Jesus sits on a hillside in Matthew 5 and begins speaking to what I imagine are a few thousand people. He starts with what we call the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And it continues from there.
In the next part of His message, Jesus talks about our Christian life and being salt and light.
Last week we talked about being salt and light to those around us. We need to add value to the people around us. But just as important as adding value is paying attention to how we add that value. Too much salt or too little salt can ruin a meal.
In the next portion of the passage, Jesus begins to break down the deeper meaning behind the blessings He mentioned earlier. He is speaking to people who are very familiar with the Jewish customs and laws God had given them over the previous 2,000 years. And this is where things probably started to feel strange to the crowd. Jesus takes the laws they already know and brings them to the next level. Not by adding more rules, but by moving beyond the outward actions and getting to the heart behind the law.
Take a look at this “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
— Matthew 5:17–20 NIV
By doing this, Jesus begins leading people down a path that not only brings them closer to God, but also disrupts the status quo the religious leaders had become comfortable with. I won’t go too far down that rabbit hole today, but it should make us stop and think about our own lives and leadership.
When we follow Jesus, He wants us to use our minds to understand and follow God’s commands, but He also wants our hearts to fully align with them.
For example, the law says not to murder. Jesus takes it deeper and says that even if we haven’t committed the physical act, hatred toward someone can still become sin within our hearts.
Wow. That’s an entirely different level.
Jesus wasn’t lowering the standard. He was revealing the true standard all along.
Another example is the commandment that says we are to have no other gods before the one true God. In ancient times, that often meant physical idols carved from wood, stone, or metal.
But after Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5, we begin to realize an idol can be anything that gets in the way of our relationship with God.
Work can become an idol.
Money can become an idol.
Pride can become an idol.
Even good things can become idols when they take God’s place in our hearts. Jesus continually points us past outward appearances and into inward transformation.
That’s what makes His teaching both challenging and freeing at the same time. It’s challenging because Jesus cares about more than behavior—He cares about our motives, attitudes, and hearts.
But it’s also freeing because following Jesus is not about pretending to look righteous on the outside while falling apart on the inside. He wants to transform us from the inside out.
A question to ponder today:
As you follow Jesus in your daily life, are there areas where you follow the rules to the letter of the law, but your heart and mind are not fully aligned with God?
Are there places where outward obedience has replaced inward surrender?
Most of the time, this shows up not in whether we are breaking laws, but in how we treat people.
How we speak.
How we forgive.
How we love.
How we respond when we are hurt.
Just something to think about…
ETHOS 4 LIFE 