So it makes perfect sense for Jesus to address this new temptation and once again he uses the religious leaders as an example. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. It's using good deeds to draw attention to yourself. I'm such good person!" Or conversely, “Look at me and all the bad things I don’t do!” Either way, it’s a matter of pride. Arrogant hearts that say, “Look at all the wonderful things I’m doing. When a person knows and applies these things there comes a new temptation. Jesus’ topics include purity, loving others, reconciliation, and speaking the truth. It is to think, act, speak and do as God desires. He’s been talking about what it means to live a righteous life. There’s something greater and higher for us!įor the last several weeks we’ve been reading the words of Jesus as he gives an incredible sermon on the side of a hill north of the Sea of Galilee. So don’t take your cues from the people around you. The highest human ethic falls short of what Jesus is telling us. Jesus is calling you to supernaturally love. You love people who love you, okay, everyone does that because it’s natural. In Matthew 5:47 Jesus says this, “What more are you doing than others?” He’s asking, “What makes you different Christian?” Unless you live according to a heavenly kingdom ethic, you will be just like everyone else. You will be told to treat all people with respect and kindness but nowhere will you find so explicitly to love your enemy as told by Jesus. If love is the greatest thing, then loving your enemies is the greatest thing love can do.To be one who lives according to the kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of this earth is in a word: supernatural. This is the one act that sums up what it means to be a Christian and sets us apart. In the world’s major religious systems you will commonly find the charge to love your brothers and sisters and people who share the same faith. Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” No one has lived up to this with any kind of consistency except for Jesus himself. You won’t find it anywhere else and I’ll prove it to you in one statement. It’s here that we see Jesus set the highest ethic of all time. For the last several weeks we’ve been looking at the words of Jesus in the most famous of all sermons - the sermon on the mount.
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