When Jesus took the Commandments into the Heart

"In the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ (Matthew 5–7) Jesus takes the commandments inside the heart; for example, 

---we are required not merely not to murder, but not to be angry, 

---and not merely not to commit adultery, but not to lust (see Ezekiel 11:19, ‘I will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes.’.

---We are told, if someone strikes us on the right cheek, to turn to

him also the left. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and those who hate and persecute us, and in this way He makes it clear that the love commandment is not based on reciprocity (Matt 5:43–48; Luke 6:27–36). 

---Finally, when He is asked ‘Who is my neighbor?’, He tells the story (Luke 10) of a Samaritan (traditional enemies of the Jews) who met a wounded Jew he did not know by the side of the road, was moved with compassion, and went out of his way to meet his needs; Jesus commends the Samaritan for being ‘neighbor’ to the wounded traveler.

The theme of self-sacrifice is clearest in the part of the narrative that deals with Jesus' death.....but one central theme is that Jesus died on our behalf, an innocent man on behalf of the guilty. 

Jesus describes the paradigm of loving our neighbors as the willingness to die for them. This theme is connected with our relationship to God, which we violate by disobedience, but which is restored by God's forgiveness through redemption."

JohnHare/SEP