June 21, 2020
We are going to spend the next two weeks together as a church reading Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount! The Sermon on the Mount is the first of Jesus’ major teachings recorded in the gospel of Matthew. In it, Jesus explains the ethics and values of the kingdom of Heaven as opposed to the ethics and values of the world. The values and principles that are to govern our lives as followers of Jesus and citizens of the kingdom of Heaven are wildly different from those that govern the various cultures of our world, including the culture in which we live.
Over the next two weeks, allow the words of the Lord Jesus to challenge the way you think, expose the worldly and idolatrous values and desires of your heart, and transform you to live in the new way that He has laid before us!
This last section of chapter five records Jesus’ explanation of two last commandments. The first of these concerns justice and retaliation, and here Jesus calls those who follow Him to not seek vengeance or retaliation when they are wronged, but to instead turn and be a blessing to those who wrong them. In the second commandment, Jesus corrects the misconception that we should love our neighbor but hate our enemy. On the contrary, Jesus calls His followers to love their enemies and to pray for their good, since in doing so they are demonstrating to them the grace which God shows to all people.
Jesus ends this section of His sermon by saying “You must therefore be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (v.48). Living as a citizen the kingdom of heaven means being a picture of who God is to the world in darkness, and our lives should reflect what He is like!
This seems like an impossibly high calling, but we see in Jesus the perfect example of these ethics lived out: when He was unjustly abused, reviled, mocked, tortured, and killed, He did not retaliate in kind, though it was well within His power to do so. He loved those who were His enemies to the extent that He willingly suffered and died on a criminal’s cross for them. He put the perfection of the Father on display to us perfectly. Let us look to Him as we seek to put these kingdom ethics into practice!
Matthew 5:38-48
Retaliation
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Love Your Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Family Discussion Question:
- How can we be people who, like Jesus, love those who are our enemies? What can that look like in our lives?
Father, thank you for loving me, a wretched sinner. Thank you for transforming me and giving me the strength to continue the battle. Help me to put away childish and evil habits. Father, I surrender to your Son. On this day, we celebrate Father’s Day, may we all bow and humbling thank you, our heavenly Father. Please hear the cries of your Son who is asking you for lost souls today. As he names them, send your Holy Spirit to draw them to you. May I not be a stumbling block for any. Now…let’s be going, together, to find one more lost soul to share the gospel … Amen
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this wonderful day when we celebrate all Fathers. You are our ultimate Father, for You are our Creator, our Savior and Friend. The plans and instructions for our lives have already been laid out for us in perfect detail. You are the Great Architect and the perfect picture of what the finished product should be. Help me to follow every step and construct my life in such a way that You have shown. The end product will be far from perfect but hopefully it will demonstrate that I did my very best. And hopefully, in the end,You will say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” In Jesus’ precious and holy name. Amen.
Thank you Holy Spirit for teaching to forgive those whom have hurt me by conviction in my heart that I have known I have done wrong. When I forgive That person the peace of God was restored back in my life. I now now know what Jesus was teaching in the Bible is that we are to love every one and when someone offends me just give it to God.
I firmly believe that we are in the last days, that is the rapture is near. The world has gotten so evil and wicked that if you don’t have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the mere existence on earth must be frightening and depressing. As time passes, I find myself looking upward more than looking around in the world. Even so come Lord Jesus.
Amen???!
44. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you……
As I seek to be more like Jesus, He calls me to do the “hard things.” Loving people that hurt you, dislike/despise you is not “normal or natural.”
I pray that the Holy Spirit will change my heart, my thinking and my behavior as I surrender my life, to be used to show others who Jesus is.
Lord, help me to love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me.
Lord help me be generous, gracious and loving to those in my home and neighbors.