Christmas Eve 2025

Christmas Eve 2025

I. Introduction

II. When Was Jesus at His Best?

A. “The Sermon on the Mount is the most luminous, most quoted, most analyzed, most contested, and most influential moral and religious discourse in all of human history.” (Harvey Cox)

B. Matthew 5:44-45a (NAS) ⁴⁴“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”

C. Matthew 5:39 (NLT) “But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.”

D. Matthew 5:41-42 (NLT) ⁴¹“If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. ⁴²Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.”

E. Matthew 6:25-26 (NLT) ²⁵“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?”

F. Jesus consistently embraced those who were from society!

G. “The person who discovered the role of forgiveness in the realm of human affairs was Jesus of Nazareth.” (Hannah Arendt)

H. Luke 23:34 (NAS) “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

I. John 3:16 (NAS) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

III. Conclusion