civic code. However in Jewish theology, they are often also referred to as the “10 Teachings”. This terminology is in fact more appropriate, as it alludes to their true purpose and meaning.
The Ten Commandments: the Way to the “Tree of Life”
Just as the “Tree of Life” and the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” have ten fruit, what Moses brought down from Mount Sinai was not a set of rules but a map of the “Tree of Life”—the blueprint to God’s Holy Mountain.
The Decalogue can be viewed from the top down or the bottom up. From the top down it can be seen as the “Word of God” issuing forth from the mouth of God. From the bottom up, it marks out the course of the human journey towards God. Each commandment enshrines a timeless moral principle illustrated by a concrete outer court cultural expression of it anachronistically expressed in the terms of contemporary Hebrew culture at the time. The true nature of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, however, is revealed by Jesus in the gospels.
The Ten Commandments: the Way to the “Tree of Life”
Just as the “Tree of Life” and the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” have ten fruit, what Moses brought down from Mount Sinai was not a set of rules but a map of the “Tree of Life”—the blueprint to God’s Holy Mountain.
The Decalogue can be viewed from the top down or the bottom up. From the top down it can be seen as the “Word of God” issuing forth from the mouth of God. From the bottom up, it marks out the course of the human journey towards God. Each commandment enshrines a timeless moral principle illustrated by a concrete outer court cultural expression of it anachronistically expressed in the terms of contemporary Hebrew culture at the time. The true nature of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, however, is revealed by Jesus in the gospels.
Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but complete them.
I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved.
Therefore the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
You have learned how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. . . . You have learnt how it was said: You must not commit adultery. But I say this to you: if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart . . . . {Matthew 5.17-28]
I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved.
Therefore the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
You have learned how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. . . . You have learnt how it was said: You must not commit adultery. But I say this to you: if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart . . . . {Matthew 5.17-
Jesus is clearly teaching that each commandment is in fact a life-giving spiritual principle that needs to be spiritually explored to its source if it is to bear the fruit of a resurrected consciousness.
The Israelites tended to understand the Decalogue as a civic code and so failed to appreciate the spiritual principles that lay beyond the letter of the law. They could not grow to the next level without first questioning this understanding. Thus Jesus was considered by the Pharisees to be “a Samaritan possessed by a devil”.
The Israelites tended to understand the Decalogue as a civic code and so failed to appreciate the spiritual principles that lay beyond the letter of the law. They could not grow to the next level without first questioning this understanding. Thus Jesus was considered by the Pharisees to be “a Samaritan possessed by a devil”.
