Matthew 4:12-25
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus Heals the Sick
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Matthew 5:1-48
Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 26:36-46
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Luke 6:17-26
The Sermon on the Plain
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
"Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.
For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
24 "But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
When Jesus gave us His first sermon to start His ministry, the Sermon on the Mount, we can see that His thoughts on life, are not like our thoughts on life...This was an unusual way to start a ministry...He blesses the poor in Spirit, He blesses the meek, and He blesses those who mourn...Many scholars translate the word blessed for happiness...And three years later as Jesus' ministry was about to end and He was soon to be arrested, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said, "The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."...
We often seek our desires and our pleasures and talk about things that make us happy...We do not often talk about things like our meekness, our flaws, our mourning, and treating and loving our enemies...But no so much do we search for the Truth and the Spirit...Do we seek God as often as we seek to satisfy our desires?...When we search for the Truth, the Absolute Truth, we are searching for God...We are searching for Jesus...We are seeking to have a relationship with Them, through reading the Bible, through prayer, and through our fellowship of others...We are seeking to praise the Glory of God...Jesus teaches this in the four gospels...
God created us and He knows what our desires are, whether they be past, present, or future desires...God created us in His Image...And what we think, becomes how we feel...We seem to want material things on earth for the most part...The flesh is weak and desires to fulfill our personal desires and pleasures...We seek fun, happiness, and satisfying our desires and pleasures on earth...And we are only on this earth for a short while...
But what if we have this wrong, as we read the Sermon on the Mount?...And as we read His Sermon on the Plain, He reinforces His Sermon on the Mount...Jesus teaches us that life is not about filling our earthly desires and pleasures...Happy are the poor, those hungry, those weeping, those who are insulted for following His teachings...But woe to the rich, the well fed, and men who speak well of you of earthly things...
If we feel happy, we think we are happy -but are we?...It seems to me that one of life's goals on earth is to constantly be thinking and searching for happiness or to satisfy one of our many desires or find a pleasure that pleasures us...Man is a function of his thoughts, feelings, and his senses...We think we know what we want, but do we...If one believes that when Jesus started His ministry and gave us His Sermon on the Mount and it is true, we have to look at life a little bit differently...Jesus Sermon on the Mount and His Sermon on the Plain turns this type of thinking of earthly happiness, and pleasures and desires upon its head...Maybe fulfilling our desires is not or should not be a life goal, and something we are constantly looking to do...
Jesus' moments in the Garden of Gethsemane so us His Human side...He is anxious and dreading the coming of His dying on the cross...
God gives us complete and unfettered freedom, and freedom of choice...This seems to cause us problems, with our weak flesh...We seem to want to be able to fulfill our earthly desires and pleasures with material things and the satisfying of our desires, while we are on earth...We seem to examine and monitor "how we feel, what our thoughts are, what our emotions are"...But we do not examine our hearts and our souls, the eternal things, and our Spirit, as often as we should...Too much of our emphasis is on the flesh and not enough on the Spirit...That is where the true treasures are...We think and feel much more about this earth and the flesh, than we do about heaven and the Spiritual Things of eternal life with God...The Bible and Jesus spoke often about our hearts...The heart maybe the spiritual center in all of us...Our hearts have the ability to know and feel Jesus' LOVE...Do our feelings and our seeking to fulfill our own desires, trump us seeking the Truth?...We know we should be good but we are not good...We know we are to be perfect, and we are not perfect...Jesus says only God is good...Jesus also teaches in the Sermon on the Mount for us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect...So we are taught to be good and perfect, but we cannot be good and perfect...We struggle with sin every day...What a wretched man I am...Thanks be to God, for Jesus Christ our LORD that He came down to die for our sins (Romans 7:7-25)...God sent His Son to save us, not condemn us...He is our hope for heaven, the Kingdom of God, our way to eternal love, and our way to avoid hell, if we believe in Him and the One He sent...He loves us this much (John 3:16)...So let us do our very best to follow Him...
He has offered us eternity and we look to satisfy our earthly desires...Jesus teaches us the eternities...Let us think more of the eternal and of heaven...Let us rejoice in the day of the LORD and leap for joy, because great is our reward in heaven...