Sermon on the Mount: King Jesus

We are looking at the Sermon on the Mount on Sundays. As we were thinking about it, we found that there are a few different ways to see Jesus in the way Matthew presents him. I believe the Sermon on the Mount presents Jesus as God, King, and Moses. This week we look at Jesus as King.

Many times we just say Jesus Christ as if it is Jesus' full name. However, the "Christ" is Jesus' title, not his name. Some of my favorite writers and scholars often translate christ as king. Christ is the translation of messiah in Hebrew and literally means anointed. By Jesus' day, it had connections and roots in a coming king and the hope of the people. I was taught there are usually two types of people anointed back in the day: priests and kings. As Christians, we believe that Jesus is our king and priest.

Particularly at the Sermon of the Mount, Matthew is painting Jesus as the long-awaited king. Before the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew describes Jesus moving to Galilee as the fulfillment of the prophets. Matthew is quoting Isaiah, and it is about a promised king from the line of David. In Ezekiel, the prophet describes the failure of Israel's shepherds (kings) and how God will be Israel's great shepherd (king). The interesting part is that God blurs the lines and explains that he will rule by setting up a Davidic king to be a shepherd (king) over his people. God is tying his rule to a new messianic rule. Coming with the new king, the people will be renewed and transformed as well with a new spirit. The new spirit will make them faithful and obedient to God. Ezekiel's passage of newly transformed people through the spirit has been connected with Jeremiah's new covenant written on the hearts of people promise. When you combined these passages from the prophets, you begin to see Jesus on the mountain a little differently.

Jesus is preaching the kingdom.

-He is casting a vision for what it is like to live in the kingdom.

-Jesus is speaking with authority about the law of the kingdom.

-Jesus is inviting the crowds and disciples to follow him in kingdom life.

-In the first part of the blog series, we said that Jesus is even behaving God-like.

In the Sermon on the Mount, we find Matthew presenting Jesus as the new king of God's people. King Jesus is proclaiming the arrival of the Kingdom and inviting people to be citizens in the kingdom. Are you a part of the kingdom? Are you following Jesus as he leads his people in the ways of the kingdom? What does that look like in your everyday life?