Biblical Patriarchy

Part 1 

Part 2

The Sermon on the Mount: A Commentary, Part 3

 Matthew 5:21-7:12

This section consists of the body of Christ's new covenant law. The law will expand upon the moral law of the old covenant founded upon the Ten Commandments. It sits between the inclusio created by the blessings and declaration of Christ that it is His intent to fill up the law in 5:3-20 by demanding it to be obeyed and taught and the declaration that Christ demands His law to be observed along with the cursings for not teaching and observing it in 7:13-27, which all end in judgments of damnation. 

Contrary to popular opinion, the judgment scenes make it clear that Christ is not simply giving the law that He knows will not be obeyed (as though He was giving us the first use of the law that simply functions as the precursor to receiving grace through faith), but rather that His law is the fruit that will come from those who have been transformed into the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the merciful, the pure in thoughts, the peacemakers and the persecuted. It is the third use, therefore, not the first, and as such, those who dismiss or make light of it prove themselves to be false prophets and those who follow them on the wide road to the fiery Gehenna.

Christ now elaborates as the new Moses what the Law and the Prophets, i.e., the Old Testament, taught and what He came to fill up and expand rather than abolish. He gives a correction, not to the Scripture, which would have been stated as "It is written," but rather to the tradition of the rabbis which Second Temple Judaism argued was ancient tradition that interpreted the text. Hence, he begins by stating what they have "heard that has been said," not what has been written. Sometimes he does this by stating both the law and the interpretation of the law, and sometimes he states just the law because it is clear that the rabbis, like the Pharisees who held their traditions, were just limiting the scope of the commands to the explicit and literal application stated in the law. Jesus now expands the commands in contradiction to this by stating, "But I say," giving His interpretation of the law that both contradicts the misapplications and lack of applications of the rabbis. It should also be said that Christ is not affirming that this tradition is ancient, nor does the word necessarily refer to how ancient it is, it could simply refer to the traditions of previous generations that go back further than just a one or two generations. Either way, Christ merely comments that the people have heard that it was said by ancient tradition, not that it actually was said by it.

The following law is the teaching that Christ says is the point of the Law and the Prophets and that not one jot or tittle of the Scripture that is meant to teach what Christ teaches in the SoM will pass away until all is accomplished. This is also the law that Christ requires His people to obey if they are going to call Him Lord, and as such, those who do not obey it and tell others they can work around it, are the ones who will be considered lawless at the judgment scene that ends the Sermon.

It should be stated that not one law in the SoM is a ritual law. Every law deals with the moral law. In fact, every law deals with all of the ten commandments (e.g., devotion to God first, rejection of idols in the form of money, not using God's name in an unholy manner, murder, stealing by way of talking about its opposite: giving, adultery, bearing false witness, coveting) in its relation to other laws in the Mosaic law code, especially their relationship to love. The only exceptions are the Sabbath law, which Matthew will deal with later in the book as a part of ritual law that is to be seen as lesser than the moral law code and the commandment to honor one's father and mother which Matthew will address later in the book as an example of the superiority of the moral law over ritual. What could be construed as instructions concerning ritual, i.e., alms-giving, prayer, fasting, are actually laws concerning self-worship/glorification over the true worship and glorification of God, and have more to do with the first commandment than ceremonial laws within the Mosaic law code.

You Will Not Murder

21 Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις·* οὐ φονεύσεις· ὃς δʼ ἂν φονεύσῃ, ἔνοχος ἔσται τῇ κρίσει. 22 ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὀργιζόμενος τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ ⸆ ἔνοχος ἔσται τῇ κρίσει· ὃς δʼ ἂν εἴπῃ τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ· ⸀ῥακά, ἔνοχος ἔσται τῷ συνεδρίῳ·* ὃς δʼ ἂν εἴπῃ ⸇· μωρέ, ἔνοχος ἔσται εἰς τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρός. 23 Ἐὰν οὖν προσφέρῃς τὸ δῶρόν σου ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κἀκεῖ μνησθῇς ὅτι ὁ ἀδελφός σου ἔχει τι κατὰ σοῦ,* 24 ἄφες ἐκεῖ τὸ δῶρόν σου ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου καὶ ὕπαγε˸ πρῶτον˸1 διαλλάγηθι τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου, καὶ τότε ἐλθὼν πρόσφερε τὸ δῶρόν σου.* 25 * Ἴσθι εὐνοῶν τῷ ἀντιδίκῳ σου ταχύ, ἕως ὅτου εἶ ⸉μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ⸊, μήποτέ σε παραδῷ ὁ ἀντίδικος τῷ κριτῇ καὶ ὁ κριτὴς ⸆ τῷ ὑπηρέτῃ καὶ εἰς φυλακὴν βληθήσῃ· 26 ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, οὐ μὴ ἐξέλθῃς ἐκεῖθεν, ἕως ⸀ἂν ἀποδῷς τὸν ἔσχατον κοδράντην.* 

You have heard that it has been said by ancient tradition, "Do not murder; and whoever murders will be declared guilty in the judgment." But I say to you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be declared guilty in the judgment. And whosoever says to his brother, "Loser," will be declared guilty before the high court. And whosoever says, "Idiot," will be declared guilty enough to be thrown into the fiery hell. 

Because of this, if you are presenting your offering upon the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave there your offering before the altar and go. First restore the relationship with your brother, and then come present your offering. Make things right quickly with your plaintiff  while you can, as you meet with him along the road, so that the plaintiff might not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the deputies, and ultimately to the guards to be thrown in. Truly I say to you, you will never come out of there until you have repaid the last penny.

The law is pretty straightforward except a few things that may need explanation. The ancient tradition is not necessarily ancient, but simply more than a couple generations back, as stated before. The Aramaic word used here seems to mean "empty," which many lexicons and scholars take to mean "empty-headed," but it likely has more the idea of calling someone empty of value, worthless, a loser. It is to degrade the humanity of another in one's anger or hatred, which is the beginning of the act of murder. Hence, Christ shocks the crowd by stating that such anger and hatred that would lead to an uncontrolled mouth that would speak something degrading of another brother is not the precursor to murder. It is the act of murder. It is simply the beginning and not the end of it. One who speaks such things out of anger or hatred has already begun to murder his brother whether he ever goes all the way through with it or not. Hence, as a murderer, he is worthy of the murderer's punishment before the throne of God. As the punishment for murder is death in the old covenant, in the new covenant which looks toward eternal rewards and punishments, the punishment is the fiery hell where the murderer will pay up every last cent for his crime. 

The phrase, ἔσχατον κοδράντην "the last quadrans" means that the full punishment of a murderer in hell will be exacted. A quadrans is the smallest measurement of Roman usury. Not one smallest bit of the punishment will be forgiven. The murderer will pay every bit of his crime. 

Because of this Christ warns to make sure that one has not done this to his fellow disciple of Christ, for then he will end up at the judgment seat of Christ where it will be too late and the declaration to depart from Christ will be given and the false believer who is a murderer will go into the fiery hell, having been denied access to the kingdom of God. Hence, even if in the middle of worshiping God, Christ tells him to drop what he is offering up and immediately go make things right with the one who was slandered. This language is so harsh one can only conclude that Christ is warning from a reality concerning God's justice at the judgment seat that is often dismissed as a minor sin, and yet, will receive the most severe of punishments, that of a murderer.

You Will Not Covet Your Neighbor's Wife/You Will Not Commit Adultery

27 * Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη⸆· οὐ μοιχεύσεις. 28 ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι ⸀αὐτὴν ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ. 29 Εἰ δὲ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ὁ δεξιὸς σκανδαλίζει σε,* ἔξελε αὐτὸν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ· συμφέρει γάρ σοι ἵνα ἀπόληται ἓν τῶν μελῶν σου καὶ μὴ ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου ⸀βληθῇ εἰς γέενναν. 30 ⸋καὶ εἰ ⸂ἡ δεξιά σου χεὶρ⸃ σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔκκοψον αὐτὴν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ· συμφέρει γάρ σοι ἵνα ἀπόληται ἓν τῶν μελῶν σου καὶ μὴ ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου ⸄εἰς γέενναν ἀπέλθῃ⸅.⸌ 

31 Ἐρρέθη δέ·* ὃς ἂν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, δότω αὐτῇ ἀποστάσιον. 32 ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ⸂πᾶς ὁ ἀπολύων⸃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ παρεκτὸς λόγου πορνείας ποιεῖ αὐτὴν μοιχευθῆναι,* ⸄καὶ ὃς ἐὰν ἀπολελυμένην γαμήσῃ, μοιχᾶται⸅. 

You have heard it said, "You will not commit adultery." But I say to you that anyone who sees a woman to covet her has already committed adultery in his mind. But if your right eye makes you sin, tear it out and throw it from you. For it is better for you that one part of your body be ruined rather than your whole body thrown into hell. And if your right hand makes you sin, cut it off and throw it from you. For it is better for you that one part of your body be ruined rather than your whole body be ruined in hell.

And it has been said, "Whoever divorces his wife, let him give to her a certificate of divorce." But I say you that anyone who divorces his wife except for the matter of the marriage being illegitimate makes her commit adultery, and whosoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

There are two laws here but both related. The first deals with the law that prohibits coveting by mentioning the first object of the coveting prohibition which is the wife of one's neighbor. Christ relates this to the adultery law in that coveting is the beginning of adultery, not just the precursor to it. Adultery, then, is a larger act than just the final betrayal of it. It begins in the mind and ends in the bedroom. Hence, one who covets another woman other than his wife has already committed adultery, not because he has completed the full act but because he has entered into the sin already by beginning it in his mind. 

As the previous law of murder, which begins with anger and a loss of control of one's body parts, i.e., the mouth, it can be assumed that the punishment of the beginning of the sin is equal to the end of the sin. It does not mean that Christ is saying that to desire a woman who is another's wife is the same thing as joining with her. The beginning of a sin is not the end of it. What He is saying is that one has entered into the sin of adultery be beginning it as one has entered a race by running from the starting line toward the finish line. The starting line is not the finish line but one who has begun a race is in it. Likewise, one who has begun the sin in the mind has begun the sin of adultery, and so Christ here makes coveting, not a precursor to sin, but the entering into the sin itself. Hence, the punishment for the sin of adultery is death, and in the Sermon, that means hell. So much so, in fact, that Christ warns that this should be taken so seriously that one should be willing to cut out his eye or cut off his hand rather than to disregard this application, this filling up, of the law concerning coveting another's wife. Clearly, what would be seen as a harmless sin is spoken of in the most severe of ways so that Christ's disciples don't dare dismiss it as a peripheral issue.

The second command within the dual adultery law is actual adultery that has come to its fruition. It is the finish line. This is the case because one who is made one flesh, as Christ will explain further in Chapter 19, with his wife and divorces her makes her join another while one flesh with him. Hence, he causes another to commit adultery, which seems to be worse than the sin itself (18:5-9). Likewise, the one who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery because he has now been joined to a woman who is still one flesh with her husband. The man-made certificate does not break the union made by God. Hence, every divorce and remarriage creates the sin of adultery. This expansion of the law of adultery to divorce and remarriage by Christ forbids all polygamy, whether the polygamists have pieces of paper that separate them from marriage contracts or not. 

As said of the first of these two laws, the penalty for adultery must be understood in light of the entirety of the SoM. One who practices such practices lawlessness and will not enter the kingdom of God. Hence, as adultery takes the punishment of death, death becomes in the expansion of the law the fiery hell mentioned under the law of murder.  

You Will Not Lift Up the Lord's Name for Nothing

33 Πάλιν ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις· οὐκ ἐπιορκήσεις,* ἀποδώσεις δὲ τῷ κυρίῳ τοὺς ὅρκους σου. 34 ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν μὴ ὀμόσαι ὅλως· μήτε ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὅτι θρόνος ἐστὶν τοῦ θεοῦ, 35 μήτε ἐν τῇ γῇ, ὅτι ὑποπόδιόν ἐστιν τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, μήτε εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, ὅτι πόλις ἐστὶν τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως,* 36 μήτε ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ σου ὀμόσῃς, ὅτι οὐ δύνασαι ⸂μίαν τρίχα λευκὴν ποιῆσαι ἢ μέλαιναν⸃.* 37 ⸀ἔστω δὲ ὁ λόγος ὑμῶν ⸂ναὶ ναί,⸃ οὒ οὔ· τὸ δὲ περισσὸν τούτων ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐστιν.* 

Again, you have heard that it is said by the ancient tradition, "You will not swear an oath falsely, but you are to carry out your oath to the Lord." But I say to you, Do not make any oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, nor by the earth, for it is a footstool of His feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king, nor make an oath by your head, for you are not able to make one hair white or black. But let your word be, Yes, Yes, No, No. Anything beyond these is of the evil one.

Here the Lord applies the use of God's name, and anything holy that represents God, for an unholy use, i.e., for no good reason, to oath taking. Hence, not only should God's name not be invoked in oath taking, but neither should heaven nor earth nor Jerusalem, which all represent God in some way. In other words, the name of God, either explicitly or euphemistically, should not be used to back someone's word to make him more trustworthy. Instead, the person should be reliable and show himself to be so himself by merely saying Yes Yes or No No. Any manipulation using God to make someone who is not trustworthy seem more trustworthy is of the devil, as it uses God's name in an unholy manner. A trustworthy man will be trustworthy with just a yes or not without an empty invocation of God's name.

You Will Not Steal

38 Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη· ὀφθαλμὸν ἀντὶ ὀφθαλμοῦ °καὶ ὀδόντα ἀντὶ ὀδόντος. 39 * ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν μὴ ἀντιστῆναι τῷ πονηρῷ· ἀλλʼ ὅστις σε ⸀ῥαπίζει ⸁εἰς τὴν ⸂δεξιὰν σιαγόνα [σου]⸃, στρέψον αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην· 40 καὶ ⸂τῷ θέλοντί⸃ σοι κριθῆναι καὶ τὸν χιτῶνά σου λαβεῖν,* ἄφες αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ ἱμάτιον⸆· 41 * καὶ ὅστις σε ⸀ἀγγαρεύσει μίλιον ἕν,* ὕπαγε μετʼ αὐτοῦ ⸆ δύο. 42 τῷ αἰτοῦντί σε ⸀δός, καὶ ⸂τὸν θέλοντα ἀπὸ σοῦ⸃ δανίσασθαι μὴ ἀποστραφῇς. 

You have heard that it is said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But I say to you, Do not fight with the evil person, but whoever slaps you on the right cheek turn to him the other also. And one who desires to sue you and take your cheaper clothes offer up to him your more expensive clothes as well. And whoever makes you go one mile, go with him two. Give to the one who asks you and from the one who wishes to borrow from you, do not turn away.

One might wonder how this passage relates to stealing, but Jesus here expands the command not to steal to a command to give to someone within the community who steals from His disciples. Hence, if someone steals honor by insulting another in the community, he is to offer him up more of his honor instead of retaliating by stealing his honor. Instead of stealing a possession of someone, the disciple of Christ is to give to one who steals a possession from him. If one seeks to steal labor from a disciple, that disciple of Christ is to not only give him that labor but offer up to him even more labor performed for free. This is a radical teaching that does not simply leave the disciple of Christ as one who avoids the negative activity of a sinner but also demands his positive service and giving to others in the community who may sin against him. Hence, it is the giving and lending spirit that is the opposite of a thieving heart, not simply the mere absence of stealing in one's activity.

You Will Not Bear False Witness against Your Neighbor

43 Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη·* ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου καὶ μισήσεις τὸν ἐχθρόν σου. 44 * ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν· ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν ⸆ ⸂καὶ προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν⸃ διωκόντων ὑμᾶς, 45 ὅπως γένησθε υἱοὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, ὅτι τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ ἀνατέλλει ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς καὶ βρέχει ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους. 46 * ἐὰν γὰρ ἀγαπήσητε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας ὑμᾶς, τίνα μισθὸν ἔχετε;* οὐχὶ καὶ οἱ τελῶναι ⸂τὸ αὐτὸ⸃ ποιοῦσιν; 47 καὶ ἐὰν ἀσπάσησθε τοὺς ⸀ἀδελφοὺς ὑμῶν μόνον, τί περισσὸν ποιεῖτε;* οὐχὶ καὶ οἱ ⸁ἐθνικοὶ ⸂τὸ αὐτὸ⸃ ποιοῦσιν; 48 ἔσεσθε οὖν ὑμεῖς τέλειοι ⸀ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ⸁οὐράνιος τέλειός ἐστιν. 

You have heard that it is said, "Love your friends and hate your opponents." But I say to you, Love your opponents and pray for those who persecute you so that you might be sons of your Father who is in the heavens because His sun rises upon the evil and the good and He causes it to rain upon the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the worst of men do the same? And if you greet those in your group only, what greater thing are you doing? Do not the pagans also do the same? Therefore, you are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. 

One might also wonder how this law relates to the Ten Commandments. However, in the same kind of twist that Christ makes of the law prohibiting stealing, he does the same when it comes to bearing false witness. Instead of simply telling His disciples not to bear false witness, He tells them not to retaliate against false witness and unwarranted persecution from another person in the covenant community. He calls them, therefore, not to curse and say all sorts of things falsely against them, which, as we have discussed, is what persecution refers to in the Sermon (see 5:10-12). It is social persecution, not physical. Instead of retaliating by spreading false things, i.e., bearing false witness against a fellow covenant member (i.e., your neighbor), Christ's disciples are to love them and pray for them, especially since these people would be viewed by Christ in the Sermon as false believers who are going to hell. Love and pity must cause His disciples to pray for those who are under the judgment of God and under the delusion that they are saved. Hence, as God does good to both the just and unjust in nature, Christ's disciples are to use this as an example of what they should do to both the just and unjust within the covenant community. As God has a perfect love, they are to have a perfect love that is not for only part of Christ's visible community but for the entirety of it. Hence, as God's love does not restrict His goodness from the unjust so they should not restrict their love and prayers from the unjust within the community. Hence, instead of bearing false witness against those who do the same to them, and bearing false witness is a way to get others to curse them, Christ's disciples are to love and pray for blessing upon these unjust people. As the law before it, this law teaches that it is not the absence of bearing false witness that is contrary to the spirit of the slanderer, which is ultimately the spirit of murder as we see in the first of Christ's commands in His law, but rather love and the seeking of blessing for another in the community who has gained ill will by Christ's disciple through their slander of him. Here, the radical expansion of the old covenant moral law leads to taking upon itself the very character of God who is gracious to the unjust, and in this very act, displays the very gospel that saved the disciple of Christ in the first place.

You Will Not Worship Other Gods before Me 

Προσέχετε °[δὲ] τὴν ⸀δικαιοσύνην ὑμῶν μὴ ποιεῖν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι αὐτοῖς·* εἰ δὲ μή γε, μισθὸν οὐκ ἔχετε παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν τῷ ἐν °1τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. 2 Ὅταν οὖν ποιῇς ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ σαλπίσῃς ἔμπροσθέν σου,* ὥσπερ οἱ ὑποκριταὶ ποιοῦσιν ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς ῥύμαις, ὅπως δοξασθῶσιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων·* ἀμὴν ⸆ λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν. 3 σοῦ δὲ ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου,* 4 ὅπως ⸉ᾖ σου ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη⸊ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ·* καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ⸆ ἀποδώσει σοι⸇. 

5 Καὶ ὅταν ⸂προσεύχησθε,* οὐκ ἔσεσθε⸃ ὡς οἱ ὑποκριταί, ὅτι φιλοῦσιν ⸆ ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς γωνίαις τῶν πλατειῶν ἑστῶτες ⸀προσεύχεσθαι,* ὅπως ⸇ φανῶσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις·* ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ⸆1 ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν. 6 σὺ δὲ ὅταν προσεύχῃ, εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ ταμεῖόν σου καὶ κλείσας τὴν θύραν σου πρόσευξαι τῷ πατρί σου τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ·* καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοι⸆.* 

7 * Προσευχόμενοι δὲ μὴ βατταλογήσητε ὥσπερ οἱ ⸀ἐθνικοί,* δοκοῦσιν γὰρ ὅτι ἐν τῇ πολυλογίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰσακουσθήσονται.* 8 μὴ οὖν ὁμοιωθῆτε αὐτοῖς· οἶδεν γὰρ ⸂ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν⸃ ὧν χρείαν ἔχετε πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς ⸄αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν⸅. 

9 Οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς·* 

      Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν ⸂τοῖς οὐρανοῖς⸃· 

      ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου· 

      10 ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· 

      γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, 

      °ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ ⸆ γῆς· 

      11 τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·* 

      12 καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν ⸂τὰ ὀφειλήματα⸃ ἡμῶν, 

      ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ⸀ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν· 

      13 καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν,* 

      ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. ⸆ 

14 * Ἐὰν °γὰρ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ⸀οὐράνιος· 15 ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ⸆, οὐδὲ ὁ πατὴρ ⸂ὑμῶν ἀφήσει⸃ τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν. 

16 * Ὅταν δὲ νηστεύητε, μὴ γίνεσθε ⸀ὡς οἱ ὑποκριταὶ σκυθρωποί,* ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα ⸁αὐτῶν ὅπως φανῶσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύοντες·* ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ⸆ ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν. 17 σὺ δὲ νηστεύων ἄλειψαί σου τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου νίψαι,* 18 ὅπως μὴ φανῇς ⸉τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύων⸊ ἀλλὰ τῷ πατρί σου τῷ ἐν ⸂τῷ κρυφαίῳ⸃·* καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν ⸂τῷ κρυφαίῳ⸃ ἀποδώσει σοι⸆. 

Be careful not to practice your righteousness before men to be seen by them, since if you do that you have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens. Therefore, when you give charity, do not sound a trumpet to call attention to yourself as the hypocrites do in the religious meetings and in the streets in order to be admired by men. Truly I say to you, You have your reward. But when you give charity do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that you give in secret and your Father who sees in secret will give to you.

And when you pray, do not be as the false converts because they love to pray in the meeting places and while standing at the streetcorners, so that they might be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your inner room and close your door to pray to your Father who is in the secret place. And your Father who sees in the secret place will reward you.

And when you pray, do not ramble on repetitiously like the pagans do, for they think that they will be heard in their many words. Therefore, do not be like them. For your Father knows of what you have need before you ask Him.

Therefore, you are to pray like this:

Our Father, who is in the heavens,

May Your name be considered holy.

May Your kingdom come.

May Your will be done as it is in heaven so also upon the earth.

Give to us today our daily food.

And forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.

Do not bring us into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

And when you fast, do not be visibly downcast as the false converts, for they change their faces so that they might make known their fasting before men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward. But when you fast anoint your head and wash your face so that you do not show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in the hidden place and your Father who sees in the hidden place will reward you.

Here we see Christ contrast true and false worship, one done for the self and one done for God. In this way, He addresses the worship of God alone in the first commandment in such a way as to present the true deity that rivals Him in false religion. The breaking of the first commandment was being committed by those who had never uttered a prayer to Zeus, never gave alms to his priests, nor fasted to gain his favor. Instead, they prayed, gave alms, and fasted supposedly to the God of the Bible. Yet, Christ argues here that they actually did all of these for themselves, so that men might praise them and honor them. Hence, their worship was not to bring honor and glory to God but to themselves. Although we often hear this application in our own day, this would have been a radical understanding and application of the law, since the 2d Temple Jews commemorating the days of freedom from tyranny under Antiochus IV and always on watch against Roman paganism that various governors and emperors sought to impose upon the Jews, their faithfulness would have been seen as having nothing to do with other gods. The irony, of course, is that all such gods are substitutes for the one true object of every pagan's worship, the self.

You Will Not Make for Yourself an Image . . . You Will Not Bow Down to Them or Serve Them; for I YHWH Your God Am a Jealous God

19 Μὴ θησαυρίζετε ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς,* ὅπου σὴς καὶ βρῶσις ἀφανίζει καὶ ὅπου κλέπται διορύσσουσιν καὶ κλέπτουσιν·* 20 * θησαυρίζετε δὲ ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ* ὅπου οὔτε σὴς οὔτε βρῶσις ἀφανίζει καὶ ὅπου κλέπται οὐ διορύσσουσιν ⸂οὐδὲ κλέπτουσιν⸃· 21 ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός ⸀σου, ἐκεῖ ἔσται °καὶ ἡ καρδία ⸀σου. 

22 * Ὁ λύχνος τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν ὁ ὀφθαλμός.* ἐὰν °οὖν ⸂ᾖ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ἁπλοῦς⸃, ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου φωτεινὸν ἔσται·* 23 ἐὰν δὲ ⸉ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου πονηρὸς ᾖ⸊, ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου σκοτεινὸν ἔσται. εἰ οὖν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἐν σοὶ σκότος ἐστίν, τὸ σκότος πόσον. 

24 * Οὐδεὶς ⸆ δύναται δυσὶ κυρίοις δουλεύειν·* ἢ γὰρ τὸν ἕνα μισήσει καὶ τὸν ἕτερον ἀγαπήσει, ἢ ἑνὸς ἀνθέξεται καὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου καταφρονήσει. οὐ δύνασθε θεῷ δουλεύειν καὶ μαμωνᾷ.* 

25 * Διὰ τοῦτο λέγω ὑμῖν·* μὴ μεριμνᾶτε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν τί φάγητε ⸂[ἢ τί πίητε]⸃, μηδὲ τῷ σώματι ὑμῶν τί ἐνδύσησθε. οὐχὶ ἡ ψυχὴ πλεῖόν ἐστιν τῆς τροφῆς καὶ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἐνδύματος;* 26 ἐμβλέψατε εἰς τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὅτι οὐ σπείρουσιν οὐδὲ θερίζουσιν οὐδὲ συνάγουσιν εἰς ⸆ ἀποθήκας, καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τρέφει αὐτά· οὐχ ὑμεῖς μᾶλλον διαφέρετε αὐτῶν;* 27 τίς δὲ ἐξ ὑμῶν μεριμνῶν δύναται προσθεῖναι ἐπὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν αὐτοῦ πῆχυν ἕνα; 28 Καὶ περὶ ἐνδύματος τί μεριμνᾶτε; καταμάθετε τὰ κρίνα τοῦ ἀγροῦ πῶς ⸂αὐξάνουσιν· οὐ κοπιῶσιν οὐδὲ νήθουσιν⸃· * 29 λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐδὲ Σολομὼν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ περιεβάλετο ὡς ἓν τούτων. 30 εἰ δὲ τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ σήμερον ὄντα καὶ αὔριον εἰς κλίβανον βαλλόμενον ὁ θεὸς οὕτως ἀμφιέννυσιν,* οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὑμᾶς, ὀλιγόπιστοι;* 31 Μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε λέγοντες· τί φάγωμεν; ἤ· τί πίωμεν; ἤ· τί περιβαλώμεθα; 32 ⸉πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα⸊ τὰ ἔθνη ⸀ἐπιζητοῦσιν·* οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος ὅτι χρῄζετε τούτων ἁπάντων. 33 ζητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν ⸂βασιλείαν [τοῦ θεοῦ]* καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην⸃ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν. 34 Μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε εἰς τὴν αὔριον, ἡ γὰρ αὔριον μεριμνήσει ⸀ἑαυτῆς· ἀρκετὸν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἡ κακία αὐτῆς. 

Μὴ κρίνετε, ἵνα μὴ κριθῆτε·* 2 ἐν ᾧ γὰρ κρίματι κρίνετε κριθήσεσθε,* καὶ ἐν ᾧ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε ⸀μετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν. *3 Τί δὲ βλέπεις τὸ κάρφος τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου, τὴν δὲ ἐν τῷ σῷ ὀφθαλμῷ δοκὸν οὐ κατανοεῖς; 4 ἢ πῶς ⸀ἐρεῖς τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου· ἄφες ἐκβάλω τὸ κάρφος ⸁ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ σου, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἡ δοκὸς ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ σοῦ˸;* 5 ὑποκριτά, ἔκβαλε πρῶτον ⸉ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ σοῦ τὴν δοκόν⸊, καὶ τότε διαβλέψεις ἐκβαλεῖν τὸ κάρφος ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου. 

*6 Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς κυσὶν μηδὲ βάλητε τοὺς μαργαρίτας ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων,* μήποτε ⸀καταπατήσουσιν αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτῶν καὶ στραφέντες ῥήξωσιν ὑμᾶς. 

*7 Αἰτεῖτε καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν,* ζητεῖτε καὶ εὑρήσετε, κρούετε καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν· 8 πᾶς γὰρ ὁ αἰτῶν λαμβάνει καὶ ὁ ζητῶν εὑρίσκει καὶ τῷ κρούοντι ⸀ἀνοιγήσεται. 9 ἢ τίς °ἐστιν ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος, ὃν ⸀αἰτήσει ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἄρτον, μὴ λίθον ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ; 10 ⸂ἢ καὶ ἰχθὺν αἰτήσει⸃, μὴ ὄφιν ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ; 11 εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς πονηροὶ ὄντες οἴδατε ⸂δόματα ἀγαθὰ⸃ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν,* πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς δώσει ἀγαθὰ τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν˸. 

*12 Πάντα °οὖν ὅσα ἐὰν θέλητε ἵνα ποιῶσιν ὑμῖν οἱ ἄνθρωποι,* οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε αὐτοῖς· οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται. 

Do not save up for yourselves valuables upon the earth where moth and rust disintegrate and where thieves break in and steal. But save up valuables for yourselves in heaven where neither moth nor rust disintegrate and where thieves do not break in nor steal. For where what you value is there is also your focus.

The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, if your eye is clear, your whole body is enlightened but if your eye is evil then your whole body is darkened. Therefore, if the light which is in you is dark, how much more is the darkness.

No one is able to serve two lords. For either he will hate the one and love the other or be devoted to one and treat the other as lesser. You are not able to serve God and your portfolio.

Because of this, I say to you, Do not worry about your life, what you might eat, or what you might drink, nor with what you will clothe your body. Life consists of more than food and the body than clothing. Think about the birds of the sky. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into storehouses. Yet, your heavenly Father takes care of them. Are you not worth far more than them? But who among you by worrying is able to add a single cubit to his life? And concerning clothing, why do you worry? Learn from the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not do the labor of either a man or a woman. Yet, I say to you that not even Solomon in all of his glory was arrayed like one of these. But if God clothes in such a manner the plant of the field that exists today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, are you not worth so much more, O Ones of Little Faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, What should we eat? What should we drink? What should we put on? For all of these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all of these things. But pursue above everything else the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble within it.

Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in whatever manner you use to judge someone else you will be judged the same way; and by whatever standard of measure you measure someone else, you will be measured by the same. Indeed, why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but the giant ceiling support beam in your own eye you don't even notice? Furthermore, how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye," and lo and behold, the giant ceiling support beam is in your eye? Hypocrite! First remove the giant ceiling support beam from your eye and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Do not give your holy gift to dogs nor throw your pearls before pigs lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you apart.

Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For anyone who asks receives and who seeks finds and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What man among you when he has a son who asks for bread will give him a stone? Or he asks also for a fish and he gives him a snake? Not a man among you would do this. If you, therefore, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in the heavens give good things to those who ask Him?

Therefore, everything whatsoever you want people to do for you, so also do for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

As every god seeks a worshiper, every god has a means by which he is worshiped. If the actual false god of humanity is the self, then what gives the greatest pleasure to the self is money, since it brings a sense of stability, comfort, and luxury to the self. It brings about the admiration of other people, men and women, it brings about a sense of success and importance. It brings power. It is, therefore, the first and foremost thing that men seek to use as a means to worship themselves. All of this, as Christ argues here, however, is temporary, and only a fool would live for what passes away so quickly. Rather, what He argues is the if people truly want to build up a life for themselves, they should seek God first and His righteousness/justice. In other words, to worship God is to do good to the self as well, but to worship the self is to do violence to the self and to ultimately lose it. 

He makes the statement that the eye is the light of the body and that if one has an evil eye the entire body will be dark. The idiom "evil eye" refers to one who is greedy. If one is greedy he will not do what is just in his life, i.e., his whole body will be darkness, because he won't even be able to see the poor. That is the point of the saying. Having an evil eye is to have a dark eye that makes one blind toward those who are in need.

He warns believers that they will not be able to serve both God and wealth. They cannot spend their lives building up their legacies on earth and in heaven as well. One will take over the other because eventually the poor that will always be with the church will need that money and one will have to make a choice between the worship of God with money and the worship of self with money, and he will have to make this choice again and again in his life so that one storehouse, either the one on earth or in heaven, will be depleted.

So He then proceeds to remove an excuse that some may have, "But I or my family need this money to survive in the future." He answers this objection by challenging His disciples to either believe Him or doubt Him. He argues that God will take care of His disciples even more than He takes care of the birds that he feeds and the flowers of the field that he clothes. If God takes care of all of the needs of these created things that were made for people, how much more will God take care of those people who belong to Him?

Of course, no one thinks he is a worshiper of self through money, so Christ challenges this delusional belief by daring His disciples to prove it by giving up the false security of their money to help poor believers. So, now, he removes another series of excuses that is often given by those who do not really want to give that have to do with judging the unworthiness of the potential recipients of money: "They're poor for reason. They misuse money. They didn't save their money. They deserve to be in the position they're in."

Instead, Christ tells his disciples not to judge in this manner since they too are needy and must gain their eternal wealth from God who could easily dismiss them in the same way. In fact, Christ argues that if the one who holds money judges in this way, God will also judge them the same way, which is a much more terrifying warning than how one often reads this passage when disconnecting it from the money issue. However, it is clear that the warning not to judge has to do with the money issue as the full passage dealing with the subject does not end until 7:12, which both ends the section about money as well as summarizes the entire law of the Sermon on the Mount.

Christ argues, therefore, to judge oneself first and gain some humility as one who will receive God's mercy so as to then show such mercy to those who are in need. In becoming merciful, one is able to help his brother both with any deficiencies he might have in his moral practice or financial situation. 

The command in 7:6 is often misapplied out of context to refer to someone unworthy to hear the Word of God or the gospel, but this has nothing to do with the context. The context is still about money and the reference to holy pearls/wealth allows the reader to understand that sacred alms are to be given only to believers. The terminology of dogs and pigs make it clear that this is a reference to unbelievers, since this is common terminology for people outside the community of God. Gentiles are often called dogs. Paul uses the same term ironically for Judaizing apostates who work against the gospel. Pigs, of course, are seen as unclean animals. So the command is to not give the money that needs to be given to God's people to people who do not belong to God. The worship of God with one's money comes through the help of His people, not the help of the devil's people. These people will simply receive the support of God's people to harm God's people, and it will not be received in such a way as to be used to glorify and worship God.

He then wipes out the final excuse, "But I don't have anything to give so these commands do not pertain to me," by saying that His disciples need to pray to ask God who, as a good Father, will absolutely give what is good to His children. Hence, if they ask God to give them what they need to help others, He certainly will do so. The challenge, again, is whether once one receives those gifts whether they will give them to those in need or hoard them for themselves. This, along with one's obedience to the command to do to others what one wishes to be done for them, distinguishes the true believers from the false ones, as the following passage that completes the Sermon will explicitly make clear.

Christ ends this passage about helping needy believers with one's finances, as well as the entire section of the new law code, with the statement that anything whatsoever that someone might want others to do for him, that's what he should do for other believers. He states that this is, in fact, the Law and Prophets, i.e., the point and summation of the entire Hebrew Scriptures. This also creates an inclusio with 5:17-18 as the following remainder of the Sermon will finish off the inclusio between 5:19-20 and 7:13-27. 

As Matthew began with the blessings often seen in covenant treaties such as Deuteronomy in the opening section of the Sermon, he will end the Sermon with the covenant curses. The text we just looked at sandwiches the law of Christ in between. The new Moses has given us the law of the new covenant and it is ends up being the entire point of the old covenant: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself, which is what will be repeated by Christ in the expansion of the law in the Sermon later in the book, which creates an inclusio for Christ's public ministry in Matthew followed by the curses applied to the Pharisees and those Christian pastors/teachers who would follow their pattern of life and teaching in the church (22:37-25:46).

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe

From childhood’s hour I have not been as others were

I have not seen as others saw

I could not bring my passions from a common spring

From the same source I have not taken my sorrow

I could not awaken my heart to joy at the same tone

And all I lov’d—I lov’d alone—

Then—in my childhood—in the dawn of a most stormy life—was drawn

From ev’ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still

From the torrent, or the fountain—

From the red cliff of the mountain—

From the sun that ’round me roll’d

In its autumn tint of gold

From the lightning in the sky

As it pass’d me flying by

From the thunder, and the storm

And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view

Will the Real Shepherd Please Stand Up?

There used to be a TV show called "To Tell the Truth." Usually, there would be three people pretending to be a particular person and the contestant would have to guess who the real person was and who the imposters were. At the end of the show, the big reveal, the host would say, "Will the real X please stand up?" Then the person who had been telling the truth would reveal him or herself to be genuine and the others to have been imposters. We have a similar problem in the church today when it comes to shepherds. So many pastors don't seem to know who they are, and because of that, they think that they are Jesus and little by little end up convincing their congregations that they are as well. 

I, of course, don't mean that they all convince their congregations as far as a Jim Jones might (even though that is a symptom of the very problem I am talking about today). Instead, I think many of them merely convince their congregations, slowly but surely, to love them over Christ. Let me explain.

I was always confused by the statement the Gospels make concerning Pilate’s epiphany about the Jewish leaders betrayal of Jesus. The text says, “For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up” (Mark 15:10).

Why would the chief priests, the pastors of Israel, be jealous of Christ? Were they going to be the Messiah? Were they going to bring in the kingdom of God? It seems clear that when one reads the Gospels that the religious leaders enjoyed having the spotlight shewn on them due to their religious service. They enjoyed having others consider them first for seating in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplace, etc. They enjoyed recognition as godly people and instructors in the community. And Jesus stole all of that from them. The crowds began to follow Jesus instead, and when they did that, they began to hear the messages that Jesus gave that condemned the self-benefiting leadership of the Jewish religious leaders.

You see, there are two kinds of shepherds. There is the shepherd who genuinely wants the people to know Jesus and so he gives the people the Word of God at every opportunity. He teaches them the law and prophets, which is the character of Jesus. He teaches them the hard truths of the whole counsel of God so that they can know the Lord fully. They do this because these shepherds know that they actually aren’t the Shepherd. They are not the ones who can be with the people 24/7 to guard them against the attacks of the devil and the world and the flesh. So they give them the means through which the Lord Jesus shepherds them through the Spirit 24/7, i.e., they give to them the Word of God through whatever means they can. They don’t need to give them themselves, as they are not the shepherd. Jesus is the shepherd.

Hence, these shepherds are undershepherds. Their entire ministry is centered around giving people the whole counsel of God because they labor at connecting people with the Shepherd, Jesus. They teach the whole counsel of God, no matter how offensive, no matter how radically different than the religious culture of the church, because it is their job to make sure that Jesus, the one true Shepherd, is heard so that He can shepherd His sheep. These are true prophets. They point, not to themselves, but to Christ through the Word.

But there is another kind of shepherd, and they are, unfortunately, far more plentiful. These are the shepherds who are concerned about drawing the congregation to themselves. Now, let us be clear. These people will always teach the Bible, or at least from the Bible, in church because no member of a church will ever want to go to a church that doesn’t “teach” the Bible. I’ve been in numerous churches of all denominations and persuasions, conservative, liberal, RCC, EO, Prot, etc. Not one, and I mean, not one, declared that they do not teach from the Bible. They all claim to do so and they all use the Scripture in their sermons.

So how does one distinguish between them? The false shepherd always has the same trait. He will be concerned primarily about how the people will respond to the teaching, namely, to him because he is concerned about how people view him. He may do this by lifting himself or his wife or children up explicitly or by way of implication when he teaches or talks to people. But it often happens in an even more subtle way than this. You see, if a man is a politician and not a prophet. If he is a hireling and not a true undershepherd who draws people to Jesus, he won’t teach the whole counsel of God because it is radical and offensive. He will instead teach either his own opinions or he will teach a few true things in the Scripture but not all of them. He will mostly find what the majority believes and preach to the choir on those issues over and over again. He secures his Amens that way and his popularity among the majority.

And this is an important point. Many think all false shepherds are all heretics, but the majority slowly starve their sheep with minimal nutrition by only giving them the few biblical things that check their boxes, but not the things that would transform them completely into the image of Christ because those things are also offensive. They are offensive because the sheep are not conditioned culturally, traditionally, or religiously to accept them. They are, however, usually predisposed to receive some biblical truths as norms because they are familiar with some major tradition or culture that normalizes them. So the false shepherd gives these things to the sheep and nothing more.

Again, this is done because the false shepherd is worried about how people will receive the message because he is worried about whether people will reject him. He is not concerned with presenting Christ, His full character and His full will accurately whether people reject Christ for it or not. If they reject Christ, they will surely reject the person speaking about Christ and only genuine shepherds are prepared to receive such a rejection.

The modern false shepherd has a job he wants to keep. He, therefore, has a popularity contest to win. Another way to do this is by setting himself up as a victim of anyone who challenges his qualifications biblically. For this, he needs enemies and so he creates them by defaming their character through slander thereby deflecting anyone from scrutinizing what he is doing. Like the old magicians trick, it’s all about misdirection. If your eyes are focused on the problem people in the congregation, they’ll never be focused on him, and once again, this allows him to win the popularity contest.

What all of this ends up doing is stealing the spotlight from Christ. An undershepherd should be pointing the congregation to Christ, not just by saying it (every pastor is going to talk about Jesus and say he points to him), it’s about actually doing it by teaching the whole counsel of God, in the voice of the authority of God, by applying the Word of God to his congregation even in the areas that they don’t want it applied.

Now, again, everyone I know is going to say, “Yep, that’s my pastor!” But let’s test that. If the whole counsel of God is being taught, and we know that the larger part of religious crowds were offended by Jesus and His teaching, then the majority of a religious group wherever you go is going to be offended by the whole counsel of God, the whole character and will of Christ. So if this is true, then people will leave your congregation due to the offensiveness. They will actually hate your pastor. So here is the question, Do you have lots of people who claim to be Christians and were a part of your congregation at one time hate your pastor, not because he did some evil sin toward them personally, but because they hate what he has taught or rebuked them for?

That’s how you will actually tell. And the reason I say this is because everyone who is actually under a false shepherd, because he is popular, because they love him due to the usual tricks of the trade, will never see it unless they ask that particular question. Is your pastor generally loved by everyone in the congregation or are there tons of people who hate him for his particular teaching about this subject or that, the authority with which he expresses the teaching, a rebuke he gave to someone he said was in sin, etc.?

You want to live under genuine shepherds, you want to know Jesus Christ truly, you’ll ask that question and you’ll make the appropriate measures to make sure you sit under someone that loves Jesus Christ more than himself, and points you to your true Shepherd.

And that brings us to the fact that there is only one true Shepherd. Listen to these three following scriptures.

 

Ezekiel 34

 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to ^[a]those shepherds, ‘This is what the Lord ^[b]God says: “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been ^[c]feeding themselves! Should the shepherds not ^[d]feed the flock? ³ You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep ^[e]without feeding the flock. ⁴ Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you searched for the lost; but with force and with violence you have dominated them. ⁵ They scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every animal of the field and scattered. ⁶ My flock strayed through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’” . . . ¹⁰ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My ^[g]sheep ^[h]from them and make them stop tending sheep. So the shepherds will not ^[i]feed themselves anymore, but I will save My sheep from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’” ¹¹ For the Lord God says this: “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them. ¹² As a shepherd cares for his flock on a day when he is among his scattered ^[j]sheep, so I will care for My ^[k]sheep and will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day . . .²³ “Then I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.

 

John 10

“Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. ² But the one who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” . . .  ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep . . . ⁶ But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; ²⁸ and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

 

1 Peter 5

Therefore, I urge elders among you, as your fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and one who is also a fellow partaker of the glory that is to be revealed: ² shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not with self-interest but with eagerness; ³ nor yet acting tyrannical and intrusive over those assigned to your care, but by proving to be examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 

 

In each of these passages, Christ is the shepherd. The job of all other shepherds under him is to point to him in word and deed. They are not to point to themselves. They are not in their positions to make people like them. They are there to show Christ to the people by giving the people the Word of their Shepherd. Through this word, His sheep will hear His voice and He will bind up their wounds and rescue them from their places of exile.  Jesus is said to be “the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands.” Only He can be with His people, the Shepherd with HIS sheep.

Any pastor who makes himself out to be the shepherd is a sheep rustler. These shepherds take up their posts for personal gain whether it be financial, relational, personal success, a need to control, etc. Have no doubt that such shepherds would not only crucify Christ if He were to suddenly come to His people as the Pharisees did to Him, but that they are also busy crucifying Christ now in their teaching by presenting a completely abbreviated version of Jesus, so as to present a completely different Jesus in the end, one that will allow the congregation to give to these pastors what they want. And if you tolerate such a ministry even for one more second, you simply don’t belong to the true Shepherd because His sheep will hear His voice only. They voice of another, they simply will not listen to it.

 

 

Why Very Few Christians Today Go to Church on the Same Day the Earliest Church Did

 We're Christians, not Jews. That should seem obvious, but for some people they want to constantly go back to the lesser covenant of the old covenant. The old covenant is the covenant that redeems some amoral things in creation but not others. The new covenant, however, redeems the whole world, i.e., every day, not just some days, every food, not just some foods, every drink, not just some drinks, etc. But some just don't get it, so they want to create a new covenant version of the old covenant that is just as restricted as the old covenant even though the new covenant is an expansion rather than limited to the restrictions.

One of the ways they do this is by arguing that Sunday must be attended by all Christians or they somehow are not faithful Christians. Now, let me be clear. The new covenant requires people to serve one another in love by getting together, to be discipled by elders who call meetings, and those meetings and fellowships need to be attended if you are able to do so. If one is able but simply chooses to not come and be discipled on a regular basis then I would say that he is not only a Christian in sin but maybe not a Christian at all.

But the new covenant expands the redemption that is in Christ to all created things, so that no specific day is required by anyone to meet upon simply because the day is somehow holier than any other day. In fact, the New Testament never gives a command to attend church on Sunday. Instead, it tells us that they met on Sundays and it tells us that they met every single day. But description must subject itself to prescription when Paul states in Romans 14:

One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. (Rom 14:1-14)

Again, in Colossians 2:

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival celebration or a monthly holiday or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (Col 2:13-17)

In both of these passages we see that Christians are free to celebrate or not celebrate whatever days they see fit. This is because the Christian is redeemed. Everything a Christian does as a Christian is redeemed because he is redeemed. He doesn’t need to force himself under a law of specific practices to redeem anything. He will simply be redeemed and therefore redeem everything he does by virtue of gratefully partaking in creation. Like a man with chalk on his hands, he gets his redemption on everything by virtue of just touching it in worship of God. That means there is no day, food, way of doing this or that or the other thing that must be partaken of specifically because all amoral things can be redeemed, thus giving Christians a world of options to practice in their customs.

But what of Sunday? Again, it is the day we often call people to come be discipled and fellowship because we commemorate the Lord rising from the dead that day, as the early church did. So the elders call an assembly on that day, but they also call assemblies on other days to do the same thing and all should come because of that, not because the day in and of itself is more redeemed than other days, as though those who partake in this day will be more sanctified and blessed than those who do not.

Furthermore, those who would argue that this day should be observed because what we see in the New Testament as descriptive should also be prescriptive fail to understand what day the church is meeting. It is Sunday for them, but not Sunday for us. Let me explain.

It becomes clear as one reads the New Testament, especially in Acts, that the earliest church was meeting on Sunday to celebrate the communion and fellowship Christ had with the disciples on the night of Passover as well as the time he rose from the dead on Sunday morning, which is early in the morning before the sun rises. It is at night that the supper takes place. It is at night that they go from the upper room of that fellowship and communion to sing songs as they walk to the garden and it is at night when they arrest the Lord. It is still dark (i.e., at night) when the Lord rises in the morning. This means that the earliest church was meeting on early Sunday, which in the Jewish understanding of a day is at 6pm on Saturday night. This is why the communion is a supper and not a breakfast. They would often meet on what is to us Saturday evening and go into the early morning on Sunday after which the day often proceeded like any other day.

For instance, in Acts 20, Luke relates the following scene.

On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. (Acts 20:7–9).

The first day of the week is Sunday, but notice that Paul is talking to them and goes to midnight. They had already many lamps lit because the night we are referring to here is Saturday night in our configuration of the days. Paul didn't start talking in the morning and not finish until midnight. He started in the night and finished during the night of the first day of the week. But notice, Paul was going to depart the next day. Verse 11 states:

And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.

So Paul talks even longer and then he departs in the morning at the next daybreak after that evening as the text states also in v. 7. But also notice that they break the bread of the communion after midnight in the early hours of the morning before daybreak, which means that the day Paul departs on, the morning he leaves and travels because it's no longer "Sunday meeting time" is Sunday morning. If one does not take it this way but suggests that the evening in which they are meeting is on our Sunday evening (which in the Jewish configuration would end at 6pm, the service would actually have been held on Monday, the second day of the week (and this would be true in any configuration because he doesn't break bread with them until after midnight). Hence, communion would have been given on Monday.

This isn't consistent with the text that says he gathered with them on the first day of the week to break bread. This means that they are meeting on Saturday night, which is their early Sunday, not Sunday morning.

If one is to see the description as prescriptive and follow a regulative principle then most modern Christians have never actually attended a Sunday assembly in their lives unless they showed up to some Saturday night service.

By their own words they will be condemned if they have condemned others for doing the same. These who judge others over special days but who feel fine to dismiss meetings called by elders will incur a greater condemnation.

However, this is not prescriptive because any time can be redeemed and made holy to the Lord whenever the elders call the assembly, so one can meet on Sunday morning, i.e., our Sunday morning, or Sunday evening, or Saturday evening, or Tuesday evening, or Thursday morning or afternoon, etc. because Christians are not under the old covenant which restricts the times that can be made holy. They are under the new covenant which redeems the entirety of time, food, amoral customs, etc. Only under this understanding can one continue to meet on our Sunday mornings without violating any prescriptions in the New Testament.

This is why one can observe all days or one day or no days. He can eat all foods, some foods, or fast. He can wear clothing of any one fabric, all fabrics, or any mixture therein. Any holiday can be redeemed or left uncelebrated.

But whenever the elders call a meeting, if the Christian is able bodied, he needs to be there. That is not because the day is special but because the calling of the assembly, upon whatever day that may be, is. 

Unfortunately, a Pharisaical hypocrisy rules our day where ritual replaces true devotion, man-made traditions trump genuine obedience. For instance, I had people mad at me for not being able to attend Sunday morning as a sick person, but they themselves did not attend the Tuesday evening Bible studies they were called to attend by the majority of elders. Ironically, they were the ones who were actually in sin. Again, by their standard of measure they shall be measured. But have no doubt, all things a Christian touches are redeemed because he is redeemed, not because they are holy in and of themselves.

What Doth Calvinism Have to Do with Postmill?

Is Postmill Exclusively Optimistic? 

What World Has Been Given to Christ? Why One-Kingdom's Deficient Biblical Theology Cripples Its Systematics

 "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me" (Matt 28:18). From this statement, one-kingdom advocates argue that Christ now rules everything. He is the king of all the nations already because this statement suggests that there is nothing that does not belong to him. Other texts make similar statements, such as 1 Peter 3:22 and Ephesians 1:22. 1 Peter 3:22 states: "[Jesus Christ,] who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him." The oft repeated Kuyperian quotation proclaims, "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!"

This statement is true enough in its proclamation but likely not really understood biblically by Kuyper and those who follow him. The reason why I say that is that there are two factors often missed by one-kingdom advocates. The first is understanding a figure of speech called prolepsis. This is the idea that something that has not yet taken place can be stated in a way so as to present it as having already taken place. This is often used to state the absoluteness of something occurring in the future. If it has already been done, there is no undoing it. It is going to happen. The second is a failure to identify what is being talked about when the Scripture discusses Christ's supremacy over all things. I would suggest that the Bible presents a sovereign rule of God that pictures Him as reigning over all things cosmically but only directing localized spiritual and physical authorities over the earth. So even though the devil is the god of this age, for instance, God says what he can and cannot do, but he still maintains his localized dominion over the earth. God is the emperor but the devil a king over planet earth. God rules over Israel alone as its king, preserving a people for Himself (Deut 32:8-9).

First, we need to look at Scriptures that indicate that Christ's supremacy over all things does not mean that all things are currently subject to him or that he directly rules all things as their localized ruler/king. 

Hebrews 2:5-8 states the following:

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,  putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. (Heb 2:5-8)

The context makes it clear, as well as the explicit statement in v. 9, that Auctor is applying this passage to Jesus. The "him" who does not currently reign, even though all things were subject to him, is Jesus. Why is this? Because, Auctor explains in v. 5, it is the world to come, not the present world that has been subjected to him. So he uses the phrase that God subjected all things to him, but then explains that this is the world to come, not the present world that is not currently in subjection to him.

So what is the authority given to Christ in Matthew 28:18? And why do texts like Ephesians 1:19-23 and 1 Peter 3:22 seem to suggest that all things have been subject to Christ already and other texts suggest that he has not yet subjected these things to himself? 

For instance, 1 Corinthians 15:23-28 states that all things have been subjected to Christ and in the same breath Paul tells us that all things are not yet subjected to him and need to still be subjected to him in the future at which point he will hand the kingdom back over to the Father. 

The fact that the world to come is the world being subjected to Christ, and that everything in this current world has been subjected to Christ already, and yet there are rulers and authorities, and even the physical world (Phil 3:21; Rom 8:19-23), that are not yet subject to him, means that at least one of the two options I presented are happening here. Either it is a case of prolepsis or Christ's supremacy refers to the position the Father has over the cosmos, not the lower regencies of the earth.

In some instances, it is a matter of prolepsis. Christ is given all things but does not yet currently have all things in his possession. In other words, he has the deed to the house but hasn't evicted the squatters yet. Those squatters have legal rights to the house still. They are the previous occupants. In this case, they are the previous localized rulers of the world, angelic and Satanic powers that were given the domain of the world in the fall of the world to the devil (Gen 3) and in the dividing up of the nations at the fall of Babel (Gen 11:1-9; Deut 32:8-9), keeping only Israel for himself, since he is the king of Israel. This is why Peter's sermon in Acts 2 quotes Psalm 110 yet again and then declares that the entire house of Israel needs to know that God has made Jesus both Messiah and Lord of that house, not David. Hence, God has restored the Davidic king to his throne, and that throne is the throne of David, the rule of Israel. Yet, Christ also reigns at God's right hand, which we will talk about next. At some point, as the book of Daniel and prophetic books proclaim, Israel with its Messiah at its head will take possession of all of the nations and all of those nations will come and bow down to it. Of course, what we learn from Acts is that Israel, the kingdom of God, is the church of Jesus Christ. So Christ currently rules over the church locally, but the rest of the powers have dominion until he abolishes all rule and authority as 1 Corinthians 15 states. This means that some passages that speak of God having already subjected all things to Christ may be proleptic in that they speak of something that is yet to be accomplished as though it has already been accomplished and currently exists even when it has not yet come about. When Revelation states that Christ was crucified before the foundation of the world, for instance, this is proleptic. Obviously, Christ wasn't literally crucified before the foundation of the world. He wasn't crucified until around A.D. 26-30. However, it is spoken of that way because his crucifixion was a such a sure thing that it was spoken of in a way as though it had already occurred from the "point" it was decreed in eternity past.

Having said this, however, there is another fundamental point that needs to be understood. As I just argued above, Christ is made the king of Israel. He is not made the king of the nations or the world for that matter. The devil is not only the invisible ruler of this world who currently is at work in it as its ruler (Eph 2:2), he is the god of this age (2 Cor 4:4), the age in which Paul is currently existing when he says this after the resurrection of Christ, after Christ has been given all authority in heaven and earth. So Christ is the king of the world but the devil is the king of the world? Christ is the Lord of the world but the devil is the god of this world/age? This makes no sense unless we understand that the terminology of all authority in heaven and earth, subjecting all things, at the right hand of God, etc. refers to Christ taking up the position of the Sovereign Lord God who reigns cosmically over all things as the Father has always reigned cosmically over all things, even while the lower regents of the devil and the fallen angels have ruled the world.

This means that Christ is ruling as King of kings and Lord of lords, i.e., the emperor of the cosmos as the Father once ruled but now has given all authority over the Son to bring about the salvation of the members of his nation, Israel, the church. Hence, he now works all things as God the Father once did. The idea is not that God the Father isn't doing anything now but that there is no disagreement between the Father and the Son in moving all things toward the one goal. This is why 1 Corinthians 15 says that once Christ has put all things under his feet he won't reign in this way anymore. Instead, he must reign until a point in time when he abolishes all of these lower regents. Once he does that, then, the text says, he'll hand the kingdom over to the Father. This is why Jesus states in Revelation 3:21. He doesn't take some other throne. He's not sitting on the devil's throne who clearly has all power in the book so much so that he gives the world power to the empire of Rome and its Caesar and has the authority and right to kill all of the members of Christ's spiritual Israel who reside in his world. The devil, not Christ, is the localized authority over the world. Christ has taken the throne of the Father that is far above all rule and authority as the cosmic King of kings and Lord of lords. He will hand this throne back to the Father once the earthly throne of Israel is all that is left in the world and he returns to rule over the world as the sole ruler of the localized domain.

Again, he is the king of Israel, the Davidic king, in reference to the world, not the king of the whole world as the under-regent of it. He rules all things in terms of directing all things toward the good of his people's salvation, preparing them for the world that Auctor tells us has been subjected to him, the world to come.

Ephesians 1:19-23 states this same bifurcation between the cosmic role of an emperor over the universe versus the localized role where Christ is head of the church, not the new ruler of the domains of the angelic rulers and authorities who are still in power. Christ does not abolish them yet here. Instead, he rules over them as God the Father has always ruled over them cosmically and toward his ultimate goal of the new heavens and earth.

And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. 

Notice that he is made the cosmic ruler over all things but made head over all things in the church. So the entirety of the cosmos is subject to him in the sense that he rules as God the Father has always ruled, even during the localized rule of the devil, but he is made head only over all things in the church when it comes to localized dominion within the world. This means that Christ reigns in the world by reigning over his people who are the church, i.e., Israel. He rules over the cosmos by directing all things toward the goal of their salvation but this includes leaving the current rulers in their places until the time which (the Greek of 1 Cor 15:25).

This whole understanding causes us to read 1 Corinthians 15:23-28 with far more light on what is happening here, so I'm now going to translate this text from the Greek without leaving out what English translations traditionally do.

23 Ἕκαστος δὲ ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ τάγματι· ἀπαρχὴ Χριστός, ἔπειτα οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ, 24 εἶτα τὸ τέλος, ὅταν ⸀παραδιδῷ τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί, ὅταν καταργήσῃ πᾶσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ πᾶσαν ἐξουσίαν καὶ δύναμιν. 25 δεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν βασιλεύειν ἄχρι οὗ θῇ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. 26 ἔσχατος ἐχθρὸς καταργεῖται ὁ θάνατος·* 27 πάντα γὰρ ὑπέταξεν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. ὅταν δὲ εἴπῃ °ὅτι πάντα ὑποτέτακται, δῆλον ὅτι ἐκτὸς τοῦ ὑποτάξαντος αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα. 28 ὅταν δὲ ὑποταγῇ αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα, τότε °[καὶ] αὐτὸς ὁ υἱὸς ὑποταγήσεται τῷ ὑποτάξαντι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα,* ἵνα ᾖ ὁ θεὸς °1[τὰ] πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν. (Kurt Aland et al., Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th Edition. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012), 1 Co 15:23–28).

23 But each in its own order: Christ as firstfruits, then those of Christ at his coming. 24 At that time it is the end: when he hands the kingdom over to the God and Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until the time which he places the enemies under his feet. 26 Death is the last enemy to be abolished. 27 For He has subjected all things under his feet. But when it says, "for all things have been subjected," it is clear that the One who subjected all things to him is excepted. 28 But when all things are subjected to him then the Son himself will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to him in order that in this God will become all in all.

Now, I could go on all day with this passage but this last phrase is often missed by people. It is not until the time when all rule and authority and power, i.e., the magistrates of the localized world, are abolished that the Son will be again made subject to the Father rather than reigning together with Him on His throne. He is made subject to the Father by becoming the localized ruler of the world after abolishing the other rule and authority, as we also see in Daniel (the rock destroys all of the nations until there are no more nations for any other people except the kingdom of God, then it takes over the world). It is not until this happens that Christ gives over the kingdom/domain/throne he has been ruling, which is his Father's kingdom/domain/throne and takes up his earthly throne over the entire world as the Davidic king of Israel who has conquered the world. And it is only at this time that God will become all in all because right now God is not the God of the world, the devil is. But when Christ takes it back at his return, then God will also rule all things both cosmically and locally, and hence, be all things to all things. 

Hence, there are two kingdoms. The kingdom of the devil and the kingdom of God, and it is our job to get as many people as God has chosen into the kingdom of God and prepare them for the new world. It is not our job to try and make the devil's kingdom look more like the kingdom of God. It is our job to disciple individuals in the nations by baptizing them (masculine pronoun not in agreement with "nations" a feminine noun, so showing that its individuals not whole nations btw) and teaching them all that Christ commanded. Christ is preparing the people now. The place is not yet prepared by him but will be.

So I would heartily affirm Kuyper's quotation that there is not one square inch of the world that Christ looks at and doesn't say, "Mine," if it is also understood that there is also not one square inch of the physical world that Christ looks at and has actually taken yet. He captures the souls of his people now so that he might redeem them physically in the creation of the world to come. Hence, in response to his being given authority over all things he tasks the church to do just that: As you go, make disciples, not buildings, not cultures, not governments, not breweries, etc. You can do and should do all these things just as a people, but the church has the task of making disciples because that is the work of the specific kingdom of Christ in this world until the day dawns and the kingdom of men has become the kingdom of our God and His Christ (Rev 11:15-19).

Already, Not Yet.