The Commands That Confront Us

There are some words of Jesus that comfort us immediately.

“Come unto me.”

“Let not your heart be troubled.”

“I am with you.”

We hold onto those words because they speak peace into difficult places.

But Jesus also said things that confront us.

Things that stop us.

Things that expose us.

Things that make us uncomfortable because they reach into the parts of our lives we would rather leave untouched.

This week, we have been looking at some of those commands.

Turn the other cheek.

Love your enemies.

Do good to those who mistreat you.

Give without making a show of it.

Forgive.

Do not worry.

Judge not.

These are not suggestions for unusually spiritual people.

They are the words of Jesus to ordinary people who claim to follow Him.

And that is where they become difficult.

It is easy to admire the teachings of Jesus from a distance.

It is much harder when His words begin interfering with the way we naturally want to respond.

When Jesus Confronts Our Instincts

Most of us have instincts that rise quickly when we are hurt.

Defend yourself.

Fight back.

Explain yourself.

Prove your point.

Make sure the other person knows they were wrong.

Keep score.

Remember what happened.

And sometimes those instincts feel completely justified.

There have been times in my own life when I felt exactly that way.

I have been hurt.

I have been disappointed.

I have been misunderstood.

I have had moments when I wanted another person to know exactly how much damage had been done.

And if I am truthful, there have been times when I did not merely want things made right.

I wanted the other person to feel some of what I had felt.

That is where the teachings of Jesus stop being abstract.

Jesus says:

“But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

That is not an easy command.

It confronts something deep inside us.

Our desire to retaliate.

Our desire to answer injury with injury.

Our desire to make sure nobody gets away with hurting us.

Jesus is not telling us that wrong is right.

He is not saying abuse should be ignored.

He is not saying injustice does not matter.

He is confronting retaliation.

He is telling us that another person’s sin does not have to decide our response.

That has been a hard lesson for me.

There have been times when resentment stayed longer than it should have.

Times when I replayed conversations.

Times when I remembered what had been said.

Times when I imagined what I should have said in return.

And every time I did that, the person who had hurt me continued occupying space in my mind long after the moment had passed.

Jesus offers another way.

Do not become what hurt you.

Do not let another person’s bitterness produce bitterness in you.

Do not allow somebody else’s anger to become your anger.

Turn the other cheek.

That command is not weakness.

Sometimes refusing retaliation requires more strength than retaliation ever did.

Love Your Enemies

Then Jesus goes even further.

Matthew 5:44 says:

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

Most of us would probably be satisfied if Jesus had simply said, “Do not hurt your enemies.”

But He did not stop there.

Love them.

Bless them.

Do good to them.

Pray for them.

That is difficult because Jesus is not merely controlling behavior.

He is reaching for the heart.

I can avoid retaliating and still remain bitter.

I can remain silent while carrying resentment.

I can walk away while secretly hoping someone fails.

Jesus goes deeper.

Pray for them.

That command changes something.

It is difficult to continually pray sincerely for someone while nurturing hatred for them.

Prayer begins changing the person who is praying.

Sometimes the situation changes.

Sometimes the other person changes.

But often the first heart God begins working on is ours.

There have been people in my life whom I found difficult to pray for.

Not because I did not know the words.

Because part of me did not want God to bless them.

That is uncomfortable to admit.

But that is precisely where Christ confronts us.

We often want mercy for ourselves and justice for everyone else.

Jesus keeps bringing us back to grace.

The Quiet Kind of Obedience

Jesus also confronted the desire to be seen.

In Matthew 6, He warned against doing good simply so other people would notice.

There is something in us that wants recognition.

We want somebody to know that we helped.

We want somebody to know that we gave.

We want somebody to notice the sacrifice.

But Jesus teaches another kind of faithfulness.

The quiet kind.

The kind nobody applauds.

The prayer nobody hears.

The gift nobody sees.

The kindness nobody posts about.

The service nobody recognizes.

There have been times in my life when I wanted acknowledgment.

I suspect most of us have.

We may not call it pride.

We may simply think, “It would be nice if somebody noticed.”

But Jesus asks a difficult question:

Would you still do it if nobody ever knew?

Would you still give?

Would you still serve?

Would you still help?

Would you still obey?

If the only One who saw it was God, would that be enough?

That is another command that confronts us.

Because much of the Christian life happens where nobody is watching.

Forgiveness and the Debt We Want Collected

Jesus also spoke plainly about forgiveness.

Matthew 6:14 says:

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Forgiveness may be one of the hardest commands in Scripture.

Especially when the hurt was real.

There are wounds that do not disappear because somebody says, “Just forgive.”

There are things people have done that change relationships permanently.

Forgiveness does not mean pretending those things never happened.

It does not always mean reconciliation.

It does not always mean trust is restored.

But forgiveness means we stop demanding personal repayment.

We release the debt into God’s hands.

I have discovered that holding resentment feels powerful at first.

It feels like refusing to let someone get away with what they did.

But resentment eventually becomes its own prison.

You carry the person with you.

You replay the injury.

You continue having conversations that ended years ago.

The person who hurt you may have moved on while you are still carrying what happened.

Jesus calls us toward freedom.

Forgive.

Not because what happened did not matter.

But because it mattered too much to let it control the rest of your life.

Do Not Worry

Then Jesus moves into another area many of us struggle with.

Worry.

Matthew 6:31 says:

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”

That command becomes very real when life feels uncertain.

I know what it is to think about the future.

To wonder what happens next.

To worry about things beyond my control.

Most of us do.

We carry conversations that have not happened.

Problems that have not arrived.

Possibilities that may never occur.

We live tomorrow’s troubles today.

Jesus does not condemn us for caring.

He tells us where to place that care.

Our Father knows what we need.

That does not mean life will always unfold the way we want.

It means we do not face it alone.

Worry tries to make us responsible for controlling a future we were never given control over.

Faith says, “I will deal faithfully with today and trust God with tomorrow.”

That is not always easy.

Sometimes faith is simply getting up in the morning and saying:

“Lord, I do not know what today holds, but I know You are here.”

That may not feel dramatic.

But sometimes that is obedience.

Judge Not

And then we reach one of the most quoted and most misunderstood commands Jesus ever gave.

Matthew 7:1 says:

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

Jesus was not eliminating discernment.

He was confronting hypocrisy.

He explained it with a vivid picture.

A man trying to remove a speck from someone else’s eye while a beam remained in his own.

We are remarkably good at seeing other people’s faults.

We can identify pride in someone else while protecting our own.

We can criticize someone else’s temper while excusing ours.

We can condemn another person’s choices while asking everyone to understand our circumstances.

I have done that.

There have been times when I judged another person’s actions without knowing everything they were carrying.

Times when I assumed motives.

Times when I decided what someone was thinking without asking.

Times when I wanted grace for my failures while being much less generous with theirs.

Jesus says:

Look at yourself first.

That is not comfortable.

But it is healthy.

Before correcting someone else, examine your own heart.

Before criticizing another person’s weakness, remember your own.

Before demanding perfection from someone else, remember how patiently God has dealt with you.

The Christian life should produce humility.

Not because truth does not matter.

But because we know how much grace we ourselves require.

The Sermon on the Mount Is Impossible Without Christ

If we are not careful, we can hear these commands and turn Christianity into a list of impossible expectations.

Turn the other cheek.

Love your enemies.

Forgive.

Do not worry.

Judge not.

Give quietly.

Pray faithfully.

And we might walk away thinking:

“I cannot do all of that.”

And that realization is important.

Because the Sermon on the Mount was never meant to convince us that we are naturally good enough.

It reveals how deeply we need Christ.

These commands expose the heart.

They show us where anger lives.

Where pride lives.

Where fear lives.

Where resentment lives.

Where hypocrisy lives.

And then Christ begins His work.

He changes us.

Sometimes slowly.

Sometimes painfully.

Sometimes through circumstances we would never have chosen.

I cannot look back across my own life and say that I always responded correctly.

I did not.

There are situations I would handle differently today.

Words I would not say.

Arguments I would not continue.

Resentments I would release sooner.

Judgments I would make more carefully.

But that is part of following Christ.

We keep learning.

We keep surrendering.

We keep discovering places in our hearts that still need His grace.

The Commands That Confront Us

Primary Scripture: Matthew 5–7

There are some words of Jesus that comfort us immediately.

“Come unto me.”

“Let not your heart be troubled.”

“I am with you.”

We hold onto those words because they speak peace into difficult places.

But Jesus also said things that confront us.

Things that stop us.

Things that expose us.

Things that make us uncomfortable because they reach into the parts of our lives we would rather leave untouched.

This week, we have been looking at some of those commands.

Turn the other cheek.

Love your enemies.

Do good to those who mistreat you.

Give without making a show of it.

Forgive.

Do not worry.

Judge not.

These are not suggestions for unusually spiritual people.

They are the words of Jesus to ordinary people who claim to follow Him.

And that is where they become difficult.

It is easy to admire the teachings of Jesus from a distance.

It is much harder when His words begin interfering with the way we naturally want to respond.

When Jesus Confronts Our Instincts

Most of us have instincts that rise quickly when we are hurt.

Defend yourself.

Fight back.

Explain yourself.

Prove your point.

Make sure the other person knows they were wrong.

Keep score.

Remember what happened.

And sometimes those instincts feel completely justified.

There have been times in my own life when I felt exactly that way.

I have been hurt.

I have been disappointed.

I have been misunderstood.

I have had moments when I wanted another person to know exactly how much damage had been done.

And if I am truthful, there have been times when I did not merely want things made right.

I wanted the other person to feel some of what I had felt.

That is where the teachings of Jesus stop being abstract.

Jesus says:

“But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

That is not an easy command.

It confronts something deep inside us.

Our desire to retaliate.

Our desire to answer injury with injury.

Our desire to make sure nobody gets away with hurting us.

Jesus is not telling us that wrong is right.

He is not saying abuse should be ignored.

He is not saying injustice does not matter.

He is confronting retaliation.

He is telling us that another person’s sin does not have to decide our response.

That has been a hard lesson for me.

There have been times when resentment stayed longer than it should have.

Times when I replayed conversations.

Times when I remembered what had been said.

Times when I imagined what I should have said in return.

And every time I did that, the person who had hurt me continued occupying space in my mind long after the moment had passed.

Jesus offers another way.

Do not become what hurt you.

Do not let another person’s bitterness produce bitterness in you.

Do not allow somebody else’s anger to become your anger.

Turn the other cheek.

That command is not weakness.

Sometimes refusing retaliation requires more strength than retaliation ever did.

Love Your Enemies

Then Jesus goes even further.

Matthew 5:44 says:

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

Most of us would probably be satisfied if Jesus had simply said, “Do not hurt your enemies.”

But He did not stop there.

Love them.

Bless them.

Do good to them.

Pray for them.

That is difficult because Jesus is not merely controlling behavior.

He is reaching for the heart.

I can avoid retaliating and still remain bitter.

I can remain silent while carrying resentment.

I can walk away while secretly hoping someone fails.

Jesus goes deeper.

Pray for them.

That command changes something.

It is difficult to continually pray sincerely for someone while nurturing hatred for them.

Prayer begins changing the person who is praying.

Sometimes the situation changes.

Sometimes the other person changes.

But often the first heart God begins working on is ours.

There have been people in my life whom I found difficult to pray for.

Not because I did not know the words.

Because part of me did not want God to bless them.

That is uncomfortable to admit.

But that is precisely where Christ confronts us.

We often want mercy for ourselves and justice for everyone else.

Jesus keeps bringing us back to grace.

The Quiet Kind of Obedience

Jesus also confronted the desire to be seen.

In Matthew 6, He warned against doing good simply so other people would notice.

There is something in us that wants recognition.

We want somebody to know that we helped.

We want somebody to know that we gave.

We want somebody to notice the sacrifice.

But Jesus teaches another kind of faithfulness.

The quiet kind.

The kind nobody applauds.

The prayer nobody hears.

The gift nobody sees.

The kindness nobody posts about.

The service nobody recognizes.

There have been times in my life when I wanted acknowledgment.

I suspect most of us have.

We may not call it pride.

We may simply think, “It would be nice if somebody noticed.”

But Jesus asks a difficult question:

Would you still do it if nobody ever knew?

Would you still give?

Would you still serve?

Would you still help?

Would you still obey?

If the only One who saw it was God, would that be enough?

That is another command that confronts us.

Because much of the Christian life happens where nobody is watching.

Forgiveness and the Debt We Want Collected

Jesus also spoke plainly about forgiveness.

Matthew 6:14 says:

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Forgiveness may be one of the hardest commands in Scripture.

Especially when the hurt was real.

There are wounds that do not disappear because somebody says, “Just forgive.”

There are things people have done that change relationships permanently.

Forgiveness does not mean pretending those things never happened.

It does not always mean reconciliation.

It does not always mean trust is restored.

But forgiveness means we stop demanding personal repayment.

We release the debt into God’s hands.

I have discovered that holding resentment feels powerful at first.

It feels like refusing to let someone get away with what they did.

But resentment eventually becomes its own prison.

You carry the person with you.

You replay the injury.

You continue having conversations that ended years ago.

The person who hurt you may have moved on while you are still carrying what happened.

Jesus calls us toward freedom.

Forgive.

Not because what happened did not matter.

But because it mattered too much to let it control the rest of your life.

Do Not Worry

Then Jesus moves into another area many of us struggle with.

Worry.

Matthew 6:31 says:

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”

That command becomes very real when life feels uncertain.

I know what it is to think about the future.

To wonder what happens next.

To worry about things beyond my control.

Most of us do.

We carry conversations that have not happened.

Problems that have not arrived.

Possibilities that may never occur.

We live tomorrow’s troubles today.

Jesus does not condemn us for caring.

He tells us where to place that care.

Our Father knows what we need.

That does not mean life will always unfold the way we want.

It means we do not face it alone.

Worry tries to make us responsible for controlling a future we were never given control over.

Faith says, “I will deal faithfully with today and trust God with tomorrow.”

That is not always easy.

Sometimes faith is simply getting up in the morning and saying:

“Lord, I do not know what today holds, but I know You are here.”

That may not feel dramatic.

But sometimes that is obedience.

Judge Not

And then we reach one of the most quoted and most misunderstood commands Jesus ever gave.

Matthew 7:1 says:

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

Jesus was not eliminating discernment.

He was confronting hypocrisy.

He explained it with a vivid picture.

A man trying to remove a speck from someone else’s eye while a beam remained in his own.

We are remarkably good at seeing other people’s faults.

We can identify pride in someone else while protecting our own.

We can criticize someone else’s temper while excusing ours.

We can condemn another person’s choices while asking everyone to understand our circumstances.

I have done that.

There have been times when I judged another person’s actions without knowing everything they were carrying.

Times when I assumed motives.

Times when I decided what someone was thinking without asking.

Times when I wanted grace for my failures while being much less generous with theirs.

Jesus says:

Look at yourself first.

That is not comfortable.

But it is healthy.

Before correcting someone else, examine your own heart.

Before criticizing another person’s weakness, remember your own.

Before demanding perfection from someone else, remember how patiently God has dealt with you.

The Christian life should produce humility.

Not because truth does not matter.

But because we know how much grace we ourselves require.

The Sermon on the Mount Is Impossible Without Christ

If we are not careful, we can hear these commands and turn Christianity into a list of impossible expectations.

Turn the other cheek.

Love your enemies.

Forgive.

Do not worry.

Judge not.

Give quietly.

Pray faithfully.

And we might walk away thinking:

“I cannot do all of that.”

And that realization is important.

Because the Sermon on the Mount was never meant to convince us that we are naturally good enough.

It reveals how deeply we need Christ.

These commands expose the heart.

They show us where anger lives.

Where pride lives.

Where fear lives.

Where resentment lives.

Where hypocrisy lives.

And then Christ begins His work.

He changes us.

Sometimes slowly.

Sometimes painfully.

Sometimes through circumstances we would never have chosen.

I cannot look back across my own life and say that I always responded correctly.

I did not.

There are situations I would handle differently today.

Words I would not say.

Arguments I would not continue.

Resentments I would release sooner.

Judgments I would make more carefully.

But that is part of following Christ.

We keep learning.

We keep surrendering.

We keep discovering places in our hearts that still need His grace.

Grace for Another Morning

And that is where grace becomes so important.

We may hear the commands of Jesus and immediately remember where we failed.

The time we retaliated.

The person we still struggle to forgive.

The night we worried until morning.

The judgment we made too quickly.

The moment pride won.

But failure is not the end of the story.

Grace gives us another morning.

Another opportunity to respond differently.

Another opportunity to pray.

Another opportunity to forgive.

Another opportunity to release resentment.

Another opportunity to trust.

Another opportunity to look honestly at ourselves before criticizing someone else.

We may not change everything today.

But we can take the next faithful step.

Maybe today the next step is praying for someone you have avoided praying for.

Maybe it is letting go of an argument you keep replaying.

Maybe it is asking God to reveal where judgment has hardened your heart.

Maybe it is surrendering tomorrow’s worries.

Maybe it is quietly doing something good that nobody will ever know about.

These commands confront us because Jesus loves us too much to leave us unchanged.

He is forming something in us.

A different response.

A different heart.

A different way of living.

Not retaliation, but mercy.

Not hatred, but prayer.

Not pride, but humility.

Not fear, but trust.

Not condemnation, but grace.

And none of us will do that perfectly.

But every morning God gives us is another opportunity to walk a little closer with Christ.

Closing

The difficult sayings of Jesus are not there to drive us away.

They invite us deeper.

They confront the parts of us that still want control.

Still want revenge.

Still want recognition.

Still want to judge.

Still want to worry.

And Jesus keeps saying:

Follow Me.

Not merely when My words comfort you.

Follow Me when My words confront you.

Follow Me when obedience costs something.

Follow Me when forgiveness is difficult.

Follow Me when you would rather retaliate.

Follow Me when you cannot see tomorrow clearly.

Follow Me when you discover something in your own heart that needs changing.

Because that is where discipleship becomes real.

And when we fail, grace is still waiting.

Grace for today.

And, if God gives it,

grace for another morning.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Your Word comforts us, but it also confronts us.

You know the places in our hearts where we still struggle with anger, resentment, fear, pride, judgment, and worry.

Forgive us for the times we have wanted mercy for ourselves but withheld it from others.

Teach us to respond as Christ taught us.

Help us refuse retaliation.

Help us pray for those who have hurt us.

Help us forgive without pretending the hurt did not matter.

Help us trust You with tomorrow.

Help us examine our own hearts before judging someone else’s.

And when we fail, remind us that Your grace has not disappeared.

Change us slowly, faithfully, and deeply into people who reflect the heart of Christ.

Give us courage to obey the commands that confront us.

And thank You for the mercy of another day, another opportunity, and another morning.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.