{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Ep 129 \u2013\u00a0Matthew 5:1 ","description":"This first episode is entitled, \u201cRadical and Revolutionary\u201d and is intended to serve as an introduction that looks at the setting and circumstances surrounding Jesus\u2019 message. One of the problems we face as 21st-Century Christians is that we have a habit of reading the Bible with a post-cross, this-side-of-the-resurrection perspective. It\u2019s only natural, because that\u2019s our historical point of view. But when reading the Scriptures, we need to always keep in mind who is speaking or writing and the exact nature of the original audience. Who were they? What were their circumstances? How would they have received what was being said or stated? This is particularly important when it comes to the Sermon on the Mount, because the original audience was predominantly Jews and, because Jesus had not yet died and rose again, none of the people in His hearing were yet believers. According to the text, there were only four disciples in the crowd that day. Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John. And they had just begun to follow Jesus. At that time, early on in Jesus\u2019 ministry, they had no idea who He was, other than a rabbi whom they had decided to follow. So when we read this account in Matthew, it is essential that we try to \u201cget in the sandals\u201d of those in Jesus\u2019 audience that day. We need to listen to His words with their ears and from their perspective. And if we do, it will make this passage come alive. It truly contains Christ\u2019s counter-culture call. It was radical and revolutionary. And still is.   ","author_name":"Devotionary Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/devotionary.libsyn.com\/podcast","html":"