Matthew 5:1-2 | "He Began to Teach"
[Sermon on the Mount] Living the New Life! • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 27:17
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· 26 viewsSunday, January 10, 2021. Matthew 5:1-2 | "He Began to Teach." This introduction to The Sermon on the Mount invites us to come to Jesus before we hear what he has to teach. We learn the difference between following Jesus and being a follower of Jesus, the need for repentance and the context of God’s kingdom. This message is an invitation for all to “Come and Hear!”
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I. Reading of Scripture
I. Reading of Scripture
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
This is God’s Word, Amen!
Pray
II. Introduction
II. Introduction
A. Introduction to Text and Theme
A. Introduction to Text and Theme
At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Matthew records that Jesus is a preacher.
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Translated another way: “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near” (LEB).
To preach is to “proclaim aloud” (BDAG).
But preaching is more than making a message known publically, for preaching often calls for the hearers to obey the message that is proclaimed (LN).
In this way,
the act of preaching,
and the message that is preached,
and the preacher of that message
all work in unison to communicate one important message that is worth hearing and responding to.
When Jesus began to preach, he was announcing that “the kingdom of heaven is near” (4:17).
“Kingdom” is an important subject for Matthew’s Jewish audience who were looking for the promised, forever king of Israel.
Still fresh on our minds is the Christmas story and the story of the wise men. Here is how Matthew introduces them:
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
Later, Pilate the governor inquires of Jesus:
11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.”
And while nailed to the cross, Matthew records that:
37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
Kingdom represents power and authority. A kingdom represents the rule of a king for all within the boundaries of that kingdom!
Jesus preached that the “kingdom of heaven is near.”
Which means that there is a king, and an authority, and a kingdom that does not belong to the kings and authorities and kingdoms of this earth.
There is a king, there is an authority, there is a kingdom, whose kingdom is of heaven.
Heaven’s king is the King of kings!
Heaven’s kingdom is where God rules and where God reigns!
It is the place where God is worshiped before the throne, day and night (Rev 7:15), by those who fall on their faces and say things like:
12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
When Jesus begins to preach, his message is that this kingdom of heaven is near.
It is near in timing — it is “at hand,” and it is near in presence.
Because
Jesus is the king of Heaven’s Kingdom, and Jesus is God who is near.
Jesus fulfills the words of Isaiah who said:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
This is the context for the Sermon on the Mount.
Meaning, these are the boundaries which contain our understanding of Jesus’ message. It is a message of the kingdom of Heaven!
It is a message for those who repent.
That word “repent” represents the clashing of two opposing kingdoms - the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdoms of earth. It represents two opposing directions in which you cannot travel both at the same time. It is either one — or the other.
To repent means to have a “change of mind.”
To have been going one direction, but turned 180 degrees the other way with a change of mind and direction.
The message of the Sermon on the Mount is not for double-minded men and women. It is not for double-agents. It is not for any who would “serve two masters” (Mt 6:24).
The message of the Sermon on the Mount is not for Lot’s wife, who turned back to look longly at the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as they were being destroyed.
The message of the Sermon on the Mount is not for any whose “god is their belly,” who “glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (Phil 3:19).
The message of Sermon on the Mount is not for dual citizens of heaven and earth. It is for those who live on earth but whose citizenship is in heaven, who are waiting for Jesus (Phil 3:20).
The message of the Sermon on the Mount is for those who repent, who “turn their eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”
We cannot receive the Sermon on the Mount without receiving the Preacher of the sermon — Jesus.
We cannot understand the Sermon on the Mount without the Preacher of the sermon — Jesus.
We cannot obey the Sermon on the Mount without the Preacher of the sermon — Jesus!
WHY?
Because Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of Heaven. And this Sermon is for all who have repented in preparation for His kingdom and His rule and His righteousness.
As long as a person desires another kingdom — a lesser kingdom, such a person cannot receive the Sermon on the Mount, because the Sermon on the Mount is about a higher kingdom, a better way, God’s way in which the righteousness for living is given by God himself, in the form of a new life through Jesus.
17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The kingdoms of this world shake.
28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
If you do not yet know Jesus, Jesus knows you.
And he is speaking in this Sermon where you can hear him. But if you do not bow before Jesus as king, then you will only hear this Sermon as part of the crowd. And in the end, you will only be amazed — but not changed.
For all who confess Jesus as Lord, however, and for all who believe that God raised him from the dead — we may hear this Sermon as his disciples, who are near, and who are empowered by Him to obey.
Jesus is a preacher, and Jesus is also a teacher.
To preach is to proclaim and call for a response of obedience! To teach is to instruct.
By preaching we know WHAT to do — we repent and turn from our old life and wicked ways! By teaching we know HOW to do it — we receive instruction on how to live as a new creation.
Through preaching someone may come to Christ in faith. Through teaching someone then grows from an infant, to a child, to a mature man or woman in Christ.
Jesus is both a preacher and a teacher, and Jesus does both — he preaches and teaches.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches. He teaches about the kingdom of heaven.
Today’s text introduces the Sermon on the Mount, and contains the title of this message — “He Began to Teach.”
III. Exposition
III. Exposition
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“opening his mouth he began to teach them” (LEB).
Let us give close attention to the movements in this text.
First, in verse 1 the text says: “He went up”
Who went up? — Jesus went up. This first action described belongs to Jesus.
As often as the Scriptures reveal this we should take note of this — God is the one who acts first! Always, and in all things!
God is the Creator! We are the created!
Our existence is a reaction and response to what God has done first.
And so it is that the Scriptures reveal Jesus as the first person acting to give instruction from on high. To teach God’s ways.
And Jesus ascends to a higher place. What does he go up?
The text says “a mountain.”
Mountains are important in Matthew’s Gospel.
Jesus was tempted by the devil on a mountain (4:8), he will teach from a mountain (5:1), he prays on a mountain (14:23), he heals on a mountain (15:29), he was transfigured before his disciples on a mountain (17:1).
Why mountains?
The Scriptures don’t tell us why exactly.
Mountains may be historically important. Important events took place on mountains in the Old Testament - notably when God gave the law, the instruction, the ten commandments to Moses — he did it on a mountain.
Whatever the reason, one thing is certain — mountains cause us to “look up”! To draw our gaze toward heaven as an act of remembering that there are things higher than us. God is higher than us! Heaven is higher than us!
Several ago we had to have trees cut down in our yard. The man who would cut them down talked with me for a long time. He told me that people underestimate trees and how damaging they can be. He said people like to go for walks in the woods, but one thing they rarely do and really should when walking in the woods — is to look up!
Trees and branches can fall and be deadly!
And so it is, we walk in God’s creation, and we keep our heads down. We look at created things. And ever so often, God gives us reasons to look up. And be reminded that there is a Creator that created all that we see.
Sundays are “Look Up” days. Throughout the week, we look down at out phones, at the newspapers, at the events that are earthly and tragic and depressing.
But on Sundays we enter into this building with tall ceilings that force our gaze UPWARD. That bring an awareness that what is happening in these walls is something that does not belong to this world, but is higher.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
So whenever the text is set on a mountain, let us keep in mind that this is a moment when God would have us look beyond what can be seen, what has been created, and look up to something that is not seen, the Creator, and what is eternal. This is true of the Sermon on the Mount.
Why did Jesus go up the mountain?
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
Jesus went up the mountain when he saw the crowds.
There are two groups of people mentioned in the hearing of this teaching of Jesus on the mountain.
The first group is the crowds, the second group is his disciples.
Who were the crowds?
We can back up a few verses to find the answer: the crowds were the result of Jesus’ teaching in synagogues, preaching the gospel and healing.
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
The crowds are those who have been touched by Jesus in some way, through his word, his healing touch, or perhaps they were drawn by his fame.
It might be said this way:
The crowds followed Jesus, but they were not followers of Jesus.
Think of a crowd like a wave pool. Crowds are wave-riders, moved along by whatever wave moves them next.
They don’t move on their own, with core resolve for why they are doing so.
Did you know that you can follow Jesus without being a follower of Jesus?
Think of it in terms of church gatherings — with what we are familiar with:
Sunday mornings — that’s the crowds. The largest attendance of people. Believers in Jesus, and unbelievers. Members and guests. Seasoned saints and seekers.
Wednesday evenings — that’s the committed. They gave the church not one service a week, but two!
But Sunday evenings — that’s the core. The smallest attendance. These people gave two services in one day! And come on Wednesday!
In contrast to the crowds, the text presents in verse 1: “his disciples.”
These are the “core.” These are not the ones that will follow Jesus beyond Jordan — these (with exception of one) will follow Jesus beyond the cross!
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
“His disciples” are the ones who Jesus called to follow him.
Who left their fishing nets and businesses and earthly kingdoms and immediately followed him at His word (Mt 4:18-22).
They are not following him because of what they have seen, they are following him because of his call, and because they left all else behind.
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
Sitting down was a position of teaching. It communicates authority in what is being taught. When he sat down, his disciples came to him.
Jesus went up, and His disciples came.
These are the two movements in verse 1 that create the setting for the Sermon on the Mount.
But before we move on, we have an important question to ask.
Who is the Sermon on the Mount for?
The crowds? or the disciples? Who is Jesus giving this message to?
This is not like the letters of Scripture that have a clear introduction and greeting for a specific intended audience.
Who is this sermon for?
The text does not tell us. So —
The answer is best understood in terms of approach — in terms of who was nearest.
When someone speaks, who hears the best? Those who are close!
Perhaps this is why God does not tell us who this Sermon is for. Because it is for whoever is close enough to hear.
Because the message of the Sermon on the Mount cannot be received without the Preacher of the Sermon.
The teachings of Jesus cannot be received, much less obeyed, without Jesus.
We cannot separate the message from the messenger.
So the message is for whoever is close, whoever is near.
And the Gospel Proclamation of Matthew 5:1-2 is that Jesus is approachable.
Matthew shares this repeatedly in his gospel account.
The tempter approaches Jesus (4:3). Angels approach Jesus (4:11). The disciples approach Jesus (5:1). A leper approaches Jesus (8:2). A Centurion approaches Jesus (8:5). A scribe approaches Jesus (8:19). A woman who is suffering approaches Jesus (9:20).
Jesus is approachable! And this means God’s kingdom is near to all who come near to Jesus!
You can approach Jesus!
That’s why he took on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
So that he can be approached, and God’s word may be heard without fear, and that God’s kingdom might be entered through Him, so that we might experience what it means to live under the sovereignty of an all powerful God! To live the new life, God’s way!
The Gospel invitation of the Sermon on the Mount is “Come and Hear.”
Come and Hear these teachings from on high!
Matthew will tell us that the crowds are near enough to hear and be amazed. But the disciples are near enough to hear and be changed.
It’s not about proximity, it’s about identity.
It’s not whether you come to church and hear about Jesus.
It’s whether you come to church as one who has been changed by Jesus!
Which is it for you?
How will you hear this Sermon on the Mount?
I’m glad you are here. I’m glad you came.
For Jesus is here. He is here with you and with us wherever we hear His word preached. He is here with you in your homes as you are watching online, or listening later.
You have come — now come with ears to hear that only God can give you, through a new life in Christ.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“He Began to Teach.”
This is the third and last movement in this text today.
And it is the moment of our invitation.
To be drawn to who he is before we hear any of his teaching.
Because his teaching will speak of impossible things, offensive things, blessings, and things to come. Things that do not belong to an old life and an old earth.
His teaching is teaching about a kingdom that we will only understand if we are part of it. If we are brought within the boundaries of that sovereign reign where God is king.
Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount precedes his actions that will take place, that will ensure you and I may enter into God’s kingdom.
For Jesus will offer himself as a sacrifice in our place, to atone for our sins with the shedding of his own blood, and he will be buried in a tomb.
Jesus will reign as king forever, but he does not reign eternally in death.
God raised Jesus from the dead!
And being raised, Jesus reigns!
Do you want to learn more about this kingdom? Then let me introduce you to its king!
Then Come to Jesus, and Come and Hear, what He Began To Teach.