Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Today we’re looking at Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount.” It’s a wide-ranging block of teaching about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and life in the kingdom of God (Matthew uses the phrase “kingdom of heaven,” whereas Mark and Luke use the phrase but they mean essentially the same thing). Of course, it deserves a slow read, but this is a time when I like the faster pace because I get a better sense of how the first hearers experienced this event and I gain a better feel for the full sweep of the teaching. For me, today’s reading is a good example of the value of balancing small, slow study with reading larger portions. Here we go.
Missional purpose of God’s people (5:13-16) - Salt and light are things that benefit people by making life better. Becoming and growing as a disciple of Jesus is not only for our benefit, but about becoming people who bless and point others to God. This is the same theme as God’s call and promise to Abram in Genesis 12 that we summarize as “blessed to be a blessing.”
Raising the standard (5:17-48) - Jesus makes clear that he is not here to lower the standard for righteousness but to raise it. In each example, he moves from mere exterior obedience to inward disposition. God isn’t just about checking the box, but about transforming the heart. The climax of the teaching is the most challenging of all—in ours and any era, loving enemies and praying for those who are actively hostile to you.
First priority (6:21, 24) - To paraphrase, we will give our hearts to what we treasure (value as most important) and we cannot serve two masters (we can only have one top priority). This seems to clarify why it doesn’t make sense to do our spiritual practices to be seen by a human audience (6:1-18) and why worry reveals a lack of trust (6:25-34). There’s no getting around the question of who or what is our first priority and how we can tell based on our attitudes and actions.
Crowds amazed (7:28-29) - This is interesting. Jesus closed by emphasizing how his hearers needed to put his teaching in to practice (remember James? “'Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”). Matthew records that the crowds were amazed at Jesus’ authoritative teaching. They could tell He was different. But where did they come from? Matthew tells us at the beginning of the sermon that Jesus sat down with His disciples (5:1-2) and began to teach them. I imagine the crowds hearing Him speak as they went about their business and experiencing themselves drawn to Him as He taught—there was something different, powerful, and refreshing about Him.
Questions:
Where do you have the opportunity to be a light for God this week?
What competes with God for top priority in your life? What practical change could make a difference?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for teaching me about the kingdom of God. Transform my heart and help me put your Word into practice. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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