Jeremy Bacon

“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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

Judge not lest ye be judged. In the larger flow of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ command to “Judge not” (Matt. 7:1-6) seems to come out of nowhere. Here are my best guesses for why it’s included at this point in the sermon. First, in the same way that Deuteronomy seems loosely structured around […]

Storing up treasures in heaven makes sense. Serving God and not Mammon is obviously the right choice. But if you follow this train of thought all the way, it brings up a problem. You still need to eat. In fact, you have all kinds of practical, material needs. What about those? “So,” you could ask […]