Matthew 5:13-16

Jesus turns things upside down when it comes to who is invited into his kingdom - it’s everyone, really everyone. What’s more, the invitation to receive the blessing of his kingdom is not dependent on anything that we might deem a qualification or a disqualification. But Jesus doesn’t end his teaching there. And neither must we. Entrance into his kingdom is just the first step.

Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount by painting a picture of what Kingdom people look like. Fundamentally, they are ontologically changed. Kingdom people are salt and light. They don’t try to be, or should be, or can be salt and light. They are. Such a radical change only happens when we allow God to resurrect us. And we can only be resurrected if we’re willing first to die to what we were.

Salt stops things decaying, makes things pleasurable, and helps things grow. Light is the presence of Jesus shining out of us and redeeming the world. The world needs us to be who we are - salt of the earth and light of the world.

By Ed Flint

Matthew 5:3-12

When it comes to "living the revolution" the question arises - for whom is the revolution good news? Who gets to join in - and who is excluded? So, from the outset of His revolutionary invitation, Jesus makes it clear - even those who have been discarded and set aside socio-culturally are able to join Him in turning the world right side up.

But, it will come at cost - they, once joined, can no longer define themselves by exclusion! Qualification is in Jesus' hands - not theirs. And so is the mission to which He sends us.

By Bill Dogterom

Matthew 5-7

Many of Jesus’ most familiar teachings come from the Sermon on the Mount, the aim here is not to treat it as a list of moral instructions, but to understand the new day Jesus was announcing. Set against a deeply divided and oppressed Israel, Jesus’ announcement that “the kingdom of heaven has come near” was not a threat of judgment, but a declaration that the long wait for God’s action was over. The Sermon re-centers the Law, not as a path to salvation, but as a vision of life under God’s reign—and Jesus’ rhetoric shows it was never meant to be achievable through human effort.

From the opening line of the Beatitudes onward, He makes clear that the kingdom is available to all who can admit they can’t do this on their own (spoiler - that’s all of us - that’s the whole point!) Rather than driving us to despair over our shortcomings, the Sermon on the Mount trains us to live within a reality Jesus opened up to every one of us, through God’s presence and the power of His Spirit.

By Hannah Flint

Books referenced:
The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God by Dallas Willard
The Narrow Path: How the Subversive Way of Jesus Satisfies Our Souls by Rich Villodas