The Kingdom of God:
The Sermon on the Mount
by Archbishop Dmitri Royster
St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1992
128 pages
Goodreads

Notes from Chapter 10:

The commandments were not given to lay a heavy, impossible burden on man, nor to restrict and control him. On the contrary, they were given out of His mercy and boundless love for the one He Had created in His image and likeness. It was His will that man too should be motivated in all his relations by mercy and love.
p.46

Love is the underlying principle of all the commandments…
This was not a new concept introduced by Jesus, but was always the spirit of the commandments even under the old Covenant (see Dt 6:5 and Lev 19:18). On the other hand, the Lord did add a new dimension to the commandments: “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (Jn 13:34-35). The newness of this commandment is the expressed will of the Son of God that we love one another as He has loved us– that is, with a self-giving, selfless, sacrificial love. This He commanded His disciples after He had told them of His death on behalf of mankind.
p.47

When we understand that God provided the commandments as guides in the way of love, we can appreciate why He begins His explanation of their true meaning with the Sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”
p.48

PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THESE NOTES
Any reflection on these quotes?