I am a Jesus pusher!!! At the core of this illustration (Matthew 5:21-26), Jesus said that we must not be an adversary. We must be reconciled with him. I cannot determine the heart or mind of anyone else. I must be filled with the nature of God, and I must have a life flowing with the cross style. I must tear down every barrier between my brother and myself. I will be reconciled in my heart because of God’s nature. Anger, demeaning, or a belittling attitude will not be in my heart. I may have adversaries, but I will not be one! This contrast Jesus made is between, “You have heard that it was said to those of old” and “I say to you.” “Those of old” proposed RULES WITHOUT RELATIONSHIP. “You shall not murder” is the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13). As “those of old” interpreted the meaning of this commandment, it is an activity from which you must abstain. However, if I decide to meet this standard because it is the right, admirable, lawful, or for any other good reason, it is “I.” I am living out of myself. No relationship is within keeping the rule.
Jesus proposed my helplessness filled with Him. This proposal is relationship with the heart of the Trinity. This relationship produces unintentional doing. The nature of God fills the human’s helpless nature and creates a new creature. This new creature unintentionally flows with bleeding, suffering, and dying. Eliminating murder is not their goal. It is not in the thinking of the new creature. Anger, demeaning, and belittling are not in the mind of those filled with God’s nature. His nature flows through the new creature, creating the image of God. The focus is not on a rule to obey but is on embracing a relationship with Jesus. I am a Jesus pusher!!!