Jesus is a messiah worth following and he is worth the cost to follow because he is the real messiah.  This world distracts and looks like the solution, but its really all about Jesus. He’s the only hope and he’s the only power that fuels real mission in the suffering of this world .

Its easy to hear Jesus (ie hear the gospel, engage christian life) and just enjoy it for a while. Jesus’ words are encouraging and challenging, but to hear them and do nothing besides hear them is destructive. - Jesus is not like other teachers - he speaks with authority. His teaching represents reality not opinion. He is not like your most recent social media self-help influencer. He is God. His words matter and you ignore them at your own peril. 

This text is one of the ultimate rebukes of churchianity - it looks fine and it feels solid, but the second real trial and real suffering show up… it disintigrates. Religion cannot stand up to the trials and real suffering of life in this curese world. It is only Jesus Christ who makes a way for real thriving and salvation in this life. 

Jesus is underscoring our desperate need as we live out kingdom living during his teaching. Living according to this teaching of Jesus is impossible!

We need grace, cleansing, and we need help, but from where? Where do we turn in the midst of the difficulties in our lives? How do we square the tension we often experience in our hearts while searching for the peace of Christ we are promised? 

That brings us to our passage today where Jesus answers that unspoken but very real question.

In V1 Jesus gives us the summary of what this whole section is telling us. And it comes down to a couple of key points. The life of the kingdom involves living righteously. He says to be careful that when we live righteously, we’re not doing it for the crowd. For those who are watching us. If you do, says Jesus, God won’t reward you. 

After taking a 3-week rest stop, in Sam’s awesome series on The Glory of God, we are back on the road again in our journey through the Gospel of Matthew, and we begin right in the middle of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Enjoying the glory of God will keep us assured in the midst of trial and difficulty. It is the only real motivator for the Christian life.