The Best Sermon Ever

The visionary leader

Every great leader has a vision. An inspiring vision is essential for any leader or organisation. One thing I like to do in my spare time is look into the visions of accomplished leaders and businesses: visions that seemed crazy and radical, but that changed the world. I’m very inspired by visionary leadership. As a leader, you need a picture of a more desirable future that you’re moving towards.

Not long ago I was listening to a podcast on the biography of Steve Jobs, and it was truly inspiring. His vision was powerful, user-friendly technology accessible to the average person. That vision drove him to simplicity. When everyone else was thinking about how many buttons to put on a phone, Jobs changed the game by insisting one button was enough.

Jesus had a vision too.

The best sermon ever

Today I want to talk about the best sermon ever. And no, it isn’t one of Jared’s, Davison’s or mine!

The greatest sermon ever preached was by Jesus, and we call it the Sermon on the Mount. In it Jesus cast a vision of the good life, and it was truly radical, unlike anything people had heard before. Throughout it he speaks with such authority: “You have heard that it was said… but I tell you…” Back then most teachers were saying the same things. Jesus’ teaching was a breath of fresh air.

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

— Matthew 7:28–29

We can’t downplay the importance of the Sermon on the Mount. If I were going to memorise any chunk of Scripture word for word, it would be what Jesus said on that mountain. It’s so dense with inspiration and instruction that we don’t have time for all of it today, so I want to focus on the introduction.

Jesus is Israel 2.0

So far in this series we’ve followed the story of Jesus through Matthew’s eyes. Matthew knew the Scriptures, and he’s drawing parallels with the story of Israel. Last week Jared showed us that Jesus isn’t simply retelling Israel’s story. He’s rewriting it.

Think about the Exodus story. A baby boy is under threat. He finds a safe home in Egypt. God brings Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and they spend forty years in the wilderness.

Let’s take it a step further. After forty years in the wilderness, the next generation is about to enter the promised land. Before they go in, God renews with them personally the covenant he made with their parents. That’s what the book of Deuteronomy is about, and he does it on a mountain.

The Sermon on the Mount echoes Deuteronomy. Jesus comes out of Egypt and goes through the waters of baptism, just as Israel came out of Egypt and through the waters of the Red Sea. Then he spends forty days in the wilderness and accomplishes in forty days what Israel couldn’t in forty years. Now he positions himself as a new Moses, giving the people new instructions, and a new Joshua, leading them into a new promised land.

N.T. Wright makes this point in Matthew for Everyone. Matthew has shown us Jesus coming out of Egypt (2:15), through the water and the wilderness (chapters 3–4), and into the land of promise (4:12–25). Now, on the mountain, comes his new covenant.

Here’s the difference. Deuteronomy ends with blessings and curses based on what the people do (Deuteronomy 28). If Israel keeps the covenant, they’ll be blessed abundantly. If they break it, curses will follow. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by simply blessing people, especially those who are struggling. It isn’t about earning God’s favour. It’s about receiving it.

Who was listening

As Jesus looks out over his audience, he sees a diverse group of people, all struggling and broken in different ways. Some are poor, powerless and helpless. Some are mourning loved ones they’ve lost. Some feel unimportant and insignificant.

Many of you might be feeling one or more of these things right now. If that’s you, these Beatitudes are for you too.

Ellen White describes the crowd that day:

As they sat upon the green hillside, awaiting the words of the divine Teacher, their hearts were filled with thoughts of future glory. There were scribes and Pharisees who looked forward to the day when they should have dominion over the hated Romans and possess the riches and splendor of the world’s great empire. The poor peasants and fishermen hoped to hear the assurance that their wretched hovels, the scanty food, the life of toil, and fear of want, were to be exchanged for mansions of plenty and days of ease. In place of the one coarse garment which was their covering by day and their blanket at night, they hoped that Christ would give them the rich and costly robes of their conquerors. All hearts thrilled with the proud hope that Israel was soon to be honored before the nations as the chosen of the Lord, and Jerusalem exalted as the head of a universal kingdom.

— Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pp. 11–12

Everyone was hoping for an earthly kingdom that would finally fulfil their dreams and desires. And Jesus is starting a revolution, but not the one they’re thinking of, a rebellion against Rome. It’s a Jesus-style revolution, marked not by winning the game but by changing the game altogether.

What “blessed” means

We throw the word “blessed” around a lot, and because we use it so much it can lose its meaning. We often think of blessings as gifts handed out depending on our behaviour.

The Greek word here is makarios: happy, fortunate, in good circumstances. The Hebrew equivalent is ashrey, which you could translate as “the good life.” When Leah has a son she says, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy,” so she names him Asher (Genesis 30:13). So if you know someone called Asher, now you know what their name means. Ashrey is different from another Hebrew word, barak, which is more about blessing as giving gifts.

Ashrey describes a state of flourishing and good fortune. When the Queen of Sheba visits Solomon, she says how ashrey, how fortunate, his people are (1 Kings 10:8). If I used it in my own context, I’d say ashrey is someone who gets to experience snow in Japan!

So according to Jesus, being blessed isn’t something you get. It’s something you are. These aren’t commands to try harder. They’re announcements of the kind of people God’s kingdom is already blessing, and calling us to become.

N.T. Wright makes the same point: if we picture Jesus sitting there telling people how to behave properly, we miss what’s really going on. He isn’t saying, “Try hard to live like this.” He’s saying that people who are already like this are in good shape, and they should celebrate. So you could read the Beatitudes like this: “How good life is for the poor in spirit…”

Three movements

Jesus climbed a hillside and taught about the kingdom of heaven, literally “the kingdom of the skies.” This was the world God had promised, and it was good news to the poor, the oppressed and the marginalised. He opened his sermon with nine statements.

For a long time I struggled with the Beatitudes because I read them as isolated points. But I’ve realised they’re not isolated. They’re connected. So let’s read them with the openness of the people who first heard them, and may they mean as much to us as they did to them.

The powerless, the grieving and the unimportant

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

— Matthew 5:3–5

Jesus is flipping the script. In his world most people thought the good life was fame, money and success. Jesus offers wonderful news to people who have none of those things, and says this is who the kingdom is for.

Have you noticed that people who go through difficult circumstances often find God? There’s purpose in brokenness, and God is in brokenness. In our world you can have everything going for you and still miss Jesus’ kingdom. I recently met someone who has achieved so much that he made me feel very small. I’m not saying people like that can’t be part of the kingdom. But it’s the people who don’t have all that who are lifted up and invited to a seat at the table. The people in God’s kingdom are far different from who we’d expect.

These three belong together. You recognise your spiritual bankruptcy, and that there’s nothing you can do to earn the kingdom. Because of that you grieve and mourn over the suffering and sin you see in the world. And that mourning leads to surrender and meekness: trusting God’s way above your own.

The kind of people God is forming

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

— Matthew 5:6–8

When we recognise we’re powerless to earn the kingdom and take a posture of humility, we let God form us into people who are like him. Our hearts break for what breaks Jesus’ heart, and we begin to long for justice, for things to be made right in the world.

But that desire for justice doesn’t come out as throwing our arms in the air. It comes out as mercy. And mercy leads to inner purity, a heart devoted to God. We act justly by loving mercy and walking humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).

The cost of living like Jesus

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

— Matthew 5:9–12

Becoming the kind of people Jesus is forming comes at a cost. We become peacemakers who actively restore relationships. Ironically, being a peacemaker and living out the kingdom brings pushback and opposition. But in the face of rejection and suffering, know that there is joy in suffering.

Across the Beatitudes we see a journey from brokenness to boldness.

And here’s something fascinating: these blessings aren’t only about the future. Most of the Beatitudes look ahead, “they will be comforted,” “they will be filled.” But the first and the last, the poor in spirit and the persecuted, say the kingdom of heaven is theirs, right now. We live in the “already but not yet” of the kingdom.

Jesus embodies his sermon

Sermons are always most effective when the preacher embodies the words. There’s a big difference between me speaking theory and me speaking from experience. Jesus preached from experience. He embodied these very words.

Jesus can say “blessed are the poor in spirit” because he became poor. He can say “blessed are those who mourn” because he mourned. He can say “blessed are the meek” because he was meek. And so on through every one of them.

So think of the Beatitudes as a kind of map of where you can find Jesus.

A firm foundation

Jesus ends his sermon like this:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

— Matthew 7:24–27

Same storm, same house. The difference was the foundation. You can face the same circumstances as someone else and come out with a completely different outcome. Jesus calls us to build our lives on him by putting his words into practice.

So are you building your life on Jesus’ words, or just listening to them occasionally? Today has only been an introduction to the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, words we’re meant to build our lives on.

The vision of this series

Listening to good sermons is an excellent use of your time, and God uses them powerfully. But you need to get into the word for yourself. That’s the vision for this series.

Some of us rely on coming to church every weekend to get our fix, to hear what God has shown a preacher. But in the Bible you hold the greatest sermon from the greatest preacher, and it can affect you far more than I ever could.

Our vision is that you’d get into the word for yourself and let it not only inspire you but instruct you. We need to hear Jesus’ words and put them into practice. The most important thing you can do is build your life on Jesus’ words and teaching.