A Kingdom Like No Other
Jeffery Anselmi / General Adult
The World of Jesus / Kingdom / Matthew 5:1–20
Jesus has come to fulfill the law, not do away with it. However, the focus shifts to Jesus’s way of fulfilling the law, rather than Moses’s.
INTRODUCTION
• Today we begin a new series called The World of Jesus—Understanding the Context of His Life, Ministry, and Teaching.
• Jesus did not carry out his work and ministry in a vacuum, devoid of any external impact or influence.
• Rather, we can best understand Jesus’s work when we understand the culture in which he lived.
• This series will look at some of the underlying challenges Jesus faced within his culture.
• Along the way, we will see the importance of what he accomplished at the cross and how it still applies to us today.
• Every kingdom has a way of defining who matters, what power looks like, and how people are supposed to live.
• In the world of Jesus, Rome ruled with strength, fear, and force.
• Religious leaders ruled with rules, boundaries, and expectations.
• And then Jesus steps onto a mountain—not into a palace—and begins describing a kingdom that looks nothing like either one.
• If someone watched your life for a week, what kingdom would they think you belong to?
• What shapes your values?
• What defines success for you?
• What tells you whether you’re doing well or falling behind?
• Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount by making something clear: following Him doesn’t just add a few spiritual habits to your life—it places you under an entirely different reign.
• In Matthew 5, Jesus invites us to see the world differently, live differently, and belong to a kingdom like no other.
• Jesus invites us into a kingdom like no other—a kingdom that changes lives as we are connected to Him and sent to reflect God’s reign.
• “Today we’re seeing how Jesus announces a kingdom like no other…”
• Let’s begin with Matthew 5:1-12, the Beatitudes.
Matthew 5:1–12 NET 2nd ed.
1 When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. After he sat down his disciples came to him.
2 Then he began to teach them by saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
11 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.
SERMON
MAIN POINT 1 SLIDE
I. A Kingdom That Redefines Blessing
Verses 1-2 set the scene for this famous sermon.
• Jesus sees the crowds, goes up on the mountain, and sits down—the posture of an authoritative teacher.
• This moment echoes Moses on Mount Sinai, but with a crucial difference:
• Moses delivered the Law.
• Jesus interprets life in the kingdom.
• His audience is made up of ordinary people—poor, burdened, overlooked—living under Roman rule and religious pressure.
• Jesus opens His ministry like a new Moses—on a mountain—but instead of giving commands first, He gives identity.
• The values Jesus shared with the assembled crowd seemed strange and contradicted the expectations of his listeners.
• Jesus entered a culture that valued power, status, and success.
• This sounds amazingly like today.
• In Jesus’ kingdom, blessing is not based on power, status, or success—but on dependence, faithfulness, and trust in God.
• The poor in spirit are blessed—not the spiritually confident.
• The meek inherit—not the strong.
• The persecuted belong—not the protected.
• Some blessings Jesus spoke of are present realities (“theirs is the kingdom”), while others are future promises (“they will be comforted”).
• We have to keep in mind that Jesus is speaking to people shaped by Roman oppression and religious legalism.
• He announces that God’s favor is not earned through dominance or rule-keeping but received through humble trust in Him.
As we move to verses 3-10, Jesus redefines what it means to be blessed.
• Each Beatitude confronts the assumptions of Jesus’ culture—and ours.
• “Blessed are the poor in spirit”—not the spiritually confident, but those who know they need God.
• “Blessed are those who mourn.” Those who grieve sin, brokenness, and injustice—not those who deny it.
• “Blessed are the meek”—not the powerful, but those who trust God with their strength.
• “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”—not the self-satisfied, but those who long for God to make things right.
Cultural Contrast:
• Rome said blessings came through power.
• Religious leaders said blessing came through rule-keeping.
• Jesus says blessing comes through humble dependence on God.
• In the kingdom of God, blessing is not about what you bring to God—it’s about realizing what you lack without Him.
• In verses 10-12, Jesus speaks on the subject of persecution.
• Jesus ends the Beatitudes by naming a harsh truth: those who live by this kingdom will often be misunderstood, opposed, or rejected.
• But persecution is not a sign of failure—it’s confirmation of allegiance.
• If the kingdom looks different, it will also be treated differently.
• Jesus redefines blessing—not as comfort or control, but as life lived in right relationship with God.
• “This is how the kingdom changes lives…”
• And if this is who the kingdom blesses, then Jesus immediately answers the next question:
• What are these people—these blessed ones—meant to do in the world?
• Let’s look at verses 13-16.
Matthew 5:13–16 NET 2nd ed.
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people!
14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.
MAIN POINT 2 SLIDE
II. A Kingdom That Reorients Our Purpose
• Jesus moves quickly—and intentionally—from who His followers are to what they are for.
• After describing the “blessed” life, Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth, not you should be or try to become—you are.
• It is intriguing that Jesus begins by telling His followers that they are salt.
• We do not give salt much thought today unless we have blood pressure problems.
• Salt was vital to life in the first century because it had two primary functions.
In the ancient world, salt was a primary way to slow decay and keep food from rotting.
• Jesus is saying His followers are meant to slow the moral and spiritual decay around them by the way they live, love, and obey Him, not by withdrawing from culture but by remaining in it as a preserving presence
• In a world where everything seems to be spoiling—relationships, truth, integrity—Jesus looks at His people and says, ‘You are what keeps this from rotting faster.’
Salt was used for flavoring.
• Salt also made otherwise bland or bitter food enjoyable.?
• Can you imagine eating some foods without salt?
• The lack of salt would make eating the food a bad experience.
• In the same way, the presence of Jesus’s people is meant to bring out the goodness of God’s world—joy, justice, mercy, kindness—so that people can taste something of God’s kingdom in ordinary life.
• Jesus warns, “If salt loses its saltiness, it is no longer good for anything.”
• Salt only works when it remains distinct. If it becomes diluted or contaminated, it loses its value.
• Salt reminds us that the kingdom doesn’t lose influence when it’s different—it loses influence when it’s indistinguishable.
• When we are the same as the world, we bring nothing to the world.
• By being distinctive and different from the world we seek to influence, salt helps us understand our purpose.
• Adding salt to salt makes things taste worse.
We are called to be the light of the world.
• Verses 14-15 show us we are to be visible with intention.
• Jesus now changes metaphors but keeps the same point.
• “You are the light of the world.”
• A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
• A lamp is meant to be placed where it gives light, not covered for safety or convenience.
• Understanding the culture of the time Jesus taught helps us.
• The readers understood what He was saying.
• Rome built cities on hills not only for defensive reasons, but also so that people could see them from a distance.
• These cities were built on hills as visible markers of power and presence.
• Jesus claims that role for His people—not Rome.
• The kingdom is not advanced through secrecy, silence, or isolation.
• Jesus goes deeper for us, explaining the goal of being a light.
• Look at verse 16 with me again.
Matthew 5:16 NET 2nd ed.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.
• Our goal is not self-promotion; it is about directing people to God!
• The goal of kingdom living is not attention—it’s direction.
The kingdom reorients our purpose—from personal spirituality to visible witness.
• But if our lives are meant to be seen, then the question becomes deeper: What kind of righteousness shapes a life that truly reflects the kingdom?
Matthew 5:17–20 NET 2nd ed.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.
18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place.
19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!
MAIN POINT 3 SLIDE
III. A Kingdom That Reshapes Righteousness
• Jesus fulfills the Law three ways.
• He perfectly obeys it: Tempted yet sinless, living the holy life we couldn’t.
• He bears its curse for us: at the cross, He becomes sin so our sins are forgiven, meeting the Law’s demand for justice.
• He provides endless redemption: His once-for-all sacrifice still cleanses today, unlike temporary Levitical offerings.
• Jesus stresses that in His kingdom, righteousness is not achieved by rule-keeping but received through Christ and lived out from a transformed heart.
• Jesus knows what people are already thinking, and He addressed it by telling folks He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them.
• Jesus is not rejecting Israel’s story.
• He is not dismantling God’s law.
• He is bringing God’s plan to its intended completion.
• Fulfillment refers to the act of completing, reaching a goal, and fully embodying something.
• Jesus didn’t come to erase God’s law—He came to embody it.
• In verse 18, Jesus affirms the authority of the law.
• He also shares that the Law reveals the holy character of God.
• Humanity’s problem is not the weakness of the Law; rather, it is our own weakness.
• The Law shows us what righteousness looks like, but it cannot make us righteous.
In verses 19-20, Jesus delivers a statement that shocked the audience.
• “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
• In the cultural context, to Jesus’s first-century audience—under Roman occupation and Pharisee scrutiny—this was explosive.
• The Pharisees mastered external obedience (tithing mint and cumin, long robes for show), but Jesus says their righteousness is not enough; it must go deeper, to the heart.
• He’s not starting from scratch; He’s the true Moses, bringing the Law to its intended goal in a new covenant with new expectations.
• The scribes and Pharisees knew the law, taught it, and obeyed it outwardly, but Jesus said that was not enough!
• Pharisee righteousness asks, ‘How close to the line can I get?’ Kingdom righteousness asks, ‘How much like Jesus can I become?’
• We don’t enter the kingdom because we are righteous; we enter the kingdom because He is.
• A righteousness that goes beyond the religious leaders is one that is not based on pride because of external compliance, religious performance, or comparing ourselves with others.
• The righteousness that Jesus calls for involves a transformed heart, which results in a life reshaped by God’s grace and obedience that flows from love.
• Grace does not remove obedience—it redefines it.
• Jesus reshapes righteousness, not by lowering God's standard, but by meeting it Himself and transforming us from within.
CONCLUSION
CLOSING SLIDE
Living in A Kingdom Like No Other
• “The kingdom Jesus brings still changes lives by connecting people with Christ.”
• This is why the kingdom Jesus announces is like no other:
• It blesses the humble.
• It sends the visible.
• And it saves the broken through the cross.
