Lesson 3
Matthew 5
10/12/16
Anne Means
UPSIDE-DOWN, INSIDE-OUT DISCIPLES
I.
Introduction
A. Background.
1. Sermon on the Mount (SOTM). First of five great discourses by Jesus.
2. What his preceded this? Birth, baptism, temptations, called first 4 disciples, conducted a
teaching, preaching and healing ministry with great results. Large crowds following him.
3. What is the SOTM? Unifying theme: Kingdom of heaven. But otherwise conflicting
interpretations of what it means:
a. These are entrance requirements to get into the kingdom of heaven.
b. Intended to cause us to admit our need and seek God’s grace.
c. People are making so much moral progress that this is just a roadmap toward the
future
d. These ethical demands are impossible to keep unless believers separate themselves
from the rest of the world.
e. These commands were meant only for a select group of elite believers.
f. Jesus meant this as an ethical guideline until he came back but he was mistaken
about when that might be so we are stuck with them for a longer period of time than
expected
g. The ethics here are only to be realized in the millennial kingdom
h. So how should we understand the SOTM? Jesus’ declaration of what kingdom life is
meant to be, realistic but ideal model of the Christian life.
II.
The SOTM.
A. 5:1-2. Who is involved?
1. Disciples=probably the four brothers just called as well as any others who have made a
firm commitment to Jesus as this point.
2. Crowds=large groups of people following Jesus around. They are at this time not yet
committed. They are amazed, but mostly they are curious
3. Religious leaders-may or not have been present, but Jesus speaks to and of them
4. Jesus’ teaching had multiple purposes here: to further instruct those already committed to
him, to draw in those who were still just checking him out, and to indict the religious
leaders who were leading the people astray.
B. Relationship to Luke’s sermon on the plain.
III.
The Beatitudes. 5:3-12
A. What ARE the Beatitudes?
1. Beatitude-comes from the Greek term beatus, a translation of the Greek makarias. Michael
Wilkins: Blessedness is “the state of existence in relationship to God in which a person is
blessed from GOD’S perspective even when he or she doesn’t feel happy or isn’t presently
experiencing good fortune.”
a.
Some present, some future
b. Not related to feelings or circumstance
c. Jesus’ beatitudes are upside-down and inside-out
d. Are they commands?
B. The specific beatitudes:
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
a. Who are the poor in spirit? David: But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord
think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay. (Ps 40:17)
b. What does it mean to have the kingdom of God? (repeated in final beatitude) This is the
result of knowing you are poor in spirit.
2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
a. Who are those who mourn? Mourning sin in your own life, and in the lives of others,
mourning the results of sin.
b. And the promised comfort? Isaiah 40: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her
sins.
I Thessalonians 4:13, 14: “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about
those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no
hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again…”
3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Psalm 37:11. A little while, and the
wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will
inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.
a. What does meek mean? Gentle, humble, self-controlled, free from malice, free from a
vengeful spirit.
Numbers 12:3 Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the
face of the earth
Isaiah 42: (suffering servant) He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A
bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
Matthew 11:29. “I am gentle and humble in heart.”
b. What does it mean to inherit the earth? Ephesians 1:18. I pray that the eyes of your
heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you,
the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
a. Those who hunger and thirst. Psalm 63:1, 2. You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek
you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is
no water.
AND
Psalm 42:1,2. As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for You.
When we hunger and thirst for God, we are hungering and thirsting to be like Him and He is
righteous.
b. For they will be filled. In what sense are we filled? We don’t get filled because of
something we do, we are filled because God has promised to fill us.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
a. Merciful. Mercy is a central theme throughout the OT. Micah 6:8: He has shown you,
O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly[a] with your God.
b. Receive mercy: We are not shown mercy as a result of our showing mercy. The promise
for those who do show costly mercy to others is that the mercy we receive far outweighs that
we show to others.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
a. Pure in heart. Pure in heart refers to the state of having an undivided heart, having a
heart wholly committed to God. Psalm 24:3-4: Who may ascend the mountain of
the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure
heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.
b. Will see God. We Do and Will see God through Jesus.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
a. Peacemakers. “ Shalom” more than just lack of warfare, but the complete well-being of
humans.
b. called children of God-if we respond to Jesus’ ministry we are already heirs of the
kingdom and become the children of God.
8. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven...
a. Shift from the third to the second person-specifically addressing his disciples and
prophesying what will happen to them.
9. Cultural contexts upside-down and inside-out of blessedness
IV. Salt and Light
A. Salt
1. functions: makes people thirsty, used as a preservative to keep things from going bad, as an
essential element in the human diet, as a fertilizer.
2. But how does one lose saltiness? Some thoughts:
a.
People packed meat and fish in pieces of “rocks” that contained deposits of salt but also
other things. After a while the salt leached out of these rocks and they were no longer good
for preservation and so were thrown out.
b. Salt was sometimes obtained from the Dead Sea by the process of evaporation. But it then
also included crystals of another mineral, gypsum. This mixture could easily be mistaken for
pure salt but was not usable for anything and so was thrown out.
c. Arab bakers of the time would use blocks of salt to line the floors of their ovens. Eventually
the heat caused the blocks to undergo a change in chemical composition and so were finally
thrown out.
d. There was also a Jewish proverb: “Can salt lose its flavor?” which served as a rhetorical
saying. I.E.: A true disciple can’t lose their saltiness.
B. Light
1. Light an important theme in Scripture starting from the beginning of creation, the opposite of
darkness and darkness represented evil, ignorance, lack of faith
2. The lamp used in a typical Palestinian home:
C. Being salt and light good news for us!
V. Jesus and the OT. 5:17-20
A. Why did Jesus feel he had to say this?
B. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law-religious leaders of Jesus time
C. Fulfill: How did Jesus fulfill Scripture?
1. He fulfilled the law’s moral demands by his life lived perfectly. These requirements are
still in place for us.
2. He fulfilled the prophecies of Scripture about a Savior.
3. He fulfilled aspects of the requirements for sacrifice as atonement for sin. For this reason
we no longer believe that ritual, sacrificial law meant to make us temporarily right with
God is still binding.
D. He is saying that HIS interpretation of scripture completes and clarifies God’s intent and
meaning.
VI. Antitheses
A. Six Sayings which follow a formula: You have heard...but I tell you.
B. The antitheses
1. Murder/Anger.
a.
Exodus 20:13
b. How Jesus turns it inside out:
1) Anger. Jesus gets to the source of murders, anger.
2) Calling someone “raca”.
3) Saying “you fool”. This was similar.
c. Examples of an upside-down, inside-out life:
1) Reconcile with the person you have wronged immediately
2) Reconcile with your adversary.
2. Adultery/Purity in marriage. Exodus 20:14.
a. Adultery in the OT involved consensual intercourse between a man and a married
woman.
b. But Jesus says what God actually intended for marriage is an exclusive devotion to
one another in all aspects of our lives, including in our thought lives.
c. Jesus gives examples of how seriously we are to take our vows:
1) Gouge out your eye, cut off your hand
2) Jesus not proposing self-mutilation but rather severe and rigorous attention to
keeping our marriage pure and exclusive starting with our thoughts and
extending to our actions.
3. Divorce/Faithfulness.
a. Divorce not God’s intention. Malachi 2:16- “I hate divorce.”
b. Divorce laws intended to protect the vulnerable.’
c. Jesus turns these teachings upside down
4. Oaths.
a. Jesus does not quote any one particular scripture in this antithesis but rather
summarizes a number of scriptural passages regarding oaths.
b. Oaths were important in the ANE. But the religious leaders had perverted the
original intent.
c. Because of this system of easy loopholes for lying, Jesus takes them back to God’s
intention: be an honest person.
5. Eye for Eye
a. Lex Talionis.
b. Natural to want personal revenge. So Jesus gives some upside-down inside-out
examples of how we should behave instead:
1) Turn the other cheek.
2) Give them your coat as well
3) Go an extra mile
4) Uncomfortable requests.
6. Love for Enemies
a.
Jesus quotes one of the best known commands in scripture: love your neighbors (Lev
19:18).
b. Misunderstanding of the command by Jesus’ day.
c. Jesus turns it upside down.
VII. Conclusions. So what are we to make of all these? These sayings of Jesus are radical.
A. Blessedness is not what the world thinks it is.
B. Being salt and light is also not so much a command as a description of who we are if we are
truly disciples of Jesus.
C. Jesus has fulfilled all of the Hebrew Scripture. If we are to understand what that means to us
we need to be students of the Bible and students of Jesus.
D. Jesus turns what it means to live as a disciple upside-down and inside out. We can no longer
rely on rule-following, but need to pay more attention to our heart attitudes. Our deeds will
follow.
Application questions:
1. How do I understand what it means to be blessed by Jesus? And if I understand it what difference
does it make in my life?
2. Do I recognize that I am “poor in spirit”? Do I mourn over my own sin, and the sinfulness and
sorrow of the world?
3. Am I doing anything to keep the Spirit from helping me to be salt and light?
4. What would it mean for me to have a faith that is upside-down and inside-out? What would it mean
to follow Jesus from my heart first? How would I feel about his rules and commandments then?
Bibliography
Wilkins, Michael J. Matthew: The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004. Carson, D.A.
Matthew: The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984.
Wright, T. Matthew for
Everyone. Westminster: John Knox, 2004. Boice, J.M. The Gospel of Matthew. Baker Books, 2006.