Most of the faithful Jewish people were accustomed to going to the temple and listening to their rabbis read from the Book of Law. Imagine coming to church on Sunday morning and having me stand in front of you and read, from the book of Leviticus, detailed instructions for what you can eat and what you can wear and what kind of haircut you can get!
Jesus didn't teach that way. Jesus was informative and challenging and mesmerizing. He told stories or parables with a heavenly message that communicated truth in ways that reading the book of law could never convey. And people came flocking from all over to hear him – by the thousands.
One of his teaching moments takes place on the side of a mountain. We find his words recorded in the gospel of Matthew chapters 5-6-7. We know this as the Sermon on the Mount. Thousands of people came to hear this incredible teacher and they crowd in close sitting on the side of this large hill which formed a natural amphitheater near the Sea of Galilee.
In those days there were no microphones, but the people had no problems hearing him – the acoustics of that amphitheater were perfect. Who would know these acoustics better than the one who had created this mountainside?
Now, the thing about Jesus’ teachings was that they were what we might call counter-cultural. They went against the societal belief of the people. After all, who in their right mind would teach that being poor is a blessing? Yet, Jesus taught…
Blessed are the poor.
Who would teach that those who mourn or found themselves being persecuted would find blessing? Yet Jesus taught…
Blessed are those who mourn…
Blessed are the meek…
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
No one wants to mourn. No one wants to find themselves oppressed or persecuted. Jesus even taught…
Blessed are the pure in heart – Come on! Purity is for prudes.
But what Jesus is really doing in this teaching is giving the people a glimpse – a vision – of God’s kingdom and how God’s kingdom is different than the world itself. He is saying that character is more important than possessions and circumstances and position and prestige.
Jesus looks around the hillside and sees the people sitting, held in rapt attention;
In the faces of the people he sees hunger, fright, uncertainty;
he sees the people needing something more than more than what the world was giving them.
And the kingdom of God that Jesus described to them was not that of the world; but, that of a new garden – a restored version of the garden we learned about in Genesis - The Garden of Eden. A garden where God will once again come down and walk and talk and dwell with those who believe him.
One of the lessons Jesus was trying to get across to the people was that they understand that to be part of God’s nation, they had to live differently than those who lived only to an earthly nation. The people heard this wondrous teaching of Jesus, and they saw him living what he taught and they wondered.
How does Jesus' teachings help you to live differently?
