William R Mitchell

Thy Kingdom Come William R Mitchell

If your ears have not worn dull from constant repetition, look again at Matthew 5:3-12. If you have ears to hear, really pay attention and feel the ambivalence. If we are really listening, within a few words we recognize that Jesus is not naive. His words are deliberately confrontational; he intends us to be shocked. He is saying, you have life all wrong. Your soul-your sense of who you are, what you mean, what you are doing on earth-is cancerous. No mere narcotic will heal, but will only delude into a false security. As with literal cancer, we do not wish to hear what the physician is telling us. Surely he is mistaken, we need a second opinion!No, what we need is a second look. Jesus asserts that insofar as we prefer to insulate and distance ourselves from grievous human need, we have chosen wrongly, selfishly, self-destructively, in self-delusion. We must hear and respond and be changed. Dr Mitchell's ability to see below the surface and dig deep into the message brings fresh understanding to the ancient and well-sermoned text. Although these five are only a few pages each, the weight will open discussion in new ways.