COMMANDS OR BEATITUDES?

Important concepts: offences, faith, duty, and glorification. Now read excerpts from Jesus’s discussion about those things:

KEY VERSES:

¹ Then said he (Jesus) unto the disciples, “It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come;” ^!5 The apostles said unto the Lord, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5);  Jesus said, ¹⁰ “When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do;” and ¹⁵ One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God (Luke 17:5,10, & 15)

  Jesus frightened the apostles. In verse 1, Jesus told them that some would offend Him. Offending God is sin. For there to be an offence, the Law must still be valid. There are 611 Mosaic Laws and the Pharisees had expanded them with regulations and rituals. Although Mosaic Laws are still the Will of God, they are trivial when compared with God’s Laws. I make a distinction because Moses wrote his laws on material that would perish with time, but the “finger of God” (Exod 31:18) wrote God’s Laws on stone for perpetuity.
  God manifested to mankind is Jesus. The finger of God is God manifested. Jesus wrote the Ten Commandments with His own hand. That Jesus wrote the Ten Commandments is clear by their introduction:

¹ And God spake all these words, saying, ² “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exod 20:1-2)

  First, the Lord identified Himself as God, then reminded them that it was He who had kept them safe from sin and also identified the forthcoming Words as His. The apostle John identified the Word as Jesus (John 1). Not only were the Ten Commandments spoken by Jesus but also it was Jesus who saved them from the god called “Pharaoh.” Yes, Pharaoh considered himself a “god,” and truly was an emissary of the Devil. Hence, Jesus had kept the Jews safe from the Evil One.

(Note that I write safe rather than saved because the exodus is about Hebrew safety. Few were saved and perished in the wilderness which represents the world. Likewise, our own exodus from sin is about safety until we endure to the end, but that is another subject for another day.)

  The point is that the Ten Commandments are Jesus’s Words as Jesus vocally spoke to Moses. Jesus spoke them as He wrote them with His finger.
  Jesus came not destroy the Law but to fulfill it (Mat 5:17). Why would Jesus destroy what He had written? How did He fulfill the Law? He explained what He meant. The Law is love, according to several verses among which among them are: “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law,” (Rom 13:10) and “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Gal 5:14).
  Note that the Ten Words, not the Ten Commandments, are fulfilled with only “one Word” and that is to love others. And how much? As intensely as you love yourself. How intense is that? That they should never perish which is, by the way, how much God loves you (John 3:16).
  The Hebrew for “commandment” is tsavah. As with many words, there are either multiple definitions or degrees. In the case of tsavah, the intensity level is all the way from “send a message” to “make a command” (Strong’s Dictionary). In the Greek, Jesus asked, What did Moses entello you?” (Mark 10:3). Likewise, entello, translated “command” has degrees. In this case “enjoin” is another possibility (ibid).
  Perhaps the Ten Words (Exod 20:1; and called that by Jews) were meant to be just that! Jesus enjoined them to have the demeanor to be that Way. The Ten Commandments, or Ten Words, are Jesus’s message to mankind wherein He enjoins them to do His Will rather than their own.
  From the key verses (Luke 17:1), Jesus called them “offences.” Not only would disregard for some of the Ten Words offend Jesus, but many would offend others. Violations for offences are not damning but results in “skandalon” (Greek; “impediments”). Rather than commands, the Ten Words should, perhaps, be the Ten Things which most offends the Will of God. If they are considered as only stumbling blocks to healthy spiritual living, and that they are not damning, that makes them obtainable. How so? Because if taken as offensive to Jesus, then they are not coercive, but Ways to please God!
  But Jesus said, “Woe to them” (verse 1) who offends. The Third Word explains that attitude — taking Jesus Words in vain. Look at that saying,  “Thou shalt not take God’s Name in vain.” Does that not apply to taking all Jesus’s Ten Sayings vainly? Thus, those who have an attitude of apathy to God will be in danger of perishing. Looking at Jesus’s Will apathetically is what is damning. God will not make Christians do those things, but our will must be in harmony with Jesus’s Will, and that is summarized by those metrics of Law of Love.
  The apostles, wanting not to offend Jesus, said, “Increase our faith” (key verse 15). They were asking what to do to limit them offending Jesus. With that request, Jesus spoke about the healing of the leper. However, before doing so, Jesus chastised on their own attitudes; ““When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (key verse 10). Therein, where “commanded” is translated, Jesus said, diatarasso, meaning “trouble” them with (ibid). Is it not ironic that Christians consider the Ten Words as troublesome rather than opportunities for glorifying God?
  Jesus basically cautioned them that merely DOING those troublesome things would not be beneficial. That was their “duty.” The troublesome things should not be troublesome but as Christians they should be willing workers. Again, it is attitudinal. They should love glorifying God by DOING the things Jesus said and wrote in the Ten Words during the exodus. The attitude must not be, I must oblige God, but I want to out of respect and gratitude. The Ten Words are what the Lord’s disciples should want to do. They are not for atheists nor pagans, but for God’s people. Hence, they are not soterial but ordinances, which is another meaning whereat “commandments” are translated.
  Then how were the apostles to increase their faith? It was simple! Jesus used the example of the leper: “When he (the leper) saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God” (key verse 15).  In gratitude for Jesus’s healing of his malady, the leper “glorified God.” It is clear here, in the context of commandments, that they are not things Christians must do, but how they are to “glorify God.” Jesus healed me from perishing by dying instead of me. Great! What should be my response for that extreme healing? Like the leper, those who Jesus eternally “heals” should glorify Him. How can Christians glorify God? By doing what He says we should do! He wrote them on stone so that we would never forget just how to glorify Him.
  Mankind — Adam with his first sin — diminished God by sinning. Jesus died for Adam’s sin, and thus all Adam-kind must, rather than diminish, glorify God. Adam would do that by obedience, although he would stumble many times (Books of Adam and Eve).  The Ten Words are ten ways that Adam stumbled. He stumbled but he did not succumb to rebellion. Iniquity is when the Law becomes frivolous, and apostasy is when Christians care not whether they please Jesus or not! That is the “woe” unto the unprofitable disciples who only do the minimum as any servant would do, but never take the extra step of loving the Master as any profitable servant would.
  Note that the leper did nothing in gratitude. He merely glanced back, and that glance of appreciation glorified God, and also testified to those who saw him turning, to look around who it was that healed. And who he glorified. Heartfelt emotions mean so much more than doing things. Doing what we consider as commands that servants must do glorifies nobody. Considering them as privileges in gratitude says so much more!

(picture credit: FreeBibleImages.com)