Filed under: Christ Likeness, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Law, Salvation, Sin, Tanach, The Church
Answer to Question #3
The answer to Question #3 turned out to be my sermon topic a month ago. You can listen. Or you can read the text below.
Today we’re going to focus on a text out of Matthew 7. A section out of the gospel called the “Sermon on the Mount.” But before we turn there, we’re going to need a little bit of background. In order to do that we need to look at the very beginning of chapter 5.
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying…
This is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. However, contrary to what is believed about this “sermon.” It really wasn’t a sermon at all. Take a look. “Now he saw the crowds…” Then, what did he do next? He went up the mountainside. Jesus wasn’t preaching to a crowd, he was getting away from a crowd. Then what does he do next? It says, “He sat down!” Now, for anyone who knows acting or speaking, the worst way to address a crowd is to sit down. So, it must have been a small crowd…which indeed it was because then the text says, “His disciples came to him and he began to teach them saying…”
What is very important to catch here is that Jesus wasn’t preaching to a crowd, he was preaching to his disciples. To his followers. It was an intimate small group teaching. The sermon on the mount folks isn’t for everyone. What Jesus goes on to talk about in chapters 5, 6, and then seven is meant for his followers, people walking with Him and know him well.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
I’ve seen that verse so many times, and it’s always presented as a downer. (more…)
