You Have Heard It Said

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

 

You have heard it said that the only "teachings of Jesus" that really count as "teachings" are those which took place in certain settings and under certain circumstances.  This being when Jesus  was "preaching a sermon".  Which leaves us with the obvious problem of how to treat the majority of what Jesus was recorded as saying.   

So, when we look at the beginning of the SOTM we are immediately confronted with the picture of Jesus teaching His disciples.   It seems likely that this was more than the 12, but less than a huge crowd.  As Jesus has a practice of retreating from the crowds, it seems possible (even likely) that Jesus was focused on His disciples, and not on the crowds.  It seems unlikely that Jesus sat down to teach the crowds, although possible.   

While this snapshot in interesting, and instructive, I raises a bigger question about Jesus' methods.  Jesus was incarnate for a limited period of time in a specific geographic location surrounded by a specific ethnic/religious group which He targeted.   Yet, it is clear that His goal and charge was to  spread The Gospel to the entire world.   

So, without minimizing the importance of Jesus' recorded words, what it His whole purpose was to pout His teachings into His disciples so that they were the ones who in Matthew 28:16-20 were actually commissioned to  spread The Gospel beyond Israel?   What if the important stuff happened when it was Just Jesus and His disciples?  What if the public stuff was not the most important part of Jesus' ministry?   Obviously, it was all important and part of a much larger narrative, but what if a significant part of Jesus' plan was about pouring into, teaching, and equipping those closest to Him because He knew that the worldwide spread of The Gospel was dependent upon the Holy Spirit working through His closest disciples?   

Oh, and what if Jesus giving a sermon on a mountain was a direct reflection of Moses on Sinai?