Introduction to the 'Sermon on the Mount'
Matthew 5:1-2
The Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount is believed to be Christ’s first significant sermon. It is the section of Matthew’s gospel which spans from chapter 5 thru chapter 7. It’s an extension of His ministry in Galilee. We are immediately taken from chapter four to chapter five with the following text: “When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain (Matthew 5:1).” The word translated ‘mountain’ comes from the Greek word ‘oros’ which is translated elsewhere in the Bible as ‘hill’ or ‘mount’. This probably should not be understood to be a large mountain but a small mound or that possibly He sat down on the side of one of the hills in the countryside. Either way, we should think of it as he was elevated so that all could see and hear Him. The text then tells us that, “, “His disciples came to Him (v. 1).” His disciples were always with Him following wherever He went. Jesus then” opened His mouth and began to teach them (v. 1).” This teaching was aimed at His disciples. They are the ‘them’ in this verse. This teaching was also heard by those who were present around Him and His disciples. We are told just before this verse that “Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan (Matthew 4:25) and that when He finished this sermon that “the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes (Matthew 7:28-29).”
We should observe that the teachings of this sermon can only truly be understood and followed by those who are ‘born again’ and whom Christ calls his own. These teachings are mainly for believers and define a distinctive lifestyle that characterizes them as such. Unfortunately, these standards do not always characterize the Christian of this day. The ways of the world have so infiltrated the Church that the character of most Christians has become polluted with its stain, engulfed believers, and conformed them to the world’s image.
The Apostle Paul defines the believers “spiritual service of worship (Romans 12:1)” in the book of Romans and pleads with us not to be “conformed to this world, but to be transformed…so that we may prove what the will of God is (Romans 12:2).” This sermon outlines the character of the believer when the Holy Spirit fills it and begins its washing and regenerating (Titus 3:5).
John MacArthur gives us five reasons why the Sermon on the Mount is important. They are[1]:
· “First, it shows the absolute necessity of the new birth. Its standards are much too high and demanding to be met by human power. Only those who partake of God’s own nature through Jesus Christ can fulfill such demands. The standards of the Sermon on the Mount go far beyond those of Moses in the law, demanding not only righteous actions but righteous attitudes—not just that men do right but that they be right. No part of Scripture more clearly shows man’s desperate situation without God.
· Second, the sermon intends to drive the listener to Jesus Christ as man’s only hope of meeting God’s standards. If man cannot live up to the divine standard, he needs a supernatural power to enable him. The proper response to the sermon leads to Christ.
· Third, the sermon gives God’s pattern for happiness and for true success. It reveals the standards, the objectives, and the motivations that, with God’s help, will fulfill what God has designed man to be. Here we find the way of joy, peace, and contentment.
· Fourth, the sermon is perhaps the greatest scriptural resource for witnessing, for reaching others for Christ. A Christian who personifies these principles of Jesus will be a spiritual magnet, attracting others to the Lord who empowers him to live as he does. The life obedient to the principles of the Sermon on the Mount is the church’s greatest tool for evangelism.
· Fifth, the life obedient to the maxims of this proclamation is the only life that is pleasing to God. That is the believer’s highest reason for following Jesus’ teaching—it pleases God.”
The Beatitudes
The ‘Beatitudes’ are verses 3 thru 10 of chapter 5 at the beginning of Christ’s ‘Sermon on the Mount’. The word ‘Beatitude’ is a noun from the Latin word beātitūdō and defines a state of utmost bliss. Each beatitude defines an aspect of what the life of the Christian should be like. Contrary to the teaching of some, this is not a list of dos’ which must be accomplished in order to achieve salvation but rather a list of characteristics shared in common by all true Christians. It is also not, as some claim, a law for a future kingdom but is for the here and now. We as Christians are to characterize these traits in our daily lives. They are wrought in a Christian by God as part of the process of his/her sanctification rather than a work that they perform by themselves. There is no way that any of the characteristics defined in the Beatitudes can be achieved by human effort. They must be given as part of the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
What does it mean to be blessed?
The word comes from the Greek word ‘makarios’ which Mounce’s Dictionary of New Testament words defines as conveying “the idea of being especially favored: “blessed, happy, or privileged.” Wuest’s New Testament – An Expanded Translation uses the term ‘spiritually prosperous’
Since God created all things and defines the way that we should live and knows us fully, has the right to define what will make us happy. These statements made by Christ redefine the world’s meaning of happiness which is so pervasive and prevalent in the world today. According to the standards of the world, a man is most happy when he is rich and successful and when he is idolized and held in esteem by others. But according to these ‘Beatitudes’, a person is happy when he is one who is poor in spirit and mourns over his inadequacies before God. According to Christ, a person is blessed when he is gentle, hungers and thirsts for righteousness, is merciful, pure in heart, and is a peacemaker. Probably the most astounding statement made by Jesus in these Beatitudes is that a man is truly happy and blessed when he is being persecuted for righteousness and for the sake of Christ.
One of the most notable aspects of these statements are the logical order in which they are in. They are not a set of random human characteristics that have been thrown together but rather are an ordered set of traits in which the Christian progresses in his journey of sanctification. According to these beatitudes, one must be poor in spirit before he can mourn. In other words, there must be a complete emptying of his spirit within him before he is capable of mourning. We will discuss this more in the next lesson.
Martyn Lloyd Jones tells us in his book “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount” that there are four fundamental principles which the Beatitudes address. They are as follows:
1. All Christians are to be like this.
2. All Christians are to manifest all of these characteristics.
3. None of these descriptions refer to what we may call a ‘natural tendency’.
4. These descriptions indicate clearly the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian.
He goes on to say later in the same chapter: “It should not be our ambition to be as much like everybody else as we can, though we happen to be Christian, but rather to be as different from everybody who is not a Christian as we can possibly be. Our ambition should be to be like Christ, the more like Him the better, and the more like Him we become, the more we shall be unlike everybody who is not a Christian.”[2]
[1] MacArthur, John F, Matthew 1-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary Four Volume Set (MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series) Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.
[2] Lloyd Jones, Martyn, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Eerdmans, Page 37