"When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them saying," Matthew 5:1-2


The first few weeks of 2008 we heard the invitation of Jesus to "come and follow Me." He promised to "make us fishers of men" and later said, "deny yourself, take up our cross and follow Me."

We are following a King and He is revealing His Kingdom.

The Gospel writers each present a portrait of Christ. No contradictions; perfectly complimentary; each from their own vantage point with different readers in mind. All inspired by the Holy Spirit to be the perfect presentation of our Lord to a world that desperately needs Him.

Matthew: The King
Mark: The Servant
Luke: The Son of Man
John: The Son of God

Matthew presents the King and His Kingdom...and the Sermon on the Mount presents the Kingdom Message. John MacArthur says it this way in the introduction of his commentary on Matthew:

"The Sermon on the Mount is the manifesto of the King, the miracles are His royal credentials, and many of the parables portray the mysteries of His Kingdom."

So, we see in the Sermon on the Mount both expectations and an invitation. It challenged His disciples to a new way of thinking and living (expectations) but the crowd could not hear that way. To them, it had a different message. They began to hear the invitation that that the disciples had heard in the days before.... Follow Me.

We are disciples, right? Are we living out the message of the King and His Kingdom?