The Beatitudes. Who is the intended audience?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
10,467
1,593
113
#21
More nonsense from you. Are you trying to dodge the application of the Beatitudes to yourself?
Who Jesus is speaking to , when , why and what seems to not be a principle most Christians want to engage in . Its like normal reading comprehension flys out the window, when it comes to the Scriptures.
 

Lafftur

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2017
6,741
3,561
113
#22
More nonsense from you. Are you trying to dodge the application of the Beatitudes to yourself?
Nehemiah6?! Be nice. :love:(y)

@throughfaith has the right to believe whatever she/he believes, no need to attack her/him.

Walk in love by speaking the truth in love......:love:(y)
 

cv5

Well-known member
Nov 20, 2018
18,322
7,236
113
#23
The multitudes Jesus addressed were the common people of Hebrew race. The Pharisees and scribes hadn't been alerted to the danger to them that they saw in Christ later, and what drew the crowds to Christ was that He fed and healed them. These people had learned of God in the synagogue, not by reading it themselves and the traditions were taught there more than scripture at that time.

What Jesus taught that crowd was eternal truths for us as well as for the Jews at that mount.
The associated question pertaining to OP:
Were are the "multitudes" even present in the hearing of it or only the disciples?

Matt 7:28-29 is a general statement covering A lot of time and territory.
 

Deuteronomy

Well-known member
Jun 11, 2018
3,212
3,533
113
67
#24
There are no Christians present. There are no born‑again believers present. There are no New Testament writings at this time. The discourse is not addressed to the church; it is not even addressed to apostles, as the “twelve” have not yet been chosen (Matt. 10:1–4).
Matthew 4
18 As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.

22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
 
B

Blackpowderduelist

Guest
#25
Yes but the question remains who is the intended audience? To be specific I'm talking about at the time and place when these words were spoken.
The scripture says he was teaching them. So he was teaching both the crowd and his disciples. I think he was teaching his disciples something that may only be implicit to the text, something a bit different that what he was teaching the crowd, while saying these truths to them. He was teaching them how to preach/teach. So the lesson for both groups is not quite the same, even thought the content of the speech was to both.
 

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
10,467
1,593
113
#26
Matthew 4
18 As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
'Apostles '.
 

Deuteronomy

Well-known member
Jun 11, 2018
3,212
3,533
113
67
#27
Jesus Taught His disciples to follow the law , keep the sabbath , abstain from pork, follow Moses , be circumcised, show themselves to the priests , only to preach to Israel, The gentiles were ' dogs ' . Their righteousness should exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees , sell all , do miracles , heal immediately upon laying on of hands , pick up serpents and be not harmed , if they drank any poisons they would not be harmed ect ..
While it's true that the Lord Jesus was born and that He taught "under the Law", what He taught was FAR more than a simple repetition or extension (and correction) of previous OT teaching. Since no one had kept/can keep the Mosaic Law, it (in reality) served the same primary purpose in the lives of people in 1st Century that it does in our lives today today, to make it clear that we are all lost and without hope in this world, and to drive us to the feet of the Savior in the hope of finding mercy and grace.

Some of what He said/taught was for the people He was ministering to, alone (e.g. "pick up your mat and walk"), but the majority of what He taught us in the Gospels is, in a very real sense, omnitemporal. For instance,


John 3
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3
16 “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

John 5

24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."

~Deut
 

Deuteronomy

Well-known member
Jun 11, 2018
3,212
3,533
113
67
#28
Matthew 4
18 As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
 
Jan 12, 2019
7,497
1,399
113
#29
Luke 6:20
Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:

Matt 5:1
And seeing the multitudes, He (left them?) went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
By spiritualizing what the kingdom of heaven meant in that beatitude passage, many churches think it was directed to them too.
 

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
10,467
1,593
113
#30
While it's true that the Lord Jesus was born and that He taught "under the Law", what He taught was FAR more than a simple repetition or extension (and correction) of previous OT teaching. Since no one had kept/can keep the Mosaic Law, it (in reality) served the same primary purpose in the lives of people in 1st Century that it does in our lives today today, to make it clear that we are all lost and without hope in this world, and to drive us to the feet of the Savior in the hope of finding mercy and grace.

Some of what He said/taught was for the people He was ministering to, alone (e.g. "pick up your mat and walk"), but the majority of what He taught us in the Gospels is, in a very real sense, omnitemporal. For instance,

John 3
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3
16 “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
John 5
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."

~Deut
That's why I say not ALL the bible is TO us but ALL the bible is FOR us . I do see , and I used to do it all the time, and its " Jesus told us , " Jesus taught us , ect This is really clumsy language. Noticing who Jesus is speaking to ,when , why ,what and where is critical to understand the bible .
 

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
10,467
1,593
113
#31
Matthew 4
18 As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
"The 12 " Apostles ( s)
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
24,344
12,870
113
#33
@throughfaith has the right to believe whatever she/he believes, no need to attack her/him.
Yes. He has the right to believe whatever he wants to. But he does not have the right to keep posting unbiblical nonsense over and over again. There may be many searching for the truth, and along comes someone sowing seeds of spiritual confusion.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
24,344
12,870
113
#34
Who Jesus is speaking to , when , why and what seems to not be a principle most Christians want to engage in
Jesus is speaking to you PERSONALLY in the Beatitudes.
 

cv5

Well-known member
Nov 20, 2018
18,322
7,236
113
#36
Jesus is speaking to you PERSONALLY in the Beatitudes.
I have to tell you that I believe that Jesus is speaking TO His disciples (those with ears to hear, the elect) and AT everyone else.

There are those that hear and do.
Those that hear and do not.....YET. But later they repent and do the works.
There are those that hear and do not.....immediately or eventually.
There are those that do not hear because they cannot hear. Ever.

Bear in mind, the seed of the Word will be planted in some of the audience who do not know yet that they are elect and are not yet disciples but they will be inevitably. These are the good soil. The Seed may take a while to germinate and take deep root and spring up to bear fruit. In may be almost immediately, it may be weeks it may be years it may even be decades but it is inevitable.

That's just a rough outline of what I think. By no means intended to be comprehensive.......but you get the idea.
 

Chef

Banned
Apr 7, 2021
36
10
8
#37
Here is some guidin scripture. God already knew who'd follow Jesus and who wouldn't because God already determined that before he even made em according to scripture. The world don't mean everyone on earth cause there was fine folks in China, Mongolia, on islands and Australia and the Americas who ain't never heard the Sermon on the Mount. They didn't have no TV or internet back then. Back then they didn't even know if there was folks all over the world.

John 3:16-19 16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

Had John 3:16 read, God so loved His Children then it would have meant all humans on earth at the time.

The beatitudes mean blessedness. The phrase "blessed are" in each beatitude implies a current state of happiness or well-being. It is important to know the difference between blessed and blessedness.

The question is, what happens to the folks who ain't never heard the beatitudes.

The beatitudes were primarily a pep talk to the disciples.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
24,344
12,870
113
#38
I have to tell you that I believe that Jesus is speaking TO His disciples (those with ears to hear, the elect) and AT everyone else.
And are Christians today not His disciples, and is He not speaking to them personally in those Beatitudes? Every word of Christ is personally directed to His people and not bound by time or circumstance.
 

cv5

Well-known member
Nov 20, 2018
18,322
7,236
113
#39
And are Christians today not His disciples, and is He not speaking to them personally in those Beatitudes? Every word of Christ is personally directed to His people and not bound by time or circumstance.
Oh absolutely those words are directed to disciples today no doubt about it. All disciples throughout the Church age.
 

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
10,467
1,593
113
#40
I have to tell you that I believe that Jesus is speaking TO His disciples (those with ears to hear, the elect) and AT everyone else.

There are those that hear and do.
Those that hear and do not.....YET. But later they repent and do the works.
There are those that hear and do not.....immediately or eventually.
There are those that do not hear because they cannot hear. Ever.

Bear in mind, the seed of the Word will be planted in some of the audience who do not know yet that they are elect and are not yet disciples but they will be inevitably. These are the good soil. The Seed may take a while to germinate and take deep root and spring up to bear fruit. In may be almost immediately, it may be weeks it may be years it may even be decades but it is inevitable.

That's just a rough outline of what I think. By no means intended to be comprehensive.......but you get the idea.
Isn't that kinda Gnostic ?