5. Become worthy of the message embedded in the Sermon on the Mount.

Reflecting on what I had written in my last Blog, 'Where Have All Our Prophets Gone', and the significant contribution Geza Vermes has made in helping us to appreciate the Gospels in their cultural milieu, the compilation of wisdom sayings in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew chapters 5-7),  referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, are often seen as the core of Christian ethical teaching.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) made a similar discovery after reading the whole Bible while studying at Oxford University, in response to a challenge from a Christian friend. He found much of the Bible invariably sent him to sleep, except for the Sermon on the Mount. He later wrote:

"The Sermon on the Mount... went straight to my heart. I compared it with the Gita... The Sermon on the Mount gives the same law in wonderful language... supposing I was deprived of the Gita and forgot all its contents but had a copy of the Sermon, I should derive the same joy from it as I do from the Gita ... Truth is the first thing to be sought for, and Beauty and Goodness will then be added unto you. Jesus was, to my mind, a supreme artist because he saw and expressed Truth."

When asked, another time Gandhi replied, "What would be your message to a Christian like my fellows and me?" Mahatma Gandhi replied: "Become worthy of the message that is embedded in the Sermon on the Mount."

Gandhi's experience was something similar to that of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher and the 3rd President of the United States (1797-1801). He also produced what is commonly referred to as the 'Jefferson Bible' in 1820, although he never referred to it as such, producing a single copy for his own reflection, titled in his handwriting: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted Textually from the Gospels in Greek, Latin, French & English.

Jefferson's approach had some similarities to that of Vermes and the Jesus Seminar project of the 1980s-1990s. While he lacked the scholastic training and background of the Jesus Seminar Project, Jefferson's motivation in highlighting the philosophy of Jesus was to inspire love of God and neighbour. After his death, The Smithsonian Institute acquired his book and the Government Printing Office supplied all new members of Congress with a copy when they took their oath of office. While this practice stopped in the 1950s, the Libertarian Press revived the practice in 1997, and copies are still available in the public domain.

What is interesting, and echoes Gandhi's comment above and Jefferson's motivation, is if each one of us, in response to the current tensions and violence of our world, "Became worthy of the message that is embedded in the Sermon on the Mount." our world would be vastly different place regardless of who we are, or whether we have a religious faith, or no faith at all.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

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• R.W. Funk. The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus, Harper-san Francisco; (1998) 
• Gandhi, M.K. (1959) What Jesus Means to Me. Complied by R.K. Prabhu, Navajiva Publishing House, India. pdf download available at http://www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/whatjesusmeanstome.pdf. Accessed 18/6/16.
• Jefferson, T, The Jefferson Bible, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, Smithsonian Books (2011).