March 8, 2015
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| The Ten Commandments |
During Lent in Year B of the three-year lectionary cycle, the Old Testament readings at Sunday Mass focus attention on the theme of Covenant. To review what I said two weeks ago: in the ancient Near East, a covenant was a well-known form of agreement or treaty between two parties usually but not always of unequal power and status: a superior and an inferior, such as a powerful king and a vassal.
In a typical covenant, the superior party promised some benefit, such as military protection and good government, to the inferior party, in return for the inferior party’s pledge of obedience, loyalty, and tribute. Very often, also, the parties to such a covenant erected some sort of monument to stand as a perpetual sign and reminder of the agreement they’d made.
A basic principle of biblical theology is that in revealing himself to his people in a particular time at a particular place, God accommodates himself to their dominant images, symbols, and categories of thought, to make himself understandable in the context of their society and culture. So, it’s not surprising that the Old Testament depicts the relationship between God and his people as unfolding through a series of covenants. In each covenant, God makes a promise, usually makes some demand in return, and usually gives some sign to stand as a reminder of the covenant.
Two weeks ago, the Old Testament reading reminded us of God’s covenant with Noah, in which God promised never again to destroy the earth by water. The sign of that covenant was the rainbow.
Last week, the reading reminded us of God’s covenant with Abraham, in which God promised to make Abraham the ancestor of a great nation in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. The sign of that covenant was circumcision.
Today, we come to the third of the great covenants of the Old Testament, God’s Covenant with Moses on Mount Sinai. In this covenant God promises the twelve tribes of Israel that they will enter and take possession of the Promised Land, and that he will be their God and they will be his People, if they keep his laws and commandments. The sign of this covenant is the two stone Tables of the Law that Moses brings down from the mountain. And inscribed on these two Tables are the Ten Commandments.
Jews and Christians alike revere the Ten Commandments as the definitive summary of God’s moral law. Even though the Church early on set aside many of the ritual and ceremonial precepts of the Torah as no longer binding upon Christians, we’ve nonetheless always recognized the Ten Commandments as a digest of moral principles that remain valid for all people in all times and places. G.K. Chesterton once said that you can’t break the Ten Commandments; you can only break yourself against them.
The Ten Commandments are best understood in the context of the story of how they’re given. Moses leads the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt with great signs and wonders. At the Red Sea, they’re miraculously delivered from death at the hands of the Egyptians when God parts the waters to let them cross over on dry land. They enter the wilderness and come to the foot of Mount Sinai. The mountain is covered by clouds of thick darkness and flashes of fire. Alone, Moses ascends the mountain, to receive God’s law.
The first commandment refers explicitly to this preceding sequence of events: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods but me.” Here God is saying, in effect, “Now that I’ve done all this for you; here’s what I expect of you in return.”
The purpose of the Covenant is to call the people into relationship with the Lord who has delivered them from slavery. Henceforth, their motive in obeying the Commandments will be to express their gratitude and loyalty to the God who has chosen them as a people for His own possession.
The Christian Church has traditionally interpreted the Ten Commandments in light of our Lord’s Summary of the Law in Matthew 22:37-40: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
In a typical covenant, the superior party promised some benefit, such as military protection and good government, to the inferior party, in return for the inferior party’s pledge of obedience, loyalty, and tribute. Very often, also, the parties to such a covenant erected some sort of monument to stand as a perpetual sign and reminder of the agreement they’d made.
A basic principle of biblical theology is that in revealing himself to his people in a particular time at a particular place, God accommodates himself to their dominant images, symbols, and categories of thought, to make himself understandable in the context of their society and culture. So, it’s not surprising that the Old Testament depicts the relationship between God and his people as unfolding through a series of covenants. In each covenant, God makes a promise, usually makes some demand in return, and usually gives some sign to stand as a reminder of the covenant.
Two weeks ago, the Old Testament reading reminded us of God’s covenant with Noah, in which God promised never again to destroy the earth by water. The sign of that covenant was the rainbow.
Last week, the reading reminded us of God’s covenant with Abraham, in which God promised to make Abraham the ancestor of a great nation in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. The sign of that covenant was circumcision.
Today, we come to the third of the great covenants of the Old Testament, God’s Covenant with Moses on Mount Sinai. In this covenant God promises the twelve tribes of Israel that they will enter and take possession of the Promised Land, and that he will be their God and they will be his People, if they keep his laws and commandments. The sign of this covenant is the two stone Tables of the Law that Moses brings down from the mountain. And inscribed on these two Tables are the Ten Commandments.
Jews and Christians alike revere the Ten Commandments as the definitive summary of God’s moral law. Even though the Church early on set aside many of the ritual and ceremonial precepts of the Torah as no longer binding upon Christians, we’ve nonetheless always recognized the Ten Commandments as a digest of moral principles that remain valid for all people in all times and places. G.K. Chesterton once said that you can’t break the Ten Commandments; you can only break yourself against them.
The Ten Commandments are best understood in the context of the story of how they’re given. Moses leads the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt with great signs and wonders. At the Red Sea, they’re miraculously delivered from death at the hands of the Egyptians when God parts the waters to let them cross over on dry land. They enter the wilderness and come to the foot of Mount Sinai. The mountain is covered by clouds of thick darkness and flashes of fire. Alone, Moses ascends the mountain, to receive God’s law.
The first commandment refers explicitly to this preceding sequence of events: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods but me.” Here God is saying, in effect, “Now that I’ve done all this for you; here’s what I expect of you in return.”
The purpose of the Covenant is to call the people into relationship with the Lord who has delivered them from slavery. Henceforth, their motive in obeying the Commandments will be to express their gratitude and loyalty to the God who has chosen them as a people for His own possession.
The Christian Church has traditionally interpreted the Ten Commandments in light of our Lord’s Summary of the Law in Matthew 22:37-40: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
The classical Christian tradition sees the first four commandments as teaching what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind: You shall have no other Gods before me, you shall not make any idol, you shall not take the Lord’s name in vain, remember to keep holy the Sabbath Day. The remaining six commandments teach what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves: Honor your father and your mother, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet.
The Ten Commandments are worthy of memorization, study, and reflection. We Anglicans have traditionally used them as an outline for examining our consciences and repenting of our sins before we come to Holy Communion, which is why they’re printed in the Prayer Book at the very beginning of the Eucharistic Liturgy.
But it’s crucial to remember that we cannot save ourselves by keeping these laws. Notice that God gives the Commandments to the Israelites after He’s saved them from the Egyptians, not before. Similarly, for us, salvation comes to us first, apart from works of the law. If we try to fulfill God’s commandments by our own efforts, we quickly discover how far short we fall of the mark, and how much we need God’s forgiveness and grace.
Instead, God offers us eternal salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and we receive that salvation in faith. Then, and only then, do the Commandments come into play as a means of teaching us a way of life appropriate to our identity as a redeemed people, a way of life by which we express our gratitude and loyalty to God for all that he’s already done for us.
During this Season of Lent, then, the Church calls us to renew our commitment to keeping God’s Law. But we do so never as a means of earning God’s favor – as if that were possible – but always as an expression of love for God, who in Christ Jesus has loved us first.
The Ten Commandments are worthy of memorization, study, and reflection. We Anglicans have traditionally used them as an outline for examining our consciences and repenting of our sins before we come to Holy Communion, which is why they’re printed in the Prayer Book at the very beginning of the Eucharistic Liturgy.
But it’s crucial to remember that we cannot save ourselves by keeping these laws. Notice that God gives the Commandments to the Israelites after He’s saved them from the Egyptians, not before. Similarly, for us, salvation comes to us first, apart from works of the law. If we try to fulfill God’s commandments by our own efforts, we quickly discover how far short we fall of the mark, and how much we need God’s forgiveness and grace.
Instead, God offers us eternal salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and we receive that salvation in faith. Then, and only then, do the Commandments come into play as a means of teaching us a way of life appropriate to our identity as a redeemed people, a way of life by which we express our gratitude and loyalty to God for all that he’s already done for us.
During this Season of Lent, then, the Church calls us to renew our commitment to keeping God’s Law. But we do so never as a means of earning God’s favor – as if that were possible – but always as an expression of love for God, who in Christ Jesus has loved us first.
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