Questions from Matthew

We’re going to spend the next 2 weeks doing a mini sermon series, on the book of Matthew. Here’s the thing, I think there’s something that we need to understand so that everyone can get the most out of our Wednesday nights. I do not have time to teach you the entire Bible. If you come in, day 1 of 7th Grade, and you make it to every Sunday, Wednesday, and Monday night for 6 straight years until you graduate high school, there simply is not enough time for me to teach you the entire Bible in a meaningful way, I could stand here and read it and we would make it through a couple times over, but we wouldn’t be able to go very deep. And really, that’s kinda what we do in Sunday School, we’re on a schedule that will get us through the entire story arch of scripture in 4 years, but not in a very detailed way. It great for getting a lay of the land so that when someone mentions Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, you don’t make the mistake that I did for so many years of assuming that Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat and Joseph the husband of Mary are the same guy, spoiler alert; they’re not. There’s like 4,000 years between them. Right, Sunday School is early in the morning, very light discussion, big story arch of the Bible.

Mondays are more about worldview and how you should see the world around you and your place in it.

But Wednesday nights, this is where we get to go deeper on a particular passage of scripture and here’s my goal for that. I can’t make you understand every line on every page of the Bible. I do not have time. I have just a few years with you. However, I can teach you how to figure that out for yourselves. and that is what we’re doing tonight and next week in this miniseries, Questions from Matthew.

We are not going to read the entire book of Matthew, but instead I’m going to tell you the secret to reading and understanding the book and then we’re going to spend 2 weeks putting that into practice, so that for the rest of your life, when you try to read the book of matthew, you know how to get the most out of the book. See, Matthew, like every single book of the Bible, has a point. Matthew is not simply giving us a record of things that happened. Matthew has a point, Matthew is trying to answer two questions about Jesus and he is telling us stories from across Jesus life, with the goal of helping us answer these two questions.

So if you want to get the most out of the book of Matthew, every section of the book that you read, for the rest of your life, you should read it asking these two questions.

Who is Jesus? What does it look like to follow Him?

Tonight we are going to study a section of the book of Matthew in such a way that answers the question, who is Jesus, and next week we will study the same exact text in hopes of answering the question, what does it look like to follow him.

Y’all ready?

In the 1980 US Presidential Election, Ronald Regan, was able to do more events than President Carter, by far. He stopped in more cities, shook more hands, kissed more babies, and not only did he speak at more events, he spoke more eloquently at each event. Nobody had ever seen anything like it, to make that kind of tour and seem to never have to gather his thoughts or check his notes, or look at a telepromptor. He was able to look into the eyes of his potential voters and make them feel like he was speaking off the cuff, directly to them.

It won him the election. and its a skill that few politicians have but when one can do it like Regan they have a better shot than anyone at winning the office, no matter what office it is.

Anybody know how he did it?

He memorized his speech. He gave the same exact speech at every single campaign stop. Gave the same speech hundreds upon hundreds of times. He had it memorized in blocks so that he could remove sections where he needed to, cut out the section on union busting when he was in the midwest, push job creation in the cities, but it got to a point where all of his campaign staffers could give his speech by heart because they had heard the same thing so many times, and at a couple of points they did have to give it. Regan just wore himself our so hard, and he was so old at the time, that there were several stops that he could scarcely do more than walk out on stage and wave for a few seconds. So his whole speech had to be delivered by his staff, or by his wife. But it worked. See most people have a speech writer with them on the campaign trail prepping for each event, there may be some parts that get reused, but most people have something meaningfully different to say in each location. Regan had one speech, which his family, his staff, even Regan himself simply referred to as THE SPEECH. The Speech given in all places, at all times, to all people, with little variation therein.

Ok, so what in the world does that have to do with the book of Matthew, For the next 2 weeks we’re going to look at the sermon on the mount. The sermon on the mount is Jesus longest section of continuous teaching in the entire Bible. The sermon on the mount shows up in some form in all 4 gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John but the longest and most detailed account is Matthews. but all 4 accounts differ slightly, they hit the same points, repeat the same phrases, but they’re all just a little different.

Here’s why, New Testament scholars pretty universally agree that the Sermon on the Mount was not a single occurrence, it’s not just a sermon that Jesus gave once on a hillside and that’s it, that’s the single most important day in Jesus ministry. No, instead, this one day on a hillside may have been the largest crowd or the first occurence, but almost universally Bible experts will tell you that the Sermon on the Mount was THE SPEECH. Given everywhere that Jesus and His disciples went with only slight variation. So every time you see in the four gospel accounts something that just says, Jesus was teaching to the crowds, but it doesn’t say what exactly He was teaching them; this is probably it. This is the primary teaching that Jesus carried everywhere and repeated to the point that his disciples had it more or less memorized. Which is why, 30 years after Jesus went back up to heaven, when Matthew, and John, and Peter, and all the people that Luke talked to, these guys were still able to recall exactly what it is that Jesus said, because they had heard it so many times.

This was Jesus central teaching. If you could only make it out to hear this traveling teacher and miracle worker Jesus speak on one occasion as He was passing through your area, this is almost certainly what you heard.

So if this is THE SPEECH, if this is what the majority of people heard from Jesus across His entire ministry, I think it’s safe to assume that it’s pretty important. And if Matthew felt the need to add so much more detail than the other three gospel accounts to this sermon on the mount, theres like 4 entire chapters dedicated to this sermon, I think it’s safe to say that the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is pretty important to the point that Matthew is trying to make about Jesus, who He is, and what it looks like to follow Him.

So let’s get into the text.

Who is Jesus?

So let’s start at the beginning, that’s a very good place to start. At the top of chapter 5 we get an introduction that just says Jesus is about to start teaching, and then we go straight into this piece of poetry that we often call the beatitudes. I don’t really like that term but nobody asked my opinion on the matter. Let’s jump in at verse 3. This is a super famous text. You may be familiar with it. It catches people off guard because everything seems upside down. Listen to this and you’ll see what I mean, basically the whole thing says in about 8 different ways that in the end the losers are gonna win and the winners are gonna lose. Watch this. Matt 5:3-10

Matthew 5:3–10 CSB

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

Ok, so what’s our big question that we’re asking tonight as we read Matthew?

Who is Jesus?

How do we find an answer to that question in these verses? Jesus doesn’t say anything about Himself here, there are no “I am” statements. So how can we learn who Jesus is, if He doesn’t outright tell us here?

Well, there’s a famous quote, and this applies to everyone,

“When people show you who they are, believe them.” - Maya Angelou

Through their actions, through their words, through their priorities people are always telling you who they are, and Jesus is no different here.

See, these verses, the beatitudes, at least to me, it reads like a last will and testament.

“these people get these things. these people get these things. these people get these things.” all the way down.

Here’s why that matters.

Y’all have all listened to the most recent T-Swifty record, if you haven’t then you probably weren’t going to. But there’s a track on her most recent album, midnights, called Anti-Hero.

Probably the most important verse of the song

I have this dream my daughter in-law kills me for the money She thinks I left them in the will The family gathers 'round and reads it and then someone screams out "She's laughing up at us from hell"

The music video explains the joke; that without the knowledge of her family she has left all of her assets and her fortune to her cats, with nothing going to her human family.

See, there’s a normal way that inheritance law works. There’s a way that things are expected to go. And the standard practices of inheritance law would give Taylor Swift’s theoretical daughter in law a good reason to kill her, so she could inherit everything and get rich.

However, a person has the right to give a last will and testament and decide for themselves where all of their assets will go and to whom they will go after they die.

Those are the 2 ways that this goes, either you don’t leave a will and the laws of the state preside over your property, distributing it accordingly, usually all to a spouse or equally among children. But the only person who has the power to control who gets what is the person who owns it, you can write a will leaving your stuff to whoever you want, but you can only leave your stuff to other people, and nobody else can change that, that’s your decision and your decision alone.

So with that in mind, let’s read these verses from chapter 5 again. and notice the inheritance language that is absolutely everywhere. Matt 5:3-10

Matthew 5:3–10 CSB

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

So do we see how when we come to the text with the right questions we get these super rich and vivid answers. In just these 8 verses, Jesus shows us exactly who He is in some incredible detail, and if Maya Angelou is to be trusted, when Jesus shows us who He is, we should believe Him.

So again lets ask the question, Who is Jesus?

Jesus is:

King of Heaven, the Comforter, Owner of earth, Giver of righteousness, merciful Judge, the invisible God made visible, adopting Father, Rewarder of the persecuted

Do you know Him?

Watch this video

So what do we do with this tonight.

You need to look beyond your circumstances and change your attitude about serving the King.

You need to stop listening to what others say about Jesus and let Him tell you who He is.

You need to ask the Holy Spirit to make you look like those listed in the Beatitudes.

Maybe you are an adopted son or daughter of the King, heir to all of heaven and earth, You just got called blessed by the King of Kings 8 times in a row…but you find yourself in this woe is me posture of the heart. because you can’t see beyond your own nose and you can’t think beyond your right now situation. You’re poor in spirit, persecuted, hungry for righteousness, mourning, and humble and you’ve got this idea that this is just your plight you’ll live and die miserable and depressed. If that’s you, girl look up, you have just been shown the future inheritance that all the universe wanted but you have it. I know the right now is depressing, trust me I know, but I promise you this is not the end, stand tall and look up because heaven and earth is yours. No matter what you’re going through right now, the rewards you are due are unfathomable. If that’s you it’s time for an attitude change. Stand tall. Breathe free as a son or daughter of the King.

Maybe you thought you knew this King. You came in here tonight with some preconceived idea in your head about who Jesus is. Your mama told you something, the school told you something else, them folks on TikTok told you a third thing. but, Jesus is flat out telling you who He is and you’re having that moment of “I didn’t know any of this about Jesus.” It’s that moment where you find out your boring dad used to be a war hero with a motorcycle, or you find out your mom was a professional barrel racer. It’s that moment of “WOW, that’s not the person I thought I knew!” Jesus is telling you everything you need to know about Him and I hope you’re going that’s the same Jesus, that’s the meek and lowly, middle eastern guy from the movies. Yeah and there’s a whole lot more to Him than that. DO YOU KNOW HIM? If that’s you it’s time to start listening to who He says He is.

Maybe at the list in the beatitudes, and think…not one of those things describes me, does that mean I’m not getting anything? Well, if you’ll notice what is being willed to people, all of heaven and earth and mercy and adoption and comfort and righteousness…there’s not really anything left that you would want. So yeah, if none of those things in the beatitudes, the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the humble, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness, if you don’t see yourself on this list, yeah that means you were left out of the will.

But it’s not too late to change that. If you don’t see yourself anywhere in here, the Holy Spirit can change that. He wants to change that if you’ll let Him.