To sum up this chapter in one sentence, I must quote a seemingly overused phrase: "What Would Jesus Do? As I read through the "Be Attitudes," and the rest of the chapter, for another countless time, I realize the point Jesus is trying to drive home is my response to the situations in my life is what matters most. Blessed are the meek… blessed are the Peace Makers … blessed are they that mourn … Go the extra mile … obey the commandments AND teach others to do so: what I do matters. It is more than just doing, though, we must live it. Jesus wasn't just speaking here, Jesus was living it. As I evaluate the journey to the cross, I find he fulfilled every part of these commandments: meek, peacemaker, mourner, obeyed and taught others, walked the extra mile … for me.
When God anointed Aaron and his sons as priests in Numbers 18, they were told to "… Partake in the iniquity of the altar … and the stranger would be put to death. The word, "stranger" here can be translated, "estranged." So the one who allows themselves to become emotionally separated from the commandments of God are spiritually dead. Paul, referencing Numbers 18 in I Corinthians 9, says:
19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. 20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
So I challenge you R.E.A.L men, who are kings and priests, don't be estranged to the gospel. When it comes to your brother, sister, and the lost, partake of the altar; laugh with them, cry with them, turn the other cheek, become vulnerable for the Gospels sake that we might save some! After all, it's what Jesus would do.
Jason Mathews
Sunday
Matthew 5
