Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture- Mt 5, Lk 6 & Mk 3
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's good to see you today. Welcome to our journey through scripture. My name is Philip Thomas, pastor of Journey here in Elgin, Texas. And ⁓ we are continuing our walk, our chronological walk through Scripture. We are in the gospels, so it's a little challenging. You're s you're skipping around in all the different gospels ⁓ numerous times, so you just kinda hang in there and ⁓ I encourage you to to read as much as you can of what we talk about. ⁓ you know, 'cause I I'm I don't hit everything. I'm I'm just doing this as very brief summary. So Jesus has been starting to call disciples, asking people to follow him. His popularity is growing. We're going to be reading a lot mainly from the Sermon on the Mount today, but we will read a little bit in Matthew chapter 12, Mark chapter 3, and then Luke chapter 6, and Matthew chapter 5. Okay? So what you see in Matthew chapter ⁓ twelve and then in Mark three is you see kind of this division between the disciples, the the those close to Jesus and the multitudes. So Jesus is ⁓ reaching and preaching to a lot of people, but he specifically calls twelve individuals that are going to be the inner circle, if you will, that are going to be his disciples that would become the apostles. And ⁓ then you also have the multitudes. So there's lots of people that are flocking to listen to Jesus ⁓ but mainly to be healed at this point. ⁓ Jesus' preaching ⁓ is about to be emphasized in the ⁓ synoptic gospels. The ⁓ Jesus has been constantly kind of encouraging people to ⁓ to to keep quiet, not to spread that he is the Messiah. That's ⁓ you know that that was kind of starting to be the the rumor. that th this guy may be ⁓ God's chosen one and he was not ready for that to be out yet. Matthew ⁓ really connects again Jesus with ⁓ the old testament and prophecies about who Jesus ⁓ is and so in Matthew chapter twelve ⁓ verse eighteen he is connecting that to words from Isaiah it says, Behold my servant whom I have chosen My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit upon him, and he will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed will he he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench, till he sends forth justice to victory, and in in his name Gentiles will trust. So it's kind of talking about this Jesus is going to to bring this, but he he's not He's not doing it with an army. He's not going to destroy. He is going to to bring this message though to everyone. But Jesus is wanting that to be on his terms, not on the crowd's terms. Mark chapter three, ⁓ seven through nineteen, you see again, Jesus withdrew ⁓ with his disciples from the sea, but the multitudes followed him. You know, he ⁓ so he he ha makes sure that there's boat ready for him. This is starting to be a challenge. ⁓ and he specifically ⁓ chooses the twelve here in Mark and it lists the the twelve disciples ⁓ there in chapter or in chapter three, starting in verse sixteen. And he's also going to use these disciples to spread his message, but also to be able to continue to do some of the ⁓ miracles and casting out of demons as well. ⁓ Luke chapter six, ⁓ twelve through nineteen lists the twelve apostles, then talks about the multitudes, and that leads into the Sermon on the Mount, or in Luke, it's the sermon on the plain. There's a little bit s ⁓ some some differences. ⁓ you know, there's lots of ⁓ intellectual reasoning for it for this. ⁓ again, remember the Different synoptic gospels or different perspective of the same event. So sometimes things are not in the same order ⁓ for kind of literary purposes. ⁓ they may have they had different sources. So some sources would have maybe done a better job of expanding and capturing the full Sermon on the Mount. And then in Luke, he's hitting a little bit here and we'll hit a little bit in other places. Jesus would have been preaching these messages and at multiple places. It's not like there was just one the only time that he ⁓ went through the Beatitudes, the blessed are those, was just on the Sermon on the Mount. That is very doubtful. More than likely he gave that sermon numerous times and or bits and pieces of it at different places. So we see in Matthew chapter five and then Luke chapter six, verses twenty through thirty six, are are similar in what they ⁓ what they ⁓ present. And so Jesus in the Beatitudes, ⁓ he starts off ⁓ with the the blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. This is Matthew chapter five. Blessed ⁓ are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek. ⁓ blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled, or the merciful, or the pure in heart, are the peacemakers, or those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. So one thing that's important on the Beatitudes is Sometimes we've taken this to be a list of things that we need to live up to, like ⁓ we need to be meek, we need to mourn, ⁓ we need to be the peacemakers, we need to be merciful. Now, some of that is true, but that's not what Jesus is doing here. Jesus is starting off by opening up and proclaiming who the kingdom of God is for. The who is who is able To enter into the kingdom of God. And all of the people that he mentions here, the all the Beatitudes, the blessed are the poor, the blessed are the meek, are people who society would probably have a problem with, that they have a weakness of some sort that does would disqualify them from being full members of the kingdom of God. But what Jesus is saying is no, everyone is available. Even if you are poor and have no resources, you can enter into the kingdom of God. Even if you are mourning and feel like you just can't move forward and that your life feels like it's in shambles, you can find a place at the kingdom of God. Blessed are the peacemakers, those who are trying to do what is right and but get pulled in multiple directions because of the stances that they take, what they're trying to do. They can find peace in the kingdom of God. Blessed are the meek, those who get run over in society because they they they find it hard to stand up for themselves. They can find strength in the kingdom of God. And so Jesus is opening up the kingdom of God in ways that it that society would not have have done, that the religious leaders would not have supported. And then he starts getting into ⁓ practical things, talking about being salt and light. What does it mean? That it has ⁓ that now being part of the kingdom of God, you should be salt, ⁓ that you should preserve the things that are good, that you should ⁓ bring joy to it to a life, that you are giving flavor to the world around you, right? That that you are different, that you are bringing light into the darkness. ⁓ that God has a has a role for you. You should be different, ⁓ being part of the kingdom of God. Then it talks about ⁓ how Christ fulfills the law and the prophets. He says, I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. This is verse 18, for assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle will pass by ⁓ will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. All right, so he's saying I'm I'm not coming to get rid of the law, but I am coming to fulfill the law. And and we should still follow the laws of God. That is not Jesus' purpose. And then he gets into the law and he ⁓ starts talking about how this is more than just a it's more than just a ⁓ kind of holding tight and following a list of rules. If you do it that way, you will never Follow the law. The law comes second. The first thing that comes is a change of heart, that you enter into the kingdom of God and your heart and your mind are changed, and then that leads to behavioral changes. And he uses examples of like talking about murder. You've heard it said that you shall not murder. But I say whoever ⁓ looks ⁓ at his brother Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment. Right? So it gets to the root of murder. What's the root of murder? It's anger. And it it talks about how you go and you make sure you do not allow that anger to build up and build up so that then it spills over into murder. Right? That that there's more than just it it's not good enough just to say, well, you know what, I'm a really good person because I don't murder people. But you know what? I hate everyone. Right. No, that's it's not it's it's it's more than that, right? It's not just following a a a rule. It's it's actually ⁓ living a different life. It's having a different perspective on things. Same thing with adultery, right? ⁓ then it talks about ⁓ marriage and talks about forbidding oaths, right? That do do not, you know, kind of use fake words To ⁓ justify what you're saying. I love what it says, but let let your yes be yes and your no be no. w how refreshing would that be? I mean, we we can't get a straight answer in this society for anything. I mean we we see this with our kids. You ask your kids, did you do this? Well, it was really it was this person's fault or no one is just a yes be yes or a no be no. It's not that that's not good enough. We have to elaborate. We have to add to and it's it is causes chaos. And we need to be people who our yes is ⁓ is yes and our no is no. It talks about going the second mile. ⁓ you've heard that it says an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, but I tell you not to resist an evil person. ⁓ but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him also, ⁓ the other cheek. Now what is that saying? That is an insult. That is, if someone is insulting you and backhands you rather than striking out against them, do not give them the satisfaction of responding to being insulted. And this this is a this passage is misused a a lot. If if you view this passage as saying, do not defend yourself from someone trying to physically hurt you, that that is not what this is saying at all. ⁓ this is about insulting, people demeaning you. What's the best way to handle that? ⁓ Well, it's to not strike back and not allow them to have that power and influence over you. ⁓ When it talks about ⁓ if someone asks you to carry your cloak, ⁓ give give or your tunic, give your cloak also, compels you to go one mile, go two. Roman ⁓ soldiers could compel people ⁓ just out on a whim to carry their stuff one mile. Now what Jesus said is why don't you make an impression and and show that you're the one that is taking control of the s situation, that you are not being a slave ⁓ because you choose to go further and to do more. Right? It's changing the perspective, ⁓ understanding ⁓ who you are and what God has called you to do. And and not and and not responding in the way that society expects ⁓ and and teaches us to respond. Right? If you go two miles, then you don't live in the the frustration and the anger that that Roman soldier had the authority and the audacity to force you to go one mile, which they could do under the law. But you know what? You chose to you know what, I'm gonna go two miles. So now I am and taking more control ⁓ over ⁓ the way that I think, the way that I perceive, the way that I treat other people, I am going to treat them better. ⁓ they ex they were doing that to kind of belittle me, but no, I'm not going to allow that to happen. ⁓ and then it talks about loving your enemies. You sa you've heard that ⁓ that you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who ⁓ who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of the Father in heaven, for he makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, sends rain on the just and the unjust. Right? So what why is Jesus giving these hard teachings? Like that's hard to do. What we want to do is get revenge. What we want to do is to get even, to stand up for ourselves, to put them in their place. Right? But rarely does that make the situation better. Especially if someone has true power over you, right? ⁓ the enemy that most people would have been talking thinking about are the Romans, right? They actually have real power over you. So if you try to act out in revenge, usually it's just going to make matters worse, right? So rather than doing that, why don't you pray for them? Why why don't you change your perspective? ⁓ and then it's even if you have wrong that is done to you. Right, which may be very legitimate and will will hurt. ⁓ rather than allowing that wrong to continue to weigh you down for years and years and years, you have given that back. You are not allowing that ⁓ evil person ⁓ to have control of you ⁓ down the road because you you are not ⁓ y you are flipping the script, if you will. So you know what, I'm not going to hate my enemy, which hate just destroys you. It doesn't do anything to your enemy, right? It only destroys you. No, I'm going to love my enemy. I'm going to pray for them and I'm going to let this go. Right? God wants you to be free of that, ⁓ which is, I mean, so important. And why we should love our enemies. We shouldn't give our enemies the satisfaction ⁓ of impacting our life ⁓ even whenever they're ⁓ not doing anything, right? Just the mere fact that they exist, if that is ⁓ impacting you and ⁓ weighing you down and causing you anxiety, ⁓ that that that's a problem that's on you. And God doesn't want you to to live that way. And so this frees us to live the life that God has called us to live. Luke chapter six, verses twenty through thirty six, ⁓ it also has the the beatitudes. It also then adds the woes. ⁓ but woe to you who are rich, who are full Who laugh now, woe to you when all men speak well of you. So who are all of these people? These people are the ones that it makes sense that they would be welcomed to the kingdom of God. But it Jesus is saying, Whoa, be careful. Just because you are these things doesn't mean that you're part of the kingdom of God. It takes more than just being wealthy. It takes more than just being ⁓ a popular person. ⁓ it takes more than just someone who is carefree. ⁓ the there is more to the kingdom of God than that. ⁓ then we have ⁓ in Luke also the love your enemies ⁓ talking about that ⁓ as well. All right. So I I just encourage you to read through, just think about what these passages are are meaning and how they apply to your life. We'll read Matthew chapter six and seven. ⁓ we'll read Luke eleven. and twelve Luke eleven and twelve, Matthew six and seven. And we'll we'll stop stop with that. So Matthew ⁓ six and seven, Luke eleven and twelve. All right, we'll see you at