Hey everybody, I'm Tim McEy and this is my podcast Exploring My Strange Bible.

I am a card carrying Bible history and language nerd who thinks that Jesus of Nazareth is

utterly amazing and worth following with everything that you have.

On this podcast I'm putting together the last ten years worth of lectures and sermons

where I've been exploring the strange and wonderful story of the Bible and how it invites

us into the mission of Jesus and the journey of faith.

And I hope this can be helpful for you too.

I also help start this thing called the Bible Project.

We make animated videos and podcasts about all kinds of topics in Bible and theology.

You can find those resources at thebibelproject.com.

With all that said, let's dive into the episode for this week.

Alright, well in this episode we're going to keep exploring the Gospel according to Matthew,

specifically camping out for a while in Jesus's sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapter 5 through 7.

It's the collection of his most well-known and powerful teachings in one place.

I mean, this episode, we're going to explore the meaning and significance of Jesus' command to love your neighbor,

which Jesus includes within the definition of neighbor, even people who hate you and who are your enemies.

We're going to see why this was a shocking and controversial teaching in Jesus' own day.

And I dare say that the command of Jesus to His followers to love their enemies is still today one of the most difficult things

a follower of Jesus can try and fulfill and live out.

Why did this matter to Jesus? It's one of the most counterintuitive things that Jesus has His followers to do.

So this is a difficult teaching both to hear, to process and to think of what it means for you and for me.

So let's just go in with open minds and humble ourselves before the sage master.

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