Prepared for Grace

This message is a reflection on the Sermon on the Mount as a whole.  During this section of Matthew, Jesus offers some teachings that seem to set the bar impossibly high.  Rather than trying to explain this difficulty away, perhaps it is best to remember that in these teachings Jesus is revealing God's character not just a human ethical ideal.  Perhaps the role of these teachings is to prepare us for grace.  Paul suggests that the law is meant to reveal sin as sin.  Perhaps Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount accomplish the same.  While Jesus does call us to strive toward obedience, his teachings here also remind us of our need for grace.  It is this need which God graciously meets through the cross of Christ.