Why did Matt publish that sermon?
So ... my supposition: the proximate cause of Matthew's abandonment of his life as a tax collector could have been Jesus' first Sermon on the Mount. Ok...lets clarify some terms:
proximate cause:
a cause that directly or with no intervening agency produces an effect
abandon:
(synonyms: relinquish, renounce) means to give up all concern in something. Abandon means to give up or discontinue any further interest in something because of discouragement, weariness, distaste, or the like: to abandon one's efforts. Relinquish implies being or feeling compelled to give up something one would prefer to keep: to relinquish a long-cherished desire. Renounce implies making (and perhaps formally stating) a voluntary decision to give something up: to renounce worldly pleasures.
first
I do think that Jesus preached 2 sermons on hill/mountain sides, two sermons that were different & similar, two sermons aimed at different audiences. I think Matthew went to the first -- "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness..." Matthew 5:6 -- as a tax collector/publican, and the second -- "Blessed are you who hunger now..." Luke 6:21 -- as one of THE 12. I think this partly -- OK, lots of weight for me on this point -- because in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus preaches the SoM in chapter 5, and then calls Matthew from his table as a tax collector in chapter 9.
Matt 9:9
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
In Luke 6 it specifically says that Matthew was there as one of the 12:
Luke 6:12-16
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you . . ."
I think Matthew's Sermon on the Mount is the sermon that changed Matthew's life and confronted him with the reality of who he was and what he was doing with his life. I think solid conviction hit Matthew. I think he repented and turned to and followed Jesus as a result of what happen inside his heart after he heard that sermon. I think he realized that it didn't matter "why" or "how" he got where he was ~ I think he simply realized where he was, and what he had become. Following Jesus was not simply a matter of going on trips that Jesus took. He had already paid the Romans the tax for the district ~ financially it might have been a BIG cost for him. He knew he was hated and just following Jesus would not change people's opinions about him. Becoming part of the 'group' couldn't have been easy. I think Matthew made an "eyes open" choice. He was actually hungry to the point of starvation. His first act as a follower is to "go public" and throw a party for all his buddies: fellow tax collectors and other sinners ... and ... Jesus. He is in ~ boots and all.
Next I want to look at the sermon that Jesus gave as recorded in Luke 6
proximate cause:
a cause that directly or with no intervening agency produces an effect
abandon:
(synonyms: relinquish, renounce) means to give up all concern in something. Abandon means to give up or discontinue any further interest in something because of discouragement, weariness, distaste, or the like: to abandon one's efforts. Relinquish implies being or feeling compelled to give up something one would prefer to keep: to relinquish a long-cherished desire. Renounce implies making (and perhaps formally stating) a voluntary decision to give something up: to renounce worldly pleasures.
first
I do think that Jesus preached 2 sermons on hill/mountain sides, two sermons that were different & similar, two sermons aimed at different audiences. I think Matthew went to the first -- "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness..." Matthew 5:6 -- as a tax collector/publican, and the second -- "Blessed are you who hunger now..." Luke 6:21 -- as one of THE 12. I think this partly -- OK, lots of weight for me on this point -- because in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus preaches the SoM in chapter 5, and then calls Matthew from his table as a tax collector in chapter 9.
Matt 9:9
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
In Luke 6 it specifically says that Matthew was there as one of the 12:
Luke 6:12-16
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you . . ."
I think Matthew's Sermon on the Mount is the sermon that changed Matthew's life and confronted him with the reality of who he was and what he was doing with his life. I think solid conviction hit Matthew. I think he repented and turned to and followed Jesus as a result of what happen inside his heart after he heard that sermon. I think he realized that it didn't matter "why" or "how" he got where he was ~ I think he simply realized where he was, and what he had become. Following Jesus was not simply a matter of going on trips that Jesus took. He had already paid the Romans the tax for the district ~ financially it might have been a BIG cost for him. He knew he was hated and just following Jesus would not change people's opinions about him. Becoming part of the 'group' couldn't have been easy. I think Matthew made an "eyes open" choice. He was actually hungry to the point of starvation. His first act as a follower is to "go public" and throw a party for all his buddies: fellow tax collectors and other sinners ... and ... Jesus. He is in ~ boots and all.
Next I want to look at the sermon that Jesus gave as recorded in Luke 6
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