We are beginning a series with the Gospel according to Matthew, which was primarily written to a Jewish audience and focuses on Jesus’ identity. Matthew was a tax collector - a sinner, saved by grace and this Gospel provides a historical account of Jesus’ life and teachings. He has more quotations from and allusions to the OT than any other NT author.
There are 5 major discourses in this book:
Matt 5-7 - Sermon on the Mount.
Matt 10 - The instruction to the 12 disciples to take the message of the Gospel to the nation of Israel.
Matt 13 - The parables of the Kingdom where Jesus teaches what the Kingdom is and will be like, and He uses real life circumstances to describe it.
Matt 18 - How the disciples should live as the church, as a community. It includes examples of right conduct, church discipline, forgiveness, restoration of a brother and sister back into fellowship.
Matt 24-25 The Olivet discourse - In Matt 1 we read about the coming King and in chps 24 & 25 the return of the King. He will come for and with his people to set up His kingdom which will only happen after a great time of tribulation.
The book of Matthew ends with Jesus’ Great Commission to all of His followers to make disciples of all nations, to baptize them, and to teach the new disciples to obey all the commands He had given them. He also assured them that He would always be with them (Matt 28:18 - 20).
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:1-16, NIV).
The Sermon on the Mount is about:
The Reality of the Kingdom
Our Relationship to the King
Our Response to His calling
Reality of the Kingdom
What is the Kingdom of heaven? In short, there are two aspects - the physical and the spiritual. Around 600 BC, during the Babylonian exile, Daniel prophesied that there would be 5 consecutive kingdoms but the 5th and final kingdom is the Kingdom of God.
God revealed to him that the Kingdom of God would come sometime during the reign of the Roman Empire.
This Kingdom, which would start out seemingly small and powerless, would somehow miraculously overthrow the Roman empire and then would spread throughout the world.
This Kingdom is not one built by people, neither will it be ushered in by people.
The Kingdom is represented as a stone “cut out by no human hand” (Daniel 2:34). That is, it is a supernatural Kingdom made by God himself. The idea of the “kingdom” in both the Old and New Testaments is primarily dynamic (or spiritual) rather than spatial (or physical). It is not so much a kingdom that is limited by geographical borders as it is a "King’s dominion,” or sovereign reign. Now it is spiritual but one day God’s kingdom will be established as a physical reality on earth.
In this Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was speaking to the 12 disciples, to the religious crowd, and many other people who had heard about Him and witnessed His miracles. In chapters 5-7, Matthew records the entire Sermon on the Mount where Jesus was teaching people about the Kingdom but also imploring them to come into the Kingdom.
He was explaining to them that life in the Kingdom of Heaven is so far beyond the life we live in this world and it is far more fulfilling than what these religious Pharisees and hypocrites were teaching and outwardly portraying.
He told them they were to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48). That means no one could ever be good enough to get to God, no matter how religious you are or how many good works you have done in your lifetime.
There is only one way you can enter the Kingdom, only one way your life can be changed, only one foundation to build on, only one way to truly flourish, to experience the blessings of the Kingdom now and in eternity - it is only through Jesus.
He was saying that He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life and that the way to come to the Father was through Him. The Kingdom of Heaven is the spiritual rule of God in the hearts of those who put their trust in Christ.
Our relationship to the King
There is a promised blessing for those who have a relationship with the King as they have been adopted into His family. Jesus talks about those who are blessed, “happy” and “flourishing” in vv. 3-11.
For example, the book of Proverbs is filled with teachings of how to live one’s life wisely, and says that in doing so, this person will be blessed, happy, and will flourish. In other words, a person will flourish when he or she is in right relationship with the King. But the way we flourish as God’s children is so opposite, so counter-cultural to what the world or religion sees or considers as a blessing.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:3-6).
Our western culture says that to truly flourish and be happy you need to maximize your human potential, you need to find yourself, become self-sufficient and self-reliant. But Jesus says, blessed are the poor in spirit - someone who comes to God, recognizing there is nothing good within themselves, they have no ability to save or change themselves, and realize that the Lord must be the source of their life.
Modern society contends that the highest good in life is pursuing one’s own happiness, pursuing pleasure, entertainment, the good life, experiencing one thrilling event after the next. But are people with this mindset inclined to honestly assess where their journey will eventually take them or even consider what happens after their journey ends?
Jesus says that God blesses those who mourn in v. 4. The one who walks in the light of God’s Word mourns for his or her sin because they see how great their offense is to God. They also mourn for the evil they see in the world around them. But God also promises to comfort them.
“The closer we walk with the Lord, the greater our comfort will be because through His Word we learn about His unending grace and mercy”
When we come to Him in brokenness we will be comforted and one day, our greatest comfort will be when God creates a new heaven and new earth, the kingdom of heaven will be consummated, and God himself will wipe away every tear from the eyes of those who mourned (Rev. 21:4).
People will tell you that if you want to make it in life you have to look out for yourself, take what you can, use anyone and anything to get ahead in life. But in verse 5, Jesus tells us that it is the meek and gentle who will be blessed - those who know they have strengths, skills, abilities, who could do whatever they want to advance their own agenda but instead give it all to God so He can use it for His glory.
Jesus was the greatest example of One who emptied Himself for the sake of others, for our sake.
Verse 6 says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. They don’t want to waste their lives hungering and thirsting for things they know will not leave them satisfied but are nourished by God’s goodness. They hunger and thirst after God’s Word because they want to be in right relationship with God and to do His will. They want to live the life that God created them to live. God promises these people will be completely satisfied.
Our Response to His Calling
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:13-16).
Jesus tells us that as His disciples, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
“The Kingdom of God is salt and light, transforming and renewing a fallen world.”
Salt preserves whatever it is mixed with from corruption and imparts its taste to everything. Believers filled with truth and life can effectively delay moral and spiritual decay wherever God has placed them. As the light of Christ to the world, God calls us to bring the good news of His Kingdom to the people we come into contact with every day.
God calls us to have a preserving and cleansing effect in the world and He calls us to go into the dark places in people’s lives and in society as the light of the world.
Your faith should not be hidden, in the way you live and respond to the world around you should be obvious to others that you are a follower of Jesus.
Our lives should point others to Christ.
Your life is a testimony of what God has done by His grace. But take note that we are salt only if we maintain our difference from the world around us. In those days when dirt or sand would get mixed with the salt and it could not be used for its intended purpose and would be thrown on the ground for a secondary purpose.
Jesus warns us to be careful not to let anything come into our life that could pollute our relationship with the Lord, making us dull in our faith, leaving the door open to sin, and lose your saltiness.
Remember, the Kingdom of heaven is a reality and it is seen through those who have given their hearts to the King, the question is what will your relationship be like with the Lord in 2020, will you give more and more of your heart to Him, will you be salt and light wherever God calls you?
