Resources by Jeremy Bacon:
Lord’s Prayer: Your Kingdom Come
What did Jesus mean we told us to pray, “Your kingdom come”? It’s worthwhile to pause and ask how this core concern ought to shape our prayers. Jesus’ discussion of the “hypocrites” (Matt. 6:1-6, 16-18) has an obviously tight structure. Right in the middle, he breaks that structure for a rather important tangent on prayer...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Why Philanthropy & Prayer in Secret?
Why would Jesus tell us to practice our righteous acts such as giving and prayer in secret? It’s a crucial test of the heart. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:1...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: What Is Love in Christianity?
What is love in Christianity? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us the love God has for us and we are called to have for each other. If you made a list of “The Top 10 Greek Words Normal Churchgoers Know,” agape would be on that list. It’s the word Jesus uses for...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Love Your Enemy and Pray for Those Who Persecute You
Jesus said to love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. As sentimental as it sounds, this isn’t commonsense advice, and most people consider it bad advice. Yet, what happens to us when we don’t take this command seriously? In the last paragraph of Matthew 5, Jesus says to “pray for those persecuting...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: An Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth
What are we to make of Jesus’ take on “An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”? Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount explains that there’s a better way forward than seeking retaliation in our relationships. It’s a familiar script. Let’s say I wrong you somehow. You can respond in one of two...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Manipulator Defined
“But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all…” (Matt. 5:34) In the second half of Matthew 5, Jesus repeatedly says, “You have heard it said . . .” (Matt. 5:21-48). He never actually says that he’s quoting Scripture. He’s quoting popular proverbs that have been floating around since the time of “the...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: How to Cut Off Your Hand
The problem with most Christian discussions of sexual ethics is that they’re usually heavy on the “why” and light on the “how to.” But in Matthew 5:29-30, Jesus is pretty serious about the importance of doing something. Objectification is not okay. We get that. But quite a bit of my unredeemed body doesn’t care. So...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Lust and Objectification
In our culture, sexual morality hinges entirely on consent. If you don’t have it, sex is bad. If you do have it, anything goes. Biblically, sexual morality hinges on whether the relationship mirrors God’s relationship with his people (Eph. 5:25-32). (This is not surprising since we’ve been emphasizing that biblical morality, in general, is about...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Contempt
As of Matthew 5:21, we are officially past the introductory parts of the Sermon on the Mount. The meat of the sermon is framed by two statements about fulfilling the law and the prophets (5:17-20; 7:12). On this theme, Jesus will spend the rest of Matthew 5 exposing ways that people keep the letter of...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Fulfilling the Law
In the second century, some of the early church fathers thought the Old Testament was weird, kinda pointless, and should be cut out of the Bible entirely. (To be fair, some of them were, like many Romans, horribly anti-Semitic.) Nowadays, we realize that’s going way too far. Instead, some of us accomplish the same thing...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Salt and Light
When Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth/light of the world (Mt. 5:13-14), remember that his direct audience is the disciples. The “you” refers to those people who actually live out the things he is saying. But he immediately puts these folks in context: they are living out his principles in the world....
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: 7 Questions to Ask of Each Beatitude
*Editor’s Note: This is the final article in a 13-part series on the Beatitudes. Here’s the complete list of articles in the series: Who Does Jesus Think He Is? Crowds or Disciples? The Sermon’s Most Important Word The Pursuit of Happiness Poor in Spirit God’s Answer to the Problem of Evil Meekness Hunger and Thirst...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: The Persecuted
*Editor’s Note: This is the twelfth article in a 13-part series on the Beatitudes. Here’s the complete list of articles in the series: Who Does Jesus Think He Is? Crowds or Disciples? The Sermon’s Most Important Word The Pursuit of Happiness Poor in Spirit God’s Answer to the Problem of Evil Meekness Hunger and Thirst...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount – Peacemakers
*Editor’s Note: This is the eleventh article in a 13-part series on the Beatitudes. Here’s the complete list of articles in the series: Who Does Jesus Think He Is? Crowds or Disciples? The Sermon’s Most Important Word The Pursuit of Happiness Poor in Spirit God’s Answer to the Problem of Evil Meekness Hunger and Thirst...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Pure in Heart
*Editor’s Note: This is the tenth article in a 13-part series on the Beatitudes. Here’s the complete list of articles in the series: Who Does Jesus Think He Is? Crowds or Disciples? The Sermon’s Most Important Word The Pursuit of Happiness Poor in Spirit God’s Answer to the Problem of Evil Meekness Hunger and Thirst...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Mercy or the Mob?
*Editor’s Note: This is the ninth article in a 13-part series on the Beatitudes. Here’s the complete list of articles in the series: Who Does Jesus Think He Is? Crowds or Disciples? The Sermon’s Most Important Word The Pursuit of Happiness Poor in Spirit God’s Answer to the Problem of Evil Meekness Hunger and Thirst...
Jeremy Bacon