Matthew 5

Jesus now teaches. Notice that the crowds are present but Jesus is teaching his followers. Maybe what he teaches is a bit to hard for new people to hear? Or maybe he just wanted the crowds to overhear his teaching of his disciples. The Beatitudes ("blessed statements") follow. Notice that the first half of each statement and the second half are not what we would expect to hear together. The Kingdom of Heaven really IS a different place! Here we have Jesus telling us that life does not always word as our intuition tells us. We need a Lord because we will not naturally choose the right way. We must follow. Jesus must lead.

Jesus goes on to use simple analogies to let us know our role as faithful people. We are the salt that seasons life. We are the light that shows others the way to God by our actions.

Jesus makes it clear that he is not overturning what God has already started. Jesus is showing how what God is started should look in the life of a person. It is different than we thought. It isn't just following rules. It is following Jesus. We keep the rules as a byproduct of following Jesus. We wander off away from God when we follow rules because we will bend them to our advantage. You do that, don't you? I do. We need to follow Jesus. Rule-followers cannot find the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now Jesus drives home his point! If you hate a person enough, you have murdered him. Make up, even before you worship. Don't take it to court. Take it to God.

If you lust after a person, that's the SAME as committing adultery. What's in our heart is very important. Jesus wants to clean house.

Divorce is not God's will. Rather than divorce, what is the marital impediment?

Just say "yes" or "no." Any more will lead us to trouble because it makes us harder to understand. People usually say more than "yes" or "no" because they want to hid behind words and not face up to what they need to face up to.

Revenge is a waste of time. Serve the evil person instead. Love your enemies. Now there's a new teaching! Be perfect (as in a perfect reflection of) like God is. Jesus knows that none of us can be perfect. It is a goal to strive for. We may get angry or divorced. All is not lost! These are God's standards. We need to try to measure up. But God also forgives. We need to take him up on that.

Imagine a world where people said what they meant, had lofty standards and quickly admitted when they did not meet them and then changed their minds and tried again to follow Jesus again. It is the Kingdom of Heaven!