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by Charlie Wolcott

Jesus’ most famous sermon is recorded in full from Matthew 5-7 but with parts recorded in Luke 6. This is the longest single sermon in the entire Bible outside of Deuteronomy, which is Moses’ final speech to Israel before passing the baton to Joshua where most of the whole book is this speech. The Sermon on the Mount contains a wide variety of topics so let’s quickly go through them, from Matthew’s account.

• The Beatitudes: Jesus confronts the lust for possessions and positions to gain happiness and replaces those desires with humility and the seeking of the Lord.
• Your witness: Jesus calls us to be light in a dark world, but the Law is not going away either.
• The true meaning of the Law: The fine print behind the commandments, namely on murder and adultery, and it summarized by true Biblical love.
• Giving, tithing, and prayer: All good, but do not do them to be seen, but rather do them secretly; what real prayer looks like.
• Fasting and true treasure: Fasting is not about show but about getting right with God. Seek God’s treasures because ours here will perish.
• Dealing with anxiety: Don’t chase wealth and security; instead, trust the Lord and He will take care of our needs.
• True judging and warning against hypocritical judging.
• True disciples, warning against false teachers, and warning against false conversion.

There is a lot to unpack here, but this series is not about the exegetical teachings of the texts. Why did Jesus address these issues? What kind of response did Jesus seek to instigate? And what were His intentions in saying what He was saying?

In looking at each of these topics, we can see several themes in no particular order:

1. True happiness is not about the pursuit of temporal things.
2. Our motives and dreams behind what we do have the same weight as actually doing it.
3. Our trust and security need to be in the Lord and not in our comforts and possessions.
4. Don’t seek popularity or to be seen.
5. The Law’s purpose does not go away with Jesus, but He finishes its purpose.
6. Beware of false teachers and make sure you are a true believer yourself.

This is going to take two weeks to unpack these. No worries because I have no time limit for how long this series will go. So let’s get into this.

Jesus opens up with a series of blessings and happiness not for those who live lives of luxury but for those who are poor, those who are needy, and those who in the long run, acknowledge their need for God. In each of the Beatitudes, the types of people Jesus addresses are those who saw their need for help and their need for God; they would be happy because their needs would be met. I have read the Beatitudes numerous times and heard sermons on them, but just reflecting on what I literally just wrote led me to a moment of worship. Let me summarize what Jesus is saying through them: “Blessed are those who see their need for God, for God will come and be their sustenance and they will lack nothing.”

Take notice that Jesus never once appealed to anyone or any type of person who found their solace in money, pleasures, entertainment, position, prestige, or any temporary thing of man. He referenced those who are going without those things on this earth because they will get a true reward in heaven. Jesus reiterated this point when He spoke about treasure in heaven. This was a sermon unlike any other, and this opening was a teaching that these people never heard before. And that’s just the opening.

Jesus confronted the teachings of the Pharisees and how they misappropriated the Law and made it a monster of slavery. He started by saying that just being physically obedient to the commandments isn’t sufficient but just doing it in your heart and mind is enough to count you guilty of doing the actual crime. I know I am guilty of “murder of the heart,” and I have received the “death stare” from those who would rather have me dead than dare tell them they are wrong. That’s not an exaggeration. There is no greater demonstration of the issue of adultery than pornography. And we aren’t talking about just actually opening the web pages or flipping through magazines. We are talking about just imagining the acts in your mind, too. It’s a war in the mind and Jesus is pointing out what our true nature is in all this.

One thing I have pointed out when teaching about the nature of sin is that we all know our sinful tendencies. We know what our draws are towards sin. Imagine if God turned that nature totally loose and let it run wild. I know my tendencies. If I were to act on those desires with no regard to the law or consequences and knowing I would get away with it in this life, I would be the most sadistic, evil monster the world has ever known. People would be coming for my head if God turned that sinful nature totally loose, and it would be the same for any of us.

Jesus is saying this to take our self-righteousness down much more than just a notch. He is actually telling us that any of us who think we have actually obeyed the Law have, in fact, broken it and done so many times. We didn’t merely “oops;” we have repeatedly and intentionally done that which we knew we should not be doing. Again, this all ties into Jesus’ theme that the only really happy people are those who see their total and utter dependence upon Christ and are empty of themselves.

Come back next week for more on this.

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