Here's the first podcast in the Sermon on the Mount series, "The Mountain" (10 minutes).
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Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. (Matt 5:1-2 ESV)
- Mountains in the Bible are associated with Moses (Exod 19-20), Elijah (1 Kings), and Jesus.
- In Matthew, Jesus is found on mountains five times: Matt 4:8; 5:1; 14:23; 17:1-8; 28:16-20.
- Matthew presents Jesus as the Second Moses (see Deut 18), a teacher of God's truth to his people.
- Matthew has put Jesus' teaching into five blocks, like the five books of Torah (Gen-Deut) or the five books of Psalms. These blocks are Matt 5:1-7:29; 10:1-11:1; 13:1-53; 18:1-19:1; 23:1-26:1.
- For more on this, watch Jesus Is the Second Moses (13 minutes).
- Jesus and his disciples are seated—the normal position of a rabbi with his followers.
- Throughout his ministry, both men and women alike sat at Jesus' feet (Luke 10:38-42).
- We too must take time out to learn—to read and study…
- Through the disciples Jesus spread the message among the people (as in Matt 28:19-20).
- We may think of the eight beatitudes as a set of qualities. Jesus' focus is on the inner life, the kind of people we are, especially in difficult circumstances.
Next podcast: "Poor" (Matt 5:3)
