Created in the Image of God

For the last few weeks we have been listening to Matthew 5 and Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. One way to read this is Jesus giving words to what he has already done and laying a theological foundation and what he will say and do for the rest of the gospel. In all this he is reminding his listeners of what Torah and the Prophets have always taught about what the Empire of Heaven looks like, what life looks like (Deuteronomy 30).

In the Beatitudes Jesus says that amongst the most important, those at the centre of the Kingdom of Heaven are those whose ongoing grinding poverty has crushed their spirits, those who mourn, and those who long for God’s justice. He goes on to say that his disciples are those whose lives are shaped by this hope and who will sow the seeds of God’s reign – they will be salt and light.

In Matthew Jesus wasn’t doing something new. He was not replacing the old. He was fulfilling the ancient and trustworthy traditions that come from God. That is important when we read Matthew 5: 21-37. These can easily be read as Jesus offering a new law. Instead, we hear how this life, living the Reign of Heaven, does not come from obedience to rules, or even from focussing on just action. This life comes from allowing yourself to be transformed by these commandments, allowing them to change your motivations, desires and needs. This transformation allows us to see all people as honoured, created in the image of God, to be treated with care and respect; not as objects of our anger, lust and desires.

All of which invites us to ask ourselves, do we hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness or something else?