitudes is for all Christians to exemplify. The sermon is a description of all Christians who are all intended to adhere to its pattern and to grow to its standard.10 The common theme of the Sermon on the Mount apparently portrays the repentance and the uprightness that belong to the kingdom. This is explained as what human life and human society looks like while they come under the cordial law of God.11 The Sermon's opening is short, but a number of similarities and differences with other events, places and people are of significance. For example, Jesus gave this very important address on an unidentified mountain unlike the scribes and Pharisees who held Moses' seat and trained in fine auditoriums. It was not one of the holy mountains like Mount Zion, Mount Sinai, the Mount of Olives or Mount Moriah, but a common unspecified mountain outside Jerusalem, with no unique sanctity or history.12 The difference between Christian and non-Christian principles is drawn from each single section of the Sermon on the Mount. This is because it is the unifying and fundamental theme of the Sermon. This indicates that the followers of Jesus are to be dissimilar from both the secular world and the ostensible church. They should also be different from both the religious and the irreligious. In the New Testament of the Christian counteract-customs, the Sermon on the Mount is the most absolute description. The Sermon on the Mount presents a Christian value-system, religious loyalty, ethical standard, aspiration, attitude to money, system of relationships and life-style, all of which are entirely at discrepancy with those of the non-Christian world.13 During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus draws a contrast for the crowd and teaches what a holy life does. He also demonstrates sympathy and love. Here, Jesus taught on the spiritual state of the multitude and the gift each spirit possess. By saying, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, it means a spirit that is not haughty, boastful or self absorb. Here, Jesus looks deep inside the heart of the disciple and realizes the worth of his structure. Jesus also talks of those who undergo hard times to be in accurate standing with God, prepared to be punished for what they believe to be right in God's eyes. Here he says, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”14 Jesus also commends those who will persevere times of reprimand and hatred for the gospel. He orders them to be the salt of the earth, to be the preserver of Gods words, deeds and beliefs and to allow their light shine. The main passage of the Sermon on the Mount is Matthew 5:20 - "For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." As He spoke of a fundamental split with both the world and religious forms, people became amazed at His principles. This sermon is certainly a call to a Christian counteract-custom, which presents the discrete life of those who are kingdom people.15 The sermon is anticipated to set before Christians, a magnificent vision of what the Lord means for their lives to turn into, but do not intend to produce a sense of desperation and depression in them. It challenges Christians to live an exaggeratedly characteristic life, while bringing glory to God and adding up value to the humanity. The sermon outlines the new behavior guide for the new kingdom that Christians shall get into.16 The Beatitudes will each confirm in some way to the nature of God and to the already not yet character of God’s liberation. This is because they are a sign of God’s cordial gift of deliverance. For example, the poor in spirit are blessed since it is in God’s temperament to be concerned for those who recognize their distressed condition. This concern will find its ideal expression in the approaching kingdom. Because God is dynamically delivering the meek and the poor, Jesus’ followers can delight because as a society they contribute in this deliverance. Virtues that are intensely fixed in the whole biblical witness are mentioned in the Beatitudes. These virtues illustrate what it means to be a follower of Jesus and also picture the virtues of Jesus himself whose life and lessons offer these virtues with tangible personification.17 In one of the beatitudes, Jesus says; “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Here, the poor in spirit are precisely implicit as meaning the God-fearing and meek. This means those who do not have the spirit that exalts itself .This also means that blessedness should start at this point, if really it is to reach unto the uppermost wisdom. Pride is described as the foundation of all sin. The proud people thus, seek after and love the kingdoms of the earth, but blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.18 During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus first spoke about the citizens of the kingdom and explained their blessedness, temperament and their relation to the world. Secondly, the Lord set out the high standard of life that the King demands, that is, the uprightness of the kingdom. Finally, Jesus completed His sermon with a solemn exhortation to get into the kingdom. The impact of the sermon upon the addressees is recorded in chapter seven of the book of Mathew.19 The uprightness that Jesus described in the Sermon is an internal uprightness. It remains fundamentally an uprightness of the heart, even though it manifests itself evidently in words, actions and relationships and externally. What actually matters is where a man fixes his heart and what he thinks in his heart.20 The Sermon on the Mount is considered the most astounding message of the history of the ages. This is because the crowd wondered about the change this sermon would produce in the man who set his house on a rock when they first thought about these overwhelming words as they flowed from the lips of the Messiah of God. No doubt, some in the midst of this multitude would take up the challenge to detonate into the hard rock and build the house of their lives upon this hard base by doing these words. These words would recur to every new generation, as the natural line of history would start to role back its scroll of time. A thousand examples of Christians would present themselves of the truth of the outlived Christian counteract-culture, to each decade. By so doing, they would be standing against the religious and the irreligious of the day.21 In closing the sermon, Jesus set up certain necessities that relate openly to those who are being saved or lost. He separated mankind into three classes that is; those who follow him, those who do not follow him and those who act as if to follow him. The teachings of the sermon must in fact be followed for one to be saved. Jesus did not however say that they have to be performed absolutely. Those who agree to and really attempt to direct their lives by the sermon are the saved while the lost are those who act as if to follow or who decline these teachings.22 Conclusion The ethical standards of the teaching of Jesus Christ on the Sermon on the Mount, also known as the beatitudes, were the most profound and significant in all the teachings of Jesus Christ. The fact that it is the most astounding message in the history of ages cannot be overstated. Jesus taught of the ethical standards that a Christian have to posses in order to be deemed righteous. Christians have since reading about this sermon, been trying hard to live holy lives. Nonetheless, there are others who do not follow these teachings of Jesus – these, he calls them the lost, while the former are the saved. References Burke, G .T. 2002, “Sermon on the Mount,” http://mb-soft.com/believe/txw/sermonmt.htm (accessed October 21, 2010). Deffinbaugh, Bob, 1996, “The Sermon on the Mount,” http://bible.org/seriespage/sermon-mount (accessed October 21, 2010). Heck, Doug, 2010, “The beatitudes: The character and conduct of Kingdom citizens,” http://www.grace4u.org/Topical/Beatitudes_intro.htm (accessed October 22, 2010). Jones, Lloyd, 2010, “Mathew 5: 1-12 commentary,” http://www.preceptaustin.org/matthew_51-3.htm (accessed October 20, 2010). Jordan, William, 2010, “A Brief Look at the Sermon on the Mount,” http://hubpages.com/hub/A-Brief-Look-At-The-Sermon-on-the-Mount (accessed October 21, 2010) Ritenbaugh, John, 1999, “The Beatitudes, Part One: The Sermon on the Mount,” http://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/PERSONAL/k/195/The-Beatitudes-Sermon-on-Mount.htm (accessed October 22, 2010). Schaff, Philip, 2005, “St. Augustine, Sermon on the Mount: harmony of the gospels, homilies on the gospels,” http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf106.v.ii.i.html (accessed October 22, 2010). Stassen, Glen and Gushee, David, (2003). Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. http://www.christianethicstoday.com/_ htm Read More