SOTM—The Mountain

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. (Matt 5:1-2 ESV)Mountains in the Bible are associated with Moses (Exod 19-20), Elijah (1 Kings), and Jesus.In Matthew, Jesus is found on mountains five times:Matt 4:8; 5:1; 14:23; 17:1-8; 28:16-20.Matthew presents Jesus as the Second Moses (see Deut 18), a teacher of God's truth to his people.Matthew has put Jesus' teaching into five blocks, like the five books of Torah (Gen-Deut) or the five books of Psalms. These blocks are Matt 5:1-7:29; 10:1-11:1; 13:1-53; 18:1-19:1; 23:1-26:1.For more on this, watch Jesus Is the Second Moses (13 minutes).Jesus and his disciples are seated—the normal position of a rabbi with his followers.Throughout his ministry, both men and women alike sat at Jesus' feet (Luke 10:38-42).We too must take time out to learn—to read and study…Through the disciples Jesus spread the message among the people (as in Matt 28:19-20).We may think of the eight beatitudes as a set of qualities. Jesus' focus is on the inner life, the kind of people we are, especially in difficult circumstances.Next podcast: "Poor" (Matt 5:3)