Jesus on Anger and Lust

After telling the people that he came not to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them (vs 17), Jesus now moves on in his Sermon on the Mount to lay out six different examples that prove his point. In verses 21-30 of chapter 5, he starts out by looking at two of the Ten Commandments: murder and adultery. Instead of abolishing them, Jesus reveals their fuller meaning. By doing so, he deepens the ethical demands that are required of those who want to be a part of his kingdom. There is no doubt that anyone who takes these words from Jesus seriously, will in turn be pushed back into the Beatitudes, specifically "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." The ethical demands of the kingdom make us all poor in spirit, and according to Jesus, that's not a bad thing.