This can't be true!

Morsels of food are delicious because of the little things, the subtle seasonings, the dash of salt, the sprinkle of garlic, the garnish of parsley, the touch of glaze, or the hint of lemon.  Ahhhh - so delicious!

The Sermon on the Mount represents the tenets of Jesus's teachings as he started his period of public teaching.  It also represents the tremendous departure from the norm of teaching from the rabbis and scholars of the Law, and from the rule-keeping views of the Pharisees.  It was not merely one phrase or teaching that distinguished Jesus from the above three groups, but a plethora of teachings that did so.  However, one phrase that did represent his great departure is found in three different forms in his representative Sermon on the Mount.

For the life of the Jews from the time of the exodus from Egypt until the time of Jesus, the name of God had a privileged place in their minds.  Perhaps, privileged captures only part of the idea.  Sacred, even holy also were part of the aura surrounding the name for God.  For part of the Jews's history the name Yahweh, written as YHWH in transliteration, was not pronounced it was so revered.  The Old Testament also used terms such as Most High and Lord of Hosts to ascribe proper aura to his name.

Into this high and holy aura for the person and name of God comes Jesus, a young man from outside Judea, the center of good Judaism, calling himself the Son of Man, a title reserved for the messiah, and giving a name to God that no human should ever ascribe to him - ever, simply because no human could ever approach being on a par with the Most High, the Lord of Hosts.

Matthew 5.48 ends the section of Jesus's teachings in which he taught about Makarioi for the common, average person and he gave a parody of the Talmud critiquing the scholars of the Law and the Pharisees.  Verse 48 concludes,

εσεσεθε ουν υμειϛ τελειοι ωϛ ο πατηρ υμων ο ουρανιοϛ τελειοϛ εστιν

(You should have the same integrity as your father in the heavens.)

What was that?  Your father.  Wow!  Compared to not even pronouncing the name Yahweh, your father was more than a bit informal.  Some were very put off at Jesus's irreverence.  God was much more than father to his nation of people.

Yes, there was the irreverent factor all right.  But, in addition to that, this was a personal father, not a "father of the nation" idea.  Now that just couldn't be.  God's relationship to people was creator to creation, not father to child.  No sir, that could never be right!

Immediately following the initial teaching (Matthew 5), the twelve men Jesus had selected to be his personal followers asked him to show them how to pray (Matthew 6).  So, Jesus said,

ουτωϛ ουν προσευχεσθε υμειϛ πατερ ημων ο εν τοιϛ ουρανοιϛ αγιασθητω το οναμα σου

(So you should pray like this. Our father in the heavens we honor your name.)

What is this?  Father again?  A prayer to the Most High using the appellation Father?  No, No, No, YHWH is not our personal father!

Then as Jesus was wrapping up his teaching on this occasion (Matthew 7.21), once again he spoke of God, this time speaking personally,

ου παϛ ο λεγων μοι κυριε κυριε ειϛ ελευσεται ειϛ την βασιλειαν των ουρανων αλλ ο ποιων το θελημα του πατροϛ μου του εν τοιϛ ουρανοιϛ

(Not everyone saying to me 'Lord' will enter the realm of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my father in the heavens,)

Now that's just too far.  Way too far!  Jesus is calling YHWH his very own father which means he originated in Heaven himself.

Jesus exceeded the limits there. Your father, our father, my father - absolutely not! Not from a young man who is not even a rabbi, not from Jerusalem, but Nazareth, and who is irreverent with the name YHWH.  Never in a million years could this be the messiah or God's son.

A very tasty morsel confirms that the Scholars of the Law and the Pharisees were having an adverse reaction to this part of Jesus's manner and teaching, and that they were not merely misunderstanding him. Jesus followed his idea of God as father with the phrase εν τοιϛ ουρανοιϛ (in the heavens).  Sometimes the word simply meant the skies, and still could even here, but the phrase was a stock phrase in Greek that had been existence a really long time.  Poets and songwriters used it.  Storytellers used it.  Anyone referring to the place where the gods of the Greeks lived used it.  It was the realm of the Gods.  It was all about deities, their origins, and their living quarters.  Those were the words Jesus was using for everyone's father, so there was no mistaking that this father was the deity the Jews worshiped, the Most High.  The Pharisees and scholars's minds short-circuited.  This couldn't be true!  They would not accept it!

The part with the most clarity came immediately before "my father in the heavens.  "Not everyone saying to me 'Lord' will enter the realm of the heavens."  Jesus had used the same stock phrase that every other Greek speaking person used in referring to their gods, and had added the realm where they all lived and originated.  Then, he followed with "my father" in this realm.  No, there was no mistake on Jesus's part.  He and his father originated in the realm of the Most High.



Jesus started the people's connection to the creator and his own  from the beginning.  It was no secret.  Animosity started from day one and gathered strength from there.