Crowds Matthew 5:1

Matthew 5:1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

I have to admit, I don’t like crowds. It got much worse while serving in Iraq. Being in a crowd has never been the same since. I can do it now, but I still don’t like it. Part personality and part gut wrenching reaction.

I have never liked rock concert type crowds. I am more of the symphony type of person. Give me James Galway playing the flute with the Nashville Symphony any day. I could have gone to AC/DC concerts, but I didn’t.

I love to read and pay attention to the small details of the Scriptures. Our text tells us that Jesus saw the crowds and then went up on a mountainside and sat down. Curious! Why go to a mountainside when you know the crowds are going to follow?

If we read the “Sermon on the Mount,” as it is popularly titled, it only takes a few minutes to read through. Jesus didn’t bring the crowds up and sit down to save energy, both his and theirs.

I think the reason is much simpler. Jesus wanted to get away from the distractions that were present when he noticed the crowds. Perhaps, I can imagine, there was some commerce taking place, some selling of fish, some making of bread, the normal routine things of life. Jesus wanted to pull people away in order to give them the opportunity to not only listen to what he had to say, but to truly hear it and respond.

Jesus also sees the crowd. He sees their problems and pains. He sees their struggles and questions. He sees their lives for what they are, filled with the ordinary. So he goes up to the mountainside to create a separation between the ordinary and the miraculous. He sets the stage for life-change.

I think that so often we don’t either expect life-change or want life-change. We don’t want Jesus to draw us away to hear something special. We are content with our lives as they are. If we truly heard Jesus, life would be different, and we are comfortable with the same. Only my guess. Is it close?

But Jesus pulls away from everyday and pulls back the veil that hides reality as it is. In this passage, Jesus gives us a glimpse of the Kingdom, one filled with grace and truth. But this isn’t the only reason to go up to the mountainside.

I think there probably was a very practical reason to go up to the mountainside, an acoustic one. Often sound travels better on a barren hill than in a crowded street. Jesus’ voice could travel much further and be heard more clearly away from the streets and the activities of life.

And this is true of us today. We must be able to pull away from the busyness of life and find a quiet place to hear the Scriptures. I have no desire to go back in time to be present there on that mountainside. There would be nothing then that is better than what I have in the Scriptures. It is the Scriptures that are “God-breathed.” What more could I need?

So pull away today. Find the quiet spot, apart from the mundane of everyday life, and truly hear what Jesus has to say to you today. It will be worth the hike!