Matthew 5-7 contains the longest of Jesus’ collected teachings. Within it are some of the most well-known and quoted passages not just from Jesus’ life, or the bible, but in all of religious history. Not only is it the most well-known and quoted, but it is often the most misunderstood. In the book of Matthew, Jesus’ ministry begins with him preaching the “good news (or the gospel) of the kingdom.” It is here in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus describes what life in this kingdom is like, how those who are a part of this kingdom of heaven should and can live. Jesus challenges our fundamental assumptions of happiness, righteousness, love, anger, obedience, and so much more. By this Jesus describes a kingdom in which true happiness, true righteousness, true obedience, true love can be a reality for us, on earth “As it is in Heaven.”

This week's message covers Matthew 5:17-48. This passage contains the key to understanding the entire Sermon on the Mount. The key is that the Kingdom of God requires righteousness, right relationship to God and others. However, Jesus is going to redefine righteousness, raising the bar for what God's commandments truly require so that we understand that the level of righteousness that we must possess can only come from Him, by faith in what Christ has done for us in his life, death, and resurrection. It is understanding that only Jesus is truly righteous that are free enough to walk with God in the Kingdom and grow to look more and more like him. 

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