5:1
Given Matthew’s keenness to point out how Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament, it is reasonable to see a parallel here between Moses going up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments, and Jesus going up a mountain and delivering the “new Law”, and Deut 18:17-19 is relevant. “When Jesus saw the crowds ...” Remember that crowds had been following Him, largely because of His healing powers. Jesus therefore wanted to teach them. He saw teaching and preaching as His primary purpose in the time leading up to the cross. By the way, this is actually an argument for the veracity of the healing accounts. If the healing accounts were just made up, then surely the gospels would have focused more on them, and they would have had Jesus saying “Hey, aren’t I a great healer!” (though in rather different language, no doubt). However, the focus is always drawn back to two things: the teaching of Jesus, and the cross. Jesus’ words here are primarily addressed to His disciples, but are also there for all to hear.
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