Written by Kevin DeYoung, a contemporary pastor, professor, and author. This is an excerpt from his work “The Sermon on the Mount is Not an Impossible Standard to Make Us Feel Bad.”
The Sermon on the Mount is not an impossible standard, because pleasing Jesus is not impossible. With most sermons, the messenger should decrease so that message can increase. But when you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God, the point of the preaching is going to be the preacher himself. The Sermon on the Mount compels us to ask: Who is this that thinks we will be persecuted for his sake, that religious tradition bows before him, that building a life on his words makes one wise, that the final judgment will be given with reference to him and given by him? Of course, the first and lasting impression of the sermon was Jesus’s authority. No one had preached like Jesus before because there never was a God-man like Jesus before. Walking in the way of the Sermon on the Mount means walking close to Jesus. The relentless subplot to this entire sermon comes in the form of this question: Are you with me? Are you really with me? Are you with me no matter what? Submitting to this sermon means finally and fully submitting to Jesus. The law in the Sermon on the Mount reflects the heart of the lawgiver. The commands of Jesus are not meant to crush us any more than Jesus means to crush us. Jesus came to save us, to enlist us, and to be with us until the end of the age… To all who know the Son, to those who look for rest in the Son, to those who are eager to walk with the Son and learn from the Son, the yoke he gives you is easy, and the burden he asks you to carry is light.
Prayer:
Written by Jamie Maxim, a contemporary pastor.
I pray, God, that You would move on our hearts in such a way that we would respond to Jesus in the same way that Levi responded to Jesus—that we follow You with all that we are. God, we give You praise. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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