dont worry man, i truly appreciate your fresh look at things wether theyre right or wrong
Well I appreciate the friendly way you said that but I have some pretty sound reasons for what I'm telling you. I'm big on the beatitudes, I even committed chapter 5 to memory. For a long time that was the first place I went when I got my hands on a commentary. At first I was just puzzled that they said it was in Capernaum. With four accounts its kind of hard to put a scenario together. Here is what I think happened. Jesus goes to the Synagogue in Nazareth, reads the prophecy about the Messiah and says it's fulfilled in their hearing (Luke 4:16-20). Then he is tempted by Satan, it says, in the wilderness. I think that was the mountains of Judea southwest of Jerusalem. It was between the Sharon valley and the dead sea, the area was isolated which is why the Essenes liked it. He had preached across Israel, mostly working miracles and preaching repentance. Like all pious Jews of his days he soon after makes the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They did not follow him to Galilee, they followed him from Galilee.
Jerusalem is in the south, on a mountain called Zion. When Jesus went to Jerusalem, which was once a year, he stayed in Bethany which is just outside Jerusalem near the Mount of Olives. Lazarus, Mary and Martha were probably relatives. There wouldn't be enough room at the Temple or in the city for a gathering like this, the city was very crowded this time of the year. In the time of Ezra they built him a platform from the construction material used to rebuild the walls. According to the book of Ezra there were 40,000 there when he read the Law. So this valley just outside the east gate could serve as a natural amphitheater. The tithes are brought in at this time since it was the end of the harvest. The Temple would have been burning thanksgiving offering, the smell of bread and frankincense would have filled the air. Ezra had read the Law and the priest milled around in the crowd explaining the meaning. Jesus explained the Law in a way no one had heard before, in the same place Ezra had read the Law after the walls were completed.
In John 2:23-25, it says Jesus was in Jerusalem for Passover. Then in chapter 3 he is talking with Nicodemus and then in chapter 4 he is in Samaria. Apparently John skipped the Sermon on the Mount but Matthew dwells on it for three chapters. Jesus ministry had been mostly miracles and preaching repentance leading up to the fall feasts. At Jerusalem he begins an extensive teaching ministry, and when he returns to Capernaum he calls the 12 Apostles and 70 ministers.
That's how I see it, not that it's that important, it just makes sense to me. Jesus was born in the fall, died in the fall, and I think preached his first exposition of the Law in the fall. That would be the perfect time to do it because all pious Jews would be there and the subject was the Law of Moses. The Law is read to the people several times during these feasts, no proscribed time but it was required. So the crowd would have had opportunity to hear the Law and with that fresh in their minds, Jesus does his exposition of the Law in the Kidron Valley just outside the city. I'm aware of the tradition that it was in Galilee:
Within sight are the scenes of many of the events of Jesus’
ministry in Galilee, including the town of
Capernaum 3km away, where he made his home. Just below is Sower’s Cove, where it is believed Jesus taught the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-9) from a boat moored in the bay.
The exact site of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:28) is unknown. Pilgrims
commemorate the event at the eight-sided Church of the Beatitudes, built on the slope of the mount and accessible by a side road branching off the Tiberias-Rosh Pina highway. (
Mount of Beatitudes)
I'm not opposed to the idea and I'm certain scholars have their reasons for thinking that was the site. It's not all that important and I'm not big on contradicting tradition, that's just how I see it. Because the exact site is unknown I think there is a little wiggle room here for an alternative reading of the text.
Grace and peace,
Mark
