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by Charlie Wolcott

Last week I started examining Jesus’ most famous teaching: the Sermon on the Mount, but I definitely ran out of space. So let me quickly highlight the major points in the message and continue examining why Jesus said what He said and what He was seeking in doing so.

Again, to refresh, here are the themes I noticed 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 it finishes its purpose.
6. Beware of false teachers and make sure you are a true believer yourself.

Last week, I addressed the first two, and I’ll finish the other four topics this week.

Jesus emphasizes to build treasure in heaven, not treasure on earth. In the Beatitudes, Jesus emphasizes the spiritual need for Him first and foremost, and now He addresses the physical needs, too. We are not to seek earthly wealth, pleasure, or comfort. That does not make them inherently wrong. Jesus did not tell EVERY rich man to give up his wealth, just one. He didn’t even tell Zacchaeus to do it; he simply did it. But those of us who have it need to give up control over it and not depend on those things. God uses rich and wealthy people all the time for His Kingdom, and they have submitted their resources to be used for God’s purposes.

I have been blessed with a more than sustainable income, and I don’t use it for lavish living (as though a teacher’s income could be lavish). In doing so, I am in a position to help people with bigger needs. I do not view my resources as “mine” for me to control. I view them as God’s resources, and I should be ready to use them for a need when that time comes. And in doing so, I am building treasures in heaven. That said, there is still room for improvement. The point Jesus is making and seeks to hammer down is that if you are going to pursue God, you can’t do that while pursuing your own dreams and your own desires. Instead, we are to seek the Lord in all things first and foremost and let God deal with the temporal things of this world.

We are not to seek popularity or to seek men’s attention. And, oh, do we crave that! That is why peer pressure works so well. We want to be liked, to be esteemed. The Pharisees loved having attention where they could walk through the streets with their noses held high while people bowed before them as though they deserved respect for being a “holy man.” The Pharisees wanted the attention, the respect of men, and even more, the respect of their community. Part of that was they thought that being the best “law-obeying” person made you the closest to God, and in reality, all it did was make them proud, arrogant, and totally blind. As Jesus said, they got their reward. They will get nothing but shame for such haughtiness.

But don’t think we don’t have that issue today. Regardless of what circles you are in, there is the praise of man: academic, entertainment, sports, churches, you name it. Some of our church leaders cannot handle not being in the spotlight, and I am talking about good preachers here, too. Some hate that people idolize them. I went to the Shepherd’s Conference in 2022, and I got to hear some of the preachers I have loved to listen to. But after that, I had no interest in going again because I’d be going to practically fawn over them. I don’t need that. I still haven’t even finished the books I got from 2022, so why do I need to be loaded with even more?

Jesus didn’t merely raise the stakes on how to obey the spirit of the law; He also pointed out that it wasn’t going away. He didn’t come to get rid of the law but to complete its purposes. All the ceremonial laws are no longer applicable to us, not because Jesus got rid of them but because they were designed to showcase the coming Messiah. When the Messiah came, there was no need for further sacrifice; that was done once and for all. But when it comes to the moral standards, those didn’t go away; they were revealed to be even tougher than what the Jews thought. Jesus, here as well as in other instances, went after the spirit of the Law, the actual point and purpose of it.

Lastly, Jesus gave a warning about false teachers, describing them as wolves in sheep’s clothing. I often take it a step further and watch out for wolves in shepherd’s clothing, too. It’s the same issue. They will look like sheep and talk like sheep, but they will not produce what sheep produce. He then gives a firm warning that just saying the right words and doing the right deeds is not going to cut it, but those who do things God’s way. Jesus finishes with His first recorded parable, the wise and foolish builders. I won’t say much on that here because I’ll have a whole post on parables and what Jesus was aiming at with them.

In these posts, I did not address everything Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. I would need more posts to deal with being a light in a dark world, the model prayer, not worrying about daily needs, and judging. This is not a comprehensive study. What I saw in Jesus’ thinking in the Sermon on the Mount is a huge emphasis on seeing our need for God in everything. Our own efforts to keep the Law or even for appearances are ultimately worthless. We should beware of anyone who would teach or practice the things that go against God’s intended way of doing things. I have only scratched the surface of these issues, but I hope these past two weeks have given you new insights behind this great sermon.

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