The Hard Way Series

The Hard Way (Matthew 7:12-14)

Lee Strobel asks us to imagine a daughter and her boyfriend going out for a Coke on a school night. The father says to her, “You must be home before eleven.” It gets to be 10:45 p.m. and the two of them are still having a great time. They don't want the evening to end, so suddenly they begin to have difficulty interpreting the father's instructions:

What did he really mean when he said, “You must be home before eleven”? Did he literally mean us, or was he talking about you in a general sense, like people in general? Was he saying, in effect, “As a general rule, people must be home before eleven”? Or was he just making the observation that “Generally, people are in their homes before eleven”? I mean, he wasn't very clear, was he?

And what did he mean by, “You must be home before eleven”? Would a loving father be so adamant and inflexible? He probably means it as a suggestion. I know he loves me, so isn't it implicit that he wants me to have a good time? And if I am having fun, then he wouldn't want me to end the evening so soon.

And what did he mean by, “You must be home before eleven”? He didn't specify whose home. It could be anybody's home. Maybe he meant it figuratively. Remember the old saying, “Home is where the heart is”? My heart is right here, so doesn't that mean I'm already home?

And what did he really mean when he said, “You must be home before eleven”? Did he mean that in an exact, literal sense? Besides, he never specified 11 p.m. or 11 a.m. And he wasn't really clear on whether he was talking about Central Standard Time or Eastern Standard Time. In Hawaii, it's still only quarter to seven. As a matter of fact, when you think about it, it's always before eleven. Whatever time it is, it's always before the next eleven.

So with all of these ambiguities, we can't really be sure what he meant at all. If he can't make himself more clear, we certainly can't be held responsible." (James Emery White, Christ Among Dragons, IVP Books, 2010, page 177; www.PreachingToday.com)

It’s amazing how people sometimes justify their disobedience. It reminds me of how Satan tempted our first parents in the Garden of Eden: “Did God actually say...” (Genesis 3:1).

Well, in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He has been very clear about what He expects of the citizens in His Kingdom. He wants them to shine with an internal righteousness that comes from deep within, not to put on a show of external righteousness, covering selfishness and pride within.

In a word, He wants His citizens to love people from the heart, and He has been very unambiguous about that throughout His Sermon on the Mount. For example, He says: Don’t be angry with your brother, but be reconciled (5:21-26); don’t lust after women (5:27-30); don’t divorce your wife (5:31-32); be honest with people without having to swear (5:33-37); turn the other cheek (5:38-42); love your enemy (5:43-48); give secretly to the needy (6:1-4); forgive others their trespasses (6:5-14); lay up treasures in heaven by giving to the poor (6:19-24); and don’t judge (7:1-6).

Now, you can choose to obey Christ or not. That is to say, you can choose to love people or not. And as Jesus comes to the end of His Sermon on the Mount, He makes that choice very clear. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 7, Matthew 7, where Jesus lays out the choice before us.

Matthew 7:12 So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (ESV).

This verse summarizes everything Jesus has said so far. In fact, it’s a summary of all that GOD has said in His Word so far, i.e., in the Law and the Prophets, or the entire Old Testament Scriptures.

Later in Matthew, a lawyer will ask Jesus, “Which is the great commandment in the Law?” (Matt. 22:36). And Jesus will answer, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

The law of love is the foundation of all laws in the Bible. It’s the “royal law,” James calls it (James 2:8), the king of all laws. And this is what love looks like: Do to others what you wish they would do to you. Jesus is very clear here – no ambiguity!