Welcome to Episode #157 of Way of the Bible podcast. This is our fifth of eight episodes in our Twentieth mini-series entitled, Sermon on the Mount. On today’s episode we’ll be hearing Jesus teach on the deepest of all primal urges. Our passage appears in Matthew 5:27-30.
This is a huge topic, much larger than can be addressed in one episode. This is the central theme running through Scripture, the core message of the Bible, the pearl of greatest price. We’ll just scratch the surface of this tidbit Jesus dropped into his sermon.
Five episodes into the sermon on the mount and we’re only just crossing the midway point in the first of three Chapters. We’re on a deep dive into what Jesus is instructing us as we sit at his feet and listen meditatively to what he is saying.
I think I just lost a few people there so let me briefly pause to explain. Jesus told his disciples in John 14:25-26 – These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Was Jesus speaking only to those disciples gathered with him in the upper room or to all disciples who would seek to learn from him. Remember, Jesus is not dead but is God incarnate now dwelling in heaven. In that regard, the Prophet Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah 33:23 – Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is his name: 3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
Now imagine disciples not in the room that night with Jesus who also needed to remember what they’d heard Jesus say. Or in the third century when the gospels and epistles were being passed from church to church. What did Jesus really say and what do the scriptures mean?
In the John 14 passage just read, Jesus said the Holy Spirit sent from the Father would teach the disciples all things and remind them of everything he said. Could the disciples call to the Lord as spoken in Jeremiah. And would the Father through the Holy Spirit do what Jesus said. Would the Holy Spirit remind them of what they heard Jesus say, and what he may have said to others?
Two blind men followed after Jesus when he’d passed, calling out to him, Son of David, have mercy on us. Jesus responded to them in Matthew 9:28-29 – When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.”
I think you could guess what happened. But how did it happen; Jesus didn’t touch them or pray over them; he said, “According to your faith be it done to you.” This is where we’re going.
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