And because he saw the crowds, he went up a mountain. And after he sat down, his students came to him. Then, he opened his mouth and began to teach them, saying...
Matthew 5:1-2
What are you thinking about as you sit down to read this today? Maybe you’re thinking, “I really need to feel connected to God.” Maybe you’re thinking, “Well, here we go - I’m going to be disciplined and read some spiritual stuff now.” Maybe you’re a naturally disciplined person, and you’re doing this out of habit - a very good habit - but thinking about other things that you’ve got lined up for the day.
Whatever it is you’re thinking about, I think you’d agree that what we think about is a result of what we long for, and the action of longing comes from an underlying belief that if we get what we long for, we’ll be happier and avoid pain. And that’s normal. As people, we all are on a pursuit to find lasting happiness and avoid pain.
The people who heard and saw Jesus were no different. They heard the promises of a perfect, happy Kingdom which would be given as a gift to everyone who submitted to God’s commands. And they saw the preacher reverse the effects of sin in the world - stopping sickness, pain, and even death. Word spread, and people gathered. Like us, these people wanted to be happy. And this guy looked like a good candidate to give them what they wanted.
He went up the mountain...
Jesus responded to the gathered crowds by going up a mountain. Now, Matthew, who was one of Jesus’ students who was there, and who wrote this book, isn’t trying to be a good storyteller in telling us that Jesus went up a mountain. He’s not trying to simply give us a setting for this sermon; there are no other setting elements. Further, Jesus intentionally went up the mountain. He was sending a message by his actions along with his words that would shock the crowds (7:29).
This is why Jesus’ ascending the mountain would’ve been surprising. The most important prophet in Israel’s history was Moses. That’s because God established his relationship, technically ‘covenant,’ with Israel, through Moses. Moses was commanded to ascend a mountain to get the terms of the covenant from God to deliver them to the people. And when he did, God, accompanied by darkness, thunder and lightning, from the mountain, verbally announced his Law to the whole nation. They were, understandably, terrified. (See Exodus 19-20.)
God’s covenant with Israel included laws, and it also included promises - promises that were ultimately for the forgiveness of sins and eternal joyful life in God’s presence. The God who had announced himself to all of Israel was certainly scary, but he was also certainly good and loving - and could be trusted. God had introduced himself to Israel way back then - and it was an act of favor to people who had no real, lasting hope.
So when Jesus, the herald of God’s coming Kingdom, went up a mountain he was sending a message. God was about to speak again. God was about to introduce himself. God was about to initiate relationship with man.
Humans were about to see the glory and hear the voice of the God who loves.
He sat down...
When Jesus sat down, he was taking the cultural posture of a preacher in that day. It was as if he was getting behind a pulpit. His students, or disciples, came to him. They were committed to his teaching before this point; but now their attention was really grabbed. And why wouldn’t it be? What experience would be more momentous than God relating to you?
He opened His mouth and taught...
Matthew then tells us that Jesus opened his mouth and taught. On a quick reading, one might pass over that phrase ‘opened his mouth’ as just a strange manner of speaking of ancient people. But it wasn’t. Matthew, reflecting back on this sermon years later, purposefully said ‘Jesus opened his mouth.’
The reason for this is that in the past God is said to have opened the prophets’ mouths - particularly Moses’. That’s an idiom for saying that he gave them the words to say. They were acting as prophets - speaking God’s words. Matthew wrote this to clue us in on this startling fact: Jesus was speaking about the eternal Kingdom of God based on his own authority over it. He opened his own mouth.
Matthew didn’t understand that at this point. But it would just be a short time after this that Jesus would be publicly and brutally murdered. Matthew and the others were scared out of their minds. For a couple days, anyway. Then Jesus rose from the dead and came back to his students. They went up the same mountain together, probably recalling the first time they’d ascended it; and then, Jesus told them clearly: “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me”(28:20).
In that sentence, Jesus claimed to have sovereignty over everything that exists. And when he did, the disciples probably thought back to the first time he ascended this mountain - and remembered with awe - they were not just hearing God’s words given to them by a prophet like Moses, though that would in itself be amazing. No - they sat in the presence of God himself, as God himself spoke to them, based on his own authority as creator of everything they could see, everything they couldn’t see, and every event that would ever take place in space and time.
They weren’t just hearing from a prophet of God. They were actually with God. Or, to be a little more precise, God had come down to be with them.
After rising from the dead, Jesus also told them to announce his teachings to every culture on earth, because he would grant some people entry into his Kingdom. And he promised that he would be with his students always, until the end of the world (28:19-20).
But how would he be with his disciples? Because it certainly doesn’t look or feel like he is here sometimes. Simple - the same way he had done so with the disciples before. By his word. By his teaching... as he governs and controls everything that exists.
Jesus’ disciples didn’t see a cloud of darkness and fire descend on a mountain, with thunder and lightning, and the terror-inducing voice of God like Moses and the ancient Israelites did. They saw a man who they liked, who was righteous, who did miracles - and they sat with him. And they would look back on that moment and be in awe: “We sat with God!”
But that God - Jesus - is still the one who is in charge of everything. And he still comes to relate to people by the words that Matthew and the other disciples recorded. When we come to these words of Jesus, we are coming to more than a religious document, a self-help manual, a list of rules, or a historical writing. We are coming to God himself, just as Jesus’ students were.
But unlike the disciples we can know it now. Jesus came and announced a new Kingdom. He announced the forgiveness of our apathy towards God and the breaking of his laws. He showed what that kingdom would be like by reversing suffering in the world. And he promised to be with us forever.
If you have turned to him as God, away from yourself, he is with you. When you sit down with his word, depending on him to hear from him, God himself, is sitting down with you, to talk to you. And one day, you will be in the physical presence of Jesus. You’ll actually hear his voice, and you’ll actually see his kindness as he listens to you.
Things you may want to pray about:
1. It’s very easy to forget that the greatest gift God gives to people is the experience of knowing him... so thank him for stooping down in love to us so that we could know him, because of Christ.
2. Think of people in your life: friends, family, people in your church, people around the world. Think of places in the world where God isn’t known. Ask God to make himself known to those people and in those places so that they can know him.
3. Think about the things on earth that you trust in to make you happy that aren’t God. Tell God you’re sorry for turning to those things instead of trusting him for joy. Ask him for help.
4. Ask God to deepen your knowledge of him and your love for him. He’ll do this by showing you more and more of his own glory.
Grace and Peace,
Onesimus
