I am a Jesus pusher!!! As we approach the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, please keep in mind the astonishment of the listening Jews; they were “knocked out of their senses.” It was not because Jesus added new laws for them to keep or presented them with a new moral code of holiness. It was not a new standard of righteousness, but a new standpoint of righteousness. Outside of the Sermon on the Mount, every moral system is a road we must travel. It requires self-denial, discipline, struggle, and effort to arrive at the goal of morality. It is a goal finally achieved; it is the end result. Jesus’ approach is the exact opposite. He does not end with the goal, but begins with it. He placed His disciples in the position other teachers presented as the end. What others labor to earn, Jesus gives! Others demand; Jesus bestows! The Sermon on the Mount is not a new law or moral system, but a new life.
Since this is true, the promises attached to many of the statements in the sermon are not rewards or results. They are the natural essence of the Kingdom. Look carefully at the “Beatitudes.” You do not become poor in spirit and therefore enter the Kingdom. The poor in spirit dwell in a spiritual state; it is the spiritual state of the Kingdom. In other words, a description of the condition of the inner, present, spiritual reality of a member of the Kingdom is the eight Beatitudes. The inner awareness of the child of the Kingdom is one of absolute helplessness. Is this not the fundamental motivation which drives men to Jesus? King Jesus becomes our only source! I am a helpless Jesus pusher!!!