Daily Devotional For Monday, August 12, 2024

Well, your weekend has come and gone and for most of us, it was a very wet one due to Tropical Storm Debby and the other thunderstorms that followed her. And this week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — yes — more rain. I think it is time to build an Ark. Well, it’s Marvelous Monday and I thought for this week, we could look at the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. Jesus was a Master Teacher and He knew how to use the terrain to His advantage to teach people. Matthew 5:1-2 begins this way: “One day as He saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around Him, and He began to teach them” (NLT). Today, all we are going to look at is the setting and context of the Sermon On the Mount. Tuesday and forward, we will look at each aspect of it individually.

Up to this point, Jesus’ words have been few and limited. Now He preaches and teaches to the crowds in what is traditionally called “The Sermon On The Mount.” This sermon is written down in Matthew chapters 5,6, & 7. What Jesus does in this sermon is build upon the Old Testament, correcting those listening and misunderstanding it. He clarifies what Moses, David and other prophets said and He spoke violently against the Jewish traditions of His day. This sermon begins with blessings, which we call the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12). The Old Testament ends with Malachi and a curse and the New Testament begins with Matthew and blessings. 

The Old Testament writes about man’s need for salvation and the New Testament clarifies how one is saved — through the Messiah, Jesus Christ alone. This sermon by Jesus explains the curse in the Old Testament that our self-righteousness is not enough to protect us nor save us. The New Testament is about how the righteousness of Jesus is enough to save us. The Old Testament is the “Book of the First Adam” and the New Testament is the “Book of the Second Adam.” Where Adam fell in the Old Testament, this Second Adam will not fall into sin. 

The first Adam was tested in a beautiful garden and failed; the last Adam was tested in a threatening wilderness and succeeded. Because the first Adam was a thief, he was cast out of paradise; but the last Adam turned to a thief on a cross and said, “Today you shall be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Most of the Jews in Jesus day expected the Messiah to be a political and military leader who would free them from the enslavement to Rome. They believed once He did that, then the Messiah would establish Israel as the world superpower as their king with all the other nations submitting to her. 

Right up front, Jesus, in His teaching, emphasizes that the Kingdom of God is internal, not external. It is spiritual, not physical. It is moral, not about a military. It is about spiritual reformation, not social reformation. As He teaches, Jesus is very much aware that the four primary Jewish religious groups are listening: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots. Pastor and author John MacArthur summarizes these four groups succinctly:

“The Pharisees believed that the right religion consisted in divine laws and religious tradition. Their primary concern was for fastidious observance of the Mosaic law and of every minute detail of the traditions handed down by various rabbis over the centuries. They focused on adhering to the laws of the past.

The Sadducees focused on the present. They were the religious liberals who discounted most things supernatural and who modified both Scripture and tradition to fit their own religious philosophy. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, that is why the Sadducees were “sad”—“u”—“see.” 

The Essenes were ascetics who believed that right religion meant separation from the rest of society. They led austere lives in remote, barren areas such as Qumran, on the northwest edge of the Dead Sea.

The Zealots were fanatical nationalists who thought that the right religion centered in radical political activism. These Jewish revolutionaries looked down on fellow Jews who would not take up arms against Rome.

In essence, the Pharisees said, “Go back”; the Sadducees said, “Go ahead”; the Essenes said, “Go away”; and the Zealots said, “Go against.” The Pharisees were traditionalists; the Sadducees were modernists; the Essenes were separatists; and the Zealots were activists. They represented the same primary types of religious factions that are common today.

But Jesus’ way was not any of those. To the Pharisees He said that true spirituality is internal, not external. To the Sadducees He said that it is God’s way, not man’s way. To the Essenes He said that it is a matter of the heart, not the body. To the Zealots He said that it is a matter of worship, not revolution. The central thrust of His message to every group and every person, of whatever persuasion or inclination, was that the way of His kingdom is first and above all a matter of the inside—the soul. 

That is the central focus of the Sermon on the Mount. True religion in God’s kingdom is not a question of ritual, of philosophy, of location, or of military might—but of the right attitude toward God and toward other people. The Lord summed it up in the words “I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (5:20).” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 134).

Jesus constantly battled the Pharisees. They got very angry with Jesus because He did not ceremonially wash His hands one time before He ate. Don’t get any ideas kids, okay? But look at what He said to them when they criticized Him for this in Luke 11:39-41, “Then the Lord said to him (one of the Pharisees), vs. 37), “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! (40) Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? (41) So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.

So before we look at the Sermon on the Mount, more specifically, the Beatitudes, let me share this with you about it. This is the most important sermon ever and here are several reasons why:

• First, in it Jesus emphasizes the absolute necessity of the new birth. What Jesus teaches and commands us to do is impossible to do on our own power. To obey Jesus, we must have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
• Second, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds His listeners and readers, that He alone is their only hope of living up and meeting God’s standard for righteousness, holiness, godliness, victory here, heaven and eternal life later.
• Third, the sermon starts out with “Blessed.” It’s emphasis is on joy, blessing, happiness and success that comes from doing what Jesus teaches here.
• Fourth, the Sermon on the Mount, when lived out, opens up doors for us to witness to the lost. When lost people see us living these biblical principles out as opposite from the attitudes and actions of the world, it attracts them to the Gospel, to Jesus, to us and eventually to salvation in Christ.
• Fifth, the Sermon on the Mount, when lived out consistently, is the only life that brings glory to God,  pleases our heavenly Father and joy to us. 

As I close, let’s take to heart and practice these words on the Sermon on the Mount by pastor and author Chuck Swindoll:

“Of the millions of sermons that have been preached through the centuries, none is more famous, more convicting, or more enduring than the one Jesus delivered shortly after beginning His ministry. We know it as the Sermon on the Mount. Though Jesus preached this sermon in the first half of the first century AD, it remains timeless, relevant, and practical even in the twenty-first century.

Through these words, Jesus—with penetrating insight—exposed the brittle veneer of all self-righteousness prevalent in His day … and in ours. He explained the essence of true righteousness, which leads to a deep-seated joy. Weaving threads from the Old Testament throughout this garment of truth, the heir to the throne of David set forth principles that must never be ignored by subjects of His kingdom. Yet how few truly embrace Jesus’ words!

We may observe and outline these words, analyze and interpret them, admire and quote them, even frame them and build churches to commemorate them! But we rarely apply them with earnestness and obey them with seriousness. Because of that, we miss the point entirely.   

Jesus preached this sermon to bring about permanent life change, and His concern was (and still is) that we live in stark contrast to the world’s system. He desires that His followers be Christlike to the core—a divine minority who live differently from the rest of the world.

Perhaps the best-known part of this message as recorded in Matthew 5 through 7 is the set of opening lines, known as the Beatitudes (5:1–12)”—(Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 85).

Questions To Consider

1. The religious leaders and Jewish people had their own made-up belief of who and what God’s Messiah should be like. Jesus did not fit their belief. What beliefs about Jesus have you had to change over the years because they were more wishful thinking rather than biblically based? Was it hard to do? What were the results?
2. When you read the Old Testament, is it challenging or more difficult for you? Why or why not? Do you prefer reading the New Testament over the Old Testament? If so, why?
3. Due to a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Old Testament, Jews in Jesus’ day thought God was more concerned about the outside or the external. Just the opposite is true. God is concerned about the internal and our hearts. It is no different than a couple who are having marital problems and have talked about divorce, and invite friends over for dinner. Those friends enter that house and it looks immaculate, but it is all a facade. In your own spiritual walk, which do you focus on more: the external — what people see, or the internal — what God sees and why?

Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 5:16, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, help me to focus on what is really important — not the externals, what people see, but the internals — what both You and I see and know. I want my light to shine for You in such a way that it draws people to you. I do not want to be another `religious person.' I want to be a righteous person for Your glory and by Your power. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!—Pastor Kelly