About the Book

Name: The Impossible Teachings of Jesus
Author: Andrew Farley
ISBN: 9780310372356

You can’t obey the Sermon the Mount. And that’s good news.

For centuries, Christians have read the Sermon on the Mount and quietly wondered:
“How am I supposed to live up to this?”

Cut off your hand. Pluck out your eye.
Love your enemies. Give to whoever asks you.
Be perfect.

If you’ve ever walked away from Jesus’ words feeling inspired for a moment but defeated soon after, you’re not alone.

In The Impossible Teachings of Jesus, Andrew Farley asks a question that changes the way we hear Jesus:

What if the Sermon on the Mount was never meant to become your Christian rulebook?

Jesus wasn’t giving humanity a more achievable version of righteousness. He was revealing the full weight of God’s standard.

Anger equals murder.
Looking with lust equals adultery.
Hide your fasting.
Hide your giving.
Hide your praying.
Never judge anyone.
Never worry about anything.
Be perfect like God.

So why would Jesus say things no one can possibly pull off?

Because the Sermon on the Mount does something far more powerful than give us another list of goals. It exposes the futility of trying harder and dismantles the illusion that we can make ourselves righteous.

And that is where grace becomes breathtaking.

With clarity, humor, and careful attention to context, Farley walks through Jesus’ most startling words and shows how they lead us away from religious pressure, spiritual scorekeeping, and the exhausting need to measure up.

What waits on the other side is far better: the finished work of Christ, the freedom of God’s grace, and a completely different way to live.

What about the Beatitudes?

“Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
“Blessed are those who mourn.”
“Blessed are the meek.”

These are some of Jesus’ best-known words. But what exactly was He saying?

Are the Beatitudes another list of qualities Christians are supposed to develop? A formula for becoming more spiritual? A description of the ideal believer?

Farley places the Beatitudes back into the larger message of the Sermon on the Mount and shows how they fit with the shocking, impossible teachings that follow.

Read in context, they may be saying something far more liberating than you’ve been taught.

What you’ll discover

Why some of Jesus’ most famous teachings seem impossible to obey
What be perfect, turn the other cheek, and pluck out your eye are really doing in the sermon
Why trying harder can never produce the righteousness God requires
How the Beatitudes should be interpreted in light of Jesus’ impossible teachings
What changes when you stop measuring yourself and start resting in what Christ has done
How grace produces a radically different kind of life than religious pressure ever could

Preorder your copy

Coming November 10, 2026•Preorder now

“Andrew Farley exposes why Jesus’ most famous sermon was never meant to be a checklist for Christian living. This book dismantles religious striving and replaces it with the breathtaking freedom of God’s grace.”

—Bart Millard of MercyMe

Who is this book for?

For Christians who have secretly wondered whether they’re doing enough.

For people exhausted by trying to become the person they think God expects.

For pastors, teachers, and Bible students who want to understand Jesus’ hardest sayings in context.

And for seekers who find Jesus fascinating but wonder why some of His teachings seem so extreme.

If the Sermon on the Mount has ever inspired you, confused you, frightened you, or made you feel like you could never measure up, this book may change the way you hear Jesus forever.