Mountains are powerful symbols in the Gospel of Matthew, representing the intersection of heaven and earth. The discussion highlights seven significant mountain scenes where Jesus engages in prayer, teaching, and miracles. Key themes include spiritual ascent, divine authority, and the transformative nature of Jesus' ministry. The podcast explores moments like the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus' temptations, emphasizing trust and surrender. It culminates with reflections on discipleship, the importance of baptism, and the mission to spread the message of radical love.
Mountains in the Bible symbolize the intersection of heaven and earth, where choosing trust in God over self-reliance is essential.
The Gospel of Matthew highlights seven mountain scenes that reveal Jesus as the faithful intercessor, emphasizing divine authority and the mission of spreading blessings.
Deep dives
The Cosmic Mountain Theme
Mountains in the Bible symbolize the connection between heaven and earth, serving as places where God's presence and blessings can be experienced. The concept of the cosmic mountain invites humans to ascend and share divine wisdom and abundance with the world. This journey involves a critical choice between trusting God's wisdom and relying on one's understanding, often leading to failure among humans. The need for a successful ascender emerges, setting the stage for Jesus, who embodies this cosmic connection throughout his ministry.
Seven Mountain Scenes in Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew highlights seven significant mountain scenes that illustrate Jesus' mission and identity. These scenes include moments of testing, teaching, feeding, transformation, prophecy, and commission, each revealing different aspects of Jesus' role as the embodiment of heaven's authority on earth. For instance, the Sermon on the Mount is a poignant teaching where Jesus lays out the principles of divine living and the calling of his followers. The feeding of the 4,000 emphasizes the extension of God's blessings beyond Israel to the Gentiles, marking a pivotal moment in the narrative.
The Transformative Experience of the Transfiguration
The Transfiguration represents a pivotal moment where Jesus' divine identity is revealed in full splendor, drawing parallels to Moses' encounter with God on Mount Sinai. During this event, Jesus shines with divine glory, showcasing his intimate connection with the Father and aligning him with the prophetic figures of Moses and Elijah. This moment reinforces the theme that true ascension and transformation require surrender and self-sacrifice, as Jesus prepares his followers for the trials ahead. It conveys that the pathway to genuine life involves embracing the process of dying to self in order to receive divine life.
Commissioning the Disciples to Spread Blessings
Following his resurrection, Jesus commissions his disciples to make disciples of all nations, encapsulating his mission of spreading God's blessing. This commission is marked by the instruction to baptize and teach, promoting a way of life rooted in the instruction given during the Sermon on the Mount. It emphasizes that living in alignment with God's teachings is essential for followers to truly manifest the kingdom of heaven on earth. The closing assurance of Jesus' continual presence signifies that the empowering divine connection remains with his followers as they embark on this transformative journey.
The Mountain E11 — We’ve learned that mountains in the Hebrew Bible often become a space where Heaven and Earth overlap and human beings must choose between self-preservation or surrender and trust in God. The story builds our hope and expectation for a faithful intercessor on the mountain who can mediate God’s blessings to the people below. As we turn to the New Testament, gospel writer Matthew is ready to spotlight who that faithful mountaintop intercessor is. In this episode, Jon and Tim walk through seven stories in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus prays, teaches, does miracles, and more—all on mountains.
You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.
Show Music
“Dreams Come True” by Drips Zacheer
“Moonlite” by Nokiaa & Deauxnuts
“Go Slow” by little blue
BibleProject theme song by TENTS
Show Credits
Production of today's episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey is our supervising engineer. Aaron Olsen edited today’s episode and also provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty does our show notes, and Hannah Woo provides the annotations for our app. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie.
Powered and distributed by Simplecast.
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode