The mountain of the New Testament shatters the mountain of the Old Testament
Mathew 5:1-32
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Starting today, we will study the sermon on the mountain, which you know so well. But you need to keep in mind that what is universal is not always the right answer. In preparation to lecture on the sermon on the mountain, I combed through over 30 publications, lectures, and commentaries, and was able to put together the general flow of the understanding of it.
Many reformed theologians conclude the sermon on the mountain as a code of conduct. John Owen and Richard Baxter, who call themselves heirs of the Puritan faith, especially carry this strong tendency. I thought that even Herman Ridderbos and Lloyd Jones fell short of unequivocally linking this sermon on the mountain to Jesus in connection to the Old Testament. This is the general understanding of the sermon on the mountain today, and I would like to lecture on this in my own way based on the perspective of the biblical theology.
This sermon on the mountain is a universal code of conduct that is very general and popular and even the people of other religions study it with a deep interest. Of course, this is their evaluation of it. Also, the phrase “Blessed are those” that repeatedly come out in the Beatitudes like a chorus is very appealing. For this reason, even the people of different religions fervently research and study and put it to practice. Most people know that Gandhi’s favorite book, which he read with vigor till the day he died, was the sermon on the mountain. However, did you know that there is content similar to the sermon on the mountain in the Buddhist writings of the Lotus of the True Law? And also in TaoDeChing of Laotse. What would be the difference between the Bible and the books of other religions if we understand the sermon on the mountain as morals and ethics, or a mere code of conduct for Christians to follow? Indeed, does this mean the goal of the sermon on the mountain and the books of other religions is the same? Do you really think that the sermon on the mountain is a mere list of codes of ethics which boosts human pride, worth, and benefit, or a declaration of blessings to those who keep such codes of ethics? No! As you will know as you study with me, this sermon on the mountain is actually a sermon that will shatter the “self-building” of such people. That is why I titled this sermon “The mountain of the New Testament shatters the mountain of the Old Testament”. The mountain of the New Testament is the mountain that this sermon on the mountain is being sowed and the mountain of the Old Testament is the Mount of Sinai, the mountain you know as the mount of the Law. The Bible is a book which, in its entirety, contains such a story.
The Bible is about how Jesus, who is the achiever of the new covenant, shatters the Law of the Old Testament and completes the kingdom of God with the righteousness of heaven prepared by God.
We need to pay attention to what episode this sermon on the mountain comes after in order to understand it right. The sermon on the mountain is the content written in connection to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in the end of Mathews: 4. Misunderstanding occurred there and Jesus is giving His disciples the answer to that misunderstanding.
The public ministry of Jesus began splendidly with miracles of the sick being healed and the demon-possessed being set free. That was not just the performing of a miracle but a declaration of the substance of the kingdom of God. The reality of the history excreted and produced by the Adams who ate the fruit of knowledge of good and evil is diseased, rotten, demon-possessed, and distorted. These are all visible symptoms of death. God made a perfect blueprint to newly complete what is diseased, rotten, demon-possessed, and distorted by solving the problem of death by sending His son as the messiah. This is the blueprint which is the covenant before the foundation of the world. The destruction of the old temple, which is the Old Testament, and building of the new temple with grace by this blueprint, is salvation and construction of the kingdom of God. That is why the Lord began His public ministry with the casting out of the symptoms of death. He showed as a model that this is the kingdom of God in essence. Shall we take a look at it? These are the verses right before the sermon on the mountain.
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Mathew 4:23-25
“The gospel of the kingdom” is the important word here. It is written Jesus healed every disease and every affliction as he proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom, isn’t it? This means all the miracles Jesus carried out were related to the gospel of the kingdom. But then, a great crowd from here and there gathered around him like a cloud. If these people gathered to hear the gospel of the kingdom, Jesus should have been happy. However, Jesus went up to the mountain only with His disciples and re-told the story of heaven. That is the sermon on the mountain. This means the great crowd that came out to Jesus at that time misunderstood Jesus and the meaning of the kingdom of heaven He brought. That is why Jesus is explaining the basics and the backbone of the kingdom of heaven again. That is why the ending part of the sermon is finished with the parable of a house built on the sand and a house built on the rock, an explanation of an issue of a foundation. With that parable as the last, He comes down from the mountain. He is saying to reconsider the foundation of the kingdom of God because the house built on the foundation of the Old Testament will fall completely when the floods come and the winds blow and beat against it. But to who only does Jesus teach this? His disciples. These twelve disciples represent the church.
At that time, the Jews’ view of the Messiah or the kingdom of heaven was not even a bit free from the Old Testament paradigm. In their Old Testament and folk Messiah ideology, the Christ had to be someone who was powerful, strong, benefiting them in their daily life, and bringing the eschatological paradise all at once. And heaven in their Old Testament ideology was a place where all of their problems were taken care of and they had everything they liked. Even more, considering their practicing of the Law as something of great worth and affect was their Old Testament view of Heaven and salvation. For them, salvation had to come as human beings picture it and heaven had to be made according to their blueprint. In fact, for real, someone came and did miraculous things like chasing out demons, healing the sick, and raising the feeble knees. Thus, without understanding the true meaning of these miracles, the people expected the wrong kind of heaven and crowded around Jesus, who had the enormous power to satisfy their physical needs.
So Jesus had to correct such wrong views of the Messiah and the kingdom of heaven, and His word of correction is the sermon on the mountain. Therefore, the sermon on the mountain is not about moral or ethical behavior and certainly not a secret way to get blessings. It is the detailed explanation of how the kingdom of God, which is already completed without the human deeds and qualifications, breaks into the chosen people of God. Likewise, the sermon on the mountain is a mountain of the New Testament that shatters the mountain of the Old Testament, which showed the kingdom of God as a model and type.
Looking at the structure and the flow of the book of Mathew, one can easily know that where the sermon on the mountain takes place is the same location as a certain mountain in the Old Testament. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. And then He fled to Egypt, escaping the sword of Herod. The Bible calls this incident a fulfillment of the prophecy in the Old Testament, “out of Egypt, I called my son”. This incident was a forecast that Jesus will live the life of Israel, who came out of Egypt, and at the same time, it was condemning Israel, who worshipped its own worth and power in legalism and Judaism, as Egypt, the world of power. Jesus was actually going into Egypt from Israel but the Bible, in fact, wrote it as an incident where “I called my son out of Egypt.” Out of the blue, Israel of Judaism had become Egypt. But, in order to accomplish this prophecy, an incident took place where all male children under two years of age were slaughtered.
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” Matthew 2:16-18
Isn’t it weird? God clearly told Joseph to escape. Couldn’t God then tell other mothers to escape, too? Why did God only save Jesus and leave the other children to die? God intentionally let this happen. God killed those children to teach the readers of the Bible something.
You need to pay a close attention to the fact that where the prophecy of Hosea, “Out of Egypt, I called my son,” is quoted, Jeremiah’s prophecy of “Rachel’s loud lamentation” follows. There the Bible is defining the legalism of Israel, represented by the Pharisees, as Egypt which typifies the principle of power, and thru the death of those children, it is informing that everyone who lives there must all die. That is why all children under two are dying. Children under two are categorized as those who would die even before they produce any good or evil deeds. This means everyone who live in there must all die. If they are categorized as those who must die as they are born, how much more as they grow up? Mathew is describing this as Rachel weeping in lamentation for her children.
This prophecy of Jeremiah is related to the destruction of Northern Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Ramah is a city of the tribe of Benjamin where the Southern Kingdom of Judah was gathered when taken into Babylonian captivity (Joshua 18:25). And Ramah is near Zelzah, where Rachel’s tomb is located. Prophet Jeremiah knew this well and described it as if Rachel was loudly lamenting for her children in her grave as she watched the people of Judah being taken to Babylon. Northern Israel was represented by Ephraim, the oldest son of Joseph, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah was where the tribe of Benjamin, who was the second son of Rachel, belonged to. That is why Rachel was called the mother of Israel. Therefore, the two sons of Rachel represent the Israel in its entirety. It is saying these two sons all died. That is the destruction of both Northern Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. This destruction is described in Mathew as the death of all male children under two. That is the reason why Jesus came.
One baby has come and is selecting and saving the children of God who should have been thrown into death. That is salvation. Doesn’t it say Rachel refused to be comforted when she was weeping for her children? What can be comforting to a parent who lost a child? The only comfort for her is for her child to come back to life. Mathew is explaining that the Lord came to do exactly that.
As such, Jesus came to save the sinners who should die from their “sin,” not to enrich their daily lives in this sinful world.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Mathew 1:21
As you can see here, Jesus came to save His people (not all people) from their sin. He didn’t come to help his people live well in this world.
The scripture which exposed the legalism of Israel of the Old Testament is again calling Jesus out of the historical Egypt. Jesus is following the exact steps of the exodus journey of Israel. Jesus comes out of Egypt and is baptized. Baptism models the salvation in which the Israel of Egypt dies and Israel of Canaan is newly created. That is why the ritual of going into water and coming out again is performed. Even that is a model for a new creation that will be accomplished by the sovereignty and power of God. How was the stage background in the first creation? The creation began as the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters and God said, “Let there be light”? How is the location of Jesus’ baptism? There is water where the cursed Old Testament will drown and die and Jesus who is the Word of God itself is there. And the Spirit is coming down like a dove above? It is a model for the new creation.
Afterwards, Jesus goes into the wilderness for 40 days and is tested. Having won the tests, Jesus calls the twelve disciples. The twelve disciples represent all of God’s people. The twelve disciples who have been gathered like that have gone up to the mountain with Jesus.
This exactly is the appearance of the life of exodus Israel being restored and completed. After being revived by the work of the blood of the lamb, Israel came out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, right? Apostle Paul calls that “baptism in the cloud and in the sea” and makes a connection to baptism. In the Red Sea, the entire Egyptian army drowned and died. This represents the death of the fleshly ego of Israel who had been Egyptianized. This is re-affirmed through circumcision later. Circumcision and baptism are the same in their spirit and meaning. God rolls away the reproach of Egypt by having Israel circumcised (Joshua5:9). It confirms that the crossing the Red Sea is about that.
The reason why God had to drive Israel into the Red Sea was to kill the Egypt inside Israel. And He makes Israel live in the wilderness for 40 years. Israel gets exposed as those who must die and as a result all first generation dies in the desert. The first generation dies as such, and with Joshua as their leader, the new second generation as 12 tribes enter into Canaan, the land of promise. This process is being recreated in the book of Mathew.
If so, where would the sermon on the mountain, which is a part of the process, be in the journey of exodus Israel in the wilderness? It is Mount Sinai, where Israel would receive the law of God. Then, we should look at the sermon on the mountain in the perspective of how Mount Sinai of the Old Testament is being restored and accomplished, right? There are two places where Mount Sinai of the Old Testament is being re-pictured, and one is as the mountain of the sermon on the mountain and the other is as the mountain of transformation.
This sermon on the mountain is explaining with its focus on the new laws of heaven being declared and the mountain of transformation is a model in which the completed kingdom of God is being reigned by this new law, suggesting at the same time in what way this kingdom will be accomplished. That is why the two witnesses who come out in Revelation, which are the church, represented by Moses and Elijah, show up on the mountain of transformation. Moses and Elijah met God and received God’s instruction on Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb. Another name for Mount Sinai is Mount Horeb. And by looking at the re-production of the ‘golden calf’ incident where the disciples are being pronounced ‘faithless” down the mountain, the mountain of transformation is another picture of Mount Sinai. Let’s check what conversations took place on that mountain of transformation.
And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,[b] which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Luke 9:30-31
Moses, Elijah, and Jesus were talking about Jesus’ departure, his “exodus.” It is suggesting the exodus of Israel is of Jesus’ exodus. The exodus of Israel is in the event of God calling Jesus out of Egypt. Therefore, isn’t it clear that the mountain on which the sermon on the mountain was delivered and the mountain of transformation is portraying the Old Testament that is shattered by the cross of Jesus and the kingdom of God completed by that?
I will explain this in more detail. The message of Mount Sinai in the Old Testament should be well laid out in order for us to understand the content of the sermon on the mountain, which is Mount Sinai of the New Testament, isn’t it? God comes down on the 50th day of Israel’s exodus on Mount Sinai. And He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses.
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, 10 the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11 and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.” Exodus 19:5-12
God speaks to Moses and promises him that if Israel obeys His voice and keeps His covenant, they shall be His treasured possession and a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And He also tells Moses not to allow the people of Israel to climb up to the mountain where God’s presence is. That’s because no one has yet to have completely kept God’s covenant. No one can survive coming in contact with God’s holiness in that state. But in one voice, the people of Israel said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” It’s the Old Testament, right? God did not miss their answer. God bestows His law upon them and confirms it. He makes a covenant with the blood of a sacrifice.
“And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Exodus 24:6-8
God making Moses to throw blood on the people was a warning that He will kill all of them if they didn’t keep the covenant. But what did Israel do? At the time when Moses received the law of God from God, they defiled the name of God, having made a golden calf. God is who keeps His promise. God instructed Moses to slaughter Israel. Three thousand died at that time. But Moses stands before God as a mediator at the site of slaughter.
“So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” Exodus 32:31-32
Through the intercession of Moses, God takes away His anger and gives the second stone plate of the law. That stone plate goes into the Ark of the Covenant. Then, what does the stone plate of the Ten Commandments under the Mercy Seat symbolize? It is modeling the frightful reality of sin of human beings. This is an object of utter destruction by God’s assault. But the blood of a sacrifice is being poured on top of what is covering it. And by the covering by this blood, the sin under it is being forgiven.
Strictly speaking, the old temple of the Old Testament contains in it both self-denial and self-conflict. The old temple is a temple of deeds that reaches to salvation by keeping the law. Of course, sacrifice was given as the only way of atonement for those who were condemned by the law. When God gave Israel the law and sacrifice, He gave them the law to keep and a way to be saved because they wouldn’t have been able to keep the law anyways at the same time. But even the act of sacrifice was worthless if it was not done exactly the way the law prescribed it. Therefore, sacrifice was also the law. However, the existence of the Mercy Seat in the inner sanctuary is containing the message of grace that entirely denies the identity of the temple. As such, the temple of the Old Testament already contained the future result of its eventual denial and destruction.
Anyways, what should have Israel thought of every time they looked at the second stone plate of the Ten Commandment? They should have made a confession of self-denial that “I should have died already but came to life by Moses’ intercession”.
It’s the same for us. The believers of the New Testament should primarily make a confession of self-denial saying, “I would have died already if not by the intercession of Jesus,” when facing the law of God, and not come forward with determination that you would keep it. But Israel of the Old Testament too quickly forgot the meaning of the temple and was making the vain oath of Exodus Ch.9 again. “We are a specially chosen people. Therefore, we can keep all.’’ Wasn’t this how Israel was like when Jesus came?
This was the sinful state of Israel who had become “like God” after eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. This history is where these Adams’ act of “like God”, which is the Old Testament, is denied ad shattered. That is why there is a scene in the book of Micah where a mountain is brought down and a new mountain is raised.
Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
who detest justice
and make crooked all that is straight,
10 who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
its priests teach for a price;
its prophets practice divination for money;
yet they lean on the Lord and say,
“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
No disaster shall come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height. Micah 3:9-12
If you look at it here, the act of Israel is portrayed as it building Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. So God is saying He will destroy their construction and this construction is Zion, Jerusalem and the mountain of the temple. The mountain of the temple, Zion, and Jerusalem is identified as one, right? This mountain is the mountain of the Law, Mount Sinai. This all has to be destroyed. But, there appears another mountain and another temple on the mountain that is destroyed.
It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
2 and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,[a]
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide for strong nations far away;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. Micah 4:1-4
This is the same as what is written in Isaiah 2:1-4. How important this is that both Isaiah and Micah repeatedly prophesied exactly the same? If you look at it carefully, it is said that the temple of the Lord and the mountain of the Lord will be lifted above all hills. And not even Israel but many gentiles will go up that mountain, the temple, and be taught of His ways directly by Him and walk in His paths. This is saying that the destroyed mountain of the law, the mountain of the word of the Lord, the Mount of Sinai will reappear and once again the laws and the word of the Lord will be given. Of course, the law and the word would be of a different kind from the one that had been given from the old temple, the destroyed mountain of the Old Testament, wouldn’t it? What it’s saying is that the Lord, who would charge and kill anyone who would approach near in the time of the Old Testament, would gather the people and teach His ways and His word on the mountain, the temple, of the latter days.
This appeared in God’s salvation ministry of destroying the old temple called the Tower of Babel and building the holy city of the New Jerusalem and also in the picture of Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue being destroyed by an uncarved rock.
This exact new mountain that was raised on the place where the mountain of the law was destroyed and the appearance of the new temple is the sermon on the mountain. And the new law of heaven and the new word of God that is being delivered on that new mountain is the content of the sermon on the mountain. And of course, the cross of Jesus is standing between that mountain of the Old Testament and the mountain of the New Testament. The writer of Hebrews records the reality of the mountain of the New Testament, the new temple, and the new creation as such:
For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly[a] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Hebrews 12:18-24
This is the mountain. And it is said that this mountain is Jesus, who is the mediator of a new covenant and the blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Thus,
The mountain of the sermon on the mountain is the mountain of the new covenant achieved by Jesus and the mountain of grace which came to be by the sprinkled blood of Jesus the lamb. The mountain of the sermon on the mountain is where the grace of the blood of Jesus Christ is being declared.
Mount Sinai, the mountain of the law, was where even Moses could not enter. But a new mountain is raised where even many gentiles can enter because the grace of God was poured. What is standing at the entrance? The cross of Jesus.
Then, how could they interpret the sermon on the mountain as a moral or ethics code or a code of conduct? Do they mean to go back to the Old Testament? That is like denying the main flow of the entire Bible. In that sense, the sermon on the mountain is not Christian ethics or a code of conduct which even believers of other religions would like to follow, but it is a clear proclamation of how the kingdom of God accomplished by Jesus would distinguish, expose, and create the saints in this history.
In the second verse of today’s text, there is a phrase “he opened his mouth”, right? How did the prophets of the Old Testament describe it when God’s word and His law was declared? They use the expression “the mouth of the Lord” a lot, right? Here Mathew is emphasizing Jesus being God by including that phrase “He opened his mouth” which doesn’t seem necessary to be added. Jesus, who is God, is declaring the new law of the New Testament. And there the church of God is modeled as the twelve disciples are happily gathered in the mountain and listening to that law without any restrictions for determent. This means, as it is, something has been taken care of. It is so because they are still in the flesh but they are before God and enjoy being with Him without any determent or condemning curse and that place is the kingdom of God.
Therefore, the sermon on the mountain is about clearly explaining the foundation and the backbone of the kingdom of God which already has been established by Jesus, shattering the law of the Old Testament, and firmly establishing the accomplishment of the new covenant. What is covering the beginning and the end of the sermon on the mountain like the bread of a sandwich?
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth… Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Mathew 5:3, 7:21
As you see, it is heaven. It is saying that heaven is completed by Jesus who served others in order to be served and is given to the church already. So those who act by the framework of good and evil, and not by the will of the Father, cannot enter for sure and that is the main theme of the sermon on the mountain. If you look at the concluding part of chapter 7, there comes the protest of those who diligently acted by their own judgment of the framework of good and evil.
“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Mathew 7:22-23
You should not miss that this is still a part of the sermon on the mountain. After saying this, Jesus goes down the mountain in chapter 8. There were miracles right before the sermon on the mountain, right? And the misunderstanding of the miracles by Israel was hidden in between the verses. And the sermon on the mountain is concluding with the appearance of those who in their effort to serve God worked even as prophets performing miracles and mighty works in their religious fervor. By using this “inclusion (sandwich)” structure of writing, the Bible is emphasizing that the kingdom of God is not a place that is built and maintained by human beings’ religious fervor and where miracles and mighty works happen.
Among that, the beatitudes is picturing the reality of those who have received the already completed kingdom of God as a gift in history. All of the beatitudes begin with “Makarioi oi”. This is an exclamation. It is picturing the reality of those who have already been blessed by exclaiming, "Those who are blessed!” It means that it is not about how to be blessed by keeping the law and practicing morals and ethics, but it is a proclamation of how those who are already blessed and therefore living the kingdom of heaven would live in this history and in what way God will continue to make them.
However, isn’t the reality of those who are blessed very different from what we expected? Most people, although they say they believe in Jesus, understand the concept of blessing as that of the Old Testament. Is blessing becoming rich, living without mourning, and rather being in a place of persecuting than being persecuted? But, the Bible is saying the life of a blessed man is being poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, a peace maker, persecuted for righteousness, and reviled and persecuted and spoken all kinds of evil against falsely on the account of Jesus.
Who primarily lived this kind of life? Jesus lived such a life, right? Thus, to whose life does the life of a blessed man unite with? This means his life will be united with and partake in Jesus’ life of the cross and self-denial. If you look at the verb tense used in “theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” in verses 3 and 10, it is present tense. This means the kingdom of heaven has already come and is with them. The kingdom of God has come with Jesus? That is why Jesus is declaring to the disciples who are with Him that the kingdom of heaven has already come. And the verb tense of the rest of the beatitudes are future tense.
It means that there appears a directivity of some kind in the life of the disciples into whom the kingdom of heaven invaded, and that is the beatitudes. It is saying it is not the kind that gets accomplished shortly after once believing in Jesus.
By studying the content of the beatitudes, one can tell these could happen only when human beings’ fleshly desire is denied. The blessings of the Old Testament are about self-realization and self-expansion but those of the New Testament are blessings that deny oneself. This is not simply about “do many good deeds, endure long, serve others, and the kingdom of heaven will be yours and you will be compensated accordingly,” but it is that once when the kingdom of heaven comes upon the life of a man, this will be killing his old-self. That is why it is in the future tense. The age of the New Testament is not like the age of the Old Testament where being blessed meant possessing the worldly power and worth, being established as a stronger man than others, and having more descendants, but it is an age of where people are not judged and categorized by the power and worth of the world. Then, how could the kingdom of God the Messiah is building merely be a kingdom where diseases are being healed and miracles are done?
It certainly is not. The concept of God’s kingdom contains the meaning that the sovereignty of God completely rules. The complete rule of God’s sovereignty means it is a place where man’s will and intent are completely ignored. That is the kingdom of God where only those who put absolute trust in God can survive. What would happen when this kingdom comes into this history? Our ego of flesh wants to live a life “like God” as the center of the universe. But the kingdom of God comes to us with a sword of sovereignty. And conflict takes place. Apostle Paul describes the appearance of such conflict like this:
“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” Romans 7:21-25
This is the reality of those who are ruled by God in this history. In this kind of conflict and affliction, the old ego called “myself” is exposed as a sinner in every way, and one can admit and be convinced of his/her impossibility and is pushed down to the place of self-denial, finally crying out, “Wretched man that I am!”.
Let’s talk honestly. Is the kingdom of heaven Jesus spoke of the kind of kingdom of heaven you want? Do you want the kind of heaven where you need not turn the left cheek when hit on the right cheek? Do you really want to go to the kind of heaven where you need to give out your outer garment to the one who wants your inner garment? Do you want to go to the kind of heaven where you unwillingly walk ten miles when asked to go five miles together? As long as we are in the flesh we cannot truly want this kind of heaven. But this is the way of life in heaven where others benefit and are revived by myself being denied and emptied out.
Being lead and pushed down to that place by the heaven that invaded into us, we are to be moved by how such a person like myself has become a citizen of heaven as we realize we are not fit to be in heaven. And we are not to live a life of faith as a training to be able to force ourselves to turn the other cheek when hit and smile even though grinding our teeth inside. Rather, desperately crying out “please help me” as we look at ourselves possibly not being able is the right life of the saints.
That is why those who live the kingdom of God in this world contemplate what it means to live the kingdom of God. Kingdom of God is where “I” disappears. So it is not detected through happiness, peace, or rest in this world. Of course, when the word of God touches us, at that point of contact in our life, hope appears in us and that’s when we can experience happiness, peace, and rest time to time. But as long as we are in the flesh and in this world, we cannot continually feel the kingdom of God of peace, rest, joy, and happiness. Please do not misunderstand.
Many misunderstand the goal of Christianity as being better and living more earnestly than the people of other religions by being moral and ethical. So they judge others' spiritual maturity by their lives saying things like “walk the talk”. If so, where is the place for God’s grace and mercy? Are the propositions of good and bad defined by human beings based on their own anatomy of good and evil really true?
Do you know what kids should never do in order for them to receive gifts in Christmas? They should not cry. “You better not cry, you better not cry. Santa Clause is coming to town” (In Korean, the lyric says that Santa will not give gifts to those who cry). For children who grew up listening to this song, crying is evil and not crying is good. And those who do good by not crying will be given gifts. Right? But is crying really evil? Kids cry in order to express themselves. Crying is their desperate scream when they want to express their intent but lack the ability to persuade or communicate their agenda. But in the perspective of an adult, when watching a kid cry, it is a nuisance and uncomfortable. So the adults have decided: crying is evil. So we should not give crying kids gifts. This is an extreme example but community laws, morals or ethics made by human beings are nothing but a work of rationalization in their effort to ensure self-justification.
“Doing the will of my Father” Jesus is saying in the sermon on the mountain is that kind of doing. Actually, Jesus turns over the temple and gives this parable to protesting high priests and elders:
“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.” Mathew 21:28-32
Who did the will of the father here? The first son, right? But whom does Jesus put in the place of the first son? The tax collectors and prostitutes. What does it say the tax collectors and prostitutes do? It says they believed, right? So when Jesus, destroying the old temple and talking of the foundation of a new temple, is concluding the sermon on the mountain by saying those who do the will of my father will enter the kingdom of heaven, is he indicating that you keep and do the sermon on the mountain as a code of behavior? Or is he saying that you should receive the kingdom of God which Jesus completed for free with thanksgiving in faith? He is saying you should just receive it for free! That is doing the will of God.
Do you know why God commanded not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Commanding not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is the law, isn’t it? It is the Old Testament. Once the forbidding command is declared, living beings brood a desire to distinguish the command receiver from the command giver and to give an exceptional identity to it. God made it that way. However, if the one who received such forbidding command gives himself an exceptional identity and existence, he is committing the sin of “breaking of the law”. And God has prepared death of “you shall surely die” as a punishment for that “breaking of the law.” What is important is that God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil where it is most easily seen and made it good for food and a delight to the eyes. This means go ahead and eat. Secure yourself that exceptional identity of “I”. And experience what that “sure death” is. You all know that the church is included inside of Adam, right? God gave the law to His people Israel. And then He sent them out to the wilderness and have them experience what the “sure death” is. That is why the first generation of 600,000 people all died. Sure death it is. When the reality of the “sure death” originated from the desire to keep an exceptional ego is utterly experienced, the people of God come to realize the worth and value of the “fruit the tree of life” which has been freely offered. The fruit of tree of life freely pierce thru and come into them. That is the principle of creation of God’s people. Think about it. Grace, which is allowing command, there is no tension between the command giver and the command receiver. In other word, it is not necessary to secure that exceptional “I (identity)” which distinguishes the command receiver from the command giver. Receiving that with thanksgiving is union and is called salvation.
Therefore, we do not get saved by keeping the law but by eagerly receiving the eternal life God has allowed and prepared as a gift. Even the act of receiving it is not by our intent but the eternal life batters and destroy our flesh and invades into us.
Those who entered the kingdom of God that way are attacked in their legalism and humanism which try to secure exceptional identity of ego in this world, and finally are pulled down to the place of self-denial, being poor in spirit, being hungry for righteousness, mourning, and being persecuted for righteousness. That is the sermon on the mountain. Starting next week, I will lecture on the detailed topics one by one.