Emergent theology—or most liberal theology of the last couple decades—centers their theology in the Sermon on the Mount. For them, the Incarnation means a radical reorienting of morality, an egalitarian (used broadly) ethic, a new law. The emphasis is on Jesus' radical teaching.
Everyone has a hermeneutical lens through which they read Scripture. Often this lens is a part of Scripture that is seen as most significant. The reason I most closely align myself with the reformers is that they, as a whole, most closely focus their hermeneutic on what is the most significant event not only in Scripture but in all history: the Passion of the Incarnate.
Jesus' teachings are hugely important, but if all God were out to do was correct some bad doctrine, he hardly needed to humble himself and become man to do so. There is something much more significant than a new teaching going on in the Incarnation: the reconciliation of God and man that could only occur by the particularity of Jesus Christ, true God of true God, becoming flesh and dying as a propitiation for our sins.
This is what the Reformers are getting at in centering their reading Scripture in Romans 9-11. It is essentially saying, "Thanks be to God that he has provided sacrifice for our sins, Jew and Gentile, and that the Good News is going out to all nations." Romans 9-11 is a theological (and practical!) outworking of the Passion narratives.
I am becoming increasingly convinced that God created the world so that he could demonstrate his steadfast love through the Incarnation and death of Jesus Christ. This is the centerpiece of all history; this is the purpose and the meaning of all things. Using on the Sermon on the Mount as a central hermeneutic of Scripture comes up short in at least two ways. First, The Sermon on the Mount does not appear in all the Gospel accounts. The Passion does. If the primary significance of Jesus' incarnation were his rabbinical teachings on the Law of Moses, wouldn't all of the Gospel writers have communicated this as clearly as Matthew and Luke do? Second, this teaching dangerously reduces Jesus to a moral teacher—a view that is incongruous with the whole of Scripture. One can focus on the reconciliatory work of Christ and still (necessarily!) see the significance of his teachings. Focusing first on his teachings obscures the reason the God became flesh.
This Lent, reflect first on what great love is yours in Christ Jesus, who humbled himself to the point of death–even death on a cross—in order to reconcile a sinner like you to God. Then, through the lens of such great love to you and empowered by the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to those who believe in him, seek to live in love in accordance with the teachings of the one who demonstrated perfect love. One cannot embrace the first without embracing the second; the former necessarily leads to the latter. But one is utterly hopeless in truly living out Jesus' teachings unless the reality of the Cross has transformed him in the innermost.
No comments:
Post a Comment