When Jesus Opened His Mouth
Before the first Beatitude, Matthew showed us who was listening, where Jesus sat and why His first words mattered so much.
At a Glance
- Passage
- Matthew 5:1–2, read together with the verses that lead up to it, from Matthew 4:12 to 4:25
- The big idea
- People from everywhere had been sitting in darkness, and now the light had come among them. Jesus sat down like a teacher, opened His mouth and began to show them how to live under God’s reign, a life we grow into as we change our thinking and do what He says.
- Key words
- μετανοεῖτε metanoeite, “change your mind” καθίσαντος kathisantos, “having sat down” μαθηταί mathētai, “learners, disciples” ἐδίδασκεν edidasken, “he was teaching”
- By the end you will be able to
- tell the story that leads up to the Sermon on the Mount, spot eight figures of speech in these verses and say what each one means, and explain why the teaching Jesus began on the mountain is good news for every person.
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Most people race past these two verses to reach “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” That is a pity, because Matthew packed them with clues. Think of them as the front door of a large house. Before we explore the rooms, we stand on the step for a while and look at the door itself: who is gathering outside, who is about to speak and how he begins.
This study also pays close attention to figures of speech, the special ways the Bible uses words to paint pictures, add weight or make us slow down. Our guide here is E. W. Bullinger, who catalogued more than two hundred of them. You will see a small label on each figure telling you whether Bullinger named it himself in his notes on these verses, or whether we used his rules to find it. Have your Bible open, and try reading the passage in all three versions below.
The Passage
4:12When Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned, He withdrew to Galilee. 13Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
15“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, 16the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”
17From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20And at once they left their nets and followed Him.
21Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.
23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them. 25Large crowds followed Him, having come from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
5:1When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to Him, 2and He began to teach them, saying:
4:12Now when he heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee; 13and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali: 14that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
15The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, Toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, 16The people that sat in darkness Saw a great light, And to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, To them did light spring up.
17From that time began Jesus to preach, and to say, Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
18And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. 19And he saith unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20And they straightway left the nets, and followed him.
21And going on from thence he saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 22And they straightway left the boat and their father, and followed him.
23And Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness among the people. 24And the report of him went forth into all Syria: and they brought unto him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments, possessed with demons, and epileptic, and palsied; and he healed them. 25And there followed him great multitudes from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judæa and from beyond the Jordan.
5:1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him: 2and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
4:12And Jesus having heard that John was delivered up, did withdraw to Galilee, 13and having left Nazareth, having come, he dwelt at Capernaum that is by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtalim, 14that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
15‘Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations! 16the people that is sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those sitting in a region and shadow of death, light arose to them.’
17From that time began Jesus to proclaim and to say, ‘Reform ye, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens.’
18And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon named Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a drag into the sea (for they were fishers), 19and he saith to them, ‘Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men,’ 20and they, immediately, having left the nets, did follow him.
21And having advanced thence, he saw other two brothers, James of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, refitting their nets, and he called them, 22and they, immediately, having left the boat and their father, did follow him.
23And Jesus was going about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the reign, and healing every disease, and every malady among the people, 24and his fame went forth to all Syria, and they brought to him all having ailments, pressed with manifold sicknesses and pains, and demoniacs, and lunatics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25And there followed him many multitudes from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
5:1And having seen the multitudes, he went up to the mount, and he having sat down, his disciples came to him, 2and having opened his mouth, he was teaching them, saying:
Setting the Scene
A good detective reads the whole room before picking up a single clue, and a good Bible student does the same. So before we look closely at Matthew 5:1–2, we will walk through the fourteen verses that come just before them, because Matthew wrote them as one connected story.
It began with sad news. John the Baptist had been handed over to the authorities, and Jesus moved north to Galilee (4:12). He left His home town of Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, a busy fishing town on the edge of a large lake called the Sea of Galilee (4:13). Matthew saw something important in that move. Seven hundred years earlier, Isaiah had spoken about this very area, the old tribal lands of Zebulun and Naphtali, and had called it “Galilee of the Gentiles” (4:15; Isaiah 9:1). Many non-Jewish families lived there alongside Jewish ones, and people in Jerusalem tended to look down on the region. Yet Isaiah had promised that a great light would shine on exactly these people (4:16; Isaiah 9:2).
Then Jesus began to preach one short message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (4:17). He walked along the shore and invited four fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James and John, to come after Him, and they left their nets and their boat straight away (4:18–22). After that, Matthew gave us a quick summary of Jesus’ work. He went all over Galilee teaching, preaching and healing, the news about Him travelled far and wide, and enormous crowds came to Him from every direction (4:23–25).
That is where our two verses begin. Matthew 5:1 opens with Jesus seeing those crowds. Matthew 7:28–29 closes the same scene by telling us that the crowds were amazed at His teaching. So Matthew 5:1–2 is the opening frame of a picture, and 7:28–29 is the closing frame, with the greatest sermon ever preached in between.
Word by Word
Matthew wrote in Greek, the everyday language shared by many peoples around the Mediterranean at the time. Here are six words and phrases worth slowing down for. In each case we let the sentence speak first, then Matthew’s own book, and then the rest of the Bible.
The usual English word is “repent”, and Young’s version says “reform ye”. The Greek word joins two ideas: “after” and “to think”. It describes a change in the way a person thinks, which then turns the whole direction of their life. Abbott-Smith’s Greek lexicon gives its basic meaning as changing one’s mind or purpose. In this study we picture it as turning our thinking round to face God, who has always been facing us.
This is the same word Matthew had just used for the “large crowds” who came from five different regions (4:25). So when Jesus “saw the crowds”, Matthew wants us to picture that mixed gathering of Jewish and Gentile people from near and far.
Matthew wrote “the mountain”, as though his readers already knew which one. Bullinger noted that it was well known and therefore left unnamed. These same four Greek words appear in the old Greek translation of Exodus 19:3, where Moses climbed Mount Sinai to receive God’s words for the people. Readers who knew their Bibles would have heard that echo.
In those days a teacher sat to teach while the listeners stood or sat around him. Bullinger called it the usual posture of a teacher in that part of the world. Matthew showed Jesus sitting to teach several times: by the lake (13:1–2), on the Mount of Olives (24:3) and every day in the temple courts (26:55).
The word comes from the Greek verb μανθάνω (manthanō, “to learn”). A disciple is simply a learner who stays close to a teacher. At this point Matthew had named only four of them (4:18–22), and they “came to Him”, which means they moved in close to listen.
Greek has a special form of the verb for an action that goes on and on, and Matthew used it here. Young’s version catches it well: “he was teaching them.” Picture a long, unhurried lesson, with Jesus explaining one thing after another, rather than a single quick announcement.
Figures of Speech in the Passage
A figure of speech is a deliberate way of using words that steps outside their plain, everyday meaning so that a truth stands out more clearly or sticks in the memory. We do the same in daily life. When someone says, “The whole school came to the concert,” we understand that a great many people came, even if a few stayed at home.
Bullinger taught one golden rule. Read the words just as they stand whenever that makes sense. Look for a figure only when the plain meaning would clash with known facts, with what we experience, or with the clear teaching of the rest of the Bible, especially what the Bible shows us about God’s nature. Every figure below passed that test, and the last card shows the rule working the other way.
Named by Bullinger means he labelled the figure himself in his notes on that verse in The Companion Bible. Bullinger’s rule applied means we found it by using his rule and his names for figures, while his notes on that verse point to other things.
The Greek reads ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου (en chōra kai skia thanatou, “in a region and shadow of death”). Two nouns joined by “and” describe one thing, and the second noun strengthens the first. Bullinger explained it as “darkness, [yea] the dark shadow of death”, in other words a land covered by death’s darkness. Isaiah meant a people who lived without the light of knowing God’s ways, where life felt dim and hopeless.
The sun rose over Galilee every morning, so the plain meaning would clash with known facts. Darkness pictures the confusion of living without God’s truth, and light pictures Jesus and His teaching. Matthew left the comparison unspoken and let the picture do the work. God’s light had always been shining, just as the sun shines on whether we face it or turn away. What changed in Galilee was that people could now see it clearly, because the Light Himself was walking their streets and speaking in their synagogues (John 8:12).
Here the word “heaven” stands for God Himself. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom would return once he admitted that “Heaven rules” (Daniel 4:26), and the son in Jesus’ story said, “I have sinned against heaven” (Luke 15:18). So “the kingdom of heaven” means the reign of God. Young’s version even says “the reign of the heavens”. It describes God’s rule shaping life here on earth, which is why Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (6:10).
Jesus took a picture from the fishermen’s daily work and gave it a far bigger meaning. Peter and Andrew already knew how to fish. Jesus said, in effect, “The patience, skill and hard work you use on the lake, I will turn towards people.” Bullinger pointed out that Jewish teachers used a similar saying. Notice who does the making: “I will make you.” The fishermen came after Jesus, and He shaped them as they walked with Him.
The Greek says πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν (pasan noson kai pasan malakian, “every disease and every sickness”). Bullinger explained that it means every kind of illness, which is how the ASV puts it: “all manner of disease and all manner of sickness.” The phrase “all Galilee” in the same verse works the same way. Whatever kind of trouble people carried, they found Jesus able and willing to heal it.
The Greek word is ἀκοή (akoē, “hearing”). Matthew literally wrote that “His hearing went out into all Syria.” The act of hearing stands for the news that people heard and passed on. Keep this one in mind, because verse 2 of chapter 5 uses a matching figure about speaking. The news went out because people heard, and the crowds gathered so that they could hear for themselves.
Matthew repeated καί (kai, “and”) four times. Read the verse in the ASV or YLT and you will hear it, while the BSB uses commas instead. Each “and” makes us stop and look at one more region. Galilee was mixed, the Decapolis was a group of ten mostly Greek towns, Jerusalem and Judea were the Jewish heartland, and “beyond the Jordan” lay to the east. The repeated word says: look how many different kinds of people came. The welcome of Jesus reached all of them alike.
The Greek is ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ (anoixas to stoma autou, “having opened His mouth”). Of course every speaker opens his mouth, so the words are doing a special job. Opening the mouth is the thing that goes with speaking, and so it stands for speaking itself. Bullinger called it a Hebrew idiom and pointed to Job 3:1, Daniel 10:16 and Acts 8:35. It always marks a solemn beginning, a moment when someone is about to say something weighty and carefully thought through.
Climbing a hill and sitting down are ordinary things that people really do, so Bullinger’s rule tells us to read these words just as they stand. Jesus really climbed a hillside near the lake, and He really sat down to teach. Spotting where figures are absent is just as important as spotting where they are present.
What Matthew Wanted Us to See
Light for People Who Sat in the Dark
Look closely at a small word in 4:16. The people were καθήμενος (kathēmenos, “sitting”) in darkness. Then, in 5:1, Jesus was καθίσαντος (kathisantos, “having sat down”) on the mountain. The two words come from the same family. People had been sitting in the dark for a long time, and now the Teacher sat down among them to bring them light.
God had never stopped shining. He never changes (Malachi 3:6), and His goodness has always been there for every person. Galilee’s darkness was the darkness of minds that had lost sight of His ways. When Jesus arrived and began to teach, people saw clearly what had been true all along, and that is why Matthew could say that light “dawned” on them.
God had never stopped shining. In Galilee, people began to see Him clearly.The heart of Matthew 4:16
Turn Your Thinking Round, Because God’s Reign Is Within Reach
The first message Jesus preached was μετανοεῖτε (metanoeite, “change your mind”), “for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” The Greek ἤγγικεν (ēngiken, “has come near”) describes something that has already arrived close by and stays there. The reign of God had come within arm’s reach, because the King was standing on the shore speaking to people.
So the change Jesus asked for was a change on our side. Picture someone walking away from the sun. They feel cold on their face and see their own shadow stretching out in front of them. The moment they turn round, warmth and light fill their face, while the sun has stayed exactly where it always was. To repent is to turn our thinking round towards God, and as we do, we begin to experience His goodness, His peace and His rule in our everyday lives.
The Teacher Sat Down
Matthew wanted his readers to think of Moses. Moses went up the mountain and came down with God’s words for the people (Exodus 19:3). Now Jesus went up the mountain and sat down to teach, and before the sermon was over He would say six times, “You have heard that it was said … but I tell you” (5:21–44). No wonder the crowds were amazed that He taught with authority (7:28–29).
Notice also who heard Him. His disciples came close, and He taught them, yet the crowds were listening as well, because at the end Matthew tells us they were astonished (7:28). The learners sat nearest, and everyone else was welcome to listen. Being a disciple was open to any person who wanted to come closer and learn.
What Jesus taught on that mountain is the good news itself. Think of His death and resurrection as the key that unlocks the door of a house, and His teaching as the house we actually live in. A key matters enormously, yet nobody lives in a key. The Sermon on the Mount shows us the rooms of the house: the kind of people God made us to be and the kind of life that grows when His reign shapes us here on earth.
When Jesus Opened His Mouth
The figure in 5:2 tells us to lean in, because something weighty was coming. The same figure appears in a famous moment in Acts. Peter, a Jewish fisherman, had just walked into the house of a Roman soldier, and he “opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34, ASV). Peter had learned something new. God had stayed the same, and Peter’s understanding had grown.
That truth was already visible in Matthew 4. Jesus made His home in “Galilee of the Gentiles”, His fame spread across Syria, and crowds came from Jewish towns and Greek towns alike. They all heard one Teacher with one message. The same words were offered to everyone on that hillside, and the only difference between people was whether they listened and put them into practice.
Finally, remember that ἐδίδασκεν (edidasken, “He was teaching”) describes an ongoing action. Jesus kept on teaching that day, and His teaching has kept on going ever since. At the end of Matthew, He sent His followers to all nations, “teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you” (28:20). The lesson that began on the mountain is still being taught, and we are invited to sit among the learners.
Living It Out This Week
Sit Down and Listen
Find a quiet ten minutes on three days this week. Read Matthew 5:3–12 slowly, as though you were sitting on that hillside. Write down one sentence that Jesus seems to be saying straight to you.
Turn One Thought Round
Notice one thought that keeps pulling you away from Jesus’ way, such as “I have to get even” or “Nobody cares about me.” Each time it comes, turn it round with something true from His teaching, and see how your day changes.
Widen the Circle
The crowd on the mountain came from every kind of place. This week, sit with, speak to or help someone who is different from you, perhaps someone new at school, work or church. Treat them exactly as Jesus treated the crowds.
Questions for Reflection or Groups
Tick each question when you have talked about it. If you are in a group, two or three questions are usually enough for one meeting.
Observe
Understand
Apply
A Prayer of Thanks
Lord Jesus, thank You for being the Light that dawned on people sitting in darkness, and thank You that Your light has always been shining for us too. Thank You for sitting down to teach ordinary people from every town and background, and for opening Your mouth to speak words that give us life. Today we turn our thinking towards You. Thank You that Your reign is within our reach, and that as we listen to You and do what You say, we grow into the people You made us to be. Amen.
Summing Up
Matthew built a careful doorway into the Sermon on the Mount. In chapter 4 Jesus settled in Galilee of the Gentiles, where people had long sat in death’s dark shadow, and the light of His teaching dawned on them. He called everyone to change their thinking because God’s reign had come within reach, He invited fishermen to become fishers of people, and His healing work drew crowds from Jewish and Greek towns alike. Then He went up the mountain as Moses once had, sat down like a teacher and opened His mouth to begin a long and weighty lesson. Its figures of speech, from the hendiadys of 4:16 to the Hebrew idiom of 5:2, all point the same way: what follows deserves our full attention, and it is offered to every person who will come close, listen and put it into practice.
Passages to Read Alongside
References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1922). A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. Entry for μετανοέω (metanoeō, “to change one’s mind”).
- Bullinger, E. W. (1898). Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, Explained and Illustrated. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. Introduction (the rule for reading literally), and the entries for Hendiadys, Hypocatastasis, Metonymy, Metaphor, Synecdoche and Polysyndeton.
- Bullinger, E. W. (ed.) (1909–1922). The Companion Bible. London: Oxford University Press. Notes on Matthew 4:16, 4:19, 4:23–25 and 5:1–2, and Appendix 6. This study uses Bullinger’s work on figures of speech only; its teaching follows the foundational principles of the Promise Ave Bible Study series.
- Rahlfs, A. (ed.) (1935). Septuaginta. Stuttgart: Württembergische Bibelanstalt. Exodus 19:3.
- STEPBible (Tyndale House, Cambridge). Tagged Greek New Testament, Matthew 4:12–5:2; Acts 10:34. Available at stepbible.org.
- Strong, J. (1890). The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Greek G189, G455, G1321, G2523, G3101, G3340, G3735, G3793, G4750.
- Bible versions: Berean Standard Bible; American Standard Version (1901); Young’s Literal Translation (1898).