Rabbi Kirt Schneider recently taught on the Sermon on the Mount from Israel, emphasizing Jesus’ uncompromising call to holiness and warning believers not to blur the lines between the kingdom of God and the ways of the world.
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“You can’t mix the kingdom of darkness with the kingdom of light. Tear it out. Cut it off. It’s better to be bored and have nothing to do than to indulge yourself in spiritual pornography,” Schneider said.
Sermon on the Mount as Kingdom Living
Schneider reminded listeners that many dismiss the Sermon on the Mount as too lofty, but Jesus meant every word. “When Yeshua gave us the Sermon on the Mount, He said what He meant and He meant what He said. And the principles of the Sermon on the Mount, beloved, teach us and train us how to live a kingdom lifestyle while our feet are planted on the earth today.”
Adultery Begins in the Heart
Referencing Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5, Schneider stressed that sin begins with intent, not just action. “It’s not just wrong to commit the physical act of adultery, but it’s wrong even to look at a woman to lust after. And if you do that, you’ve already committed adultery.”
He explained the difference between natural attraction and sinful indulgence. “If you see an attractive woman, all of a sudden, bam, you’re attracted. You can’t help that. But what you can help is if you continue to look. If you see an attractive woman and then stay there looking at her because you are attracted, then you’re lusting, then you’re committing the spirit of adultery.”
Jesus’ command to tear out the eye or cut off the hand, Schneider said, means believers must be ruthless. “That’s the whole point, my friend. You do want to. That’s why you have to tear out your eye from you.”
Entertainment and “Spiritual Pornography”
Schneider applied Jesus’ warning to modern culture, especially popular entertainment. “It grieves me that so many Christians watch The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. What is the point of that? You’re living in sin. If you’re watching The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, that’s absolute defilement of your spirit.”
He called such shows “spiritual pornography” because they exploit lust and false ideas of love. “You might not think it is, but it is. You’re watching because you’re attracted to The Bachelor, you’re attracted to The Bachelorette, you’re attracted to the candidates. You know, it’s all garbage.”
Jesus’ Strict Teaching on Divorce
Turning to marriage, Schneider quoted Matthew 5:31-32 and stressed Jesus’ clear boundaries. “I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
Schneider acknowledged hardship in marriages but warned against easy excuses. “Unless your spouse has committed adultery on you, if you divorce her, you’re… listen to what he said again. Everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery.”
Marriage, he said, is not about personal happiness but about godly commitment. “Relationships are built on commitment, and building a partnership together, and building a friendship together, and having the same vision to serve God, and to lead a godly life, and to have a godly marriage, and to raise a godly home.”
Let Your Yes Be Yes
Schneider also underscored Jesus’ warning against oaths. “Let your statement be yes, yes or no, no. Anything else beyond these is of evil. Especially not to take an oath in God’s name. That’s bringing God right down to the defiled world of our flesh.”
Trusting God and Turning the Other Cheek
Finally, he highlighted Jesus’ teaching on mercy and trust. “‘You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist an evil person. Whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other also.’”
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Schneider explained that this does not mean ignoring justice but trusting God with the outcome. “Yeshua is saying, trust in God. Whatever you lose for His sake, just trust God. Let it all go. Stay in love. Stay in grace. Stay in peace. And God is going to bless you and bless you and bless you.”
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
