Beatitudes: The Path of the Kingdom
Jesus’ original audience often misunderstood him because they filtered his teachings through their preconceived worldview and the skewed questions that flowed from it. We have a different worldview with different questions, but we basically do the same thing. In the Sermon on the Mount, where we see a bunch of rules, Jesus is trying to […]
The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock: 3 Questions to Ask About the Way We Build
“The wise man built his house upon the rock.” By “rock,” Jesus meant his teachings. Unfortunately, it is very possible to hear the teachings of Jesus but not to put them into practice. When we only hear—and don’t obey—Jesus’ teachings, we find ourselves cycling through the same bad decisions and experiencing spiritual stagnancy for years. […]
Sermon on the Mount: Building Your House
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But […]
Sermon on the Mount: “Lord, Lord”
For most of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been happy to dance in the fuzzy intersection between the “now” and the “not yet”—between the old age that is passing away and the new age that is breaking in. So, it often seems like what he says could apply to either this life or […]
Sermon on the Mount: False Prophets
One thing that makes walking the narrow path difficult (Matt. 7:13-14) is that the wide path has a lot of hype men. They’re not hard to find. Thomas Keating recounts a story about Sufi master who was outside on his hands and knees sifting through the grass looking for the key to his house. Some […]
Sermon on the Mount: Narrow Gate
In Luke, someone straight-up asks Jesus, “Are only a few people going to be saved?” (Luke 13:23). In his answer, echoed in Matthew, Jesus clearly says, “Yes”: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the […]
Sermon on the Mount: Do Unto Others
Do unto others what you would have them do unto you… So that’s the Sermon on the Mount. At least the meat of it, anyway. Matthew 7:12 is the second bookend, echoing Jesus’ opening discussion of “the law and the prophets” (Matt. 5:17-20). Jesus has given us his definitive expression of life in the Kingdom. […]
Give and It Will Be Given to You?
Jesus once told his disciples, “Give and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:38, NIV). Really? I struggle to see how that works at times. Logically, if I give something away, I no longer have what I once had. But the teachings of Jesus are anything but logical—at least the way the world normally […]
