I am a Jesus pusher!!! Matthew emphasizes a connection between the mountain and the Sermon on the Mount. He gives his overall assessment of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and then flows into this sermon. The success of this ministry is profound; it affected foreign lands bordering Palestine. However, the multitudes did not motivate Jesus to preach The Sermon on the Mount; the disciples motivated him. And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them (Matthew 5:1-2). What did they hear? How did they respond? At the close of the sermon he reflects: And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished (ekplesso) at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes (Matthew 7:28-29). This Greek word begins with “ek” for the of purpose intensity. “Plesso” means, “to strike out, force out by a blow.” It means “knocking one out of his senses.”
It was the great “Manifesto of the Kingdom of Heaven!” These Jews had only experienced the Old Covenant; Jesus presents the New Covenant. There are as many outlines of the Sermon on the Mount as there are scholars who study it. If their conclusion is Jesus, each one is legitimate. Only when He is at the center does the puzzle of the Sermon on the Mount become a complete picture. Jesus is not only the speaker of the sermon; He is the key unlocking the door to its entrance. You may ask, “How can I live this sermon out?” The answer is Jesus! The Sermon on the Mount is not impossible in Jesus. I am a Jesus pusher!!!