The Impossible Teachings of Jesus – Part 1

Have We Misunderstood Jesus for 2,000 Years?

Discussion Questions:

1. How do Jesus’ impossible commands reveal the futility of self-improvement under the Law?
2. When have you personally felt the weight of the Sermon’s impossible commands?
3. How does that pressure lead you toward grace instead of despair?
4. How does seeing the Sermon as pre-cross “Law on steroids” protect us from mixing it with new covenant grace?
5. How does reading Scripture “through the Cross” resolve the tension between Jesus’ warnings in Matthew 5-7 and the promises of the new covenant?
6. Compare the effects of watering down Jesus’ impossible teachings versus reading them in their true context. What difference does it make?
7. How does understanding the three distinct parts of the Sermon on the Mount help us share this message with those who haven’t understood grace clearly?