“ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.
Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them....:"
A young minister was preaching in the South against gambling and found many in his congregation worked for the casino and was getting into trouble. Then he preached on the evils of smoking only to find a good percentage of farmers grew tobacco. The next Sunday he preached on the evils of drinking and was told to go light because an important member owned the distillery. The next Sunday he preached on the evils of fishing within the territorial waters of a foreign country. They thought that was the best sermon ever preached.
The greatest sermon ever preached was by the greatest preacher, Jesus Christ. It is also the longest sermon in the Bible and is known to us as the Sermon on the Mount. Every time I read it, I feel like Jesus is getting into trouble, because he steps on just about everyone's toes eventually.
There will be things Jesus tells us that will bother just about everyone because it deals with life as we know it.
It is called by some the Magna Charta of the Kingdom, the Manifesto of the King. Some think that it is for the future millennium kingdom, and not for our age. Some believe it is intended for the Jews and not the Gentile church. Some feel it is the ideals of what a holy life is to be and by doing it you will find favor with God.
I read something that proposed salvation is possible during the tribulation, not by faith in Christ, but by obeying everything Jesus puts forth as righteousness. Many will agree these are impossible demands and when we realize God's righteousness, we have no place to turn but to the grace of God. Therefore, like the law, it only points to our great need for salvation.
That is true we must trust the grace of God, but Jesus is doing more than that. If we take those viewpoints alone I'm afraid it doesn't speak directly to us and there is little reason to study it except as an historical document or to capture our curiosity of the future. If that is the case, then it would be abusing the Christian responsibility of the attitudes so expressed within humility, mercy, righteousness, and service. He is calling us to commit to a righteous life and expects us to be different than the world, if we are to be members of His Kingdom. Jesus is calling His kingdom people to faith and to live differently than those around us.
Jesus had just shortly begun his public ministry in Galilee. He was with His disciples and showed His power and wisdom by the words He shared.
It is good for us to read with open hearts, seeking to understand more, to obey and to follow the Messiah and His teachings.
