I am a Jesus pusher!!! Approaching the Sermon on the Mount causes trembling. The content of the three chapters absolutely boggles my mind. At the close of the sermon, the people were astonished (Matthew 7:28). They were “ekplesso.” They were “knocked out of their senses.” If you acquire the courage to begin the journey, you shrink at the opening statements, which are united together as “The Beatitudes” (Matthew 5:1-10).
The approach you make stimulates the fright. If you come as a mountain climber you will be overcome with the danger and impossibility of the climb. Who can reach the heights of these standards? I can never dwell in such lofty altitudes. If you come as a racecar driver you will collide in wreckage at the first curve. If you come as a great and wise philosopher you will immediately dismiss the simplicity of the truth. If you cannot embrace the simple truth, how can you ever know the depths of wisdom? If you come as a builder who constructs a house of truth you will be paralyzed by the beauty of what has been provided. No addition, no remodeling, and no repairs are needed. How should we approach this sermon? We must come as a lover of Jesus. If we are head over heels in love with Jesus, we find that we belong in the high altitudes. Jesus drives us safely to all fulfillment of truth. He reveals Himself as the Truth, and you will know Him. You will dwell in Him and He in you. You will live this sermon. No wonder I am a Jesus pusher!!!