Many of you might be saying, "That is only an introduction ... let's get to the meat of the passage!" And, there is a lot of 'meat.' The Beatitudes ... Jesus fulfilling the Law ... Jesus' take on murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, revenge, and loving our enemies. But (like Julie Andrews sang in The Sound of Music) "let's start at the very beginning, it's the very first place to start."
Four profound things happen at this very important Come To Jesus Meeting. Let's unpack them.
1. "Jesus saw the crowds." In Scripture, the crowds are often at a distance. They are present, but they are doing the kinds of things crowds do. Milling about ... chattering ... using a lot of words but not saying much ... idle chatter that fills time. Crowds are seldom viewed positively. Moses went up the mountain and returned with God's Law, but the crowds "stood at a distance."
2. "Jesus went up on a mountainside." Jesus creates an obstacle ... a decision ... a distance that must be crossed. The commercial series, "Jesus Gets Us" seems to be designed to create a view of Jesus that is attractional. Do you see the subtle, but meaningful, action here? Jesus might be saying, "If you are interested in what I am saying, you need to move away from the crowd ... away from the distraction ... away from idle chatter. You need to climb (by the way, Jesus DOES get us)!
3. "His disciples came to Him." Jesus said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily, and follow Me." Do you want to be Jesus' disciple? Make the climb. Go where He goes. Get close so you can hear His voice!
4. "He began to teach them." They left the crowd. They watched where Jesus went. They followed Him. They were taught by the Master.
There are so many directions I could take this blog. But here is what I am hearing from God today. We are choosing to live life in "the crowds." It is chaotic. Our community has been rocked by arrests that none of us can fathom. "How can these things happen here?" We seek the source of the problem and point the finger elsewhere. But while one is caught up in the crowd, it is difficult to see the big picture. CS Lewis said that Satan desires to "bring people like livestock to the slaughter (by the way, the exact phrase used in Ezekiel 34)." But I wonder if we mill, chatter, and say/do many meaningless things, while missing the things of the faith. We immerse ourselves in a culture that does not wish us well. We make decisions to spend life in that which means nothing, while the source of our salvation climbs up on the mountainside and waits. He is NOT attractive. But look, the culture is selling its wares, and they look and feel and taste good. They are stones turned to bread by a cunning and vicious adversary. Jesus waits ... up on the hillside. He calls His disciples to see the crowds, decide where they want to live life, see Him on the mountain, choose to climb up, and listen. Jesus is calling us to a "Come To Jesus Meeting." What is your choice?
