Theological Foundations | Part One

Definition question: What is exegesis?

Answer: Exegesis is the theological word used to describe the "observation" stage of studying Scripture.

The basics of good exegesis are asking the who, what, when, where, how, and why of any particular Bible passage. When retrieving a real piece of mail from the mailbox, one is at least supposed to look at the front to gain the same sort of information that exegesis seeks to gain. Starting from the outside of the envelope, who and where a message came from, and to whom it is addressed, is very important.

Before examining the text of Matthew 5:2-12, examining the author, and historical background and context proves very insightful while attempting to understand the passage more deeply.

Photo by Sue Hughes on Unsplash

The Sermon on the Mount. It’s one of the most infamous passages of all Scripture, kicking off the longest recorded sermon that Jesus of Nazareth ever preached. In this paper, we will discuss the author, the sliver of history he inhabited, and the fraught context of a ‘hostile work environment’ which culminates in the most culturally absurd calling Jesus, the man who turned the world upside down, ever made (Carson, 2007).

Author

Levi, also referred to as Matthew (name meaning: the gift of God), lived in Capernaum and was willfully employed by the local Roman government as a tax collector. At this moment in history, the Jewish people were hoping and praying for the conquering of Rome because they were oppressed by Roman occupiers. Jews collaborating with Rome, as Matthew did, were seen as traitors among Jewish people. Tax collectors also had the opportunity to become increasingly rich by gathering taxes beyond what was required of them, thus further exploiting their own tribe for personal gain. Tax collectors were hated by the Jews, disowned by their own families, and shunned from normal social life. (Arnold, 2002) People who felt welcome at Matthew’s house were other tax collectors and sinners, the bottom of social morality, all hanging out together. (NIV, 2011, Mat 9:10) His chosen employment path would often have been lonely, fear-filled, and leave an unsettling feeling of uncleanliness of the soul.

Photo by Gemini

Background

Scholars debate when Matthew would have written, but there is much evidence pointing to a pre-70 AD recording (probably early 40s to mid-60s AD) before the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed (Rydelnik, 2014). By the dawning of 60AD, Christianity in the Roman Empire had tipped to a majority Gentile where previously it had been Jewish weighted (Carson, 2007). Matthew, as one of Jesus’ inner circle of twelve, would have been living in a world where the Jews were increasingly desperate to keep power, openly opposing Jesus and, by association, his followers. Meanwhile, the world in which Matthew likely put the finishing touches on his book was changing rapidly, growing ever more hostile to Christianity and experiencing the growing pains of the people of the Old Covenant merging with the people of the New Covenant (Arnold, 2002).

Context

The context of Matthew 5 begins with a scene change indicated in Matthew 5:1 by the language, “he went upon a mountainside and sat down.” (NIV, 2011, Mat 5:1). A further context can be gained by looking back one paragraph (Fee & Stuart, 2014). There were crowds following Jesus in Matthew 5:1. In Matthew 4 we also read that he’d been all over Galilee. News got to Syria, and people from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan were following him. The stage is set for a massive sermon. Jesus was popular, healing everyone and their cousin of every malady and spiritual affliction. His work transcended all levels of the biopsychosocial-spiritual approach before those terms were even coined. Finally, he opens his mouth, and blessings pour out. 

For the rest of the chapter, Jesus is going to walk through several passages of the Torah and explain not just the mere letter, but also the heart behind the law. He’s going to undo some legal loopholes that the Jews had justified for themselves. He will reveal where the Pharisees had set up restrictions that were not Torah.

Matthew 5:2-12 fits into the rest of the book because the sermon goes on for another two chapters. It also follows a cadence that Matthew used to alternate between Jesus’ teaching and Jesus’ doing. It is consistent with drawing from language that is familiar to Jews. Matthew’s book also fits into scripture as a whole by acting as part of the hinge, along with Malachi, between the Old and New Testaments. A deliberate choice was made in this organization (Mark was the first gospel recorded, but is listed second in the set of four gospels. Matthew spoke a language that Jews would understand, but it was also accessible to Gentiles entering the faith as Christians.

Conclusion

God uses the foolish to shame the wise, so a tax collector writing about the kingdom of God and uniting peoples from Genesis to the church of Jesus, while ironic, makes total sense. We have discussed our unlikely author, tax collector turned apostle, the background of the first century religious and political climate from which Matthew wrote, and finally who it was that Jesus was originally speaking to and from where, because all of these are essential components to understanding the radical nature and loving motivation that underpin this most famous sermon (Carson, 2007).

Photo by Holly Mandarich on Unsplash

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Note: The following document was written in 2025 as part of my coursework in a class called "Theological Foundations for Counseling" at Colorado Christian University in pursuit of a Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master's Degree (CHMC). Brevity was required. There were four parts that all exclusively focus on this small part of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5:2-12.

References

Adamson, D. (2018). 52 Hebrew words every Christian should know - faux leather gift book. Christian Art Gifts.

Arnold, C. E. (2002). Zondervan illustrated Bible backgrounds commentary, volume 1: Matthew, Mark, Luke (ILL ed.). Zondervan Academic.

Carson, D. (2007). Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament (unknown ed.). Baker Academic.

Davis, R. (2016). Untwisting scriptures: That were used to tie you up, gag you, and tangle your mind. Justice Keepers Publishing.

Fee, G. D., & Stuart, D. (2014). How to read the Bible for all its worth: Fourth edition (Fourth ed.). Zondervan Academic.

Grudem, W. A. (2022). Christian beliefs, revised edition: Twenty basics every Christian should know (4th ed.). Zondervan Academic.

Hsieh, N. (2023, November 22). Where did the Bible's chapters come from? [Article]. https://tyndalehouse.com. Retrieved March 8, 2025, from https://tyndalehouse.com/explore/articles/where-did-the-bible-s-chapters-come-from/

NIV Bible. (2011). Zondervan.

Reed, C. J. (2025). Theological Foundations Portfolio [Unpublished manuscript]. Colorado Christian University. https://www.creedcounseling.online/blog

Rydelnik, M. (2014). The Moody Bible commentary (New ed.). Moody Publishers.

Wilkin, J. (2019). Women of the word: How to study the Bible with both our hearts and our minds (second edition) (2nd ed.). Crossway.