Matthew 5:17-20, who is Jesus speaking to?

[Christian2]

Matthew 5:

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Who was the ORIGINAL audience? Wouldn't you agree it was to the Jews? Jesus' main focus was on the children of Israel before He died and rose from the dead.

Thanks.

[jlay]

Yes, maybe even more select than many have portrayed it.

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

What we know as the sermon on the mount could be different than what we have seen in movies and such. Many interpret as Jesus going up the mountain so everyone could hear. But you could also interpret it that He went up to escape the multitudes, as it says His disciples came to him, and He taught them. It doesn't say whether the multitudes came, or if they did, how many. At the end of the SOM, Jesus exposits on the costs of discipleship.

In chapter four it says, "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom"

The Gospel of the Kingdom, is Israel's Gospel. And the SOM is a Kingdom message. And no where do you hear Jesus speak of His death, burial or resurrection. In fact, in our concept of gospel, you'd think that Jesus did a really poor job of presenting the 'gospel' and maybe He needed a lesson from Billy Graham. There in lies a fundemental difference in Bible interpretation., or Bible division. That being when someone reads the word, "Gospel" they interpret it to have the same definition in all scriptural usage. The same thing happens with the word baptize. Some immediately associate water anytime they hear baptize. So, when it says Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, and then Paul speaks of the Gospel, people equivocate that to be the exact same thing in all aspects.