The Forest and the Trees

If Matthew 4:17 gave us the short version of Jesus’ message (“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”), the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) provides the long version.  Not that it conveys everything Jesus taught—after all, it’s just one of five major discourses Matthew records.  But chs. 5-7 do give an in-depth, extended, demanding, and exhilarating word from Jesus.

Over the next few Sundays, we’ll explore the Sermon on the Mount—yet not in the “traditional” way.  What do I mean?  It’s common for pastors to expound this section of Matthew para­graph by paragraph, thus taking perhaps four months to cover it.  But we’re going to examine these three chapters in three weeks.

To be sure, there’s immense value in a slow-going, up-close study of the Sermon on the Mount.  But there are also benefits when we get the “high overview” (like the view from that window seat).  We see how things come together, how the parts form a whole, when we step back and take in the big picture.

What’s more, I’m guessing many of us have been in Bible studies or a Sunday School class on the Sermon on the Mount, and as a result we’ll be familiar with the individual building blocks of this discourse.  But we may be less aware of the insights that can be gained when we scan the forest and not just the trees.

Let’s remember:  whatever we find in the Sermon on the Mount, it’s “good news”—that’s what Jesus was preaching:  “the gospel of the kingdom” (4:23).  We’ll hear some demanding words from Jesus, but they’re not at odds with what’s “good”—the very best beautiful news ever.   Also, based on 4:17, we expect Jesus’ sermon to challenge us, to drive us to our knees in humble, repentant faith.  Of course, that too is for our good.  And further, when Jesus issues sobering warnings about eternal things (i.e., heaven and hell), we’ll recognize the love in his voice:  it is loving to warn people of deadly danger on the road ahead.