30 Days on the Mount of Blessing. Different.

Nathan: 00:00

If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.

Jesus. Matthew 5:40. Hi, it’s Nathan, and this is Day 25 of 30 Days on the Mount of Blessing. Jesus continues challenging his hearer’s paradigm of the way life should be. See, he’s building a different kind of kingdom. A kingdom governed by kindness and other-centered love. The first law of this kingdom: not looking out for my own interests, but instead seeking what’s in the best interests of others. In Jesus’ era, a person could legally force an individual to hand over their tunic, but the cloak, a different piece of clothing, could not be legally taken. So Jesus’ words were a serious challenge to his hearers—he was instructing them to choose to go beyond the legal requirement in an effort to reveal good will, because, in the end, the kingdom is about bigger stuff than personal rights. Specifically, it’s about revealing the gracious character of God. Jesus-followers were to keep their eye on this higher objective, no matter the challenges they faced.