Sermon from Matt 5.1-2 on July 1, 2012
Discovering Messiah: Kingdom Living – Sermon on the Mount  

Jesus Prepares to Teach: Kingdom Living - Sermon on the Mount

Scripture: Matthew 5.1-2

Summary Statement

With the posture of a preacher, speaking as from the throne of a King, and proclaiming with great authority, Jesus teaches his disciples & all who will listen what it means to live out repentance in the kingdom.

Literary Features

Rhythmic, back-&-forth movement between:

- blocks of narrative material
- blocks of discourse material.

There are 5 Passages of Discourse

Broken down into 5 questions that Jesus deals with in each unit:

1st – How are citizens of the kingdom to live? (Matthew ch. 5–7)

Signal The Closing of Discourse

Matthew even used a set formula to signal these units, ending them with the statement similar to:

“when Jesus had finished these sayings”  (Mt. 7.28-29)

Gospel Theme

The gospel of Matthew is the story of Jesus of Nazareth, recorded by the apostle Matthew as a compelling witness that Jesus is the long-anticipated Messiah & King,
who has all Authority from Almighty God.

Jesus’ Sermon Structure

Sermon on the Mount
3 chapters long found in Matthew 5, 6 & 7.

Bookends
• Starts w/ 2 “black verses”  - Mt. 5.1-2
Matthew introducing the sermon.

• Closes w/ 2 “black verses” - Mt. 7.28-29
Matthew concluding the sermon.

- The sermon itself is transcribed as 107 “red verses”. (Meaning the actual words of Christ)

Structure – The Bigger Picture

His Message:  (Mt. 4.17)

1.) Repent

2.) for – Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (near) 

Jesus is now going to go into expository preaching to expound on & explain these 2 powerful statements that He is preaching & proclaiming to all He encounters.

1.) Kingdom Living – Matthew ch. 5 – 7
Unpacking what it means to live out “Repentance”.

2.) Kingdom Likeness – Matthew ch. 13 – 25
Unpacking what it is like to be in the “Kingdom”

The Audience

Crowds —> Jesus went away from them. Disciples —> They followed Jesus.

v.2 – taught them  (Who is them? crowds? disciples?)

It seems it is the Disciples…

Luke 6:20

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

but the crowds drew near & heard also!

Matthew 7:28

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

Primary Audience

So I believe it could be derived that the primary audience for the sermon is the disciples.

Which makes sense -

The main message for what it means to live out repentance are the ones who actually are repenting in order to follow & be disciples of Jesus Christ.

With the posture of a preacher, speaking as from the throne of a King, and proclaiming with great authority, Jesus teaches his disciples & all who will listen what it means to live out repentance in the kingdom.

Our Audience

This seems to answer a debate that has been going on for decades if not centuries.  Should we be preaching to the lost or the found?

YES = both

But who should our Primary Audience be?

It seems that our primary audience is to be those who have repented & have chosen to become disciples of Christ… While fully welcoming anyone to come  & hear the proclaiming of the gospel.

John Piper (1986) -

Let me mention here that this is the way our Sunday services at Bethlehem are conceived.

Primarily the word is prepared to feed and strengthen and inspire the worship and life of God’s people.

But we pray that more and more there will be the curious, the onlookers, the skeptical, the searchers, the doubters who come to Bethlehem the way the crowds gathered in behind the disciples on the mount.

We believe that the Spirit-anointed, authoritative preaching of the Word of God has a peculiar power to awaken unbelievers to the truth and beauty of Christ—even when it is addressed primarily to disciples.

So I would urge you to feel free to invite any and every one to our Sunday services. It is precisely the things our Lord has to say to us that can awaken desire in others to come to Christ.

River’s Mission Statement:
Preaching the truth, Reaching the lost, Teaching the found for the glory of Christ & the joy of His people!

The Location

Where is Jesus Preaching? Mountain

Sermon on the Mount

Here we have the greatest preacher ever… and his pulpit is a common mountain.  But if you look into this closely & think on it, you will notice something amazing.

What is Jesus Preaching?
He is preaching an exposition of the Law!

Remember – The Law was given on a mountain

- OT – Law came down
- NT – Christ came up

- OT – Spoken w/ thunder & lightning
- NT – Small human voice

- OT – People were ordered to keep their distance
- NT – Now invited to draw near

- OT – Law was commanded
- NT – Now teaching is given with personal care

The Posture

“When he sat down, his disciples came to him”

A rabbi (Hebrew teacher & preacher) would sit down to begin his teaching.  This was a sign of invitation for his students to draw near & listen.

The Style

- Rabbi – Judge - King

Messiah – teaching as one with insight
Authority – speaking the Law w/authority
King – ruling as one with dominion.

I find it amazing that Jesus Christ… our Lord… takes time & care to sit & teach us.  The question is… will you adjust yourself & your life to sit for a while & learn from Him?

Conclusion

Messiah • Authority • King

With the posture of a preacher, speaking as from the throne of a King, and proclaiming with great authority, Jesus teaches his disciples & all who will listen what it means to live out repentance in the kingdom.