Read Matthew 10:1-4, Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 6:12-19. Jesus selects twelve men whom He will train and to whom He will commit the work He has begun. It is remarkable that none of these men were trained religious leaders but everyday people from various walks of life.
1. Why, do you think, did Jesus choose these twelve and not men with more religious training or backgrounds?
He was not looking for people with the “right” educational degrees or qualifications. There was one main qualification He was interested in. The qualification He was looking for was faith.
2. Before He selected these twelve, what did Jesus do?
He spent the night in prayer.
3. Our Lord says, “Blessed is the one...”, what do you think it means to be blessed?
When our Lord taught about being blessed, there is no doubt that His teachings reflect the Old Testament concepts. In the Old Testament, there are two major words that are translated as “Blessed.” One “barak” comes from the root, which means to kneel. The idea is to kneel in praise of someone and therefore comes to mean to praise or say good things about someone. When used of man blessing God, it means to praise. When it is used of God blessing man, it means to bestow good fortune upon. When God speaks well of someone, what He says comes to pass!
The other word used for bless is “‘esher.” This comes from a root word meaning to go straight, to advance. The idea is that one is going down the straight path, or the right path, that one is advancing. It does not necessarily mean that a person feels happy with what is currently taking place, but that the person is on the right path. Psalm 1:1 states: “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!” This man is walking down the right path! Being obedient to God may not bring immediate prosperity; indeed, it may well bring trouble, tribulation and persecution. It may not be fun or enjoyable. You may not be happy about it. But it is the right path to be on! And therefore, you are blessed!
4. Matthew 5:1-12 is called The Beatitudes. God tells us who is blessed. Luke gives us a little more of this particular sermon and includes some of the woes. For just as some are blessed, some face a curse. Woes are pronounced upon them (Luke 6:24-26). For each of the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:2-12 (There are nine of them.), compare what God says with what our culture thinks. The first one is done for you.
a. God says: “Blessed are the poor.”, but our culture says:
“Blessed are the rich!”
b. God says: “Blessed are those that mourn.”, but our culture says:
“Happiness is the most important goal in life.”
c. God says: “Blessed are the meek (gentle).”, but our culture says:
“Blessed are the Macho, aggressive, the alpha males/females.”
d. God says: “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness.”, but our culture says:
“You don’t want to be too good; it’s no fun!”
e. God says: “Blessed are the merciful.”, but our culture says:
“Show no mercy!”
f. God says: “Blessed are the pure in heart.”, but our culture says:
“Don’t be a prude; a little sin never hurt anyone.”
g. God says: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”, but our culture says:
“Divide and conquer!”
h. God says: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”, but our culture says:
“Blessed are the homosexuals, lesbians and criminals who are persecuted and deprived of their rights!”
i. God says: “Blessed are you when men persecute you (for My sake).”, but our culture says:
“You should not be a fanatic!”
5. One of the characteristics of our Lord’s teaching was that He taught with authority as opposed to the scribes and Pharisees. When He taught the Scriptures, He was the authority about what they meant; when the religious leaders taught, they always referred to some other teacher for their authority as to what they meant. This authority is perhaps most clearly seen in Matthew 5:21-48, where our Lord contrasts what was commonly taught with what He taught. The statements in this passage begin with the phrase, “You have heard it said...” Our Lord states the commonly taught ideas at this point. Then He introduces what He teaches with the phrase, “But I say to you...” List six common teachings and then our Lord’s authoritative teaching in contrast to these common ideas.
a. Matthew 5:21-26:
— Common Teaching:
You shall not murder; whoever does faces criminal charges.
— Our Lord’s Teaching:
Whoever entertains anger against his brother or insults him faces criminal charges and is guilty enough for hell.
b. Matthew 5:27-30:
— Common Teaching:
You shall not commit adultery
— Our Lord’s Teaching:
Just the thought or attitude makes one guilty of adultery.
c. Matthew 5:31-32:
— Common Teaching:
If you divorce your wife, do it legally.
— Our Lord’s Teaching:
If you divorce your wife for any other reason other than unfaithfulness and marry another, you commit adultery.
d. Matthew 5:33-37:
— Common Teaching:
You shall not make a false vow; you must fulfill all of them.
— Our Lord’s Teaching:
You shall not make any oath; your word is good without them.You shall not make any oath; your word is good without them.
e. Matthew 5:38-42:
— Common Teaching:
Your revenge shall be limited to what is done to you.
— Our Lord’s Teaching:
You shall not take revenge but do good to all.
f. Matthew 5:43-48:
— Common Teaching:
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
— Our Lord’s Teaching:
You shall love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you.
6. What do you think it means when God says you are the light of the world or the salt of the earth?
We are to be the standard of righteousness to the dark and sinful world in which we live. Our lives are to shed light upon what God intended us to do and be. We are to light and show the way. We are also preservatives.
The moral standards of those who genuinely are God’s children form the firm fabric of a stable and solid society. If these values disappear, the fabric of society will decay and rot. It will become corrupt and dysfunctional.
7. When Jesus tells us to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and then says all these things shall be added to you, what, in your opinion, does He mean?
We are to be primarily concerned with establishing God’s Kingdom and His righteousness now. That is the most important issue. All these other things will eventually be given to us.
8. Our Lord closes this section with a parable about two builders, one who built upon a foundation of rock, the other who built upon a foundation of sand. Explain what this parable means in your own words.
Just hearing God’s word is not enough. The one who practices or obeys what he hears has a sure foundation. When storms come, he will survive. The one who does not heed will not survive when it gets rough.
The Applications:
What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.
1. Who is the next great man or woman that God will use to challenge our world? If you were to search for them, where would you look? In the classrooms of the great theological seminaries of the world or the halls of the chapels and cathedrals of the great churches of our day? If you did, chances are that you would be looking in the wrong places. If God works as He has in the past, He will raise up leaders from places no one thought to look. He took a young shepherd and made him into one of the greatest kings of the earth. He took simple fishermen and made them into the great apostles of our faith. He took the churches’ most dreaded antagonist and made him the greatest missionary and protagonist of the faith the church has ever known. He takes the common, the ordinary, the hated and rejected, the lowly and despised, those whom most would not consider usable and turns them into the uncommon, the great and the glorious for His praise.
Where would you look for the next great man or woman God will use to challenge our world? Look around you? You might be that tool God will use to change our world.
2. The culture in which we live is directly opposed to God and His ways. While we might claim to be a Christian nation, it is in name only, not in reality. The truth is we live in the post-Christian era of our nation. The principles by which it functions and the values that it espouses are all contrary to those declared by God. The beatitudes may be plastered on plaques, but they only decorate the halls of our churches and walls of our homes, not our lives. They are not engraved in the hearts of our people today. As believers, we must be aware of this and not lulled into adopting the world’s philosophy or molded after its pattern. This will cause the believer to stand out against the background of our culture more so than any style of dress. It will provoke ridicule and animosity. Such believers will be called fools, naive, backward, and such. But they, standing alone, are the beacons of light for those lost in the darkness of our world today.
3. Most of us have lost the vision of the coming kingdom. We tend to live as if our life now is all that there is, that there is nothing after death. We may intellectually hold to the tenet that there is a coming kingdom and, after that, the new heavens and earth, but our actions indicate that we really do not put much stock into that idea. We are more concerned about enjoying our life right now, seeing that as more important than preparation for the kingdom.
Those Islamic terrorists who oppose the efforts of the United States to establish a free and democratic government in the mid-east demonstrate more of a belief in a time that is yet to come than do we. While it is true that many, if not most, fight out of hatred for us, they are willing to put their lives on hold, even to sacrifice them, to struggle for their beliefs and the establishment of their kingdom. Would that we had that same zeal for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.