Jesus finishes the sermon on the plain with a call to self-examination. What fruit are we bearing? What do our mouths reveal about our hearts? What foundation do we build on? It is one thing to profess Jesus as 'Lord', but do we actually do what He says? Looking at our fruit and our foundation reveals wether we are truly in step with Jesus.

All our lives are lived under the scrutiny of others. We also judge others according to our standards of what is right or wrong. Jesus teaches that His followers also judge, but that their judging is to be measured. We are to look at ourselves first and remember God's own mercy toward us before trying to remove the specks from others.

Whitney Houston sang, "Bring me a higher love...where's that higher love I've been thinkin' of?" Jesus teaches His disciples that they are called to this higher love. Those who belong to Jesus' kingdom love their enemies, do good to those who hate them and give generously to anyone in need. This demanding and distinct love is ultimately divine love - the love that the Father displayed in sending His Son and the Son displayed in dying on the cross for His enemies. It's only as followers Christ who have begun to grasp the love of Christ that we will begin to show this same love to others.

Life lived outside of God's kingdom is a cursed life. Jesus explains that a cursed life is to find your comfort in riches, satisfaction in the here and now, joy in the suffering of others and identity in the praise of others.

Who would you describe as being truly blessed? Someone have a particular career? Millions in the bank? A clean bill of health? At the beginning of the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus explains that to be blessed isn't based on one's circumstance; nor is it a condition to be met. Instead, it is a status that He declares on all those who belong to His kingdom.

The apostles are interesting because of their ordinariness. They weren't the smartest, wealthiest or most influential people. Yet, they were purposefully and deliberately chosen by Jesus to be His messengers and witnesses. The ministry of the apostles gives us certainty regarding the gospel and clarity regarding the makeup and mission of the local church.

The Lord's Day often comes with a variety of questions. Is there a Christian Sabbath for the church? If there is, how does Jesus' Person and work influence how we keep it? Are there things permissible and not permissible? Things encouraged or discouraged? In these two Sabbath accounts, Jesus (who is Lord of the Sabbath) provides us with answers.

Fasting is not something we often think about. The idea of depriving oneself in a self-gratification obsessed culture seems ridiculous! However, is fasting an appropriate activity for a Christian? In Jesus' answer to this question we find gospel principles not just for fasting, but for any act of devotion and service to God.

In the calling of Levi we are exposed again to our greatest need. Jesus is the Great Physician who came to heal the sin-sick. Similar to Levi, our calling as Jesus' disciples is to praise God for His salvation and point others to Jesus.

Jesus' healing of the paralytic exposes our greatest need: God's forgiveness. It also reveals that Jesus came to reconcile sinners to God and bring them into His eternal kingdom through taking the penalty we deserved for our sin. Our response to God's forgiveness in Jesus is living in humble adoration and in godly awe of His grace and mercy.

While travelling around Galilee, Jesus is confronted by a leper. Leprosy in Jesus' day was basically a death sentence. Isolated from community, left to suffer and barred from God's presence was the lot of the man full of leprosy. Yet, Jesus in His compassion touches the leper and cleanses him. Luke thus provides us with a wonderful picture of the salvation Jesus came to bring. Jesus is the King who came to save us from sin's corruption and sin's separation. He is the Saviour who says to sinners, “I will; be clean.”

We see in Peter's experience the result of an encounter with the true and living God. An encounter begins with God revealing Himself to us through His Word. This revelation of God leads to a revelation of ourselves as sinners. We are moved to confession like Peter, "I am a sinful man." Yet, in God's grace, He moves toward us to redeem us in Christ. Then, He calls us to partner with Him in His mission to seek and save the lost.

Authority is not a concept we naturally warm to. Through its abuses and our cultural aversion, we tend towards believing that authority is a bad thing. However, we have no authority over the forces of evil, sickness or even our own lives. Yet, Jesus displays His authority over all these things. Jesus came as the King, but uses His power to compassionately call sinners into His kingdom and to save them through laying down His life on their behalf. Jesus exercises His authority to save!

Luke 4:14-30 recounts Jesus' rejection in His hometown of Nazareth. As followers of Jesus we rejoice in the fact that He came to set sinners free through His life, death and resurrection. Jesus is the good news; the gospel! Yet, we must also recognise that just as people rejected Jesus, people will reject us as His followers. We can take comfort in the fact that Jesus experienced being an outcast and never leaves or forsakes His own.

The wilderness, a place of testing and failure for Israel, becomes the place where the new Israel, the second Adam is tempted by Satan but doesn't yield. Thus, as our representative, Jesus succeeds where we failed. He is our perfect sacrifice and our spotless righteousness. We also learn by Jesus' example how to fight sin in our own lives. We use and live in God's Word to combat the fiery darts of the evil one.

What is repentance?

Lessons from Jesus’ Early Years

Jesus comes as our substitute, comforter, Saviour and sword.