Matthew 5:29-30 (KJV)
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
I’ve come to view the Sermon on the Mount as a sort of New Testament version of the Mosaic Law. The fact is, we simply could not fully obey this message. There are portions of it that are so far above the capabilities of our corrupt human nature that, honestly, some Christians have determined that Jesus must not have been talking to us, or at least not to us in this age, relegating it either to the Jews or to the Tribulation economy.
Though the sermon continues through chapters 6 and 7, I think the highlight—the axle around which this message spins—is found in:
Matthew 5:48 (KJV)
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
This is an impossibility!
Jesus' original hearers must have been reeling by this point.
- Pluck out your eye?
- Cut off your hand?
- Be ye therefore perfect?
I am reminded of a New Testament truth concerning the Old Testament Law.
Galatians 3:24-25 (KJV)
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
That, I believe, is one of the lessons of the Sermon on the Mount. We can't do this. (Don't take that as an excuse to dismiss these teachings.) If this is the expectation, if nothing less than the perfection of our Father is accepted, what shall we do?
Matthew 7:24-25 (KJV)
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Build on the Rock.
Build on Christ.
Don't place your hope in what you do at all. Place your hope in Him, in His death for your sins, in His burial with your sins, and most of all in the power of His resurrection in victory over your sins.
#Matthew52930 #BuildOnTheRock #ChristOurHope #SermonOnTheMount #FaithNotWorks
The Impossible Standard of the Sermon on the Mount—and the Hope Jesus Gives
What do you think Jesus meant when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect”? Have you ever struggled with the impossible standard of the Sermon on the Mount? Leave a comment below and join the conversation.
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