Day
Three: Matt. 5:43-48 “You
have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell
you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be
sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the
good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love
those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do
the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the
ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your
heavenly Father is perfect.”
I REMEMBER GROWING UP playing sports, and even in the Army
as a soldier, times when a coach or superior officer would command me to do
something that they themselves could not do. Have you ever experienced this? A coach tells you to run
five laps around the field, but you know he could not manage one lap without
needing oxygen.
A parent requires you to clean your bedroom when theirs would qualify to be
featured on an episode of “Hoarders.” These situations bother us so much because there is a part
of us that expects the people giving the commands and making the rules to be
doing the things they are dictating. This just makes sense right?
Thankfully, Jesus does not fall into this category. He taught us the loftiest of truths. He raised the bar to highest levels. He revealed to us the mysteries of the
kingdom of God hidden from eternity’s past (Matt.13:11).These are the biggest, most gigantic truths in the entire
world.
However, He never commanded or laid out one expectation of
God that He Himself did not meet and fulfill. This is the amazing thing about Jesus. He not only came to teach us what the
Kingdom of God was like and what citizens of this kingdom were supposed to live
like, but He came to model it and fulfill those requirements at the same time.
When He met God’s expectations, He did so for us. In our place. He did this not only because he was the perfect Savior, but
because he was the Master Teacher. As our great teacher, he modeled with his life the very
things he taught us with His words.
PAUSE AND REFLECT
▷▷How do you respond when someone commands something they either
don’t do or can’t do?
▷▷Would you hire a badly out-of-shape person to be your personal
trainer? Why or why not?
▷▷How
does knowing Christ has both set and met God’s standards in your place impact
your life?
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