In a world where prejudice and racism is rife, Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:43-48 concerning loving our enemies, cut right through to the heart. His disciples, who belong to His upside down Kingdom, are not to be like the world or the Pharisees who believe that God’s law encouraged them to ‘hate their enemies’. There is no such Old Testament law! Instead, Jesus taught that His disciples ought to exercise inclusion (embracing all kinds of people) and practise imitiation of our Heavenly Father who sends rain upon all kinds of people. Imitating that undiscriminating kind of love is nothing less than what Jesus taught and showed in His death securing our salvation. His love was at great cost to Himself!

Because of what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:38-42, some have concluded that Jesus was anti-war and others that he was a pacifist. Though his words have been misinterpreted over the years, Jesus did teach that in the lives of His followers there is no room for taking revenge, there must be much room for our lives for forgiveness and plentiful room in our hearts for love – even for those who would strike, offend or use us. There will be many times when our rights are trodden on. Jesus knew all about that. he chose to give us His rights for our sake and by doing so saved us, that we might be His and learn to live His way of forgiveness in response.

In a day when the Jewish religious found themselves every ‘loophole’ they could find in the Old Testament law about making oaths and promises, in Matthew 5:33-37, Jesus made it very clear that those who were quick to make oaths and promises that they never intended to keep, were avoiding a serious issue. God does not expect His people to only tell the truth when they are forced to swear on oath. The true disciple of Jesus will be known by their honesty and truth-telling. God’s standards remain hight, but there is grace freely given to all who seek it – even to those who have failed to keep their word.

In a day when the Jewish religious found themselves a ‘loophole’ in the Old Testament law about divorce, in Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus made it very clear that the issue goes much deeper than what was popular at the time. Jesus taught that the only ‘biblical ‘grounds for divorce are sexual immorality, and that those who divorce for other reasons end up breaking the seventh commandment if and when they remarry. This is a difficult topic for many, especially when the divorce rate is so high, however God’s standards are there to be followed and we must not forget that His grace is freely given to all who seek it – even to those who have failed to keep their marriage vows.