"1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying," (Matthew 5: 1-2)
Since I have grown in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus and all that He is and has and does for us, as we receive from Him, I have noticed that while He was on earth, Jesus had a two-fold ministry.
1. Bring the Law of Moses back to its pristine, absolute, and humanly impossible standard
2. Announce the Gospel: that through the death and resurrection of Christ Himself, we would be made righteousness before God.
For years, I had heard preachers and pastors tell me that the Sermon on the Mount was a guideline for living, or that these precepts would demonstrate what every person would become when they were born again.
When we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our understanding of God's Word, we find that Jesus is speaking to different groups of people, all of whom have different understandings, or different agendas.
To the multitudes, Jesus was a celebrity, someone whom they found fascinating.
To the disciples, Jesus was a great teacher, someone from whom they could learn how to live.
Then there were those who understood who Jesus is: the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God who came into the world to save us, and not just from death to life, but for all time!
So, we read the context for Matthew 5 through 7 starts with the two groups: the multitudes and the disciples. This group of disciples, by the way, indicates a group much larger than the final Twelve who Jesus called specifically.
Those twelve Apostles were called in Matthew 10: 1-4.
Keep in mind, also, that while these disciples at the Sermon on the Mount came to Jesus to learn from Him, apostles like Peter, James, John, and Matthew were selected by Jesus:
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." (John 15: 16)
And for all of us today:
"8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." (Romans 5: 8-9)
He has chosen us!
Now, back to the Sermon on the Amount. These sermons were for disciples.
Now, Jesus did not die on the Cross so that He could serve as an example, but that we would receive Himself:
His righteousness:
"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)
He is our Wisdom, as well as our sanctification and our redemption (1 Corinthians 1: 30)
He came not just to die for us, but to give us Life:
"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10: 10)
And He lives in us:
"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1: 27)
Jesus is our life (Colossians 3: 1-4), not a pattern, not a discipline, but the Person who lives in us:
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." (1 John 4: 9)
Yet for people who want to be disciples, or those who boast in their law-keeping, they need to understand the full implications of the law, that God gave the law so that no man would boast in his own works (Romans 3: 19-20)
The multitudes were not listening to the Sermon on the Mount, and many of Jesus' disciples eventually abandoned Him:
"64But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.