Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse. Malachi 4:5-6 NRSV

Four hundred years passed between Malachi, the last prophet in the Old Testament, and the events recorded in Matthew, leaving a conspicuous gap in Israel’s relationship with the Lord.

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea,
proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’ ” Matthew 3: 1-3 NRSV

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:12-17 NRSV

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-20 NRSV

Three groups of people opposed Jesus: the scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

The Sadducees and the Pharisees are both mentioned in Matthew 3:7 when they came to be baptized by John.

The Sadducees were wealthy, religious, elite people who served as priests in the temple. They were firmly committed to the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible). They did not believe in the resurrection, life after death or prophecy. They were politically involved with the Roman leaders.

The Scribes knew the law and the prophets well, as they did the copying of the scrolls that would have been used in the synagogues that spread around the country. They could teach the words, but their lives didn’t match what they said.

The Pharisees were conservative zealots of the middle class. They taught in the synagogues and they knew the law and the prophets well, but they, along with the scribes, had amended the law without regard to God’s concern for and care of the people.

On the Website, “gotquestions.org“, I found much history about what was happening to the Jews during those 400 years. I recommend checking out the intertestamental period.

As you continue this week, praying the Lord’s Prayer, imagine how each of these three Israeli groups would respond to Jesus telling them that this was how they should pray.

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. ESV

“You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it. Good News Bible

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. NIV

In the Beatitudes, Jesus describes the character of what people would be like as they became Kingdom of heaven people. In Matthew 5:13, Jesus next tells the disciples and the crowd on the mountainside what His followers would do and be in the world around them. By using salt as a metaphor, he related a common process that was essential to life, that portrays what would happen as his followers permeated society.

They knew the value and the many practical uses of salt in their lives.

Salt was a medium of trade that because of its essential need was more valuable than gold.

Salt is important for health, particularly in a hot climate. It is essential for normal interchange and retention of fluids within the cells of the body for humans as well as animals.

Salt was the only preservative in their climate they had to keep meat, fish and other foodstuffs from rotting. Any meat not eaten during a meal would be soaked in a strong solution of salt which prevented decay as well as the destruction caused by flies that hovered around both raw and cooked meat.

Salt also made a monotonous diet bearable for the common people, by heightening the flavor of their simple food.

Salt was well known to be an excellent sterilizer for wounds. Mixed with warm water, it was used to cleanse open sores and prevent infection.

Salt benefitted the livestock: oxen, camels and donkeys that did heavy work for the common people who worked the land. It was used for internal as well as external health for the animal.

Salt also would have reminded those who heard Jesus of how it represented the qualities of steadfastness, strength and trustworthiness.

Jesus also warned about salt that had lost its saltiness and grown weak in flavor and health giving strength. Even so, salt was used to eradicate, for instance, by being thrown out on pathways to sterilize the ground and keep weeds from growing (so people could walk on the path). Once that was done, the ground was useless for growing anything ever again.

A book I recommend that covers the Beatitudes and Matthew 5:13 is” Salt for Society, by W. Phillip Keller. published in 1981. It is available in paperback through a number of online used book stores. It explains more in-depth the uses and values of salt that still continue in impoverished parts of the world. It also conveys what it means to be disciples who, like salt, are health-giving to today’s society.

As you continue with us to pray the Lord’s Prayer, think about how salt relates to “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Also about salt and “daily bread”, salt and “forgiveness” and salt and being “[rescued] from temptation”.

Note. To access scripture links that don’t appear in the email version, read the web version in your browser.

From that time Jesus began to preach and say,
“Repent [change your inner self — our old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 AMP

“Blessed [comforted by inner peace and God’s love] are those who are persecuted for doing that which is morally right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].”

“Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil things against you because of [your association with] Me. Be glad and exceedingly joyful, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12 AMP

I chose the Amplified Bible because verse 4:17 describes what is meant by repentance. Also the verses in 5:10-12 appear to be a recapitulation of the seven other beatitudes. In Jesus’ description of “Blessed”, there is encouragement for his followers even though he tells them the reality about how they will be treated, as they live differently from the world, as they grow in their relationship with Him.

Dictionary definitions of “persecute” include: harassment, opposition, ill treatment, insults, gossip: behaviors that epitomize what Exodus 20:16 denounces of those who “testify falsely [lie, withhold, or manipulate the truth] against [their] neighbor or (any person)”.

I experienced some of this treatment when, as an orphaned child, I was living with an aunt and uncle here in Denver. My aunt had a lifelong bitter resentment toward her father for a variety of reasons, which included his “churchiness”. I was allowed to go to church, because the neighbors took me, and because my aunt didn’t want to look bad to them. However, she sneered at my “church going” when anything I did didn’t measure up to her idea of what I should be.

She really ramped it up when I, at 13, came home from a summer camp and said that I had given my life to Jesus. In addition to name calling, saying, “you call yourself a Christian,” and picking a fight whenever I was in something special at church (so that she wouldn’t have to go see such a “hypocrite”), she would tell her friends how bad and ungrateful I was. Then, some of them would call me and “rag down on me” about it. That continued until I was an adult and moved away. I don’t pretend that I was a great example of a Christian, but my aunt’s main criticism was that I continued to go to church despite her harassment.

Something Jesus has taught me over the years is that we have a tendency to become like who we love or who we hate — because they control our thinking. The resemblance to them may not look the same, especially if we hate someone, but it still shows.

If we love Jesus and grow in his love and grace by the power of the Holy Spirit, He will make the resemblance to Him show.

I am using the Amplified Bible for the Lord’s prayer, because it has an expanded view of what forgiveness entails.

“Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’
For if you forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:9-15 AMP

Note. To access scripture links that don’t appear in the email version, read the web version in your browser.

Darrell W. Johnson in his book, The Beatitudes-Living in Sync with the Reign of God, points out that each of the character qualities Jesus calls “blessed” are not natural human qualities. It is as people follow Jesus and grow into his good news of the Kingdom of God that they will grow in the qualities that are characteristic of the kingdom.

I try to imagine what the response might have been for various people on that mountainside when they heard Jesus say,

“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth” NIV

How about Matthew who had been a tax collector working for the Roman government and likely making a living by overcharging his own countrymen?

Or Simon the Zealot, who was committed to the violent overthrow of the Romans controlling the country?

Peter, Andrew, James and John who, having worked hard as businessmen catching fish for a living, were a pretty rough group of men.

Might some in the crowd who had come from Jerusalem, remembered what the scriptures said about Moses in Numbers 12:3 ASV? “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” Or What David wrote in Psalm 37:11 ASV? “But the meek shall inherit the land, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

According to the W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, the word “prautes” *, which was translated as “meek”, really is hard to express in English, because It definitely does not denote weakness, timidity, or lack of courage. To quote: “It must be clearly understood that the meekness manifested by the Lord and commended to the believer is the fruit of power.”

*Note. Look up Strong’s number 4239 and 4240.

It seems to me that the beatitudes are really a preview of the whole sermon on the mount. What Jesus goes on to say in the rest of Matthew 5-7 circles back to what we will become as we grow in Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom of God.

Please continue to join with us in praying and pondering the Lord’s Prayer,

“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. Matthew 4:23-25 NIV (Emphasis added.)

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. Matthew 5:1-2 NIV

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Matthew 10:2-4

Being curious as to how long it might take for Jesus to “go throughout Galilee”, teach in each town’s synagogue and stop to heal “all who were ill with various diseases,” I checked on Google and found this helpful site, (Ligonier.org). It said that Galilee encompassed an area of 2800 square miles and that even walking fast, it would take around 3 months to visit and preach in each town. Also the site had information on other cities that indicated that the crowds which followed Jesus would include Gentiles as well as Israelites.

Although Matthew 4:18-22 mentions only the calling of Peter, Andrew, James and John, it appears that the rest of the disciples (mentioned in Matthew 10:2-4), were there on the mount as Jesus started teaching what the characteristics of the kingdom of God would be. The disciples would be the ones who would follow him for all the years before His crucifixion while Jesus would be reinforcing his teaching with them.

There would be other crowds at other times in other places, but these 12 disciples would be the ones consistently with him whom he focused on.

What is encouraging to me is that the disciples, as well as the majority of the people in the crowds, were not the highly educated or the religious elite,
but were ordinary individuals like me. Also, Jesus saw and cared for all who came to him with a need for both healing and teaching.

As we start the adventure of studying The Sermon On The Mount, please join us in praying the Lord’s Prayer:

…“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,  but deliver us from the evil one.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:9-15 NIV