Jesus’ popularity
was increasing. Multitudes of people were coming to Him, desiring to hear what
He had to say, to receive teaching, and be cleansed from unclean spirits (v
17-18). Jesus has never been interested solely in the quantity of followers He
has. He desires followers of the best quality. Thus, He launched into His
famous Sermon on the Mount. He was effectively saying, “If you’re going to
follow me, this is what you’re committing to.” As Jesus’ modern-day followers,
we are also called to commit to the lifestyle He described. This lifestyle
flies in the face of worldly “wisdom.” Jesus taught that negative circumstances
can work in our favour, while positive ones can harm us eternally (v 21-26). We
are called to love the people who are least deserving of our love (v 32-33). We
are called to give up our rights for the sake of others (v 29-30). As people
who call ourselves Christians, we must live lives radically set apart from the
world around us.
Journaling and Prayer
1. Living
this kind of life requires great trust in God. We must trust that He is
faithful and all-knowing. We must trust that He is merciful and will repay
everyone according to their deeds (v 37-38). If these are not true statements
of God, then a radical lifestyle is purposeless. Do you really trust that God
knows best? Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart on this.
2. Jesus
spent an entire night in prayer before finalizing His group of twelve apostles
(v 12-13). Spend some time praying about any decisions you are facing right
now.
3. We
are called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (v 27-28).
Our world is filled with people who hate Christians and the Church. Pray that
God would soften these people’s hearts to the Gospel. Pray that they would be
able to discern between true believers and false ones (much damage to the
Church’s reputation is done by false believers/teachers). Pray that they would
see the good things done by the Church. Pray that God would place true
believers in these people’s lives to provide an influential testimony to them.
