The Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most difficult texts in the Bible. I believe it also summarizes in a few chapters everything that it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Understanding the Sermon on the Mount is to understand the Bible. Matthew records Jesus' words in chapters 5-7 of his Gospel. It is undoubtedly the greatest sermon ever preached.

At first glance, the sermon seems to place an overwhelming burden on the shoulders of the followers of Jesus. "Love your enemies," "Turn to them the other cheek," "Anyone who is angry with a brother will be subject to judgment." Our default thinking is to take commands as challenges that we must do in order to prove ourselves. But this is not the message of the Bible, nor of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are wary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

The sermon is primarily a call to repentance in order to enter heaven. In the previous chapter, Matthew tells us that when Jesus started his public ministry he, "began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.'" So Jesus started and continued preaching a message that is best summarized, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." The Sermon on the Mount follows as an example of what that kind of preaching sounded like. In the sermon, Jesus speaks of needing righteousness that "surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law," in order to "enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). He warns that those who express anger are, "in danger of the fire of hell," (Matthew 5:22). Near the end of the sermon he describes many disciples who are deceived and will be sent away at the judgment. He finishes by urging people to follow his words so that they will not come to ruin in the judgment (Matthew 7:24-27). The subject matter throughout is clearly a call to repentance in order to enter heaven.

Jesus also emphasizes true righteousness. Meeting God's standards requires more than making oneself stay within a certain boundary. The "Pharisees and the teachers of the law" had a type of outward righteousness, but it was not sufficient. Later, Jesus calls them "whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean" (Matthew 23:27). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus takes some of the commands in the Bible and reveals that they require outward and inward righteousness. "You shall not murder," is not satisfied merely by not killing someone. God is not looking for people who can stop themselves from doing what they really want to do. He is looking for people who love their enemies and are not "angry with a brother" (Matthew 5:21-22). They don't murder because they don't want to bring harm on their enemies. God says "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." The law, in other words, was never saying you are righteous as long as you don't cross a certain line, it was about pointing to true righteousness, the kind that God has, obedience that is in line with the desires of your heart.

Can any of us truly meet this standard? No! So why does Jesus teach this as the way to heaven? The key to understanding the sermon is the beatitudes. Jesus begins by saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). Repentance is to recognize that you fail to meet God's standards. Then you "mourn" over sin. Then you are "meek," meaning that you have an accurate view of who you are, that you are not righteous or good in God's sight. Therefore, you "hunger and thirst for righteousness." You find mercy in the cross, and therefore you are now empowered to show mercy to others. All of these things are descriptions that Jesus gives of the "blessed," those who have embraced the Gospel as their hope of salvation (Matthew 5:3-10).

Moses received the ten commandments on a mountain after going without eating and drinking for forty days and nights. Jesus also fasted forty days and nights before going up on a mountain to teach about the law. Rather than giving ten commandments, Jesus begins with eight blessings. The "blessing" statements are not things to do, but to be. "Blessed are the..." The beatitudes list the characteristics of those who are true disciples of Jesus, those who have been changed by his grace. As Jesus would later say, repentance is not like the Pharisee who prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like other people- robbers, evildoers, adulterers..." Instead, repentance is like the tax collector, who stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God have mercy on me, a sinner" (Luke 18:9-14). He was "poor in spirit."

The rest of the sermon has two functions. First, it emphasizes how high God's standards are with the goal of humbling us and bringing us to repentance. Second, it describes the kind of righteousness that all disciples of Jesus are aiming for. With a changed heart brought about by the Holy Spirit, disciples of Jesus grow to become more and more like the person described in the Sermon on the Mount. They do not do this to achieve righteousness, but in response to the righteousness Jesus has given.


Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. You can listen to previous programs online here: http://www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html