- Jesus called his followers to live with radical generosity, to be peacemakers who love their enemies, and to hunger and thirst for right relationships. - Jesus called this way of life a "greater righteousness" because it fulfills God's will for his people that's expressed in Israel's Scriptures, the Torah and Prophets, but in this section of his teachings called the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives some warnings about potential traps along the way. - Traps?
- Yeah. For example, when you spend a lot of time studying God's wisdom in Scripture, it's easy to start thinking of yourself more highly than you should, ignoring your own blind spots. And it can feel natural to start handing out God's wisdom to others when you think they need it.
- So the earnest quest for doing good could lead to a lack of self-awareness and a judgmental attitude? - Exactly. That's why Jesus opens his teachings on this topic by bluntly saying, - "Do not judge.
" Well, that's a way to avoid the trap, I guess. But it's not easy when I see other people living foolishly. - Jesus invites us to take our instinct to judge others and instead empathize with them.
How would I want to be judged if I were in their place? What standard would I like to be measured by? - Well, I'd like to be judged fairly for a start.
- Right. The problem is we're often unaware of our own character flaws and of the biases that can distort how we see others. This is why Jesus continues with a well-known parable.
"Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but you don't notice the beam in your own eye? " - Jesus takes that impulse to judge others, and he redirects it as an opportunity for critical self-reflection. - Okay, so if I see someone who I think is being angry and I feel like judging them, I take that as a chance to reflect on my own issues with anger.
- Right. Or as Jesus says, - "First take the beam out of your own eye and then you can see clearly the speck in your brother's eye. " Okay, so let's say I've dealt with my issues.
Now it's time to remove that speck. - Maybe. Jesus doesn't actually give us a formula for what to do next.
- But if I notice that a person's choices are clearly hurting them, I should help them, right? - Not always. Sometimes people are not in a place to receive help.
Offering God's wisdom will only make them angry, so it's actually unwise. Jesus uses a riddle to make this point. - "Do not give what is holy to dogs and don't throw your pearls in front of pigs.
" - Jesus is drawing on an idea from the biblical proverbs. "Don't correct a fool, or you could become like them. " - Wait, so leave people to ruin themselves?
- Not necessarily. Sometimes you should step in and help. That same proverb continues, "Correct a fool according to his folly, or he'll be wise in his own eyes.
" So knowing when or when not to get involved requires discernment. - So it takes wisdom to know when to offer wisdom. - Exactly.
And God loves to give wisdom. So Jesus says we should cultivate the habit of asking for it. - "Ask and it will be given to you.
Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open for you. For everyone who asks will receive, and the one who seeks will find, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
" - The God of the Bible is like a generous parent. Even bad parents still want what is best for their children, and how much more, Jesus says, will our heavenly Father give good gifts to his children when they ask? And the gift we need from God is more wisdom.
Now, Jesus ends this section of teaching with one of his most memorable wisdom sayings. - "Everything you desire that people would do to you, so you should do to them. " - When God's wisdom feels far off and life is way too complicated, start with empathy for the other.
How would I like to be treated, and how would I want others to offer God's wisdom to me? - Well, I would want to be treated with kindness, with patience, and ultimately I just want to know that I'm loved. - So start there, and then continue with every ounce of wisdom that our generous God gives you.
- The whole central part of the Sermon on the Mount began with Jesus saying, "I have come to fulfill the Torah and the Prophets. " - And Jesus ends this part how he began it. "This sums up the Torah and the Prophets.
" - Next, we turn to the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. - Yes, Jesus ends with three teachings about the choice that we all have in front of us when we hear his words, and that's what we'll look at next.
