The Torah, the commandments given by God, were always perceived as a guide along the path of righteousness. It is not surprising that Jesus turns...
The Torah, the commandments given by God, were always perceived as a guide along the path of righteousness. It is not surprising that Jesus turns to the Torah, and more precisely to the Decalogue, interpreting its commandments from the point of view of the Kingdom He brought into the world. And from the point of view of the Kingdom, what comes to the fore is not the action as such, but the intention behind it, the intent a person invests in the action he performs. And if the intention is present, the actual fact of performing or not performing the action changes nothing in principle. If, for example, a person hates his neighbor so much that he is ready to kill him, Jesus, as one can see, equates such hatred with murder.
At first glance such an approach may seem too strict. But it must be kept in mind that the inner Torah, about which many learned rabbis and teachers of the Torah spoke in those days, put precisely intention, intent, in the foreground. Getting rid of evil intentions was considered the most important step on the path to acquiring the inner Torah. But the issue is not only the inner Torah as such. The issue is also that intentions have special significance for the Kingdom. After all, the substance of the Kingdom is God's breath, and its fabric is formed by the relationships that bind a person both with God and with Christ, and with neighbors.
The quality of relationships determines not only the quality of a person's life in the Kingdom, but also the very possibility of remaining in it. That is why Jesus gives so much attention to intention: after all, every intention of ours, if we are inhabitants of the Kingdom, concerns not only us and the people toward whom it is directed, but the entire Kingdom as a whole, in all its fullness.
47 The vision of the holy waters, Eze 47:1-12.
The borders of the land of Canaan, Eze 47:13-23.
47:1 Eastward - The fountain lay to the west, the conduit pipes were laid to bring the water to the temple, and so must run eastward, and perhaps one main pipe might be laid under the east - gate of the temple.The right side - On the south - side of the temple.
47:2 Out - Of the inmost court. The outer gate - The outmost north - gate in the wall that compassed the whole mountain of the Lord's house.
47:3 He measured - By the line in his hand. He brought me - Went before, and the prophet followed; all this was in vision.
47:8 The sea - The Dead - sea, or lake of Sodom.Shall be healed - The waters of the sea shall be healed, made wholesome.So where the grace of God from his temple and altar flows, it heals the corrupt nature of man, and renders barren terrible deserts, as a land of waters and gardens.
47:9 Shall live - Be preserved alive, and thrive, whereas no fish can live in the Dead - sea. For they - The poisonous waters of the Dead - sea shall be made wholesome for fish. Shall live - Thrive, and multiply in the virtue of the healing streams. Thus is the fruitfulness of the grace of God in the church set forth.