Play

King of the Mountain

Brian Messerli
05/04/25 - Lord’s Supper Service

Psalm 48:1-2 [This week, we covered Psalms 47-48 in our Daily Bible Reading, and I made the recording for Psalm 48 longer than the others because it encapsulates the ultimate plan of God in the gospel; it’s this incredibly grand prophecy which pictures God after He has made Himself King over all that nations, reigning from His holy mountain over the whole world] - In order to fully appreciate the significance of what’s going on here, it helps to appreciate the theme of the mountain in Scripture, and I’m grateful for Tim Mackie’s work at the Bible Project for helping me see this.

It starts in the beginning in the Garden of Eden, which was located on a mountain with a river flowing down from the garden to water the land below.  In the ancient world, mountains were viewed as the dwelling places of the gods.  It was the place where heaven and earth overlapped, and I realize we’re from Florida so this may not resonate, but if you’ve ever had the chance to climb a mountain, it makes sense why the ancients would think that.  When you’re high up on a mountain, you’re still connected to the earth with your feet on the ground, but there’s something transcendent about it, the air is crisp and clean, it’s so quiet, everyone and everything down on the ground is tiny, and it feels like you’re risen above the earth in some way.

So in Scripture, mountains were a common meeting place between God and man.  It starts in the mountaintop garden of Eden, then God meets with Moses on Mt. Sinai, and the temple was built on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.  But why was it so important for God to meet people on mountains?

Because the Bible story starts with God reigning as King on a mountain, and His plan was to use Adam and Eve as co-rulers with Him to be conduits through whom the God’s blessings would flow out of Eden to the rest of the world.  They were meant to cultivate the land, to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with God’s goodness and righteousness.  But the problem is, Adam and Eve sinned and were exiled from God’s mountain, cut off from His presence.  And throughout the rest of Scripture, God tries to use other people to take Adam and Eve’s place to be the one through whom blessings would flow out from His mountain to the nations, but the problem is they were all flawed and sinful.  There are a lot of Bible characters who experience times of testing on mountains, and while they may pass some of the tests, they eventually sin.  Noah built an altar to God on Mount Ararat which was great, but then he got drunk.  Abraham offered Isaac on a mountain which was great, but he also lied about his wife a couple times and used Hagar instead of trusting in God.  Moses interceded for Israel on Mt. Sinai which was great, but then he got frustrated with the people and struck the rock instead of speaking to it.  Elijah showed great faith in God on Mt. Carmel against the prophets of Baal, but then he ran away in fear and self-pity.

Psalm 24:3-4 - This is the question at the heart of Scripture.  Who is worthy to ascend God’s mountain and be the conduit through whom the world is blessed?  And the answer we find throughout the whole Old Testament is no one!  BUT…

Psalm 24:7-10 - There’s only ONE person worthy to ascend God’s mountain and bless the world — and that’s the Lord Himself, the King of Glory.

And when we come to the New Testament, we find that Jesus is that King.  Jesus is the King of the Mountain who not only gains access to the mountain Himself, but opens up access to God’s mountain for US.  He blesses us with clean hands and pure hearts so we can ascend back up to God’s presence on His holy mountain, and be a blessing to the world the way Adam and Eve were originally meant to be.  And one of the ways the New Testament makes this point is that in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is shown standing on 7 mountains, and every time He’s on a mountain in Matthew, He proves Himself worthy to be the King of the Mountain.

But before we look at those 7 mountains, we need to see one more prophecy about God’s mountain in…

Isaiah 2:2-4 [Isaiah is prophesying 700 years before Christ came, and listen to the way He describes God’s mountain] - It’s pictured as the highest mountain in the world because there is no one greater than God, many nations or Gentiles will stream up to this mountain to receive blessings from God, God’s teaching will go forth from this mountain, and many people who used to be at war will be at peace and work together.

With all that background in mind, let’s look at the 7 mountains in Matthew.

Mountain 1:  A Place of Testing

• Matthew 4:8-10 - This replicates the temptation of Adam and Eve, because they were so supposed to be co-rulers with God over the world, yet Satan tempted them to think they could be rulers without God.  They didn’t need God, they could be like God themselves!  And Jesus succeeds where they failed!  He knows it’s God’s intention for Him to rule over the earth as King, but not by selfishness and dominance through power which is Satan’s way, but rather through love and self-sacrifice on the cross.  So Jesus proves Himself worthy as King of the Mountain because He’s a king willing to rule God’s way according to God’s image!

Mountain 2:  A Place of Teaching

• Matthew 5:1-2 - The next 3 chapters are called the Sermon on the Mount.  Just like Isaiah’s vision, God’s mountain has become a place out of which His teaching flows!  And Jesus proves Himself worthy as King of the Mountain by teaching people how to be co-rulers with Him in God’s kingdom and how to rule in God’s image like Him so that we can bless the world with God’s goodness and righteousness!

Mountain 3:  A Place of Meeting

• Matthew 14:23 - After Jesus fed the 5,000, He took time alone to be with God on the mountain.  He ascended the mountain away from life below to meet His Father in the place where Heaven and earth overlapped.  He proved Himself worthy to be King of the Mountain because on the mountain with His Father is where He preferred to be more than anywhere else.

Mountain 4:  A Place of Provision

• Matthew 15:29-31 - The awesome thing here is that He’s in a Gentile region, so just like in Isaiah 2, here the nations, or Gentiles, are streaming up to Him on a mountain to be blessed, and not only does He heal them, but then He feeds them in the next section.  The feeding of the 5,000 was the King of the Mountain providing for Jews, but the feeding of the 4,000 was the King of the Mountain providing for Gentiles too!  He proved himself worthy as King of the mountain because He’s not just the King of the Jews, but King of the whole earth!

Mountain 5:  A Place of Glory

• Matthew 17:1-3 - Jesus’ transfiguration happens on a mountain!  And I used to say the reason Moses and Elijah appear with Him is because Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the prophets, and Jesus is the fulfillment of both.  That could be part of it, but it could be because Moses and Elijah were the only two in the Old Testament who personally witnessed the glory of God on Mt. Sinai!  Now, they couldn’t see His full glory or they’d die, but they caught a glimpse of it, and Matthew is showing us that here that in Jesus, they are once again beholding the glory of God on a mountain!  Matthew is showing us Jesus IS God, and He proves Himself worthy as King of the Mountain because He is the KING of glory from Psalm 24!

Mountain 6:  A Place of Judgment for the Wicked

• Matthew 24:1-3 - Then Jesus pronounces judgment on Jerusalem.  In Psalm 48 where we started, v. 4-5 say that when the wicked see God’s mountain, they’re terrified and they flee in panic!  In Isaiah 2, the reason God’s mountain is higher than all others, is because according to Daniel 2, He’s going to crush all other mountains that stand opposed to Him.  So Jesus proves Himself worthy as King of the Mountain by promising to destroy any wicked mountain or kingdom competing for glory with His.

Mountain 7:  A Place of Spiritual Blessing for All Nations

• Matthew 28:16-20 - This is Psalm 47-48, where Jesus declares Himself King of the whole earth, King of the great mountain city, and it’s so fitting that He makes this declaration from a mountain!  THAT is the good news, THAT is the gospel, that Jesus is King of the Mountain, and now from a mountain, He sends the apostles out to bless the whole world by bringing them this good news!  He sends them out like Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, but in a spiritual sense and to fill the world with God’s goodness and righteousness through the gospel.  Jesus proved Himself worthy as King of the Mountain by resurrecting from the dead, ascending this mountain, then ascending to Heaven to open up access to God’s holy hill for us all.

So now, what was lost by Adam and Eve is restored in Christ and in Hebrews 12 we learn that the church has become the mountain from which God reigns, where Heaven and earth overlap, and in Revelation 21:10, John sees a vision that in the final day God’s holy city will come down from Heaven and rest on a mountain, where we’ll live and reign forever in God’s presence as was His intention all along.  And its all made possible by the sacrifice of the body and blood of the Mountain King.