Jesus challenges every checklist we’ve ever used to grade ourselves. In Matthew 5:17-48 He insists that real righteousness reaches far beneath behavior to the motives that fuel it. Pastor Mark Medley unpacks this mind-bending section of the Sermon on the Mount by comparing it to international travel: you won’t get far in Ireland if you drive on the American side of the road, and you’ll overpay in France if you keep thinking in dollars instead of euros.

Likewise, God’s kingdom operates on its own measurements. Mark walks through five areas where Jesus resets the scale:

• Anger & Murder – Hatred incubates homicide. Deal with the heart first.
• Lust & Adultery – Imagination steers action; protect the inner life.
• Oaths & Integrity – Let “yes” mean “yes” without legal loopholes.
• Retaliation & Mercy – Drop the scoreboard and absorb the hit.
• Enemies & Love – Pray blessing on the very people who wound you.

Each raises the standard beyond human reach (“Be perfect as your Father is perfect”) and sends us back to the opening Beatitude—poverty of spirit. That honest acknowledgment opens the door for a miracle Ezekiel predicted: God replaces stone hearts with living ones and powers obedience from the inside out.

Mark also exposes the trap of religious rule-keeping. Sadducees, Pharisees, and Zealots all had lists, but none could convert God’s currency of love. Rules alone breed division (“my list versus yours”) and miss the Law’s true intent. Jesus fulfills the Law, then writes it on our hearts through the Holy Spirit so we can carry kingdom culture into everyday life—marriage, parenting, offices, and neighborhoods.

Ready to rethink success? Hit play and let the red letters re-measure everything. Then share the message so friends can discover the freedom of living by heaven’s standards instead of earth’s scorecards.

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