To be a Rabbi means you have students, and when we start Matthew 5, we see that Jesus has more than a few, he has a multitude who followed him.   People where amazed by this Jesus character who had done amazing things and said some things that were radical.  They like a few close friends had followed him to this hill waiting to see what would happen next.

“And seeing the multitude, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:” Matt 5:1

Jesus at this point was not teaching the multitude, but the focus here is he is teaching the disciples, those who he called and were his direct students.   I often thought that Jesus was sitting in a multitude, but that’s not true, he drew himself away and went into a mountain and his disciples followed him.

The question I’m asking myself about this one verse, am I part of the multitude, that mass of humanity trying to find the next big thing?  Am I looking for a new Idol to fill my heart?  Or am I one of the few, the disciples, the ones Jesus personally called to and said “Come and follow me.”

So many people who live in the world today think they are Christians because they know about Jesus, but the question is do they “Know” Jesus!   Do they take the time to sit down with Jesus and really get to know who he is.   Do they want to take a quest, and read every word and know it, like it’s a love letter to a dear lover.  To know Christ, means to put Him above all else, to die to this fallen world, to die to self, and put on Christ.

To know Christ, first means to follow, but more it means to have an intimate relationship with him, to desire to know His every thought, and to want to please Him and gain his love and respect.  But I can’t begin to know Christ, until I know his word in my heart.

Picture by Jason Betz