A big thank you to Terry for teaching last week while I was traveling!  This week we will continue our discussion of the "Jesus I Didn't Know" through a discussion of the Sermon on the Mount.  

Three weeks ago, we began reading about Jesus presentation of the beatitudes.  In that era they would be considered the values of a man deemed righteous with God.  In our risen Christ era the beatitudes are our Christian character values.  

Following the beatitudes, Jesus provided an application of the values through the illustration of "salt and light".  We described it as Jesus' exhortation that His followers be "flavor and direction" in a bland and lost world.  

In my preparation for this week's Scripture selection, I wondered if Jesus was watching the crowd's reaction to the values and application illustrations and then He chose to address their puzzled looks. Have you led a meeting and noticed that people were shifting in their seats, looking confused or whispering among themselves?  That activity indicates that the audience doesn't understand, or they are uncomfortable with what they are hearing.

We know that Jesus had perfect discernment and often responded when people were murmuring to themselves about His presentation.  If your workday has you participating in "virtual meetings" then you may be missing out on the participant's body language feedback.  Jesus was keenly aware of the need to clearly communicate His message because for Him time was not a friend.  He therefore had to be succinct and relevant in the material that He was teaching the disciples and secondarily to the crowd.

I believe that Jesus transitioned from application and examples to providing supporting evidence in response to the crowd's concerns.  They were decedents of the Israelites, born under law and were taught God's Word through the prophets.  They also had Scribes who taught the law, but their version of the law was skewed with additional man-made hurdles (640 to be exact). Jesus shared a similar background!  In fact, His sharing our similar background is what makes the law, the cross and grace so amazing!

Please read over the focus verses and review these questions:

1. What questions might the crowd have about Jesus' "resume"?

2. What part of Jesus' teaching would comfort the crowd?

3. What are the similarities and dissimilarities of your community and Jesus' crowd?

4. Jesus mentions the prophets.  What did they forecast?
    See: Isaiah 53 / Psalm 22 / Micah 5:2

5. What are the 3 elements of the law?

6. What 4 supporting statements did Jesus make about His message and the law?

7. How was Jesus qualified to "fulfill" the law?

8. Why is Jesus fulfillment of the law important, and what makes it essential for
    salvation?