Can you find the sheep teaching others from the Bible?
Can you find the sheep stealing grapes?
What do you think the pictures are trying to teach you about the Kingdom of God?
Click Here to read Matthew 5:17-20.
We are getting to the end of our 30 days of lessons and the lessons are getting harder and more complex. What if I drew a starting line on the ground and another line three feet away and asked you to jump over the space in between? What if I made a third line that was 100 yards away from the starting line and asked you to jump all the way over the space in between? How would it feel jumping over the first line three feet away? How would it feel trying to jump over the second line 100 yards away? You can think of the first line as God’s laws before Jesus came. You can think of the second line as the laws after Jesus came. Jesus did not come to get rid of the first line three feet away. He came to show us the second line and how impossible it is to jump 100 yards over it. You can probably make the first jump if you tried. But it is impossible to jump 100 yards.
Jesus says in the verses for this lesson, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” He then gives some examples of the old line and then what it is like with the new line in (Matthew 5:17-48). Jesus reminds the people of a law on the old line. “Do not murder.” No problem. We can jump over that line. Most of us have not murdered anyone. However, Jesus shows us the new line. If you have ever been angry with anyone it is just like you murdered them (Matthew 5:21-26). What?! Everyone has been angry with someone else, so we are all murderers!?
Jesus gives a bunch more examples. The old line is “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” The new line is “Love your enemies” not hate your enemies? What?! That is way too far to jump.
After listing several examples of how far away the line is we should quickly come to the conclusion that there is no way we can jump that far. Jesus would agree with you. In this cool book in the Bible called Romans it says that the 100 yard line is not there for us to jump over. It is there to show that it is impossible to jump over it (Romans 3:19-20). There is only one way to get over that line, and that is to place your faith in Jesus.
Everyone in the Kingdom of Heaven falls short of the line. Everyone! “For all have sinned and fall short.” (Romans 3:23) We are all in the Kingdom of Heaven because of Jesus and what He did for us. He picks us up and carries us over the line. That is the grace of God.
Read Matthew 5:17-20 again:
How are you different after reading these verses?
Dear Father in heaven, I freely confess that I cannot jump over the line. Thank You for living the perfect life and jumping over the line for us. Thank You for picking me up and carrying me over the line. You and I can be friends because of what You did for me. Thank You for your grace! Amen.
