Luke 7:1-17 | After the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus returns to his work of proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven through acts of mercy. Jesus has a knack of doing so in unexpected ways. First, a faith-filled centurion trusts Jesus to heal his servant. Next, an unsuspecting mother gets her son back from the dead. The interpretation? A prophet has returned to Israel? Yes, and more than anyone could anticipate.

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Matthew 7:13-27 | We continue to explore how the Beatitudes serve as the overarching structure of the Sermon on the Mount. The 6th and 7th beatitudes closely map onto the last two sections of the Sermon regarding false prophets and building your house on the rock. How necessary is spiritual integrity? How do we have peace in the storm with room for others to take refuge?

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Matthew 7:3-12, Luke 6:37-40 | In the previous episode, I wondered aloud if the Beatitudes were the outline and structure for the Sermon on the Mount. In this episode, I test the theory on a passage that seems to be all over the place. Is this teaching about judging, specks, logs, pigs, dogs, asking, seeking and door knocking all about mercy? You can be the judge (pun intended).

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Matthew 6:25-7:2 | Worry is our make-believe superpower. So much energy expended for things outside of our control. Jesus wants us to trust in the power of our heavenly Father, to seek his kingdom and his righteousness. We should hunger and thirst for that righteousness, as the beatitude states. In fact, those beatitudes may be more than just a nice way to start a sermon…

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Matthew 6:13-24 | The end of the Lord’s Prayer corresponds to the beginning. We are delivered from evil in order to abide with our Father, who is in heaven. To be delivered from evil is a current reality too. We need to be delivered from the selfishness that corrupts our acts of righteousness. We need to be delivered from our love of money and materialism. The treasures in heaven are infinitely superior.

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Matthew 6:11-13 | The Lord’s Prayer is structured in such a way that it reaches a pinnacle at the petition regarding our “daily bread.” This is the goal of the prayer. The petitions leading up to that pinnacle then inform the petitions that follow. In that way, the prayer interprets itself and focuses into a powerful expression of what Jesus has come to accomplish in and through those who follow him.

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Matthew 6:9-10 | Jesus gave his disciples a prayer that summarized his teachings. This prayer sought to unite the hearts of those who prayed with the will of God in heaven, so that they may represent him in the midst of this broken world. In doing so, they set apart God’s name and become set apart themselves.

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Matthew 6:1-9 | Jesus is all about the heart. Yes, he wants us to do good, but doing good without the right heart is the recipe for hypocrisy and steals away from us the actual reward for doing good. That reward is to celebrate the lasting benefit of good being done in a broken world filled with suffering.

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Matthew 5:43-6:1 | God gives us the example of how to love our enemies. We see it every day as God gives good things to those who he could easily consider to be his enemies. When we reflect that kind of love, we become more complete in our humanity, bearing the image of God.

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Matthew 5:39-45 | Injustice happens. It’s a broken world. The question is not whether injustice will happen to us, but how we will respond when it does. Will we return evil for evil and escalate the injustice, or will we travel the path of peace and reconciliation? Will we dehumanize our opponent and justify any and all retribution or will we see a fellow image bearer of God, deceived by the world?

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