It's hard, yes

Was the Galilean just being sarcastic on that hillside in Judea? That seems to provide an excuse today for many things we don’t want to hear. He said, for example, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” (Matthew 5:22, NIV) Did the really mean that? Tough? Demanding? Yes.

He didn’t stop there. He continued, “Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ [An Aramaic term of contempt] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

“But,” we say, “Using that sermon as a guide to life is hard.” Oh yes. It forces one to determine just how badly they want to be a follower of the Galilean. Claiming sanctuary in the sanctity of The Sermon is a bit difficult, no doubt, for a man enjoying his third marriage while valuing riches above all other treasures and saying "Raca" to anyone who doesn’t follow his every footstep. Provisions of The Sermon are nothing, if not demanding.

“But,’ we say, “Isn’t it possible to be a good disciple by choosing some other passages? There are plenty of passages in Paul’s letters by which we can easily eke through life. Besides, he lets us hate the ones we want to hate."

Paul was Paul and the Galilean was the Son of God. He said so himself. When the road gets rocky, “who you gonna call?”

“But,” we say, remembering something we heard once, “Isn’t the code of The Sermon more what you call guidelines than actual rules?”

One of the most interesting ironies of modern Christianity resides in how quickly we can go from “The Bible says it and I believe it,” to “That’s taken out of context.” It is particularly prevalent in political circles since religion can be softened, twisted, obfuscated, and selectively re-mastered for political gain. That’s probably why the founders of the Union chose to separate religion and politics. To date, for example, no politician has ever counseled inserting The Beatitudes into the U.S. Constitution.

Perhaps we amuse the Galilean, but it’s doubtful that he was simply being sarcastic on that obscure hill. In more modern times, England’s Henry II voiced his famous “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” Thomas Beckett learned, and since then we have all known, that the mutterings of a leader have consequences. Ask the Europeans. Not many words have been more profound, though stiffened by challenge, as our Sermon on the Mount. The fact that they are so largely ignored in today’s America in no way diminishes their power, notwithstanding their difficulty, the presence of alternative guides, or a belief that they were simply suggestions.

There is no doubt that the Galilean threw his followers a challenge, but sarcasm?

No.