Matthew 5c

If you’re able, please turn to Matthew 7 & 5, Isaiah 2 & 42 – in that order.  As you do, consider the following metaphors and their meanings:  “I’ve been left out in the dark.” “Let’s shed some light on this.” “The light bulb went on.”  “Enlighten me (help me lose weight)”  That pastor is bright.  These common phrases or metaphors use light to indicate information, knowledge or wisdom.  To be out in the dark …. 

One more - children should be seen, not heard.  How is that connected to light?  We’ll find out.  But first, I want us to slow down before we get too far into the Sermon on the Mount. There are some deeper meanings behind this incredible sermon.  Over the last couple of weeks I found myself just forging ahead in Matthew, then I realized we missed some significant information. So we’re going to backtrack a little bit, otherwise the Sermon on the Mount is just another compilation of Biblical principles that might not resonate with us.

The Sermon on the Mount has three parts:

The introduction (Matt. 5:2-16) addresses the Who or identity of His disciples (i.e. you are).

The main body (Matt. 5:17-7:20) which addresses How God’s people should live.

The conclusion (Matt. 7:21-27) is Why this matters.

Let’s begin with the conclusion then come back. 

Matthew 7:24–27 ESV

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Any person who ignores the Sermon on the Mount is a fool.

Matthew 5:1 ESV

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

Why do we need to know Jesus went up on a mountain?  In our Western fast-paced Christianity we might think, “Ok. He’s up on a mountain having a picnic - big deal.” Well, it is a big deal and here’s why.  

Mountains were significant to the ancient world.

Mountains were understood to be where the spiritual and physical realms intersected. 

Many religions believed the gods lived up there on mountains.  In Judaism, the Garden of Eden is called the Mountain of God or Yahweh.  Here we have Yeshua, Jesus, God in the flesh on a “mountain” giving instruction.  This is significant!  Why?  Because Jesus was making a statement - the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven, which was His main message, has come to earth.  This fulfills many promises from the OT.  This is another way to declare Yahweh has come. 

But there's more - there's always more.  For this, we need to spend a little time in the OT – in Isaiah. 

Isaiah 2:1–3 ESV

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

For out of Zion shall go forth the torah [instruction], and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.  So Yahweh will instruct His people and the nations in Jerusalem / Israel and then His instruction will go forth from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Matt. 28 / Acts 1 & 2). 

What’s happening in Matthew 5?  Jesus, the Word become flesh is on a mountain in Israel doing what – instructing His disciples – teaching His people how they ought to live as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven and as children of God’s family. V4 -

Isaiah 2:4 ESV

He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

In other words, He, whom we find out later in Isaiah is Yahweh’s Servant / chosen one (i.e. the Messiah) will mediate and reconcile differences between peoples and establish a new way of living that embodies justice and peace, integrity, honor ….  But there’s more – there’s always more. 

Isaiah 2:5 ESV

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Isaiah 42:1 ESV

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

Isaiah 42:6–7 ESV

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Jesus, Yahweh in the flesh, who is the covenant / Salt and Light of the world said to His disciples,

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 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.

Children should be seen …?

Now to make sense of all this, we have to make two more connections. 

Salt was often used to ratify covenants in the ancient world.  Offerings to Yahweh were called Covenants of Salt (Num. 18:19).

signifying a perpetual or long-lasting covenant between Israel and Yahweh.  So when Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth,” He means, “You are the Covenant people of God – so live like it, because if you don’t (i.e. lose saltiness), how will the world know about me – how will they know how to live?”    

The word “light.” 

Light is essential for life. 

The first thing God spoke into existence was Light.  Why?  Because without light there is no life.  Light makes life possible.  Now, in

Light is ôr (Heb.) and the root for tôrāh (Heb. instruction or law). 

So God’s instruction is life-giving.  Psalm 1 - the person who meditates on God’s law is like a tree planted by streams of water producing fruit.  Light – Law (instruction) – Life.  This is

John 1:4 ESV

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Jesus is the life-giving light or instruction of the world.  To live by His instruction or word, to build your life on the Rock is to have life. 

Then Jesus said, You are the Salt of the earth – the Covenantal People of God; you are the Light of the world; you are the instruction manual that reveals to the world how the world should live.  As we are shaped and transformed by Jesus’s instruction, we become the instruction.  The world should look at us and see how to live – and that is what the rest of the Sermon on the Mount is about – the How. 

Unfortunately, that’s where we end today.  But I think we can with two questions: 1) Do you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?  2)  Because our lives are instruction manuals – who are you instructing, what are they learning, and is my instruction worth listening to?  Am I teaching the people around me to live like a member of God’s family?