[0:00] Good evening. Welcome back. I see Helen made it as well. Good. All right. We're right in the middle of things now. Week five. It's going fairly fast, or for me it is anyway. It seems that way. And so we're going to continue. Today we want to progress into the Sermon on the Mount, and we'll spend the most of the evening there. Jesus is teaching in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. But we have a short portion before that to cover yet, before we go there. So, right. Let's open in prayer. Father, we again are blessed to gather. Thank you again for allowing us. It's a privilege to be in your Word. And Lord, as we progress tonight, again we lift our eyes, our hearts to you to give us understanding and clarity, and Lord, a desire to make application to our lives. So we want to commit this class again to you, in Jesus' name. Amen.
[1:34] Amen. All right. So apparently this is working very well. It's the feedback I'm getting from the sound guys. So we're going to continue to do that, passing the mic around. And I was just reviewing and looking ahead. There's a few sections or points that we're going to skim over.
[2:08] And I will invite you to read that for yourselves at home and come up with some notes there if you want. I can give a brief summary. But just to save time so that we can keep on target. There's just a lot of material to cover. And so to target the end of April as a finish date or maybe the first Wednesday in May so we can be done by then. That's what the goal is.
[2:41] So we finished number seven on page six in your book, I think. And this whole section, the first five there, six, it's the authority of Christ shown through his works, through what he is doing. And so we covered the first number of them there. And we ended with Christ's authority over sickness, number seven, and where he healed Peter's mother-in-law and she got up and served. That's where we ended last time. And so we had looked at his authority over nature when he caused the nets to be full of fish and some of his other activities in Galilee. And so we're going to continue that for a little bit here. So number eight is where we're going to start off. And this is Christ's authority over leprosy. Now, do we know what leprosy is? What kind of illness is it? A skin disease? Okay. It was considered unclean, yeah. The Old Testament, unclean. It was a crippling disease affecting the skin, but I think more than the skin.
[4:39] Could it be a crippling to malaria? No, I think it would be different than malaria, yeah. Yeah. Neurological problems, yeah. And so leprosy was, in the Old Testament, deemed unclean. And someone who broke out with leprosy was put outside of the camp. And so they did not have direct contact with people and had to stand off from a distance from others and say, unclean, unclean.
[5:14] And what a way to live. And so they could not come near others. It was forbidden by their laws. And here, I'm just going to, number eight there, I'm just going to give you a bit of an overview.
[5:32] Jesus is approached by a leper, which a leper doesn't do. That's not only against culture, it's against their rules.
[5:46] You do not come near someone because you're unclean. And this leper approached Jesus and begged him to heal him.
[6:00] And Jesus did the unthinkable. He touched him. He touched him.
[6:12] And who knows how long this person hasn't been touched because of his leprosy and his uncleanness. And he touched him and said, be healed.
[6:25] And so he broke tradition, culture, and that healing. And then as further testimony, Jesus sent the leper, who was healed, back to the priest and said, go show yourself and make the appropriate offerings as per the Old Testament.
[6:47] And when he comes back to the priest, what's the priest going to ask? Who healed you? And it's going to be further testimony to Jesus.
[6:59] of who he is. So that's number eight. So that one you can read for yourself as homework. There's, scriptures are there. And and pick out more notes from that.
[7:16] But he broke all culture there. And his compassion for humanity broke through. So number nine.
[7:27] Christ's authority to forgive sin. And this one, I think we should read. Matthew 9, 1 to 8. Matthew 9, 1 to 8.
[7:45] Today, the left-wingers get to start. Matthew 9, 1 to 9, or 1 to 8.
[8:01] 1 to 8. And he entered into a ship and passed over and came into his own city. And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee.
[8:16] And behold, certain of the scribes said unto themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether it is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk.
[8:31] But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth who forgives sins, then saith he to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose and departed to his house.
[8:42] But when the multitude saw it, they marveled and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. Okay.
[8:55] So, here in Capernaum, his hometown now, or his place of ministry, they're in the house, and they bring to him a crippled or paralyzed person and lying on his bed.
[9:20] The other accounts tell there's four guys carrying him, and they let him through the roof. They uncover the roof.
[9:32] They go up, so they would have, in their houses, they would have exterior stairs up and a tiled roof, and they would lift the tile off and let him in, let him down in front of Christ.
[9:46] And that was, because of the crowds, unable to get close, that's what they did. And, but then Jesus, as they're, as they've let this man down on his bed, likely on his cot or mattress, that they're carrying him on, and as they let him down, interesting that Jesus says, be of good cheer.
[10:18] What did he say? Be healed? Be healed. Your sins are forgiven you. And so this was different than normal, where he would say, be healed.
[10:33] Your sins are forgiven you. And so what is he indicating with this? He's God. Who has the power to forgive sins?
[10:46] And God alone, right? So he's directly pointing at himself or identifying himself, I am God. And, and their response from the scribes, this man blasphemes.
[11:07] This is Joseph's son. He's, he's saying he is God. He's blaspheming. And, and, and then Jesus responds again, and he says, why do you think evil in your hearts?
[11:24] What is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven you or arise and walk? So what would be easier to say?
[11:34] for anyone? Which would be easier to say?
[11:49] Yeah, why? Why? Yeah.
[12:00] Because if you say your sins are forgiven you, who really knows from the crowd, right? If, if they are forgiven or not. But when you say, rise up, take your bed and walk to the cripple, and then, then all of a sudden you're put on the spot.
[12:15] This guy better get up and go. Otherwise, I'm proven to be a false prophet. And so Jesus said, what is easier to say?
[12:28] And, and so then, and then to show them, he says, take up your bed and walk. But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.
[12:41] Arise, take up your bed and go to your house. And so, he, he showed it both ways. Yeah. So, to, to see, to see Christ do this, we would think that it would melt the heart of the hardest.
[13:11] Or no? But did it? Should have. But did it? It didn't.
[13:22] They crucified him. They rejected him. And, and so, miracles in themselves, asking for signs, is not, is not the, the, the answer to faith.
[13:42] faith. Faith believes without seeing. And, and they have seen enough to believe. So, that's an interesting story, or an interesting thing that Jesus did there.
[13:56] And so, it says, the crowds were amazed. They marveled. And they glorified God. But it's the leaders that are having trouble here. And so, as, as the spiritual, or so-called spiritual leaders, the, the scribes and Pharisees want people to follow them.
[14:18] And now we have this other man out of Nazareth, of all places, and people are following him, and he's doing things that we can't do.
[14:29] And so, there's, there's a root of jealousy that is born here, and, and division. So, it's now a popularity contest to them, in a sense.
[14:43] They're losing their prestige, their power, over the people. Okay, that's number nine. So, again, Christ is authenticating who he is by his works, and, his ability to forgive sin.
[15:02] Okay, number ten there, Christ's authority over men. We'll keep reading in Matthew 9, 9 to 13. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of the custom, and he said unto him, follow me.
[15:27] And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in this house, he beheld many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him, and his disciples.
[15:42] And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto the disciples, Why eateth the master with the publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need no physician, but they that are sick.
[15:57] But go ye and learn what this meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Okay.
[16:08] Thank you. So, now, his next disciple that he calls, that's not a fisherman, he's a tax person.
[16:21] We're in tax season now here in Canada. And, so, Matthew, or Levi, so, by the way, he authored the letter, this tax collector, or through, or God authored through him.
[16:40] He is sitting in his tax office. He is authorized by the Roman Empire from Rome to collect taxes in Israel, in his region.
[16:55] And, and I believe the structure was that, that the, the Romans would put overseers in place in, in every, maybe province, and they would then have people under them to collect taxes.
[17:10] And, and so there was two or three levels of tax collectors, and each one of them wanted a cut to prosper by.
[17:22] And so it's a taxpayer that was the, the one, that was the victim, right? And so, so they collected taxes to pay to a foreign leadership who, who governed them.
[17:38] And, so tax collectors were, basically hated and, and, looked upon as heathen, even though in Israel they were Jewish.
[17:51] They had sold out. Interesting that Jesus would choose one of these to join his team. Tax collector.
[18:03] And so, obviously, Levi has observed, or, or Matthew has observed Christ's doings, and, as Jesus passes by, he says to him, follow me.
[18:21] And so he arose and followed him. And so we, we see a commitment here, which leads me to believe, like the fisherman, men, he has prior witness to, to Christ's workings and his personhood.
[18:38] Because he follows and forsakes. And to turn your back on the Romans, you are cut in ties. You're, you're not going back. And so that's a very final decision.
[18:51] you've, you've, you've let them down, kind of. You've abandoned that. And so he, he left his office and others would have taken it over and followed Christ.
[19:02] The fishermen, on their own, could go fishing more easily, go back, revert to their old. But Matthew would have had probably a harder time. And so he follows Christ and then he invites Christ to his home.
[19:18] And behold, many tax collectors and sinners come and sit down with him and his disciples. And so that, of course, is very offensive to, to the Jews as tax collectors are considered unworthy of heaven, of the kingdom.
[19:40] They're considered unworthy because of their work. Because of, they let them down, they let themselves down to that level where they would take taxes from their fellow man.
[19:54] And, and like Zacchaeus, that's, we don't have that story here yet, he was robbing them. He was charging exorbitant prices so he was lining his own pockets on top of what the Romans wanted, right?
[20:08] And so Matthew likely did some of that too. And so they were hated with some reason as well. we, we can just imagine what that would do to us, right?
[20:24] And if Julius was our tax man and, and I owed the government 2,000 bucks and he charged me 3,500. He, it was, yeah, but there, but there was no hard rules on how much he could take for his cut.
[20:44] Yeah. So we would excommunicate him from church, right? Right? They're offended that Jesus would go to a sinner's house and, and Jesus makes the profound statement that I've come for sinners.
[21:13] I'll read, I'll reread those, verse 12 there. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick go and learn what this means.
[21:24] I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. So again, Jesus is breaking culture and their view of these people that are unworthy of salvation.
[21:41] They're lost forever in their, in the Jews' mind and Jesus reaches down to them. And, and we see that today, those are the people that are the first generally to respond to the gospel, the down and out, the look down upon.
[22:01] And, it's no different. And, Jesus says, I've come to call those that need help, those that know they need help. Okay, so again, further, further just breaking through the barriers of their, of their culture.
[22:23] All right, and then 11, Christ's authority over tradition. So, we're, Matthew 9, we'll keep reading Matthew. 14 through 17.
[22:40] Then the disciples of John came to him, asking, why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, the attendance of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?
[22:54] But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and a worse tear results.
[23:07] Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wineskins burst and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins and both are preserved.
[23:19] saved. Okay, thank you. All right, so we have followers of John the Baptist coming to Jesus.
[23:32] Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don't fast? So why is fasting so significant here in their culture?
[23:43] Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Or what is fasting? Denying our flesh?
[23:57] Okay. We're actually going to see it on the Sermon on the Mount here a little bit later tonight. But they would miss a meal and often the evening meal.
[24:09] It was their tradition. And the Jews, usually Monday and Thursday, I believe, were their fast days. days. But it was a sign of being devoted to God.
[24:27] And although it was abused amongst the leadership, but it was also maybe an indication of repentance, of, you know, John's baptism upon repentance, and they would fast as a symbol of that.
[24:48] Generally, today, fasting is for the purpose of drawing near to God, to tune in, to focus. and so they're asking, why don't they fast?
[25:03] Why don't your disciples fast? And Jesus answers, can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and they will fast.
[25:17] So the friends of the bridegroom at the wedding take part in the feast, right? It's when the groom takes off with his bride, then they can go back to their regular routines.
[25:33] But you wouldn't come to a wedding and then fast there, would you? And so he's speaking of he is the bridegroom, Christ, and his time here on earth.
[25:45] Why would we fast while Jesus is here? But there's a time when I will leave and then you can fast to connect with me. And that's the illustration he is giving them.
[25:59] And then further in verse 16, no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and the tear is made worse.
[26:12] So an old garment and a new piece of cloth for a patch. Now, I don't know if that would apply today if materials shrink as much as they did then or not.
[26:27] Some of you ladies help me out. Some does. So to put a new untempered piece of cloth as a patch on an old one, it would just tear away, is what he is saying.
[26:43] And then the second illustration goes alongside, nor do they put wine, new wine, into old wine skins, or else the wine skins break and the wine is spilled, and the wine skins are ruined.
[26:57] They put new wine into new wine skins and both are preserved. And because they can mold together or stretch together. So what is Jesus saying here?
[27:08] it is an indication that I am the new and the old is passing away and we cannot fix the old with the new.
[27:26] Jesus is saying he is the new piece of cloth or the wine and I don't fit into the old to kind of repair it, the old system.
[27:44] It's two covenants. And that's what these illustrations are saying. There's a new era beginning, the new covenant, and I am it.
[27:57] And so the old has to be done away with and left. It's broken. Don't patch it. We're doing something new. And so that's what he's indicating here with this illustration.
[28:12] So very clearly to the Jews, the audience here, the old covenant, the Old Testament, has come to an end. We're into the new.
[28:25] The new is starting with me. We as the church understand that. But to be in that moment, the Jews didn't understand that.
[28:36] They struggled with that. And in German, we would say, we've always done it like this.
[28:48] Why do we need something new? Yeah. Yeah. And so okay, so very clear.
[28:58] Jesus is here with where he is going. Jesus did not come to reform the old, but to introduce the new.
[29:12] All right, and then number 12, Christ's authority over the Sabbath. And we have three examples in a row here that are listed.
[29:25] I'm going to read the first one. Turning to John 5. Gospel of John 5.
[29:45] And 1 through 17. After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda.
[30:01] Having five porticos, in these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters. For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water.
[30:17] Whomever then first, after the stirring of the water, stepped in, was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. A man was there whom had been ill for thirty-eight years.
[30:31] When Jesus saw him lying there, he knew that he had already been a long time in that condition. He said to him, Do you wish to get well? The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.
[30:50] Jesus said to him, Get up, pick up your pallet, and walk. Immediately the man became well and picked up his pallet, and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day, so the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.
[31:10] But he answered them, He who made me well was the one who said to me, Pick up your pallet, and walk. They asked him, Who is the man who said to you, Pick up your pallet, and walk?
[31:21] But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, while there was a crowd in that place. Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, Behold, you have become well.
[31:34] Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
[31:49] But he answered them, My father is working until now, and I and myself am working. Okay, thank you. All right, so verse one tells us that after this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
[32:12] And so we're going to look at that map again in a bit. so a whole year has gone by. Likely, this is again a Passover feast.
[32:23] It's not clearly identified as that, but it's believed to have been one. And so Jesus has gone back to Jerusalem, and he is by the sheep gate near the pool Bethesda.
[32:37] and there's actually a map here. From far away, you probably can't see it, but that's the old city, and where's the sheep?
[32:51] Bethesda sheep pool, right there. And the temple mount is here, so it's right beside actually, is where it was. And so the angel of the Lord would go down and stir up the water, and the first person in got healed.
[33:12] Now, the name Bethesda means house of mercy. House of mercy. So it's a very appropriate name again.
[33:26] Why? And so that the angel would come down, stir the waters, and the first person to step in was healed of whatever sickness, infirmity they had.
[33:39] And so Jesus meets this guy here, infirmity for 38 years, and he's laying there, and he's been in that condition for a long time.
[33:56] And do you want to be made well? And this man answers to Jesus, sir, I have no one to carry me in. And when somebody attempts to, there's somebody else ahead of me already.
[34:11] And all these years I've watched this. And Jesus asked, do you want to be made well? Yeah. And always another one is in front of me.
[34:24] Very, must have been very frustrating, right? all those years. And then Jesus simply tells him, rise, take up your bed and walk. Right there.
[34:38] And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed and walked. But there was one problem. It was the Sabbath.
[34:53] And he was, and Jesus said, take up their bed and go. And they were forbidden to take up their bed on Sabbath. So not only did Jesus heal on the Sabbath, but now this guy is working.
[35:06] He's carrying his bed. And he again is breaking all their tradition and culture. And it's the first of a number of Sabbath-breaking rules that Jesus does here.
[35:26] They actually, when they question Jesus or when the leadership asked this guy, who told you and so on and who healed you, they overlook the miracle and focus on that he's carrying his bed.
[35:43] isn't that interesting? You overlook the huge thing that's happened and you pick on something that we can use to destroy.
[36:01] And so it's a mindset of opposing Christ all the way. way. In verse 18 of that chapter, therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his father, making himself equal with God.
[36:30] So the last place they wanted to kill him was where? from last week? In his hometown of Nazareth, yeah, yeah, a prophet is without honor in his own country, right?
[36:55] And they took him up to a cliff and they wanted to push him over and dash him down the rocks. And here he's in Jerusalem and now they're seeking to kill him.
[37:05] It says looking for a way to kill him. Yes, he is a rebel, Jesus. He's breaking culture and tradition.
[37:21] Okay, the next one, the controversy over grain, we won't bother. Yeah, I think we should read that. Let's go to Matthew.
[37:34] Let's go to Matthew. chapter 12. One to eight.
[37:49] at that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grain fields and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat.
[38:04] But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. But he said to them, have you not read what David did? When he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?
[38:28] Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.
[38:41] But if you had known what this means, I desire compassion and not a sacrifice. You would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
[38:55] Okay, thank you. Many, many rules. And one of them was, thou shalt not rub out a head of grain.
[39:13] Because it wasn't necessarily wrong to eat some kernels of wheat, but to thrush wheat. So to rub out an ear of wheat was called work and was forbidden on the Sabbath.
[39:28] And so it doesn't say that in the Old Testament, but these are the regulations that they've come up with through the years to buffer the rules of the Sabbath, to make sure they stay very far away from breaking the Sabbath.
[39:47] And in here, Jesus, his followers, his disciples are doing exactly that. They're hungry, they pluck heads of grain and begin to eat, and of course they have to rub that out.
[39:59] and it's not lawful to do this on the Sabbath. And then Jesus breaks their tradition here as well, their homemade rules, so to speak.
[40:16] And I want to focus on the fact that the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
[40:29] I think it's in Luke. Let me check here.
[40:40] I think it's in Luke. It says that the Sabbath was not made for man. Sorry. Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man.
[40:53] I had that reversed there. And then here he says, I am Lord even of the Sabbath. that Jesus is over as our creator.
[41:04] He is over even that last day, the Sabbath. Now what does it mean that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath?
[41:17] Because this is the principle that Jesus is laying down of why God did what he did? Okay.
[41:37] Who controls whom? Right? And so, yeah. So what was the purpose of the Sabbath? To rest and to worship God.
[41:48] it was to meet man's need to rest. The physical needs, but also spiritually to engage with God and also to be a testimony that way, a sign.
[42:07] And hence, the church began to do it on the first day of the week, but for the same purpose. and because it's healthy to have a rest, we need it, and it's a time for us to engage together to meet as the church, right?
[42:28] So just to have that clear, but this is, in the Jews' mind, so ingrained the Sabbath. The Sabbath was one of their biggest obstacles that they held on to.
[42:42] That and circumcision, they were the two big ones that they stumbled and stumbled over, as they were, those two had to be to please God.
[42:55] And here, Jesus is breaking this one for the second time now. So he says, I'm Lord even of the Sabbath. You know, the Sabbath wasn't to be burdensome.
[43:12] In the Old Testament, they were forbidden to do regular work, and so on. There was, God spelled it out for them, but they took it way beyond that, and became burdensome.
[43:24] And you needed a university degree to figure out the Sabbath laws, I think, to keep up with them, almost. And they're very extreme already. Okay, so that's the principle there.
[43:39] So again, he's breaking that. So as we look at this, Jesus is exposing their tradition and earning righteousness before God or trying to, and he's introducing himself, I am the new way, the righteousness of God.
[44:07] And he's bringing them slowly to a point of decision. Which method of attaining righteousness are we going to use or to follow? Man's way, which will fail in the end, or what he has come to present?
[44:27] And so he's breaking through one barrier after another to try to get them to understand and to see. Okay, the next one we're just going to, we're not going to bother reading that, healing the man with the withered hand, also on the Sabbath.
[44:45] And again, they seek to trap him and to accuse him, find fault because he heals the withered hand on the Sabbath in the synagogue. And there Jesus asks them, is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath?
[45:01] And of course, it's lawful to do good. And it uses the illustration, you would help your cow out of the well if it fell in or whatever, your animal, why can't I not heal this man on the Sabbath?
[45:19] And so the principle is laid down again. It is lawful, it is good to do good on Sabbath, to help others when there are needs that arise.
[45:35] Okay, so then we'll go to 13. Briefly, Christ's authority to heal. So here we have Jesus going back to Galilee.
[45:46] He leaves Jerusalem, withdrew to the Sea of Galilee. And Matthew 12, it looks that way, right?
[46:04] Right? Right? is he Ergebnis?
[46:25] Yeah, I'm just looking at that.
[46:48] Let's turn to Mark. Let's see if that works. I'll have to figure that out. Yeah, Mark 3, 7 through 12.
[47:02] Let's read.
[47:18] Okay.
[48:19] Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you.
[48:40] Yeah, that's Matthew 12, 15 to 21. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So, Jesus returning to Galilee, and He's withdrawing to the sea again.
[48:55] And as a multitude following Him. So, we see Him going back up north to the Sea of Galilee. And it says, and multitudes followed Him from Judea, Jerusalem, Adumia, and beyond the Jordan, from Tyre, Sidon, from all over basically.
[49:20] So, we have multitudes and multitudes. So, His fame is growing as He's traveling. And so, like Tyre and Sidon are up here, way in the north, and Judea and Jerusalem and this side of the Jordan.
[49:37] So, basically, all of Israel and maybe even beyond a bit, multitudes are coming. And He heals much.
[49:49] He teaches from a boat. And so, He's being very effective now with His teaching. Okay. Just a note there.
[50:00] Again, we had that introduced previously.
[50:12] But as they run into Christ, they recognize Him and they fall down. And as they know who Jesus is.
[50:25] Okay. 14. And let's turn to Luke 6 there. So, we've had two Passover feasts.
[50:43] And now, Jesus officially chooses the Twelve. So, they've been following Him along with many other disciples. And so, a disciple is, by definition, a follower of Jesus.
[51:01] Yeah. So, there was multitudes of disciples following Him, listening to Him. And, but then, then He now chooses and narrows down to 12, whom He's going to kind of commission, not only as disciples, but as apostles a bit later.
[51:25] So, what's the difference between a disciple and an apostle? No.
[51:41] Well, they were with Him. Yeah. They were with Him. But that's, that's not the definition. No. An apostle is one that is sent out. A sent one.
[51:54] Yeah. So, later they were sent. And commissioned. So, disciples, they're at Jesus' feet learning. And then, as apostles, they're sent.
[52:06] They're, they're basically missionaries. The, uh, uh, appropriate name today. Missionaries. So, all right.
[52:19] So, we have Luke 6, 12 to 16. And it came to pass in those days that He went out into the mountain to pray and to continue, into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.
[52:38] And when it was day, He called unto Him His disciples. And them He chose 12, whom also He named apostles. Simon, whom He also named Peter.
[52:50] And Andrew, His brother James and John. Philip and Bartholomew. Matthew and Thomas. James, the son of Alphaeus. And Simon, called Zelotas.
[53:02] And Judas, the brother of James. And Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. All right. So, He's back in Galilee. And, uh, it says in those days, uh, He went out to the mountain to pray.
[53:20] And how long did He pray? All night. He prayed all night to God.
[53:33] And when it was day, He called the disciples to Himself. And from them, He chose the 12. And I, I'm always, always intrigued when I, when I read and hear that Jesus felt the need to spend a full night talking to the Father before He made the decision of the 12.
[54:01] And then, then I see myself as prayerless. In comparison.
[54:21] Which Judas? Yeah, I don't think there was any arguments there. No.
[54:32] There's a, there's a, there's a purpose for God allowing that, but, yeah. But the, but the point here is, how often in, in our lives, when we have more important decisions, do we take that extra time in prayer?
[54:49] Because Jesus, who is a Son of God, felt that need.
[55:04] Because He repeatedly says, I've come to do your will, O Father. And, uh, yeah. You know, we often struggle to pray for 10 minutes.
[55:20] Right? And then we're like the disciples who just fall asleep. Yeah. Yeah.
[55:31] But, uh, there, there's, there's, uh, there's, there's an important principle here. And, and I've, I've heard quotes from, from Christian men that have gone, I don't know if the name's handy, but some of you might know.
[55:47] But, but, but the longer my, my to-do list is for the day, the more time I need to start my day in prayer. Otherwise, I won't get through the list. And it's, it's reverse of what our human thinking would be, right?
[56:01] My list is so big, I don't have time for prayer. And, but it's the other way around. Because it's God that makes things effective. Yeah.
[56:17] The rest will take care of itself.
[56:30] Because our priorities are right. Yeah. Yeah. Any thoughts there? Yeah.
[56:43] Just a total dependency on the Father. Yeah. Yeah.
[57:13] Yeah. Yeah. yeah and he's one of many i think that practiced yeah all right so that brings us to uh to the sermon on the mount and uh i'll just take i'll just take uh for those of you that are doing the maps um just take a brief moment i i already put it on here but from the first pass over to the next feast that we just covered here a couple points ago um the places that he visited so he was at the feast in jerusalem and uh he went up to to uh salim where john was baptizing where there was much water if you remember and then from there he went to samaria and uh it says i must needs go through samaria well he cut across to samaria ministered to to the samaritans the woman at the well and then it says he went up to galilee which is a province so if he went to nazareth or not we don't we're not sure but he he ministered in galilee and from there he went to cana that was where he turned the first time uh the the uh water into wine and uh and so that's where he heals i think it's the nobleman's son who lives in capernaum and he commands from there and the guy we're here is healed remember that happened at cana and then from there he went back to nazareth his hometown where he in luke 4 i believe it was or yeah where he he read the book of isaiah and today this prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing and uh and he expounded and and they took him out to uh to the cliff and wanted to kill him happened in nazareth and then from there he withdrew and went to capernaum and made that home and so uh the last two years of his ministry are more so in in around the sea of galilee with with capernaum being the capital okay and uh and then back to jerusalem to the pool of uh bethesda and that's kind of where we and then he did go back to to galilee already in our last point but for this map it's jerusalem to jerusalem so afterwards you can come up and feel free those that want to copy it there's a bunch of little maps here i don't know if there's a lot of point in doing that but uh it's it's helped me to track even uh time-wise uh where where his travels and and from feast to feast okay for the next uh section the uh sermon on the mount in matthew chapter 5 6 and 7 and uh for the beatitudes i forgot to leave you guys space in your notes uh to write anything down on the beatitudes and so i created an extra page for those that are taking notes and you want to add and just one page pass them around my apologies for that you can insert them into your folders so
[61:29] uh Okay, this section is called Christ's Authority to Interpret the Law as he exposes the law to them.
[62:09] And the first section is the character as to the subject of the kingdom. So their character, those that...
[62:20] So he's speaking now in this first section on the Sermon on the Mount, those that will enter the kingdom of God. Those that are going to enter in. This is what they're like.
[62:31] And by doing the Sermon on the Mount teaching, he is presenting very clearly the contrast.
[62:43] Is the righteousness of the Pharisees enough to enter? Or is Jesus the answer to God's requirement for righteousness?
[62:55] So the whole Sermon on the Mount, he's bringing that to a head. And he's exposing their righteousness or lack of it.
[63:09] And so he's presenting God's requirements and then exposing the Jewish system or teaching of righteousness.
[63:21] So the whole three chapters are linked that way. And so then he begins with the Beatitudes, describing those who enter the coming kingdom.
[63:36] I'm going to just read this myself as we go. So seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain. When he was seated, his disciples came to him and then he opened his mouth and taught them saying.
[63:54] So it was like an amphitheater. He was sitting on the mountainside with the crowds before him. And his voice would have carried. Now the first one, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[64:11] So these are characteristics of those that will enter the kingdom. So what does it mean to be poor in spirit and why is that blessed?
[64:24] Favorable. Humble. Humble. Okay, it has to do with humbleness. Yeah. Poor in spirit.
[64:39] Anyone to add to that? Empty of self. Yeah. So they recognize, I have no righteousness of my own.
[64:51] I have nothing to bring. I need help. Blessed is he who is poor in spirit. So it's the human spirit that's poor. Recognizing I have nothing.
[65:04] I need God. Okay. So in the Beatitudes, the blessed is a reference to favor or even God's holiness.
[65:23] Blessed is. Blessed is. So that's the first one. Blessed are the poor in spirit. So they have nothing to offer God, fully dependent on him.
[65:34] Characteristics of those who will enter the kingdom. And it should be characteristic of the church as we've accepted salvation. Secondly, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
[65:50] So we need a long, sad face, right? Blessed are those that mourn. What does it mean to mourn in this context?
[66:05] Blessed. It actually is a sin for the people of God. But it's your position. Okay. It's recognizing your sinfulness. Yeah.
[66:16] Bang on, Frank. And it's acknowledging that. It's feeling remorse and sad or mourning over that. Yeah. To recognize that I am wretched without Christ.
[66:30] I believe when we push people to accept Christ, the danger is there that this aspect is not in their heart.
[66:47] And we're wanting a confession, but they're not seeing their wretchedness. It's very dangerous to push people through the gate, so to speak, or attempt to.
[67:02] And they're not ready. Their heart isn't conditioned. Yeah. Yeah.
[67:13] And it doesn't turn out well. Okay. So, they confess their lack of righteousness. This is where the Pharisees and their teaching where they stumbled because they taught and believed that they had no sin.
[67:37] That was their teaching. And it was the tax collectors and the bad, shady ladies that were the sinners. But they themselves obeyed the law.
[67:52] They were perfect. And accepted by Christ. They were in their minds or in their teaching. They were acceptable to God. And so, he's breaking that very clearly here.
[68:06] Yeah. I'm reminded of King David after Bathsheba when he wrote Psalm, I think it's 34 and 51. And he just opens his heart and exposes his wretchedness.
[68:20] He just he just opens wide open and just God against you and you alone I have sinned. And he tells how wretched he was.
[68:39] Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, he had a lot of brownie points with God, right? in the eyes of man. Yeah.
[68:53] And you know, to actually believe that, to be deceived into believing that, and then to meet God and find out you're wrong.
[69:05] Yeah. But then their conscience, you know, to believe I have no sin but my everyday life is full of sin, shortcomings.
[69:22] There must have been a war going on. Okay, the third one. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. what's the definition of meek?
[69:43] Gentle? Humbled before God? Yeah. Recognizing God's authority and submitting.
[69:56] See, when Jesus was at the judgment seat, he is described as being meek. And he surrendered to God's will.
[70:08] Because we sing the song, sometimes he could have called how many angels? 10,000 angels. But he died for you and me. Meek.
[70:20] He was power. He had the power to resist, to not allow this to happen. But meekness, he controlled that power to God's will.
[70:31] It had to submit. That's what that means there. So blessed are the meek. Recognizing God's authority and submitting oneself to it.
[70:44] So meekness and obedience, you cannot separate the two. meekness and meekness and meekness and meekness and meekness and meekness and meekness and meekness and God later says to him I talk face to face.
[71:06] Yeah. He is a humble man. Okay. Whereas the opposite of meek is self-righteous and or self-asserted pride and refuses to submit.
[71:25] That's the other side of it. Okay. And then the next one blessed are the blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.
[71:41] So hungering and thirsting having an appetite for God for spiritual things and they will be filled. And all believers today that have an appetite for God will be filled.
[72:02] Right? It marks those that will enter the kingdom. An appetite for God. God. And so every born-again believer has a degree of appetite for God even though there's sometimes some dips.
[72:25] But that's the mark of a believer. We have a hunger for the things of God. And if there's zero hunger in my life then I need to question and get back on my knees and ask am I really a child of God?
[72:44] Because that marks the Christian. A hunger to grow, to learn, to mature. Okay?
[72:56] And the audience here is mixed, right? You have the common people but you have the leadership here listening to Christ. And so when he says blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness they shall be filled.
[73:14] The Pharisees again were content with their own righteousness based on their works. And so he was directly again speaking to them as well.
[73:29] Convicting. The next one, blessed are the merciful they shall obtain mercy. And mercy is God's loving response to his objects of affection I guess.
[73:49] Those that respond to him. It's God's mercy. So when we are merciful we have a heart of compassion for others like God did for us.
[74:05] It's the mark of the believer. God showed mercy to us, we show it to those around us.
[74:18] What's the opposite of mercy? Just? Aggressive?
[74:30] Self-righteous? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[74:48] Not giving what they deserve. Yeah. If you have mercy on someone we would come alongside and give them another chance. Yeah.
[75:00] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The opposite. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[75:12] That's also not merciful, right? Yeah. Look the other way. Okay. And there again looking at the Jewish leadership.
[75:23] The Pharisees looked down on the poor, the sick, the helpless, the lonely, and felt they had no responsibility to help them. They were so consumed with their own program.
[75:37] We have no obligation to help these poor people. And no wonder that when Jesus saw the multitudes, he had compassion. He says, they're like sheep without a shepherd because their leadership had abandoned them.
[75:55] They're so full of feeding themselves. blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
[76:11] So what does it mean to have a pure heart? Okay. Blamelessness.
[76:24] Not sinless. Not sinless. Okay. Whom do we generally attribute pureness to?
[76:39] A baby? But when it comes to spiritual matters? To God. Right? Could this be pointing towards we need God's provision inside to make us pure?
[77:04] And yes, the believer does, is commanded to live blameless, to deal, to continually deal with sin, and to keep yourself blameless. It's dealt with when there is wrongs.
[77:16] God's presence. Okay? So it's, I believe it's the presence of God in us that makes us pure, as his children.
[77:36] Okay? It says, they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God, and they will enter the kingdom. And on the other hand, all that don't meet God's standard of purity will not enter.
[78:00] And so when we look at our lives, none of us are pure in our actions. but in our identity as belonging to God because we've accepted, we've bowed to him, we've invited him into our life, we've acknowledged.
[78:22] And he has identified us then as his children, giving us the Holy Spirit, and so he sees us then in identity as pure, even though our actions are still struggling.
[78:35] and he's cleaning us up slowly, but our identity, who we are, he sees as pure, white. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
[78:58] What's a peacemaker? peacemaker? Next, peace.
[79:15] What's a peacemaker? How do we find peace? To make peace, we have to face reality and deal with the root, not a peacekeeper.
[79:44] Right? And so when it comes to inward peace, I have to deal with the reality that I am a sinner, an unrighteous man, and so I have to deal with that, and God has the solution, right?
[80:04] So to bring others to that point as a peacemaker, to bring them to salvation, where they see their need and they bow to God.
[80:17] Yeah. And you mentioned peacekeeper, what does a peacekeeper do? False?
[80:31] Keep the peace, is what you said? Don't rock the boat. We don't deal with the root issues, we kind of sweep it under the rug and pretend to cover it over and walk on.
[80:45] Yeah. And it's always problematic, right? Right? Yeah. Never, never, like even on the world scene today, with Israel and the world, there's not a peace making, there's, they're trying to keep peace.
[81:09] And they're actually not doing a good job with that either. But they're not, they're refusing to acknowledge reality. All right, and then the last one.
[81:33] Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.
[81:49] Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Blessed are those who are persecuted.
[82:05] And what did Paul say in Timothy, 2nd Timothy, chapter 3 maybe? All those that desire to live godly will, will suffer persecution.
[82:27] And like Christ was persecuted, as his followers, we will face rejection from the ungodly, those that aren't his children.
[82:38] We are to expect it, but he says you're blessed if you suffer for righteousness sake, that's evident of who you are. You belong to the kingdom.
[82:48] Amen. Yeah. Not that we had to add to his sufferings, but as some erroneously teach, but that we follow, as his followers, we share in that.
[83:16] We share in that. I wonder what our feelings think of your feelings. Your feelings. Yeah. Yeah. Learn to put your feelings where they belong. Under the rug.
[83:29] Under the rug. Okay. And stamp on it good, eh? Yeah. Yeah.
[83:40] Yeah. When it comes to persecution, or anything theological, we have to think our feelings cannot lead the way.
[83:54] They hated him first, yeah. And if we understand why they hate us, then as we're going to learn later, we don't hate them back, but we see them through God's eyes.
[84:08] And all of a sudden, we don't hate them. We would pray for them. We want them to come to Christ, even though they're making life hard for me and miserable.
[84:22] To see it through God's eyes. That's the mark of the believer. So these beatitudes are a descriptive of or characteristic of those who are God's people.
[84:37] And so that's probably been somewhat disturbing and shocking to some of the Jews when they heard this. Okay.
[84:51] The influence of these believers, of those who will enter the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 5, 13 to 16. And I'll get someone to read that for us.
[85:06] Matthew 5, 13 to 16. 16. Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be made salted?
[85:20] It is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, as it gives light unto all that are in the house.
[85:41] Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Okay. Thank you. So we have two pictures that he gives us that we can relate to and the first one is salt and the second one is light.
[86:02] So he says the people that will enter the kingdom and as we read this as the church, it applies to us that we are the salt and the light for him.
[86:16] So what does salt represent? It's a preserver, okay, yeah, we use it for that, right?
[86:32] I think more today than they did back then. What does salt do to you when you eat it? Flavor makes you thirsty.
[86:49] we are the salt we are making we're making people thirsty. They're seeing Christ in you.
[87:02] They're seeing righteousness. It's making them thirsty for the things of God. Attractive. As Paul says in Corinthians, fragrant or a good aroma, aroma of Christ.
[87:21] Salt makes us thirsty. Yeah. It is used for flavor as well, but I think primarily that's what it would be, that we create thirst in others, and they too want what we have.
[87:36] What does light do? Exposes? Exposes. Okay. Exposes and pushes away darkness.
[87:53] Yeah. When you live in a hot, humid country and you turn on the light bulb outside, what happens after dark?
[88:03] attracts the bugs. And from a little distance, it looks like a smoking chimney. It's just swarming with bugs.
[88:17] What's that? Yeah. When we had our evening meal, we would move our table from underneath the kitchen light because the bugs are dropping on your food.
[88:33] And it attracts. And it lights up and so drives out darkness. So light attracts to itself and exposes, reveals all within that circle of light.
[88:50] And so it attracts the non-believer, again, just like the salt, but then exposes, reveals their need. Exposes the darkness. Okay?
[89:04] And just like Jesus said in John 1, that he is the light of the world, so now we carry that light as his believers, right? Okay?
[89:17] And then he ends, don't hide the light. We don't light a lantern and then cover it up, right? Then we put it up high so it can be seen and and it shines further.
[89:32] And so that's who we are. We don't cover up, but we're to let our light so shine. And I like that verse, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, they may see our good works and glorify him.
[89:49] not glorify man, glorify him. See our works, glorify him. Beautiful.
[90:03] Beautiful. Okay, our time has come to an end here.
[90:18] I want to do one more. Pushing a little bit here. So let's read 17 to 20 in Matthew 5.
[90:30] Verse or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
[90:43] I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished.
[90:55] Anyone who breaks one of these, least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
[91:08] For I tell you that unless your righteousness suppresses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Okay, thank you. Yeah, so here he comes right out.
[91:21] Boom. Unless your righteousness exceeds your leaders, you're not going to make it. we would say, boom, roasted.
[91:36] Right? You're done. Right there. Jesus says, I did not come to destroy the law or the prophets, but rather to be the fulfillment, to live it out.
[91:52] As only he has been able to, to completely keep the law and thereby establishing righteousness for us in him.
[92:05] And so the law wasn't wavering or giving in for him. He kept it all the way, every jot and tittle. And that was the Lord.
[92:20] The Pharisees taught regarding the 613 commandments. That was the answer to righteousness. And of those 613, 365 were do not, do not, do not, and 248 were do's.
[92:45] It would be. Try to keep that up. In human effort, right? Right? They needed to rest.
[93:15] Yeah. in the beginning of the week we're equipped yeah absolutely so yeah okay so that's so this section relates Jesus to the law and he has the fulfillment and then we're going to see for next week Lord willing he's going to look at their keeping of the law and how they come short and in all the areas he's going to point it out to them that this is what you practice but this is what God says and you're it's just not working for you and so the whole multitude that's listening on this mountainside had lots to think about I'm not sure how many hours they sat there listening but they had a lot of food to chew on how where's my righteousness going to come from okay good that's it for today thank you for being here and for participating as well our time goes swiftly you are dismissed we must t times