Hearing Jesus

Day 1
“When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.” Matthew 5:1

My number 2 son and I decided to go hiking at a national park in Arizona. We were prepared: water bottles, sturdy shoes, snacks, and his cool backpack thingy with a straw. When we arrived, we were not presented with an adventurous hike. It was not a mountain, but a well landscaped hill with a sidewalk. The walk gently sloped with nice sitting areas in case you got tired along the way. There were little signs saying don’t go off the path. I will admit that seemed to me to be an invitation to go off the path by two or three steps and let him take my picture.

In my imagination, Jesus’ mountain here is a real mountain without sidewalks. I imagine He had to climb it a bit to get to His destination, and once He sat, the disciples came to Him. Do you wonder if they were trying to see where He was going and if they were willing to follow? This section is perfectly positioned after Matthew 4:23-25. Jesus kicked off his public ministry with healing and miracles. Now some would argue it started with Him teaching in the synagogue or being baptized. Others might say it was the temptation or even selecting His merry men. Yes, those occurred prior to this moment. However, publicly He started with visual demonstrations of His power. It is an echo from the Old Testament story of Moses. There are several parallels:
• Moses was saved from an angry king’s slaughter of babies; So was Jesus.
• Moses fled from Egypt; Jesus fled to Egypt.
• Moses performed miracles and saved people from Pharaoh; Jesus performed miracles and healed the sick.
• Moses saved the people by leading them through a split ocean, an incredible miraculous moment with a visualization of passing from old to new. Jesus saved people from ultimate separation from God; the veil was split in two and he invited people to pass to a new covenant from an old!
• Both presented their rule book from the side of a mountain.
Matthew 5 is the delivery of the expanded law given to those who chose to follow Him. Expanded meaning it’s not enough to check it off a list. You can’t be good enough on the outside and earn your spot in Heaven. Expanded means your heart changes and not just your head. Through that change you can accept the audacity of some of these rules. The path is narrow up Jesus’ Mountain — no sidewalks — but the view from the top is amazing.


Day 2
“Then He began to teach them saying:” Matthew 5:2
I love sportsball, which is my way of saying, “I may not know all that’s going on, but it’s fun to watch. Go sportsball!” The best part is when all the players move to a spot, and somehow the ball ends up in the hands (or at the feet) of someone who takes it in for a point, basket, goal, or touchdown. Unless it’s baseball; then they avoid the ball. The only way for this to happen is for the coach to plan the plays, teach the player, and work with them to do the moves. Go Sportsball!
The Sermon on the Mount (for years I said mound) was Jesus taking his new team away so that He could teach them what He expects. It’s not written for non-believers. It is the playbook for those of us who believe. It’s also the rule book the referee uses to call the fouls. In a lot of ways, it is harsh and the expectations seem out of reach. For example, most of the rule’s section deals with the heart or thoughts. Imagine if the referee looked at you and said, “I know you were thinking about smacking his arm when he went up for that layup, so I am going to call a foul.”
The topics in the sermon set the expectation for Jesus’ team that it’s not enough to act their hearts must change! Their minds must get cleaned up! That exterior actions are pious if the interior motives are wrong. The model Jesus used is echoed in the Bible: gather your team, demonstrate what you want them to do, take them away for teaching, and equip them with your expectations.
The one thing I miss from running my own business was team. I loved building the team, leading the team, and growing the team. I didn’t do it right all the time, but God was generous in my lacking. How can you take some of Jesus’ actions here and apply it to your life? Do you have a team? We all have a team, a tribe, or a group. How are you being effective with that group for the Kingdom?