As we embark upon an adult class study of the Sermon On The Mount we examine this morning the One who preached the sermon. 

1)  A GREAT TEACHER
     a.  But, He made enemies everywhere He taught.  Sometimes it would run off people, the rulers wanted Him dead, the masses would abandon Him and His associates deserted Him.
     b.  But, Jesus was the greatest teacher who ever lived because of what He taught.
     c.  the TEACHING Messiah - In Matthew 5 separate sections "when Jesus had finished teaching"
         1.  Mt 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1
         2.  John 14:24
         3.  John 17: 6-8, 14, 20
     d.  He was a teacher and He expected His followers to be teachers
     e.  More than that He made claim to be the divine Savior.  He claimed that belief in Him would provide forgiveness of sins.

2)  THE KING
     a.  Any book wants to grab your attention, so how could Matthew grab the attention of the readers with a genealogy.  Yet, Jews were crazy about genealogies. They were looking for the "Righteous Branch of David" descended through the tribe of Judah, who was of the seed of Abraham
         1.  Jeremiah 33:15; Genesis 49:10; Genesis 22:16
         2.  Matt 1:1 grabbed their attention.  What was the point?  In Jeremiah 23: 5, the righteous Branch of David would be the King who saved Israel.
         3.  Matthew also told of the wise men 2: 1-12, fulfilled Micah 5: 2,4

3)  THE SON OF GOD
     a.  Matt 1: 18-20  What a shock that must have been!
     b.  Matt. 1:23,  referring back to Isaiah 7:14
     c.  Hosea 11:1 - "Out of Egypt I called My Son"
     d.  Jesus baptism - Matthew 3: 17 - "this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"
     e.  Jesus drove the point home in Mt 16:15-19, Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God
     f.  Psa 2: 6-12 - through inspiration the Psalmist drives the point home.

4)  A TEACHER WITH AUTHORITY
    a.  He taught with authority because He IS the authority
    b.  Read what He said in Mt 7: 24-27
    c.  Listen to the bold statement in Mt 28: 18 "all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth"
    d.  notice what Paul said about Jesus' authority in Ephesians 1: 19-23 and in Colossians 1: 13-18

5)  THE SERVING EXAMPLE
     a.  Read Jesus' words on Leadership in Matt 20: 25-28
     b.  Jesus would never ask anyone to do anything He wouldn't do Himself  -  In John 13 He washed His disciples feet
     c.  Everything He taught in the Sermon on the Mount he lived!
          1.  consider the beatitudes - He wasn't proud, He mourned over the sins of the world, He was gentle, He hungered and thirsted after righteousness, He was merciful, He was pure in heart, He did not resist those who killed Him yet He could have called legions of angels.  
          2.  many say "surely He wouldn't want me to do that!" Yet, He did!
          3.  Mt 10: 24-25

Jesus impresses upon us how important the Sermon on the Mount is.  It is NOT to be taken lightly.  It is God's Word.  It is the edict of the King, the word of the Son of God, the command of the Authority.  And, He was willing to live it.  Let us approach with care the words of Jesus and be prepared to change if necessary.

(thank you to Edwin Crozier in "Gospel of the Kingdom" for the basis of this lesson)