Sin affects body and soul, right down to the core of our humanity. It calls for a drastic cure, for extreme measures.
No amount of external discipline or moral reform can change the inward ways of the heart. Discipline and therapy may break habits or curb addictions, but even the most rigorous religion fails to change the heart. Cut off the offending hand, you will still have to deal with the other hand. Poke out the offending eye, you will still have to deal with the other eye. And while it is certainly preferable to enter the Kingdom of Heaven with one eye and one hand than to be cast into Hell, cutting off hands and poking out eyes will not get you into the Kingdom of Heaven. Luther and countless other priests, friars, and nuns learned this the hard way at the start of the sixteenth century.
This is what they learned when they took the Law, the divine standard, and plight of the human condition according to the biblical depiction: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees; unless your righteousness exceeds the religious traditions taught by men; unless your righteousness flows from a heart uncorrupted by Sin, then you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” That, my friends, is not a motivational speech to try harder. It does not posit an optimistic anthropology of human ability. Jesus leaves no room for self-justification. And just in case you missed His point about the heart, He discloses what truly is the divine standard: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The divine standard is perfection. And imperfection cannot bring about perfection... ever.
Exceeding the righteousness of the law-devoted Pharisees and facing the divine standard is the deep diagnosis of the Sermon on the Mount. But what do you do when you do not like the doctor’s diagnosis? You get a second opinion. The world of religion is full of second opinions, quack cures, and superficial treatments. And when we get another opinion, we take the most optimistic one, the one which says, “Oh, it is nothing to worry about. You are okay, because what is human is natural, and what is natural is good. Therefore, what is human is good. You have a good heart.” But these doctors of religion, that is those peddling the “traditions of men,” are without credentials. They lack divine certification.
But these doctors of religion, that is those peddling the “traditions of men,” are without credentials. They lack divine certification.
Jesus, however, comes as the perfect the image of God in man, for He is the God-man (Matthew 1:23). He always does those things which please the Father (John 8:29). He is without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Indeed, He conquers Sin and death, and stands as the Lord of life. Only Jesus has the credentials to accurately diagnose, not Rousseau, not Marx, and not Osteen. And only Jesus possesses the healing regimen that avails to eternal life, because He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is perfection. He attains perfection before the Law (Hebrews 5:8-9) and He bestows the perfection, the perfect righteousness we need, while performing heart surgery to remake us in His likeness. True, imperfection cannot attain perfection, but it can be clothed in it. It can be immersed in it (Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:30-7).
Trust Jesus’ diagnosis. He is the Great Physician. He is the curer of souls. He is an expert when it comes to us sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. He knows your humanity better than you do, for He was and is the perfect human, true Son of Mary, true Son of God. He knows the spiritual condition of your heart much better than you. He can read the details of the Law’s MRI. So, preach the Law according to Jesus, that you may rightly proclaim the Gospel according to Jesus in its full sweetness.
The fatal diagnosis has been upended. The wages of Sin is no longer death for the baptized trusting in Christ. On a dark Friday between nine and three, this same Jesus, who speaks here in the Sermon on the Mount regarding the divine standard of perfection, went to the mount called Calvary, not only to expunge our sins, but to become our Sin. He took up the disease called Sin and had it kill Him instead of us. In doing so, He conquered it for all of humanity by dying with it. Furthermore, He fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf, every aspect and every condition of the Law, so that His perfection may be imputed to us. He did it. United to Jesus through Baptism, we know it is ours. Justified by grace, we are now free to live according to a renewed heart conversant with divine love.
This disease is unlike those diseases that affect the body but cannot harm the soul. Sin affects body and soul, right down to the core of our humanity. It calls for a drastic cure, for extreme measures. The Son of God must become a human being born without Sin and take on this invader lodged in our humanity. He must die and rise. And you must die and rise with Him, which graphically and objectively happens in the waters of your Baptism. New life. New heart. New love. New obedience.
