Matthew chapters 5-7 contain the Sermon on the Mount. This teaching of Jesus is so familiar to me that I sometimes struggle to gain new insight when I read it even though I know I have yet to gain complete understanding of what Jesus was teaching.
Matthew 7:28 says that "when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching." I can see why the crowds were so amazed. After all, they had never heard any of these concepts before.
Today, when I read what Jesus said in this sermon, I began putting together a basic outline of this familiar sermon that gave me a new perspective on what Jesus was preaching that day, what He was telling the people about how God wanted them to live out the Mosaic Law that they were trying to follow.
Do not be ORDINARY (Matthew 5:1-20).
Don't just follow the religious laws, take them a step further. Don't just do what the really religious Jews (the scribes and the Pharisees) do. Jesus said, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20)
Do not be OLD-FASHIONED (Matthew 5:21-48).
In these twenty-seven verses, Jesus tells the crowd "you have heard that..." "but I say to you that ..." The old ways have a new and better approach. The new approach is dramatically different. The new application of what is good, right, and God-pleasing is a step closer to the perfection we are aiming for. As Jesus put it in Matthew 5:48, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Do not be
HYPOCRITICAL (Matthew 6:1-18). What we do that is good and right should be done for God's glory, none of our own.
Do not be
ANXIOUS (Matthew 6:19-34). God takes care of His children.
Do not be JUDGMENTAL (Matthew 7:1-6). As Jesus summed it up in His own words in Matthew 7:20, "You will recognize them by their fruits."
Do not be SELFISH (Matthew 7:7-20). Put others first.
It all focuses on being God-centered rather than people (self or others)-centered.
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