Today we start a new series in the book of Nehemiah. After years of exile, Nehemiah learns the fate of Jerusalem, and responds in prayer and fasting. Sensing a call from God he makes a bold step of obedience, and sees God provide in miraculous ways.

Jesus is clear, following after him is not easy, because we cannot just hear the words of Jesus and agree with them, we have to do them! Those who respond to the announcement of the Kingdom will receive all the blessings and benefits that it entails, but there is also a warning for those who don’t. By the end of Matthew Israel has made it’s choice – the wide road – and Jesus returns with a prediction instead of a warning (Matt 24). The same is true for us. We have to choose – narrow or wide path, wise or fo

Again, what Jesus teaches here is both clear and redemptive. Jesus isn’t saying we should ignore other’s faults or allow them to continue, but rather we must resist evil by doing good. That means being self-aware and dealing with our own blindness before talking to others about the speck’s in our brother’s/sister’s eye. ”Self-correction is the beginning of the redemptive righteousness of Jesus’ disciples.”

The guiding principle for all the righteousness that Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount is summ

“Anxiety drives the world, driven by the insight that we are limited creatures and the future sets the boundaries of our limitations.” We want to be able to manage our future, to know what is coming, but we can’t. Knowing we can’t manage the future, and yet trying to, can only have one result: anxiety/worry. Jesus announces that the future of God is coming and it is secure in his hands. Trusting God means we know our future is secure because everything is in the hands of a Loving Father who cares for us.

Obedience to Jesus enables us to “treasure up treasures” in heaven. Like Solomon in Proverbs, Jesus presents us with two masters to live under, and the truth that our heart can only choose one. Whichever you choose, they will dictate how you live, and the treasures you store up. Earthly things are good, but heavenly ones are better, and more secure. To do the righteousness of the Kingdom we need to give money away, not hoard it.

It may seem that Jesus is condemning public prayer, which of course he is not, as he openly prays in front of others. Instead, he is condemning the “hypocrites” who pray meaningless prayers because they do not know who they are praying to. The meaning of the word “hypocrite” here is “ungodly” and their prayers are “ungodly” because they are for the judgement and reward of man rather than our good and loving Heavenly Father. When we know who we come to in prayer we can be short, direct and kingdom focused in

Jesus now moves from public acts of righteousness to private ones. Not all righteous acts are to be performed for the world to see. People should see how we treat our enemies, and our spouses, and how we deal with conflict, and see that we are different. The key question for these ‘private’ acts of righteousness us who are we serving? Who is watching?

The “lex talonis” or “law of retribution” limited violence and retribution to like for like. The problem is, Jesus says, this often leads to a cycle of vengeance and tragedy. Jesus wants us to resist evil not by evil means, but by doing good. Jesus reverses “lex talonis” so that we take upon ourselves “double restitution”, bearing the punishment for the one who assaults us. Not just about gritting our teeth and enduring it, but through redemption arresting and reversing oppression. Ultimately we are to emul

Jesus is observing a cultural practice here that meant that people would regularly swear oaths on all sorts of things that in effect made them worthless. And so he is not saying do not make oaths at all, but rather consider seriously what you say you will or won’t do and ensure that you tell the truth. To be a truth telling people is hard, it swims against the tide. But Jesus is the truth incarnate, and we are to follow him and speak truth.

Jesus is not saying that lust or desire are wrong, and the phrasing is better put “if anyone looks at a woman in order to lust”, which shows us that Jesus is challenging those who look just for the purpose of arousing lust/desire. In the ancient world lust was seen as a woman’s fault – that her beauty sent out powerful rays that a man was unable to resist. But Jesus is firmly placing the responsibility on the one who is doing the looking. And his solution is a radical one. He’s not literally advocating for