The Extra Mile (Matthew 5:41)

 


Thursday, 18 September, 2025


Psalms 41; 44:1-9

1 Kings 11:26-43

Matthew 5:27-42


Observance: John Ramsden Wollaston, priest & missionary of Western Australia (d. 1856)


The Extra Mile (Matthew 5:41)


And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.


If one could sum up our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount – this great chunk of teaching on living the holy life – we could perhaps take today’s verse of the day: go the extra mile. Like a series of lightning bolts, the Lord Jesus says “you have heard, but I say”, and each time he says to go over and above. So if we are using common idioms as rules for living, “go the extra mile” has the benefit of originating with none other than the Lord Jesus himself.


We have been set free to go the extra mile. Christ does not say these things to us in order that we may therefore live; rather, through him we already have life. Therefore, go the extra mile. What is the bare minimum of love that God has shown us? Does he not gone the extra mile for us, moment by moment? Since we want others to see Jesus in us, let us also go the extra mile.


Where has God gone the extra mile for you recently? Who in your life could you go the extra mile for?


God of justice and love, you have revealed the love inherent in your holy Law through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ: teach us to see the abundance of your love towards us, that we may follow your Law eagerly.

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