Matthew 5 Sermon on the Mount v 1-2 Beatitudes
Jesus has left the multitudes, went up to the mount, and sat down. His disciples have come to join him.
The Sermon on the Mount as it has come to be called has been portrayed as Jesus speaking to a large group of people. What hasn’t been portrayed is the fact they were his disciples. We don’t know how large the group was, but Matthew was specific in saying Jesus saw the multitudes and went up the mountain and sat down. And he was specific in saying his (Jesus’s) disciples came to him, and Jesus taught them, the disciples. This isn’t a mixed multitude of people, these are those who had chosen to follow Jesus. Luke in 6:10 makes this point even clearer when he says Jesus was looking at his disciples when he began to speak.
Jesus is showing us what discipling a disciple looks like. In Matthew 28, the verb form of disciple is used, we aren’t told to make a disciple because you can’t make a verb. We are told to disciple. Here, in Matthew 5, the noun form is used. A disciple is one who follows a teacher and wants to be their follower. To be a successful disciple, the goal is to be a replica of the teacher you have chosen to follow. Not wavering to the left or the right.
The broad expression “make disciples” can easily be misunderstood. Therefore, when we use or explain these words, we always need to make sure that we clearly distinguish our part in carrying out Jesus’ command from God’s part. Only God the Holy Spirit can turn people from unbelief to faith and constantly increase that faith. Only God the Holy Spirit can create a living faith that clings to and willingly does all that Christ commands. But we also have a part in this work because God has chosen to use us as his agents to proclaim the Word through which the Spirit does his work. Therefore, God does speak of human beings having a part in bringing people to faith (for example., Acts 26:17 where Paul is described as opening people’s eyes and turning people from darkness to light, from Satan to God). But whenever we cite such passages we need to speak carefully so that the part we have in this action, what we do, is never confused with the Spirit’s work, with what he does.
Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly – David Kuske
Most of these disciples at this time were Jewish. They had most likely been trained in the Torah since birth. They had been fully immersed in the Jewish way of life, the Jewish traditions, and many in the oral laws.
Went up to the mount and sat down... This is a verbatim quote from Exodus 19:3. Matthew is pointing back to Moses and connecting Jesus as the new Moses. He’s connecting the Law of the Torah with the Law of the New Covenant. Remember, at this time, the general public didn’t have the scrolls to carry home and read. They had to memorize everything. When a Jewish teacher makes a direct quote, he is telling his students to gather as much as you can from where the quote took place. Not just a few lines above and a few lines below, but as many lines above and below as you can recall. He’s telling them, in recalling those, pay close attention to what I’m about to say and make as many connections as you can.
Matthew wants you to think back to Moses and when he received the Law.
What we see translated as ‘teaching; them is actually the word torah, ‘gave them this torah’. Torah can refer to either the first five books of our Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Numbers), or it can mean a teaching or instruction. In this instance, it means giving them a teaching or instruction.
Happy or Blessed – what does this actually mean? The word used here DOES NOT carry with it a FUTURE event. It doesn’t mean, if you do this or are this, then you will be blessed or happy. It was a state of being in the moment. It isn’t a reward to be given at a later time because of your current actions. It is connected to your experience during the action. It doesn’t say, blessed/happy will be, it says blessed/happy ARE. Right now, in the moment, they are blessed/happy.
One hundred and fifty years before Jesus, a Jewish Teacher, Ben-Sirah Jesus wrote a blessed is statement. It fully immersed it’s self in the value of the world with status, admiration, etc. It was a culture where status was important. This is the reality of the world Jesus Christ is now teaching in. When they heard Jesus say, “blessed” they thought they knew what he was going to say, but he said almost the opposite. Can you imagine what it was like? You’d here him say Blessed is … and you’d be like yea, I know all about.. wait.! What! That isn’t what I’ve heard, that’s not what my teacher said, that’s now what the Rabbi is teaching.
Get ready, because as we move down through the things Jesus is about to say and what they really mean, you will have the exact same feeling at some point.
Welcome to the journey of the disciples, who were sitting on the mount, listening to Jesus teach.
Video teaching: https://youtu.be/fmzqB6lBVJM
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