The Gospel of the Kingdom - Matthew - Jesus Sits Down

 

Text: Matthew 5:1-2  – “And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying….”

 Matthew's depiction of Jesus' teaching is appropriate. The fact that Jesus sat to teach (5:1; compare 13:1-2; 23:2) fits expected patterns of Jewish instruction (see also Lk 4:20).  A learned Rabbi always set down to teach.  Often the pupils would stand. In the synagogues, those that were allowed to interact with the teaching Rabbi would stand at the front.  Women, Gentiles, and those who were defiled sat at the back.

Thus Jesus takes the role of the scribes, but Matthew also indicates that Jesus is greater than the scribes (see Mt 7:29). We are called to come to the front and learn from this wise Rabbi – this one greater than Moses – The Lawgiver and Grace restorer.

So, Seeing the Multitudes, He was seated to instruct, and what is to follow is His saying what is important. 

Back in January of this year, we looked at this Magna Carta of Kingdom Living as delivered by the King Himself. We know it today as the Beatitudes. We inspected each gem of truth and discovered the radiance of what Jesus said.  

As any jeweler, we are challenged to seek to find the flawless perfection in the stones placed before us. Each stone, each one of the eight Beatitudes, reflect the full measure of Grace that Jesus bestows upon His Kingdom followers.

I encourage you to go back in my blog to January 2020 and read the series on these Beatitudes.

Tomorrow we will pause and consider Veteran’s ay, and on the next day, we will pick up our Matthew study with The Illustrations that Jesus presents about Kingdom Living and the challenges that go along with them.

You can find the original posts of my blog at https://tfmarshall.blogspot.com/