“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and
when he was set, his disciples came unto him.”
And he opened his mouth, and taughtthem, saying.” Matthew 5:1-2
Matthew, (also called Levi) one of the Lord’s 12 disciples was a
Jewish tax collector. His name means “gift of God’. After the
Lord’s death the Holy Spirit led Matthew to write a compilation of
the Lord’s life from a strong Jewish perspective. Matthew’s gospel was written at an early date (@55-65 AD), prior to the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70. As a result the early church believed that Matthew was the first Gospel written.
Matthew has a clear theme. At the time he wrote most of the converts to Christianity were Jewish and His Gospel was written with a Jewish perspective. His presents Jesus as King and Messiah of the Jews. One of the questions in every Jew’s mind was, “If Jesus is the Messiah, where is His kingdom?” Thus Matthew spends much of his Gospel discussing the kingdom of heaven, a term he uses 32 times (it is found nowhere else in Scripture).
A second theme in Matthew is the conflict that was evident between Christ and the Pharisees. Matthew contrasts the light of Christ with the darkness represented in formal Judaism which had rejected the Messiah.
In the first chapter of Matthew we find the genealogy of the Lord is recorded to show that Christ is heir to the throne of Israel. We read in Chapters 2 and 3 how his birth fulfilled Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah.
When we come to Matthew 5 Matthew takes the Jewish reader back to an Old Testament event. David Jeremiah describes it this way. “When it was time for Moses to receive God’s standards for His covenant people Israel, he went up on a mountain and came down with the laws of God (Exodus 19:3 ff.). When it was time for Jesus to explain the heart of His message – the gospel of the kingdom of God (Matthew 4:23) – He goes up on a mountain and preaches what we call the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Many of the laws Moses gave the people had been grossly misapplied by generations of Jews. The Sermon on the Mount restores the true spirit of God’s law. Thus we will read the contrast – “You have heard” but “I say unto you”. Listen carefully to Jesus explain God’s standards.
What can we learn?
Matthew records the longest sermon the Lord presented. At this time the Lord’s ministry is beginning and is growing. He heals people and does miracles and people are flocking to Him. There is, at least in some Jews, the hope and excitement that He might be their Messiah, the one who will bring Israel liberty and freedom from their enemies. Matthew records that the Lord, the Messiah, sees the people coming to Him. In that simple phrase we feel the compassion He has for the Israel. The Messiah begins His sermon and His ministry with the beatitudes that underlie the kingdom of heaven on earth. Moses gave the people the Law to show them how sinful they were in God’s eyes and that they needed a Savior.
In the Beatitudes Christ describes what kingdom living is like. This is what God searches for in our hearts. The Jewish people wanted a Messiah to set up a kingdom. In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord describes the characteristics, not of those who play religion but of kingdom hearts that truly love God.