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Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) revealed the heart of God in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-36). Why does the venue matter? Both teach us important sides of the Messiah.
Yeshua is the ultimate One Who ascends to and descends from Heaven, and just like Moses, Yeshua gives us a true witness of the words of God.
Yeshua is the ultimate “open space” of freedom and safety, out of the bondage and confinement and to the Promised Land of rest.
So, when Yeshua expounded upon the TaNaK (Torah, Prophets and Writings), He indeed spoke accurately that the words of God communicated through Moshe and the prophets point one toward Heaven, closer to the mind of the Maker, rather than back to bondage.
In the Torah reading Ki Tetze כי תצא Ki Tetze (“when you go forth,” Deut. 21:10-25:19), we read this strange instruction:
“If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; you shall certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.” (Deuteronomy 22:6-7 NASB)
The Sages actually call this commandment the least commandment in the Torah. If you look under the hood of this “least” commandment, you will find that is actually very great after all.
However, the Talmud goes on to say that the heart change that leads to keeping even this instruction is as important as the Fifth Commandment, to honor your parents. The command to shoo away the mother bird before carrying away the young has the same promise as the command to honor one’s parents: long life.
And the sage Rambam said, this “small” instruction teaches us to have mercy toward other people.
As Yeshua the Messiah taught in the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain, even a word of God that seems forgettable can be indispensable:
“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:19 NASB)
Why are we here? Or, how to be truly happy
The Sermon on the Mount is a chaistic structure that focuses on the Lord’s Prayer. We will be looking at both the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) and the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17–36).
When we read these phrases “Blessed are…” Yeshua is teaching us how to be truly happy. The question I want to dissect is this: Are the Sermons of the Mount and the Sermon of the Plain different versions of the same event or did He preach the same sermon at different locations?
The two accounts seem to have different settings: on a “mountain” and on a “plain.”
Luke recorded that Yeshua “came down with them” and “stood on a level place” while Matthew recorded that Yeshua “went up on a “mountain,” sat down and began to speak.
Teaching from a seated position is typical in rabbinical literature and likened to the way Moshe taught:
“Moshe our teacher sat and taught” (b.Baba Batra 119b) and “sitting and teaching like Moshe in the name of the All Mighty” (b.Yevamot 72b). (First Fruits of Zion, Chronicles of the Messiah)
It is built into us to look up to the one in authority, whether it’s a judge in a courtroom or a teacher in a classroom.
Some have likened Yeshua’s “going up” on the hill as to Moshe going up Sinai to receive the tablets of the Testimony. Yeshua is not referred to as the “Passover Lamb” for no reason. He is extricably tied o the Exodus.
Thus, the claims that the Sermon on the Mount is a rolling back parts of the Torah — “you have heard” vs. “but I say,” to be discussed later — are misguided.
Like Yeshua said in Matt. 5:17–19, He didn’t come to abolish the Law and Prophets — not even the smallest writing stroke of it — until “heaven and earth pass away,” i.e. the Day of the LORD.
A lot of people really have a problem with the similarities between the Sermon of the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain.
Even today, traveling speakers will present the same message in various venues.
Unless speaking verbatim from a text, speakers often vary the presentation of the same information and even the same phrases.
The way writers and speakers operate today and in recent centuries — varying their delivery and styles over time — should inform critics of the Bible who claim a single author couldn’t have been involved because of varying language and style.
Why should we care if Yeshua spoke on a mount or a plain?
Venue is everything. Both the hill and the plain communicate important aspects of the Mashiakh.
Mountains in the Bible communicate authority and moving one physically and spiritually closer to Heaven.
“The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.” (Exodus 19:20 NASB)
We also see this at Mt. Carmel when Elijah confronted the false prophets of Ba’al.
The Hebrew word to “go down” is יָרַד yāraḏ (H3381). According to the Brown, Driver, Briggs Lexicon, it means, “come or go down, descend.”
“The hill country of Palestine is flanked on the west by the Mediterranean Sea and on the east by the deep rift Arabah, far below sea level. Therefore about any place traveled in Israel is either up or down. Since Jerusalem is the geographical focal point, a traveler either ‘goes up’ (עָלָה) or ‘goes down’ (modern Hebrew ‘immigrant’ and ‘emigrant’). … (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT), 1:401)
This verb (yarad) is the root of the Hebrew word יַרְדֵּן Yardēn (Jordan), which literally “goes down”: from the hill country of Galilee to the Dead Sea.
“Further, to come down is to leave one’s place of prestige, to humble oneself (Isa 47:1; Jer 48:18). … (TWOT)
To “go down” has a bad connotation in Scripture. It implies humiliation and leaving the covenant.
“Further, to come down is to leave one’s place of prestige, to humble oneself (Isa 47:1; Jer 48:18). … (TWOT)
“‘To go down to Egypt’ has the overtone of leaving the promised land to dwell among people outside the covenant. … (TWOT)
“Since Sheol is considered to be in the earth beneath, whoever dies goes down to Sheol (e.g. Num 16:30). … (TWOT)
“A theophany is described as God coming down. He leaves his abode and comes to communicate with man either directly through the word or indirectly through some instrument. God descended on Mt. Sinai in fire (Ex. 19:18; cf. 2Chr. 7:1ff.) and on the tent he appeared in a pillar of cloud (Ex. 40:34f.; Num. 12:5). To lighten Moses’ load God came down among the elders and distributed some of his Spirit from Moses to the elders (11:17).” (TWOT)
To “go up” has a good connotation in Scripture. The Hebrew verb to go up is עָלָה ʿālâ (H5927). This verb is the root of a couple of very important words in Scripture.
- עֹלָה ʿōlâ (H5930) noun, feminine: whole burnt-offering; that which goes up to heaven (Brown Driver Briggs lexicon (BDB))
- עֶלְיוֹן ʿelyôn (H5945) n., masculine: highest, Most High (BDB)
We see in Scriptures that God criticized the children of Israel and their ʿōlâ offerings because they gave their offerings to the Lord but their hearts were elsewhere.
When Yeshua was speaking to Nicodemas and that conversation has been given to us in Greek.
“‘No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.’” (John 3:13 NASB)
- ἀναβαίνω anabainō (G0305): to go up, rise up, advance
- καταβαίνω katabainō (G2597): to come down, go down
These are the same words the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, aka LXX) uses to translate יָרַד and עָלָה in Ex. 19:20.
Yeshua is the ultimate Torah communicator of the LORD. Since Moses was the true and faithful servant and witness of HaShem, how much more so is Yeshua the true representation of HaShem?
- He’s “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14 NASB).
- He’s “The Amen, the faithful and true Witness” (Revelation 3:14 NASB; cf. Rev. 1:5)
- He’s the “radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3 NASB), of the One Who came down on Sinai.
- He’s and the “prophet like (Moshe)” (Deut. 18:15 NASB; cf. Acts 3:22; 7:37), who went up and down the mountain to convey to the people “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Deut. 8:3 NASB).
In the TaNaK, plains or “open spaces” are juxtaposed spiritually with constricted places. Yeshua was accessible to all who came to Him for healing and hearing His teachings.
The Scriptures make a contrast between spiritually “open spaces” vs. “constricted places.”
“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress, Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint; And that which was set on your table was full of fatness.” (Job 36:16 NASB)
The Hebrew word translated as distress is צַר tzar (H6862b) which means narrow, distress. The tzars of Russia were very bad for the Jews. The Russian tzars constricted and persecuted the Jewish people, placing undue burdens on the Jews regarding where they could live and what occupations they could do to make a living. This Russian-Hebrew play on words highlights that.
“It refers to a narrow space or object, not wide, with a small distance across it (Num. 22:26). It is used figuratively of a person’s pain and distress; oppression, a feeling of being hemmed in (Deut. 4:30; Job 7:11; 15:24).” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, 966-967)
If you are defending a narrow area, it can be a good thing. If you are attacking and you have to go through a very narrow area, the lack of maneuverability is deadly. The Spartans and the 300 used a tzar to their advantage to defend Greece from the Persians.
The Hebrew word translated as an “open space” is רַחַב rachav (H7338) which means expanse, broad space.
In this correction of Yob (Job 36), Elihu talked about how the LORD disciplines wayward people. So Elihu said the LORD is trying to free Yob from being confined by his wealth, being judgmental of others.
While Elihu was wrong that God would turn a deaf ear to Yob, his illustration of tight places being a bad situation and wide spaces being a good situation shows up again in later writings (2Sam. 22:20; Psa. 4:1; 18:19; 31:8; 118:5). And the LORD in Job 42 harshly chastises Eliphaz and his two friends Bildad and Zophar but not Elihu. (Job, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series, 471)
“From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place.” (Ps. 118:5 NASB)
The Hebrew word here that is translated as distress is מֵצַר meṣar (H4712) which means straits or distress. The Hebrew word that is translated in Ps. 118:5 as “a large place” is מֶרְחָב merḥāb (H4800) which means a “broad place.”
“It is used metaphorically to depict an open, free area; space; free from oppression and enemies (2Sam. 22:20; Ps. 18:19[20]); a blessed situation in life (Ps. 31:8[9]; 118:5).” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, 668-669)
Psalm 118 is a messianic passage that’s part of the Hallel sung during Pesakh (Passover), reminds us that in times when we think the people of God are forgotten and at the mercy of Heaven’s enemies, that’s when LORD answers our cries with the path to freedom.
“And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.” (Psalm 119:45 NASB)
The Hebrew word for liberty is רַחַב rachav (H7338) which means expanse or broad space. It is a paradox that we walk in freedom when we seek God’s law.
Amid Psalm 119’s very long meditation on and exultation of the words of God is this line that parallels others in this psalm that the LORD’s word lights the way where we walk in (i.e., live out) life. It’s where we are to place our hope when scorned (Psa.119:41–44).
The Apostle Ya’akov (James) seems to refer to Psalm 119:45 when he wrote about “the perfect law, the law of liberty” (James 1:25; 2:12).
“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22-25 NASB)
The Greek phrase that is translated in English as “natural face” is πρόσωπον τῆς γενέσεως prosōpon tēs geneseōs which means “Literally, the face of his birth; or nature” (NASB margin note)
When we look at the words of God, we should see ourselves there. Following the instructions of God is the original design for humanity. Comparing our words and actions to the Law shows us our character, how we behave in good times and bad, with other people and alone. What are our fruits? Are they good and full of God’s spirit or are they bad and full of the spirit of the world?
Putting God’s words into action as a part of our character makes us happy in doing God’s instructions.
“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not commit murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:10-13 NASB)
The emphatic message — stumble on one point, and you’re guilty of breaking all of them — underscores that the heart of the people of God should be to want to stumble on none of Heaven’s words.
But if we do stumble, we need to “man up” for our foible or fall (i.e., repent, return) and seek mercy through Heaven’s Advocate, Yeshua the Mashiakh (1John 2:1–2).
And we who are under such mercy, such grace, such favor, should extend the same to those who stumble in their dealings with us, whether real shortcomings or seen through our “fogged glasses.”
Vertical and horizontal relationships are key parts of the Lord’s Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount/Plain.
Next time: A deep dive into the Beatitudes
Summary: Tammy