The most famous sermon in all of history was preached 2000 years ago by God who put on human flesh, being born of a virgin, living a sinless life, fully God and yet fully man, who walked up a mountain and opened his mouth

Matthew gives us this small phrase seemingly of no major consequence. “He opened his mouth.” The special revelation of God in the flesh opened his mouth to preach a sermon of which we have at least the recorded highlights in the special revelation of the Word of God. The Word gave us the Word via the preaching of a sermon as a fellow human being. If this is not astounding to you, then the wonder of revelation has not sunk in

If you have the same high view of revelation as I have, then you would agree that there is not a word in the bible that is not from Jesus. He who is God has revealed himself to us in the entirety of Scripture from the first verse of Genesis to the last word of Revelation. When I am reading the law in Leviticus it is no less the words of the Son of God than the words preached in Jesus’ great sermon. In this way, sometimes I find the red letters in bibles to be somewhat unhelpful. Yet, they are often very helpful

If you are reading Matthew chapter 4 in a red-letter bible, you will see that the red letters highlight the ministry of Christ. He preaches, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” and he calls to his disciples, “follow Me.” These two statements are then the epitome of all of the color red saturating the pages in the following three chapters. The One who calls his disciples teaches his disciples about the gospel of the kingdom. God, who spoke the whole universe into existence, breathed out through human vocal chords a message that helps us understand who we are, who he is, and how to authentically follow him

Just think about it for a moment. Yes, those red letters are just as much a part of Scripture as any other section. But they do remind us that God actually revealed himself to us with such humility that he became one of us, lived with us, and spoke to us through an open mouth. We certainly read of other instances in Scripture where someone opens their mouth to say something important. Even so, are you not amazed that God did it right in front of us in the flesh? Perhaps you reply, but it’s equally amazing that we have his Word through Paul and Peter and Moses and others. Yes! And yet when Jesus speaks in those red letters it is the Word of God TO us from the Word of God WITH us. Are you grateful that God delivered this one in person? I am

For the next couple of months, our sermon series and these blogs will highlight the beauty of our Savior’s sermon. I hope you can take the time to meditate on the glorious beauty of the words spoken as Jesus opened his mouth and uttered that first phrase,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

In timelessness and wisdom full,
The counsel of The Triune God,
Determined for His glorious good,
To be with man on earth to trod.
Revealed to us, created ones,
A grace too great for minds to hold.
The Unique Son is God with us,
His Kingdom come as once foretold.

Matthew 5:1-2
He sat upon the great ascend,
Amidst the crowd He gathered some.
To those who knew Him to be true,
He taught them of this Kingdom come.
Embody now contented joy,
To hear from lips, anointed truth.
Oh blessedness to us employ,
The sense of our eternal youth.

For Christ is King, and Kingdom sure,
His blessings far too much to count.
He teaches life beneath His throne,
In this great sermon on the mount.