Wednesday

Clear on the Beck side, but on the Bay side, imprisoned! Windows and doors on the Bay side are taped and covered over prep to painting. Cannot see or go out. Porch deck needs refinishing as well, but I think the HOA is contemplating what do do about that; I'd just as soon they leave it alone and I promise not to look down at the floor. 

At any event, this closed in feeling is temporary, leading, one anticipates, to better than ever, which is the theme of HMichael recovery overall. I tend to be a realist not an optimist, but so far, the theme seems to be coming true for some of us but by no means all of us. Driving around this south end of Bay County, one sees many residences and businesses still in ruins, some homes lived in anyway, many vacant. Not to say abandoned, but it seems like many folks either collected their insurance money and ran or had no insurance and cannot afford to repair or rebuild so have simply packed up and moved on.

Us, we have been fortunate on most all fronts so far, and 7H is coming back together along with the rest of Harbour Village.

The gospel reading for Sunday continues Matthew's presentation of Jesus' sermon on the mount. Some of it seems puzzling, as in What the heck is he saying?

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Matthew 5:13-20

13 You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

14 You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.


17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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As with any writing, we have an author who is writing for a reason, with an objective, a purpose, an agenda. Matthew is the author, Jesus did not write his own autobiography. In Matthew's presentation Jesus' words are used in context of Matthew's objective, which is acclaiming Jesus as Christ, Messiah. Verses 13-16 seem to single out as chosen and special, the Christian community that is Matthew's intended audience, members of the Jewish-Christian church to whom he, Matthew, is proclaiming Christ, telling them that they are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. 

Again, remember that Matthew is writing in retrospect, decades after Easter, maybe 85-90 AD, to convince his audience that Jesus was/is the Messiah foretold in Hebrew scripture; so, things Matthew quotes Jesus saying that may puzzle us likely would have been perfectly clear to Mathew's friends and neighbors who read and heard his gospel.

As for verses 17-20, Matthew may seem to contradict Paul's teaching that with the coming of Christ, the Law no longer holds, but that's not the case. Paul was teaching Gentiles that they did not need to be circumcised and become law-observant practicing Jews in order to claim salvation through Christ. Matthew, on the other hand, is teaching Jewish-Christians, whom here he tells that they indeed continue to be subject to the Law of Moses. This in fact is Paul's teaching also: not only does Paul hold that Jews who convert to Jesus continue subject to the Law, he warns Gentiles not to be circumcised into Judaism, because once they do that they also become fully subject to the Law of Moses. So, I see no contradiction here between Matthew and Paul.

But as always, I'm never certain.

T