Matthew 5:1-2……Working

Matthew 5:1-2……Working

 5:1 Now when he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside (Suggests as a convenient place to be heard. Was probably a hillside in the vicinity of Capernaum near the sea of Galilee. Church tradition locates the site as the “Horns of Hattin”. Emphasizes possibly Matthew’s way of presenting Jesus as a new and greater Moses!) and sat down. (Expresses a customary posture of Rabbis who were about to teach and instruct.) His disciples (3101-pupil, student, learner. The Twelve disciples, as well as the crowds who would listen in.–{See 7:28}) came to him, 2 and he began to teach them  saying: 

Extended Sermon Notes

“Calls for recognizing we have more to learn. Some of us think we know everything we need to know.” ⇒ There’s probably more pride in us than we’re willing to admit. We hear references to Scripture verses and we say, “I know that one already.”

More Note & Applications

Teaches how a true disciple of Christ seeks to know and understand God’s Word. (There is no such thing as a disciple who does not carefully study the Bible. Difficulties and questions do arise, but the thoughtful and prayerful student will always seek to discover an answer.)

When we hear mountain we usually think of someplace far up. But rather we should think of these mountains here more in the sense of steep hills. Galilee contains many such hills. Jesus likely wanted to get some elevation above the crowd so He could easily be seen and heard by as many people as possible. Matthew does not describe the exact location of the sermon. There is some dispute over which hill Jesus went up, there are two primary candidates: the hill traditionally venerated as the Mount of the Beatitudes saddled between the Horns of Hattin, the twin peaks of a single hill. The other being The Mount of the Beatitudes, a hill near the NW coast of the Sea of Galilee, is now marked by the octagonal Church of the Beatitudes. Jesus probably sat with the Sea as His backdrop, with the slope of the hill forming a natural amphitheater.

According to the context of Luke’s Gospel-( ?     ) indicates that Jesus withdrew from performing miracles for the crowd of Jews and Gentiles who came to Him from a 200-mile radius seeking a physical benefit, to be healed. Jesus apparently withdrew in order to provide His disciples a spiritual benefit. In the previous chapter Jesus was teaching in the synagogues and healing among the people.

Note: There can be many believers in Christ, but so few disciples (students). A believer is someone who has believed in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. A disciple, on the other hand, is someone who is a devoted student and follower of Christ. As such, it is possible to be a believer, but not be a disciple (cf. Luke 19:11-27). It is equally possible to be a disciple but not a believer (e.g. Judas). The goal is to be both. All believers should immediately begin down the path of discipleship. Traveling this path begins with understanding that there is a huge difference between believing in Christ for eternal life and following Christ for the abundant life.-(John 10:10). If we do not realize the distinctions between becoming a believer and living like a disciple, most of the New Testament will not make sense.

Many scholars believe that in the Sermon on the Mount the author of the Gospel of Matthew brings together in one speech all the essential teachings of Jesus’ three-year ministry.