The Sermon on the Mount
Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), Jesus is speaking of kingdom citizens living empowered lives.
When God gave the law to Israel, they responded that they heard what God was saying and were determined to obey (Deuteronomy 5:27). God responded, “Oh that they had such a heart in them” (Deuteronomy 5:29). The life Jesus describes is one that requires a new nature, a law of the heart, one that exceeds even the morality of rule keeping of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20).
The Sermon on the Mount is not an inspirational speech motivating us to be the best that we can be, a descriptive narrative for exceptional times or leaders, nor a blueprint for moral action. Jesus tells of a life of grace that requires transformational power to those being re-created into kingdom citizens reflecting the light of Christ’s righteousness to a world living in darkness.
