Who is This Guy?

by Francine Biere
Published January 13, 2006

Sermon on the Mount: Part 1

Many people asked that question during Jesus' lifetime. Over the years, millions more have asked the same thing.

What's important is whom do you believe Jesus to be – a teacher, a prophet? Jesus was and is many things to many people, but the bottom line is whether or not you believe He is God's son who was born of a virgin, walked this earth as man, was crucified for our sins, and rose from the dead.

Truth is, Satan believes that much to be true.

The key is whether or not you have accepted Him as your personal Lord and Savior. Once that's settled, then His teachings truly become those building blocks to a new life.

Jesus' teachings are found in the New Testament with first-hand accounts in the first four books. While there are many places to begin, the Sermon on the Mount seems to offer basic guidance that gives us a strong foundation. Before delving into what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, we must accept several things as truth.

The Ten Commandments were the first laws God gave – a list of dos and don'ts. Jesus did not come to abolish those laws but easily summed up the way God intends for us to live:

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The Second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:36-39

In order to understand why this question was even asked of Jesus, you need to know a little bit about the culture of the day. The Pharisees were one of two major religious groups in Israel at the time of Christ. They were a very strict but powerful group who commanded great respect. They had classified over 600 laws by which people were to live, and at times, categorized some more important than others. To them salvation came from perfect obedience rather than forgiveness of sins, as Jesus preached. They were so obsessed with their interpretation of the law, they ignored God's message of mercy and grace.

It's easy to see why they were obviously threatened by this humble man who, in his life on earth, gave us the connection to God the Father in simple terms with no need for a middle man, so to speak. And so, they followed Jesus around asking questions in the hopes of tripping him up.

This Pharisee – a lawyer – wanted Jesus to identify the most important law.

Jesus was actually using scripture found in Deuteronomy 6:5: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might," and Leviticus 19:18: "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself …"

I wonder if that lawyer remembered those verses.

If we live by these two commands, we can naturally follow the Ten Commandments. However, like the Pharisees, we sometimes get too wrapped up in the things we shouldn't do rather than focus on what we should do.

One more important thing that must be examined here. After this question, which was actually the last of several questions the Pharisees asked, Jesus turned the tables on these rather pious religious leaders and asked them a question: "What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" (Matthew 22:42). "No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question." Matthew 22:46

The most important decision anyone can make is to answer the question: Who is Jesus?

All scripture quoted taken from The New American Standard Bible

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