Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

We have now moved from the presentation of the king, the first four chapters of the book of Matthew. The whole point of these chapters is for Matthew to present to his audience that Jesus is the Messiah and to show what kind of Messiah/king he is.

Now we see Jesus open his mouth.

This is the first of 5 discourses found in the book of Matthew. And if you know your Jewish history, there is a reason that there is 5 discourses.

The Jews had the Pentateuch, which was the first five books of the Old Testament, also called the Torah or Law. Matthew is intentionally mirroring Jesus' five discourses with the fact that the Jews had five books of "Teaching" as well.

These five sections are:

1. Matthew 5-7
2. Matthew 10
3. Matthew 13
4. Matthew 18
5. Matthew 23-25

And the whole book is centered around these five teachings and the events that take place in between them. And you will see the connections between the events. 

1. Matthew 5-7--The sermon on the proclamation of a king, and the upside-down nature of his kingdom. 
1. Matthew 1-4 was all about the presentation of a king, now we see what this king has to say about his kingdom
2. Matthew 10--The sermon on the ministry of the King.
1. Matthew 8-9 is all about the King's ministry which is two fold: 1. healing the sick and 2. discipling the disciples. This is what his message is about in Matthew 10. 
3. Matthew 13--The sermon on the what Kingdom life is like (in parables)
1. Matthew 11-12 is filled with Jesus training the disciples what it means to be the people of God. 
2. The Pharisees and religious leaders of the day had a different idea of what it means to be the people of God, so there is a lot of conflict involved in this section. 
3. Jesus clarifies it all with his sermon in Matthew 13. 
4. Matthew 18--This sermon is all about Jesus teaching his disciples what the life of discipleship is like. 
1. Matthew 14-17, Jesus is focusing on the twelve disciples, training them and trying to get them ready for his death. 
5. Matthew 23-25--This sermon is about how to live in between Jesus' first coming and second coming. 
1. Matthew 19-22 is beginning Jesus' journey to the cross. And because his journey to the cross is filled with conflict, questions, debates, triumphal entries and all kinds of crazy things, Jesus wants to make sure his disciples know to Be ready and to Be faithful and to Be Loving, unlike the Pharisees. 

And then after Matthew 25, the rest of the book is about the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

This book is centered on five sermons, five discourses. And if you look back at what the discourses are about, you will see that all of them focus on Jesus teaching his disciples how to follow him. They are instruction manuals on what it means to follow Jesus. 

They are the discipleship handbook, and they still apply today. 

As we enter the first teaching, the sermon not the mount, we will learn that Following Jesus, being a part of his kingdom, is counter to what our culture says is the right way to live. 

Being a Christian, a follower of Christ, is upside-down, it is backwards, it is against the mainstream, it is a narrow path that few choose, but those that do produce fruit and build their house on a rock rather than on sand. 

Following Jesus goes against everything that our human nature tells us we should do, yet, following Jesus is how we were meant to live. 

Tomorrow, we are going to jump into the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5-7. My challenge to you is to read these three chapters sometime today in preparation for tomorrow. 

Following Jesus is really really hard, as we will find out, but it is really really worth it.