Going Above and Beyond Like King Jesus - 5/19/2024 Sunday Sermon

The Tabernacle Today

Going Above and Beyond Like King Jesus

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. -Romans 5:10-11

Matthew 5:43-48

Going Above and Beyond LIKE King Jesus

This is the last of the 6 times Jesus says, “You have heard it said, but I say to you.” Interestingly, it is the first of the specific things this sermon says Christians will be rewarded for, with 4 more coming in chapter 6.

The command they had corrupted V. 43

You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. -Lev. 19:17-18

The words “hate your enemy” were not in the Old Testament. But that is how many of them had been taught to process Leviticus 19:18 by their leaders – Love your JEWISH neighbors, but hate your PAGAN enemies.

When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. -Lev. 19:33-34

The command to love includes loving your enemies V. 44

The word love occurs 640 times in the Bible (227 times in the NT). The word for love here is Agapeo (G25), which occurs in 110 verses. It means to feel and exhibit esteem and goodwill to a person, to prize and delight in a thing. Here Jesus commands Agape love for all people, even enemies.

The word translated love is agape, which means a strong commitment of goodwill towards another regardless of whether or not they deserve it. -African Study Bible

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you. -Proverbs 25:21-22

Reasons we are to love our enemies V. 45-48

We love our enemies not because of who they are but because of who God is (v 45)

“Loving enemies requires such an unnatural response that obeying it proves who belongs to God.” -David Jeremiah

We love our enemies because of who we once were, because of who we are now in Christ, and who they can become if they turn to Christ (v. 46-47)

If you who call yourself Christians still practice “tribal love” for your own rather than love for people of “all tribes,” there is no practical difference that shows the eternal difference Jesus Christ makes.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. -Galatians 2:20

We love our enemies because doing so leads to growth and reward (v 48)

The word for perfect is teleios (G5046), which occurs in 17 New Testament verses – it can be translated perfect, complete, mature, having reached its end, fulfilled its purpose.

The fact is you and I won’t reach full ‘perfection’ until we are in Heaven, but our spiritual sights must be set on nothing less than living like Jesus by faith, striving to fulfill our God-given purpose through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here Jesus introduces the word reward back into the mix, as He did back in verse 12 – the sermon on the mount has the first reference to reward in the New Testament, and the most references to reward in the N.T.

Jesus spoke these words to call believers living in this age of grace, this church age, to live like He lived, and to love like He loved! A new standard for reward – loving like Jesus loved, even your enemies!