Epilogue

Day 40

Epilogue

‘When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.’

Matthew 7:28-8:1

 

‘When Jesus had finished saying these things…’ Matthew 7:28-8:1

It’s getting late in the day and the decent down the gentle slopes back to ordinary life has begun… Ordinary life in an extra-ordinary Kingdom.

Perhaps not so ordinary after all.

‘When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching…’ Matthew 7:28-8:1

Sometimes it’s difficult to find words to describe moments. Particularly these moments where God incarnate has sat on a mountainside and breathed His new life into the old Covenant Law of Israel and into our old worn-out hearts, new life that is the rebirth of something entirely new.

‘When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.’

Matthew 7:28-8:1

Within the word ‘authority’ is the word ‘author’. Jesus’ is the author of life (Acts 3:15), and so has authority to speak into our lives, sometimes in unexpected and startling ways.

These words on this mountainside, though they are the very commands of God, they are also simultaneously a portrait of His beating heart, a revelation of the things our Heavenly Father cares about.

If you trace your finger across the words in the Sermon on The Mount from the Beatitudes through to the story of the rock, the storm and the builder, you will feel themes of justice, reconciliation, forgiveness, authenticity, truth, faithfulness, peace and compassion pulsing in every line.

The Sermon of the Mount isn’t a list of rules for us to follow. It’s a Kingdom for us to inhabit. A Kingdom with a family culture defined by the heart of its King.

A King who comes to us and says…

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

As we have heard the words of Christ on this mountainside through-out this season, there have probably been moments where a sharp breath was drawn in and feelings of impossibility breathed out. Where the call and commands of Jesus felt like it was for ‘those other holy people’… not us. Not we the imperfect ones with a thousand scars on our hearts and two thousand mistakes in our rear view mirrors.

Part of this may well be because we live in a performance-driven, competition-fuelled world of scarcity and we scarce hope that we can run fast enough on the treadmills of our own inner expectations as we misread Jesus’ commands as rules and impossibly high bars to clear.

And that is exactly what this Sermon on the Mount would be- if it were spoken by anyone else. But it is not spoken by anyone else. It is spoken by the Lord of Heaven and earth Whose Spirit inhabits every word and Whose Holy Spirit inhabits our hearts, strengthening us, guiding us and empowering us to grow into every word He has spoken; These words from the Mountainside spoken by the new Moses, like a new covenant Law of love, these words that are really an invitation, an invitation that is really a call and a call that is really a command… from our Lord and King.

When we think about His mountainside words as rules rather than treasure we forget that He also says…”Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” with the expectation that we would do just that… engage with His words WITH HIM. Not in our own strength. Jesus’ own life in us fuels us, to not only engage with, but deeply enjoy the treasures in His Kingdom- every gold and ruby word of this new living covenant law of love.

When Jesus says His yoke is easy and His burden is light, He is not saying that His yoke is easy on our human ego though. Our human Ego (from the Latin for the word ‘I’) is a self-focused creature much like an imploding star when left to its own devices. It is our human ego that veers us off course onto the “wide road” of self destruction (Matthew 7:13-14) and drives us to our treadmills in order “to be seen by others” (Matthew 6:1 and 5). Our Human Ego’s can never deliver either true freedom or wholeness.

But when we surrender in obedience to our loving Heavenly Father, when we say “your Kingdom come, your will be done”, when we invite Him into our hearts to sit on the throne there and allow Him to oxygenate our actions with His love, then His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Jesus’ Teachings on this mountainside can feel impossibly challenging in the brokenness of our psyches and the weakness of our own strength. Our own resources cannot take a single step in the direction of obedience without the first step being total surrender to Him. The first step is always the hardest step… and the most important.

But when we do. When we surrender in obedience to Him and then begin to ‘do’ His words and His will, we will suddenly find ourselves resourced from another place. When Jesus is on the throne of our hearts our resources are re-sourced from a deeper place, an eternal, limitless, rain-water-fresh place…and suddenly we discover that the Author of Life is re-authoring our lives around His goodness and love and the life-giving story of His Kingdom… And with Him walking beside us doing the heavy lifting we discover that His yoke is indeed easy and this burden is especially light!

In the end we will discover that obedience to our loving Heavenly Father is never actually a freedom-stifling chore, but rather a prison-releasing joy, an unchaining from our broken human egos and a restoration of all we were created to be: a people who are lovingly, courageously, justly, honestly, authentically human. Imago Dei.

Every word in the Sermon on the Mount is a sledge hammer to a binding chain, and a new day being born. When the King of this Kingdom is Lord of our hearts our hearts are finally free.

We’re in the valley now, looking back up at the Hills behind us. Ordinary life is about to begin. Or perhaps not so ordinary after all when we live our ordinary life in His extra-ordinary Kingdom.

And now, as the crowds begin to disperse at the foot of the mountain and the path yawns wide before us all, just one question lingers…

‘When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.’ Matthew 8:1

…Are you among them?

Are you ready to live like you belong to a different Kingdom?

Will you live these words from the heart of your King?

 

Journaling the Journey 

Read over your journaling of the Sermon on the Mount.

Refresh your memory of the ways God has spoken to you. Let your reflections speak into your life.

Plan the actions God has called you to take. Share your thoughts and plans with trusted friends and ask for their prayer and support.

Today’s (final) Hillside photograph was taken by Dan Evenhuis from the hills overlooking the sea of Galilee in Israel.