One day Jesus saw a vast crowd of people gathering to hear him, so he went up the slope of a hill and sat down. With his followers and disciples spread over the hillside, Jesus began to teach them: (The Passion Translation)
Weird place to stop? Perhaps. I have read the Beatitudes and the sermon on the mount many times so what exactly was it that caught me this time?
The first thing I noticed was the where. Jesus was surrounded by a vast crowd and went up the mount. Where else do we see mountain top experiences? And why is this important? Lets take a look at 5 mountain tops
First Mt. Sinai, here we find Moses in Exodus leading the Israelite's out of Egypt. Moses went up the mountain to commune with Father God. But in stark contrast to what we see with Jesus, Moses was alone. This was where in fire, God came down and with His finger wrote the 10 commandments in stone. Of interest, it is believed that the 10 commandments, or the absolute moral law, was given on the same date of the Pentecost. (You can read about the Mt.Sinai experience in Exodus 24)
So now we have Jesus at Mt. Beatitudes, and he is inviting us up the Mt with him!
Can we stop for a moment and appreciate how beautiful / important / overwhelming that really is?
Jesus actions are telling us, this isn't just for the worthy. This isn't just for the very select, this is for everyone. He wants to invite us all in. Jesus includes the broken, the sinners, the misunderstood. We are all being invited to commune with The Father through Jesus. I am going to say that a little louder for those in the back.
We are all being invited into communion with The Father through Jesus.
If we look at what Jesus was teaching we see more parallels with Moses. Remember Moses was given the absolute Moral law, and here we have Jesus teaching the heart of the law. Who is qualified to teach what the heart of the law is? Let me say, only The One who gave the law could ever be qualified to teach what the heart of that law is. He alone could explain the attitude inside and behind the law.
Next let's glance for a moment at the mount of Calvary. Calvary was the place where Jesus hung on a cross and died as the perfect sacrifice (the spotless lamb) to atone for the sins of all mankind. Jesus was raised from the grave 3 days later having overcome death and making a way for us to be in eternal communion with our Father in heaven.
Again we see a mount that can only ever be climbed by one alone. There has, and will only ever will be One who is without sin that could meet the impossibly high standards to take away the sins of the world and restore us into right relationship with Abba, our Father in heaven.
Only the one who gave the law could ever atone / meet the standard of the law.
Jesus promised us a helper, The Holy Spirit. Mt.Zion is our next mountain top experience. Acts 2 is where we can read about this in detail. Here we are seeing the power of God coming upon masses. We again are being invited in because of what Jesus has done for us.
On the day Pentecost was being fulfilled, all the disciples were gathered in one place. Suddenly they heard the sound of a violent blast of wind rushing into the house from out of the heavenly realm. The roar of the wind was so overpowering it was all anyone could bear! Then all at once a pillar of fire appeared before their eyes. It separated into tongues of fire that engulfed each one of them. They were all filled and equipped with the Holy Spirit and were inspired to speak in tongues—empowered by the Spirit to speak in languages they had never learned! (The Passion Translation)
I can not begin to fathom what people were thinking or feeling. Here we see part of the God head coming in fire once again! Now what was once only for Jesus is now accessible to all who call on Him. What a glorious gift that is available for us to receive.
There is one more mount I want to touch on, the Mt. of Olives. He is the one who was, who is, and is yet to come. We have a promise that Jesus is yet to return. He alone once again will be the only one qualified for the work yet to come.
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