I am a Jesus Pusher! If the Sermon on the Mount describes the Kingdom of Heaven, we immediately know that Jesus is the Kingdom of Heaven. He unites a helpless man with God’s Spirit. Jesus is the first member of the Kingdom; He introduces the New Covenant to humanity. Jesus demonstrated all the qualities of the Beatitudes, leaving no doubt about the function of His life. His life flowed with the influence of the Kingdom. He is the “light of the world.” What was the tangible core of the relationship Jesus experienced with the Father? The Scriptures are the cores! Jesus continually highlighted the importance of the Scriptures throughout His ministry. The Scriptures were not just a tool for ministry, but they were the foundation for His life’s experience. He based His existence as a man on the Scriptures. Amid temptation, He clung to the Scriptures to hear the voice of the Father (Matthew 4:1-11). When He desired to explain His life to the disciples, He took them to the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-45). Jesus used the reality of the Scriptures as the center of His conflict with the leaders of Israel. These leaders strayed from “He who is of God hears God’s words” (John 8:47).
After Jesus established the “Formation of the Kingdom” (Matthew 5:3-12) and set forth the “Function of the Kingdom” (Matthew 5:13-16), He declared the relationship between the Kingdom person and the Scriptures, the “Fulfillment of the Kingdom, Acknowledged” (Matthew 5:17-20). Jesus glorifies the Scriptures. The Pharisees and scribes developed the “oral traditions” or “traditions of the elders.” They were six hundred and thirteen applications of the Scriptures and were necessary to apply the principles of the Scriptures to everyday life. However, these traditions became of more excellent value to them than the Scriptures. In accusing Jesus of breaking the Law of God, they referred to their oral traditions. Jesus never proposed breaking the Law of God (the Scriptures). He brought clarity to what God intended in the Scriptures. His perspective of the Scriptures must become ours. I am a Jesus Pusher!