Mountains were places where people met God and momentous things happened. On a high mountain in the Judean wilderness, Jesus overcomes evil and proves he is ready to carry out God’s plan; He later “builds himself up” in his faith through prayer and prepares to strike a devastating blow to Satan at the Mt. of Olives. On the Mt. of Transfiguration, we see heaven and earth collide much like it did on Mt. Sinai with Moses. And that Mountain where Abraham was tested and Isaac was almost sacrificed? Many years later, scholars tell us the city of Jerusalem was built…and the hill became known as Golgotha – the place where Jesus was crucified. And it was on a mountain where Jesus preaches his most famous sermon where he will present God’s new standard for defining God’s Kingdom and God’s people.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” “Consider the lilies of the field.” These are some of Jesus’ most famous sayings – all found in his Sermon on the Mount. From the Beatitudes to the Lord’s Prayer, the sermon is very familiar…maybe too familiar. Perhaps, in our overfamiliarity with the sermon, we’ve missed just how astonishing God really is.
