Matthew 5 - Go the second mile

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’[f] 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away."

What would compel someone to do the exact opposite of what is expected of you? Can you imagine even doing something like what Jesus is asking us to do? It seems outrageous don’t it? Well, its not outrageous, it’s Christ-like.

Jesus looks at what the past culture was, an eye for an eye  and a tooth for a tooth. Then He says to go beyond our vengeful nature and tap into our

Matthew 5 - Let your Yes be Yes and Your No be No

33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. - Matthew 5:31-37

Heaven is God's throne and the Earth His footstool, Jesus reiterated this as it was written in Isaiah 66:1. Can we truly understand the magnitude of that concept? Can we even imagine what that means. If we can, the mere thought of swearing by heaven or earth wouldn't even

Matthew 5 The Last Beatitude

Jesus' sermon on the mount addresses so many topics for us as believers and for the non believers as well. In Matthew 5, Jesus starts with the Beautitudes and in this account by Matthew, I want to focus on the last beautitude that He spoke on.
       
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Persecution comes in many forms and at times we may not see it for what it is. To persecute is to harrass, oppress, torment, afflict, torture, annoy and trouble someone persistently. But Jesus says "Blessed are you" when

Matthew 4 - The Battle of The Word

Matthew 4 tells not only of Jesus being tempted by the devil but also the beginning of his ministry. 

The very first verse starts off by saying, "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." This verse here conveys that this temptation was inevitable and almost a right of passage for Jesus, seeing that he was led up by the Spirit. This occurred right after his baptism which further illustrates that this was something that Jesus had to do. Possibly to show us that he himself was not immune to the temptations of

Matthew 3 - Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

In Matthew 3, John was preaching and baptizing people in the wilderness telling them to "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at Hand" - Matthew 3:2. All the people of Judea and the regions around Jordan were baptized and they confessed their sins Matthew 3: 5-6.

When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to John's baptism, he said, 

“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore

Matthew Chapter 2 - Gifts given to Jesus at birth.

Matthew 2 describes what happened after Jesus' birth in Bethlehem and how the wise men were on a search for Jesus, The King of the Jews. They went to Herod the king, thinking that a king should be born in a palace but however he was not there. Herod and all of Jerusalem was

Matthew Chapter 1 - A prostitute in the genealogy of Jesus...?

In Matthew Chapter 1 it starts with the genealogy of Jesus Christ and what stood out for me was this verse.

                   ⁵ Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse

 Rahab was the prostitute who helped Joshua's spies when they came into Jericho. She helped them from being caught and they stayed there with her. This same prostitute later married one of the spies, Salmon and had a son, Boaz who married Ruth and they had Obed who had