“The Miracles and the Message”
Matthew 5:1-16
“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, …” [Matthew 4:12]
Notice that there are now crowds around Jesus. No doubt because of the miracles, i.e., “He healed every disease and sickness.” “His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.” [Matt 4:25] “Great multitudes followed Him.” [Matt 4:26]
Notice that Jesus’ preaching and teaching of the Kingdom come alongside His ministry of miracles. “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” [Matt 4:23, emphasis added] This is the blueprint of ministry: Preaching, teaching, and ministering to practical needs.
Preaching is the heralding of the Gospel [the good news] of Jesus Christ. Jesus has come to remove our sins so that we might receive eternal life. There is one way to heaven. Jesus Himself preached: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” [Jn 14:6]
Teaching is the training up in godliness. Once you have received Jesus Christ into your heart [i.e., you have been born again of the Spirit of God], you now must be trained up in godly living. This is where the teaching ministry begins. Chapter 5 begins Jesus’ first teaching on the Kingdom. There are five discourses on the Kingdom in Matthew: The Sermon on the Mount [chps. 5-7]; Commissioning the Disciples [chp. 10]; Parables of the Kingdom [chp. 13]; Life in the Kingdom [chp. 18]; and The Olivet Discourse [chps. 24-25].
All five pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven, a spiritual rule in Jesus’ First Coming, a physical rule in His Second. Both Advents are explained in these discourses, but in between is the record of miracles. Miracle and Message was the pattern of our Savior’s work on this earth and is displayed in the whole of Matthews Gospel as well as the others.
This morning we begin with His first discourse: The Sermon on the Mount.
