Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up a mountain. He sat down and his disciples came to him. He taught them, saying… — Matthew 5:1-2
Have you ever noticed that some of the Ten Commandments are written negatively, framed in the “thou shalt not’s?” That’s on purpose. They restrict the way people will live together in community. That’s necessary for safety’s sake. You can’t have people lying, killing, stealing, and still have a healthy society.
And have you noticed how Jesus framed his Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12)? They are the backbone of how people are to live with each other in God’s kingdom. They don’t begin with the negative but with the positive: “Happy are people who…” Jesus described the qualities of the heart that are necessary to live the way God has dreamed of us living. Having a passion for justice, being humble, showing compassion, etc. You can’t have people living totally legalistically and still be focused on grace, mercy, relationship-building, and making peace. Law restricts. Love frees.
The curious thing is that it’s always easier living with the black/white restrictions of the law instead of with the creative freedom of life described by Jesus. That’s perhaps why Jesus was ticked at the Pharisees who reveled in legalism. And that’s also why some Christians may sound like Pharisees today.
I would commend to you Father Richard Rohr’s devotion, “A Joining of Law and Love,” where he explores the difference between commandment and beatitude. He summed it up nicely: But to follow Jesus is to follow him out of the legality of systems and into living in a much larger truth. It’s to move to a more mature level of faith, where we discover God much more as lifegiver than lawgiver.