It may feel like the devil is running the show. And in many cultural systems, it appears that way— From media to entertainment, finance to education, vice is glorified, truth is distorted, and desire is constantly inflamed. But God has not abdicated His throne. He is sovereign over all things, and even in a corrupted system, He makes paths of righteousness for His children to walk in.

At first glance, the startling severity of Jesus' words unsettles our comfort. It jars our sensibilities and disrupts the smooth contours of our ordinary spiritual rhetoric. These are not gentle, reassuring sentiments.