For the first time on Scripture First, we welcome Lars Olson to have a conversation with Adam, Kiri and I about this week's lectionary text about the middle section of Jesus' Sermon on the Plain. 

This part of Jesus' sermon is all about loving your neighbor. Jesus is telling us what the law expects of us—or what most of us think are the things we should be doing as good Christians. 

But as we'll find out, the bar is impossibly high. We can't complete it. And that's where we end up: the kingdom of God is not a reward for the righteous and good. It's given as the goodness of God to the unrighteous and undeserving. 

Questions Adam, Kiri and Mason ask:

• Why would you love your enemies?
• Why is the Golden Rule not the answer?
• How do you preach a text like this when the law just keeps adding up?

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