Introduction to the Gospels Part 2 — Christ’s Ministry in Galilee

Introduction

Jesus Christ was an entirely different individual than Judah had ever seen before. He authoritatively delivered what sounded like brand new teachings. He made shocking claims. He performed amazing miracles. He mingled with publicans and sinners. He vehemently opposed and criticized the mainstream religious authority. Today we would apply the cliche, “He moved to the beat of a different drummer.” In the religious community of that age, it wasn’t in vogue to be radical and different. One was expected and required to conform to the status quo, but Jesus didn’t.

Therefore, perplexing questions arose about Jesus’ identity and teachings. Was He a huckster and a quack? Was He a political revolutionary that could help them overthrow Rome’s tyranny? Was He an enemy, or merely a strange friend? Most importantly, did He believe the teaching of the holy scriptures and promote them, or was He introducing something contrary to the law and the prophets? Some even deduced that Jesus was demon-possessed.

People today who are courageous enough to face the issue still struggle with the identity of Jesus Christ. Others dismiss Him completely. Jesus’ identity is still the question to be answered on Earth. And what did He teach in the Sermon on the Mount? Was it that the law was still in full force and would always be, or was Jesus trying to eradicate the law to usher in a new dispensation of grace? Quizzically, the Sermon on the Mount has been used to try to prove both views.

Jesus believed and taught everything written in the Old Testament. But He also brought a new illumination to it, deepening our understanding of its intent and applications. His teaching, although seasoned with grace, was clear and absolute. To make this as clear as possible, the Lord made contrasts throughout the sermon to the defiled teachings of the scribes and Pharisees.

Within the modern era of the church we find many who are on a quest to discover God’s blessings. This shows how deceived the church is concerning the blessedness taught by Jesus Christ. Some believe we are blessed as a reward for good works. Others believe that we become blessed by our exercise of “great faith.” Despite the strongest faith and the best works, blessedness will still elude us, if we continue to misapply Jesus’ teachings.

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord taught that true blessedness is a state of being. God’s blessedness is not dependent on external influences or special conditions. We don’t slip in and out of being blessed. In this, we’ve mistaken blessedness for “happiness.” The two are worlds apart in meaning, for happiness is fleeting, while blessedness is constant. Happiness comes from without, from the external, from the “happen-chance” of circumstances. Blessedness is a state of being that issues from with in, based on the new creation we are in Christ.

The poor in spirit aren’t necessarily happy, but they’re always blessed, for their absolute dependence is on the never-failing faithfulness, unquenchable love, and miraculous supply of God. The beatitudes taught by Jesus are our prescription for blessedness. They aren’t commands to be blessed, but the way in which we fulfill the conditions of blessedness. Therefore, blessedness comes from being transformed by the power of Christ. We’re blessed because of our new identity in Christ. Our degree of blessedness is determined by meeting the conditions of Jesus’ beatitudes.

To be blessed, then, we must know Christ. We must receive Him as Savior and Lord that we might be transformed by the renewal of the Holy Spirit. But then we must know “who we are” in Christ. Paul wrote to the Philippian church:

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain[a] to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11)

Those who seek after blessedness will never find it. Those who seek to know Christ, seek to please Christ, strive to obey Christ, while emptying themselves of all pride and self-serving desires, will find blessedness in abundance. We must stop seeking to be blessed, and seek to know Jesus Christ. This is our all. As an extension to this truth, we can hear Jesus’ teaching with natural ears, or with spiritual ears. Our ability to understand His divine insights depends on the manner in which we listen. Do we receive Jesus’ teachings only into our minds, or into the depths of our hearts? Christ’s renewal makes the difference.

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