Brother Erik Berg told me a few months ago that it was through a study of the Sermon on the Mount that he came to know Christ as his Saviour. I was a bit surprised at that, but then at the same time, I was not. This three-chapter-sermon is not a gospel message so much as it is an outline on living the Christian life. But since so many people have the misunderstanding that living the Christian life is how to be delivered from sin, then I suppose that a proper understanding could very easily become a back-door gospel presentation.
The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best known part of the teaching of our Lord Jesus. But it may also be the least understood. It is also perhaps the least obeyed of all Jesus’ teachings. I’ve told you about a man whom I met while visiting in Calgary. He told me that all that he wanted to hear preached and taught were the “Beetitudes.” “Don’t give me Peter, Paul and Mary, or even John – just the beetitudes.” Initially, I had no idea what he was talking about, because he had no idea what he was talking about. Eventually I understood that he was referring to verses 3-11 of this chapter, but he couldn’t even pronounce their title let alone understand what they were saying. I’ll explain it when we come to those verses, but they are the “Beatitudes” not the “Beetitudes.”
As I say, this is Christ’s own description of the way that the Christian life should be lived. It strips Christendom of all its hypocrisy. It expands what Jesus says is the law of God – “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” This is what the world claims be seeking: love, joy, peace, care, concern and so forth.
Those who live by this law set themselves apart from rest society. One of the worst things that a Christian ought to hear is: “You’re no different from anybody else.” That is precisely the question that Saviour deals with here. This is what the Lord has always wanted from all of His chosen people. We are supposed to be different from everyone else. When Israel came out of Egypt God said – “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God” – Leviticus 18:1-4. Years later Israel went into captivity because they were, in fact, no different from the rest of the world.
When John and Christ Jesus began their ministries the theme was ‘”repent.” “Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.” This sermon basically outlines what the fruits of repentance are. Perhaps the central verse of the sermon is found in chapter 6 verse 8: “Be not ye therefore like unto them.” And this is not just an isolated thought in an isolated sermon. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” “Be ye holy for I am holy.” There is no paragraph in this sermon where the contrast between a Christian and the rest of the world is not pretty clear. You and I are to be different in ethics, religion, money, ambition, life-style, world-view, nearly everything.
If I was a better teacher, this could be single most life-changing study since the time of your salvation. And if like some, you have been trying to keep the principles of these verse in order to become a Christian, then this study could actually be the most important study that you’ve ever made. But that just prompts me to add that I feel very inadequate – unequal to the task before me. I wouldn’t be surprised to have everyone of you disagree with me at different points of interpretation throughout this study. That is always something which worries me. All that I can do is my best, asking God to correct both of us as we go along. I can assure you that it is my desire to glorify the Lord during this study.
These first two verses tell us that Jesus went up and away from the throngs of average listeners. At this time, He was very popular with the common folk; His fame was spreading because of His miracles. But generally speaking this wasn’t a real, heartfelt reception of the person of Christ. Most of the people following the Lord were not disciples; they were not believers, they were not Christians. So He deliberately scaled a small mountain, just as Moses had done years before. With His closest disciples He sat down and assumed the posture of a rabbi. And he taught those people who had truly given themselves to Him. Generally speaking, the Sermon on the Mount is a message from Christ to His Disciples. It is not a gospel message to be preached to the unbeliever.
Three questions have to be addressed before we look at Jesus’ initial comments. First – is the sermon really a sermon, and did it come from Christ Jesus? Second – are the things said here still relevant to our world today? And third – are the standards given reachable by modern complicated people like you and me; or is this an impractical study?
First, is the sermon authentic?
The Sermon on the Mount occurs only in Matthew, which is quite startling. Remember that Matthew, Mark and Luke are all quite similar, and we often find the same things in two or even three of those books. But as such, this message is only recorded once. And yet in Luke there are some similar teachings – in Luke 6 for example. But we notice that what Luke describes is given in very different circumstances – Luke 6:17 – “And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases…. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.” Luke’s record of the sermon is 30 verses long and Matthew’s is 107. Luke’s sermon gives information that is different from Matthew and vise versa. But they begin and end in a similar way, with some similar information. Most scholars conclude that they are two versions of the same message, but given on different occasions. After that the Book of Mark doesn’t even come close to recounting either message.
Some people think that Matthew 5-7 is not a sermon at all, but compilation of several message. They say that Levi (Matthew), skillfully wove a sermon out all Jesus’ words in the same way that preachers often do today. But that would make Matthew a deceiver, wouldn’t it? He presents this information in the form of a sermon. He gives a precise historical and geographical context. He records the astonished reaction of the listeners. And when finished Jesus re-entered the nearby community of Capernaum. This is made to sound like a single sermon, or at least a single series of messages. But that doesn’t mean that Matthew didn’t edit and make this message a bit more compact. Jesus likely preached it in Aramaic for the ears of his listeners, but Matthew recorded it in Greek for a much larger audience. This sermon may have been the teaching of Jesus over a two or three hour period, or even longer. It takes only ten minutes to read the whole thing; some editing has been done. I haven’t preached less than 20 minutes in years, and I can’t image Jesus preaching even as short as that.
But to answer the question; Yes this is an authentic sermon from our Saviour.
But is the sermon RELEVANT today?
The only way to properly answer that question is to study the sermon and re-ask later. And yet perhaps a quick outline of the sermon might shed a little light. Matthew 5:3-12 deals with Christian character. Is that relevant? Matthew 5:13-16 deals with Christian influence in a wicked world. Matthew 5:17-48 deals with the Lord’s requirement of righteousness. Is that relevant? Matthew 6:1-18 deals with Christian piety and God’s hatred of hypocrisy. Relevant? Matthew 6:19-34 deals with Christian ambitions. Matthew 7:1-20 deals with Christian relationships and those relationships still exist today. And then Matthew 7:21-27 deals with Christian commitment.
All these things take us back to the Lordship of Christ. These are still very important subjects.
But is the subject matter of this sermon ATTAINABLE, is it PRACTICAL?
Is this message like the words of some mystic philosopher – so impractical that they are a waste of time? Many, many people say, “These things are not attainable by modern human beings. These things sound good and noble, but they are impractical.” Some go on to suggest that man is too sinful to attain these goals. Some good Christian writers like Johnannes Weiss taught this, and I have his book on this subject. Have you read any of the books of Leo Tolstoy? That is what he believed, and he wove this subject into several of his most famous novels. But it’s highly doubtful that Tolstoy was a child of God. The average semi-honest man among our neighbors would say that the things which Jesus teaches here are beyond our human grasp.
But there is a part of the equation of which a lot of people are ignorant, or which they neglect. “All things are possible to them that believeth.” And, “Ye must be born again.”
The righteousness described here is inner righteousness manifested outwardly in acts and deeds. And it is not self-righteousness, or self-generated righteousness. The writer Leo Tolstoy and some of his fictitious characters tried to follow the principles of these verses in their own strength, and we are not surprised that they failed. We must first make sure that the tree is good and then we can work on the fruit. In order to properly understand these chapters, we must already be born again – Children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. In this case there must be spiritual life before there can be any spiritual understanding, or spiritual application of these principles. That is why Jesus took and taught basically only his disciples.
To believe that we can not attain the principles of this sermon is to guarantee despair. Sure they are high, but so is the Lord. We can’t stretch our minds or hearts unless we have a high standard. But to those who know the Lord and are possessed by the Holy Spirit, the things in these verses are not only attainable, they are in some ways essential.
We want and need the things Jesus teaches us in this sermon.