Jesus concludes the Antitheses by making clear what the lens and foundation of his reinterpretations of the Law is love. And that extends to one's enemy. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
In the Beatitudes, Jesus said that God's favor was on the peacemakers. In the Antitheses, Jesus is clear that citizens of the Kingdom Community will not use violence to resist evil. Rather, Jesus advocates for creative non-violent protest: turning the other cheek, giving away your coat, walking a second mile. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
In the fourth antithesis, Jesus challenges the religious leaders on their casual use of oaths. He reminds his listeners that you cannot escape God in your words. If you are God's and God's Spirit lives in you, then everything you say carries the witness of God. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
In speaking against divorce, Jesus is condemning the misogyny of his culture. He wanted to make exceptionally clear that the Jewish leaders’ interpretation of the law was intended to circumvent the law’s true purpose and it harmed women in the process. While these verses from Jesus are often used to condemn divorce and keep women in abusive relationships, Jesus interprets these verses in a way that protects and upholds the value of women.
The second antithesis moves from the realm of murder and anger to the topic of adultery and lust. It might seem like a confusing topical switch, but really Jesus is just moving from the sixth commandment to the seventh. You have heard it said…but now I say to you. Jesus's perspective on lust moves the offense from the external act to the internal desire, he moves the locus of offense from the so-called “male authority” over the woman to the woman herself. This perspective from Jesus gives women—and their bodies autonomy, value, and worth. In this interpretive application of the Old Testament, Jesus is calling out a cultural system that objectified women and justified on the basis of it not being adultery. He says that the impure thoughts of their heart the desires that improperly objective and sexualize without consent—are sins, just like adultery. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
You have heard it said…but I say to you… In this first antithesis, Jesus takes the commandment "Do not kill" and applies and it to the idea of unrighteous anger. Further, Jesus says, reconciliation is always better than retribution. He calls us out of systems of empire that are punitive and into the community of the kingdom that restores. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
As the Beatitudes end, the Antitheses begin! The remainder of Matthew 5 involves Jesus taking some hot-button issues of his day, quoting the "typical" or "historic" interpretation, then providing a Kingdom community interpretation that turns the Law of Moses upside down. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
What does it mean to pray to God as Father? Join Dr. Josh Olds on a journey through the Lord's Prayer to discuss what God-as-Father means and what it doesn't.
The very first word of the Lord's Prayer tells us that our prayers are meant to lead to community. "Our" does not begin a personal prayer, but a prayer made in community for the community.
In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives his disciples a model prayer for them to follow. Over the course of eleven weeks, Dr. Josh Olds will take listeners through that prayer, step-by-step, word-by-word.
Week 11 - A Year on the Mountaintop Join Dr. Josh Olds as he goes on a one-year journey to explore the Sermon on the Mount. This session covers the conclusion of the Beatitudes, where Jesus talks about being a faithful, pervasive presence in the world using the metaphors of salt and light. Josh talks about how light exposes darkness while salt works to preserve and enhance. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
Week 10 - A Year on the Mountaintop Join Dr. Josh Olds as he goes on a one-year journey to explore the Sermon on the Mount. This session covers the eighth Beatitude: "God's favor is on the persecuted." Josh talks about how persecution is a present reality for many Christians throughout the world and how God's favor is seen through their faithfulness. He contrasts this with empowered Western Christianity's concept of persecution, which is really nothing more than an attempt to disrupt their form of empire. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
Week 8 - A Year on the Mountaintop Join Dr. Josh Olds as he goes on a one-year journey to explore the Sermon on the Mount. This session covers the seventh Beatitude: "God's favor is on the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" Josh talks about how the absence of conflict does not mean the presence of peace. Jesus places the onus of peacemaking on the persecuted and calls them to nonviolent revolution to resist empire. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
Week 8 - A Year on the Mountaintop Join Dr. Josh Olds as he goes on a one-year journey to explore the Sermon on the Mount. This session covers the sixth Beatitude: "God's favor is on the pure in heart, for they will see God" Josh talks about how our longing for social justice begins within us and that to see God means to be invited into his presence within the kingdom community. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
Week 7 - A Year on the Mountaintop Join Dr. Josh Olds as he goes on a one-year journey to explore the Sermon on the Mount. This session covers the fifth Beatitude: "God's favor is on those are merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Josh talks about how the people of God's community must be purveyors of mercy in a retributive and violent world. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
Week 6 - A Year on the Mountaintop Join Dr. Josh Olds as he goes on a one-year journey to explore the Sermon on the Mount. This session covers the fourth Beatitude: "God's favor is on those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled." Josh talks about how the people of God's community must be desperate for justice and active in work to bring about equality. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
Week 5 - A Year on the Mountaintop Join Dr. Josh Olds as he goes on a one-year journey to explore the Sermon on the Mount. This session covers the third Beatitude: "God's favor is on the meek, for they will inherit the earth." Josh talks about how meekness is not weakness and the people that Jesus had in mind were the oppressed people groups of his day. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
Week 4 - A Year on the Mountaintop Join Dr. Josh Olds as he goes on a one-year journey to explore the Sermon on the Mount. This session covers the second Beatitude: "God's favor is on those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Josh talks about how the people of God's community must be brokenhearted over sin, injustice, and inequality. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
Week 3 - A Year on the Mountaintop Join Dr. Josh Olds as he goes on a one-year journey to explore the Sermon on the Mount. This session covers the first Beatitude: "God's favor is on the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs." Josh talks about the meaning of being poor in spirit, contrasting it with the zeitgeist of the age, which said to be rich in spirit. He concludes that poverty of spirit is the realization that we are not complete or whole unless we make room for God's Spirit within us. #theology #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy
Join Dr. Josh Olds as he goes on a one-year journey to explore the Sermon on the Mount. Session 2 takes a view of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-16, showing that a proper translation of the Beatitudes isn't about what we think of blessedness, but about having God's favor. #sermon #sermononthemount #biblestudy #smallgroupbiblestudy