The setting has been imagined ever since Matthew penned his Gospel. A green Galilean mountainside. A crowd of curious everyday people from Galilee, the Ten Cities, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. In the center of the crowd is the teacher, sitting to teach as was the custom in that era. That scene is popularly known as the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus began his sermon with a list of blessings. That list is an invitation; nearly everyone in the crowd that day would in some way identify with one of the blessings. I wrote about those blessings in a previous series; therefore, we won’t discuss them in this series. See https://lambchow.com/category/series/beatitudes/
Instead, we are going to consider the rest of Jesus’ sermon. But let’s begin with something from another Gospel. In John 14, Jesus taught about how He was going ahead and would prepare a place for His followers. “And you know the way to where I am going.” “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:4–6, NLT) That term, “The Way,” was essential to the earliest believers. It was their identity before they were labeled as Christians at Antioch.
What is the Jesus Way? The whole of the Gospels answers that question. The Sermon on the Mount is an encapsulation of that answer. How do we follow Jesus? How do we walk? What do we do? What do we avoid doing? How do we follow Jesus’ way? The answer is in the Sermon. The way, however, is not a means of ensuring salvation. The way is our response to receiving the gift of God’s grace through Jesus Christ.
To fully understand the answer, we must start at the end of Jesus’ mountainside sermon. “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” (Matthew 7:24–27, NLT)
The Jesus Way is following His teaching. Following is more than just understanding them or agreeing that they are fine sentiments worthy of consideration. No, the way of Jesus is to do them. If we do them, our house of faith is built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. But if we fail to do them, we have built our house on sand. Will our house stand or fall when the rains, wind, and storms of life come our way (which they will)?
Maybe your house has already fallen with a mighty crash. Or maybe you can barely get a wall up before the winds of life knock it down. It’s never too late to start again. We are all works in progress. We are all learning how to follow “The Jesus Way.” I hope that you’re looking forward to this journey through Jesus’ Sermon as much as I am.
- Promises: Baptism with the Spirit - November 6, 2024
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