A Study Of The Sermon On The Mount - Yorkminster Park
DIVINE DESIGNA Study of the Sermon on the MountMathew 5-7‘There is a mountain you have to scale, the heights you have to climb; and thefirst thing you realize, as you look at that mountain which you are told youmust ascend, is that you cannot do it, that you are utterly incapable in and ofyourself, and that any attempt to do it in your own strength is proof positivethat you have not understood it’. It condemns at the very outset the viewwhich regards it as a program for man to put into operation immediately,just as he is.(Martyn Lloyd Jones, The Sermon on the Mount, page 43)Chapter FiveIntroductory Comments:1. The sermon gives us an insight into the essential nature of theKingdom of God as it deals with the Kingdom’s moral demand, itspenetration into the inner life, and its universality. It is universal inthe sense that the sermon relates to every aspect of life and itcontains an invitation for all people, both Jew and Gentile, to live inobedience to its teaching. As such, it contains the distilled essence ofthe Old Testament. Jesus ignores the mass of detail concerning theLaw (as defined by the rabbinical tradition) in favour of stressing itsmoral elements. The whole of the Law is summed up in the commandto love God and one’s neighbour.2. The sermon’s inwardness goes to the heart of what it means to berighteous. The state of the heart is the paramount thing. Unlike thePharisees, who attacked every moral problem from the outside, Jesussaw evil as originating within the human heart. In other words, sin isnot what we do, it is who we are. (See Mark 7:14-23) How ourrighteousness is to exceed that of the Pharisees is the centerpiece of the sermon.3. The sermon describes what human life looks like when it comes underthe reign and rule of God. It calls the church to live as a1
4.5.6.7.8.9.counterculture in order to call all of mankind to God. This wasprecisely Israel’s call and task. (See Leviticus 18:1-4)As Jesus preached the sermon, he was announcing the arrival of theKingdom of God which can be joined only by repentance. “Repent forthe kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)“What is of supreme importance is that we must always rememberthat the Sermon on the Mount is a description of character and not acode of ethics or morals. It is not to be regarded as a law – a newkind of “Ten Commandments” or set of rules and regulations which areto be carried out by us – but rather as a description of what weChristians are meant to be, illustrated in certain respects.” (MartinLloyd Jones, Sermon on the Mount, page 28)The sermon’s structure: The beatitudes are the essential points ofthe sermon. The rest of the sermon illustrates and fills out themeaning of each of the eight statements. These encapsulate howChristian righteousness goes beyond the righteousness of thePharisees. The first four speak of our orientation to God while thelast four speak of our orientation towards our neighbour. This samepattern is found in the Decalogue.The reader must recognize Jesus’ poetic way of speaking and his useof hyperbole in order to grasp the spiritual and moral teachingcontained in the sermon.Jesus preached this sermon not simply to inform and give the listenera new set of concepts; he was calling for a decision. In all of Jesus’teaching there is a strong element of crisis as the reader is broughtto a point where a decision is demanded. His kingdom is good newsonly when it elicits a ‘yes’ response. The end of chapter 7 containssayings that involve opposites where Jesus spoke of a narrow and widegate, a good and bad tree, and wise and foolish builders. The hearerof his teaching is therefore confronted by a choice of clearalternatives symbolized by the narrow gate, the good tree, and thewise builder.On first reading, the sermon seems to be a collection of unrelatedfragments. The reader is therefore challenged to discover the ‘bigidea’ that ties it all together as a coherent whole. How ourrighteousness is to exceed that of the Pharisees is the essentialteaching that ties the sermon together in the view of this writer.2
Seeing th e crow ds, he went up on the mountain , and wh en he sat down hisdisciples came to him. And he op ened h is mou th and tau ght th em. (Mathew 5:1-2)1. Jesus went up the mountain to draw a parallel between himself andMoses at Mount Sinai. He, like Moses, brought a revelation from Godthat had the purpose of creating a new people under God. Moses wasIsrael’s hero but eventually Jesus presented himself as a figuregreater than Moses in that he spoke from his own authority. Hismanner of speaking according to his own authority without referenceto the ‘tradition of the elders’ was the central dispute between Jesusand his opponents. There is also another parallel; just as Moses’ taskwas to lead his people to the Promise Land, so Christ’s purpose is tolead his people into the kingdom of heaven. After Pentecost, theGospel writers came to see Jesus as embodying several OldTestament themes which characterize how God intended to over turnthe downward spiral initiated by Adam’s fall.Blessed a re the poor in spi rit, f or the irs is the kingdom of heaven. (5:3)1. The word “poor” is used metaphorically and its meaning is defined inthe Old Testament. (See Zephaniah 3:12 and Psalm 34:6) These twotexts do not establish poverty as a virtue in and of themselves butthey do associate poverty with ‘contriteness’ because the materialpoor have no refuge but God. They are unable to save themselves andtherefore must rely on God. Because they are poor they have nothingto offer in exchange for his action on their behalf. They simply castthemselves on his mercy. (See Isaiah 41: 17-18; 57:15; 66:1-2)2. ‘Blessed’ is sometimes translated ‘happy’ but this is a poor translationbecause it speaks of a changing subjective state. The word actuallymeans to ‘be in favour’ or ‘approved’ so in this sense the blessed arethose whom God favours and approves of because of their contritespirit.3. The first Beatitude establishes the fact that entry into the kingdomof God requires a person to admit that he/she is in possession ofnothing that can be offered to God in exchange membership.4. The first Beatitude assumes the doctrine of the fall. If there was no‘fall’ the first Beatitude would be unnecessary.5. The Beatitude seems to suggest reward in exchange for being ‘poor inspirit’. However, the promise grows naturally from the character3
described. Each inner characteristic is approved by God because itleads naturally to the benefit at the end of the Beatitude.6. The first and last beatitudes end with the same phrase. This is calledan ‘inclusion’ and it means that everything in between is actually anaspect of the kingdom.Blessed are they that mourn, for they s hall be comforted . (5:4)1. The context establishes the fact that the comfort mentioned herehas nothing to do with mourning over the loss of loved ones. It is theemotional counterpart of poverty of spirit.2. Here Jesus is speaking of mourning over one’s sin because (SeeRomans 7:24; 1 Corinthians 5:2) confession without contrition is of novalue. This beatitude relates as well to mourning over the sin andbrokenness of the world.3. The comfort derives from the assurance that God’s forgiveness aseventually leading to total harmony within creation. Jesus’ parable ofthe Prodigal Son illustrates all of the above. The son effectivelydeclares his father to be dead when he asks for his inheritance. Hedesires to declare independence from him. Eventually, his life fallsapart due to his riotous living so he decides to return, confession inhand. The father sees him coming down the road so he rushes towardhis son, accepts him back and treats him as if he had never been away.God’s joy is symbolized by the celebration that the father orders aswell as the contrast provided by the elder brother who feels he hasbeen slighted and under appreciated. Were it not for the elderbrother’s jealous reaction, the family would have been intact.Blessed a re the meek, for t hey sh all in herit the earth. (5:5)1. The essence of Jesus’ Messianic role was to reject power as a meansof bringing about the rule of God. (See the temptation of Jesus in thewilderness) (See Paul’s use of the Psalm in Ephesians 4: 13-17)2. Biblically, meekness (praotes) is not an aspect of human temperament.It comes about from being in close proximity to Christ.3. “Poverty of spirit” has to do with a person’s assessment of himself,especially with respect to God, while “meekness” has more to do with4
his relationship with God and men. (D.A. Carson, The Sermon on theMount, page 20)4. “Meekness” is the self control that allows a person to seek theadvancement of other people’s interests rather than one’s own. (SeeNumbers 12:3)5. The Greeks thought of “meekness” as the happy medium between toolittle and too much anger. ‘Meekness” is the ability to be angry at theright time and for the right reason6. This word was also used by the Greeks to describe a powerful horsethat had been trained to obey a command. The trained animal haslearned to accept control in order to accomplish a purpose.“Blessed is the man who has every instinct, every impulse, every passionunder control. Blessed is the man who is entirely self-controlled.”(William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, page 92)7. This word also refers to a person’s willingness to learn and their needto be forgiven.Blessed a re those who hunge r and thirst for righteousnes s,, for they shall besatisfied . (5:6)1. There is a progressive logic that connects the first four beatitudes;each one leads to the next and presupposes the one before. The firstbeatitude is an acknowledgment of our utter dependency on Godwhereby we admit our need to be forgiven without possessing anythingto offer in exchange. In the second, we mourn over the cause (ourfallen nature) of our and mankind’s bankruptcy. In other words, wewish it were not so. Thirdly, the truth of our condition is allowed toinform our self understanding and our relationships with others. Thefourth beatitude pushes us further. We align ourselves with the willand purpose of God and hunger to follow our confession with a resolveto live differently.2. The word “righteousness” (dikaiosune) has a shifting meaning in theNew Testament. Its meaning can be legal, (justification) moral,(sanctification) or social. The fourth beatitude requires us to decidefrom the context which of these meanings Jesus intends.3. A.M. Hunter points out that Jesus is here speaking, not of a humanachievement, but of something that must be received. If Hunter is5
4.5.6.7.correct then the “righteousness’ should be understood in the moral andsocial sense. Read in this way, the beatitude calls us to identify withGod’s ultimate cause and purpose. This beatitude encourages longingand anticipation for the occasion when God’s cause will be vindicatedand triumphant,D.A. Carson interprets this beatitude in terms of a personal longing toconform to the will of God. He quotes a Scottish saint. “O Lord makeme as holy as a pardoned sinner can be.”“He wants to be righteousness, nor simply because he fears God, butbecause righteousness has become for him the most eminentlydesirable thing in the world.” (Carson page 22) Paul echoes thisaspiration in Philippians 3:10 where he says, “I want to know Christ andthe power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in hissuffering, becoming like him in his death In short, this beatitudecenters on the disciple’s desire to be conformed to the will of God.John Stott believes that Jesus is using the word “righteousness” in itssocial sense. Therefore, this beatitude calls us to desire, more thananything else, mankind’s release from the power of sin, his liberationfrom oppression, the promotion of civil rights with justice foreveryone, honesty in all our dealings, and good relations in the family.We can embrace all the above interpretations as an important aspectof Jesus’ teaching.Blessed a re the merci ful, for they shall see God . (5:7)1. With this beatitude Jesus shifts our attention from God to our fellowman. Here Jesus follows the patter established in the Decalogue.2. The sentence reads as if God’s mercy is obtained by offering mercybut read this way it would be a contradiction of the first Beatitudewhere mercy and forgiveness are given by grace not by works. Jesusdescribed the relationship between the two in his parable of the“Unmerciful Servant”. (See Mathew 18:21-35) In the parable mercy isgiven as a response to the greater mercy offered by God. The latterprecedes the former and it is the basic dynamic that leads to theexpression of mercy.3. There is a subtle distinction between mercy and grace although each isinexorably bound to the other. Grace is a loving response when love isundeserved whereas mercy is a response prompted by the misery andhelplessness of the one who is the object of mercy. “Grace answers6
the undeserving; mercy answers the miserable.” (D.A. Carson, TheSermon on the Mount, page 24)4. The person who is willing to extend mercy does so because he/shecomprehends that the mercy they have received exceeds exponentiallythe mercy they are called upon to offer.Blessed a re the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (5:8)1. We think of the heart in sentimental terms as the ‘seat’ of ouremotions but in the Bible it is the center of the entire personality. Inother words, the heart is used metaphorically as a reference to ‘thereal you’. The Bible’s assessment of ‘the heart’ is extremely negativeas in Matthew 15:19; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 1:21 and 2:5.2. (a) Two interpretations of this text are possible. (Read WilliamBarclay, The Gospel of Matthew, page 101) The first has to do withthe relationship between the outer and inner person. In other words,there is no tyranny of the divided self. Jesus is concerned with theextent to which our inner life is consistent with what we do and say.In this sense, the “’pure in heart’ attempt no cover up for what is intheir heart. Secondly, the ‘pure in heart’ look single mindedly forwardto the culmination of God’s kingdom when all things are brought intoharmony. Lastly, the desire for inner and outer harmony is recognitionof God’s ultimate purpose and it indicates a willingness to align oneselfwith God’s will.(b) The second interpretation arises from the context. The last fourbeatitudes are devoted to the Christians orientation to his neighbour.Therefore, the phrase should be understood as a reference to aninner quality that promotes harmonious relationships within humancommunity. According to this reading “the pure in heart’ are thosewho are utterly sincere’ (JBP) This inner quality nullifies hypocrisy anddeceit in all relationships thereby eliminating the need for role playingaccording to the audience.Blessed a re the peacemakers , for they s hall be called the sons of God . (5:9)1. The purpose God is accomplishing through Christ is “to bring allthings in heaven and earth and on earth together under onehead, even Christ”. (Ephesians 1:10) Later in the letter Paulwrites that Christ is the great barrier breaker in that he7
brings down the wall that separated two profoundly disparategroups – Jew and Gentile - but the reconciliation of these twogroups is not the whole story. Paul believed that the task Godintends to accomplish through Christ is to bring total harmonyto the entire cosmos. He wrote, “We know that the whole ofcreation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right upto the present time.” (Romans 8:22)2. According to the seventh beatitude, the follower of Christ isexpected to take up God’s task by (eirenopoioi) pursuing humangoodwill everywhere. Lessening tensions, seeking solutions,promoting communication and understanding are importantpriorities.3. Those who willingly take up this task are “sons of God” in thattheir activities are reflective of God’s nature.Blessed a re those who are persecuted for righ teousness’ sake, for theirs is thekingdom of heav en. (5:10)1. The New Testament admits that persecution is the norm forChristians. (See John 15:18-20)2. “ . for if the disciple of Christ never experiences any persecution atall, it may fairly be asked where righteousness is being displayed in hislife. (D.A. Carson, The Sermon on the Mount, page 28)Blessed a re you when men revile you and persec ute you and utter all kinds ofevil agai nst you fals ely on my account. Rejoice and be gl ad, for your reward isgreat in heaven, for so men perse cuted the prop hets who were before you. (5:1112)1. Obviously, this beatitude is an expansion of and an elaboration onthe previous one. Jesus wanted to underline that persecution isthe norm for his followers because of the ‘fallen’ world’s inevitablereaction to ‘righteousness’.2. Persecution results from the collision of two dissonant ‘valuesystems’.3. We rejoice when our experience of persecution marks ourauthenticity as Christians. We rejoice because the pain of thepresent pales in significance to the vindication awaiting us in thefuture. In addition, the experience of persecution means that weare allies of the prophets.8
You are the sal t of the ear th; but if s alt has lost its taste, h ow shall its saltinessbe restor ed? It is no longer good for anything except to be th rown out and troddenunder foot by men. Y ou are the l ight of the world. A city set on a hill cannot behid. Nor do men light a lamp and put i t unde r a bushel, but on a stand, and itgives light to all in the h ouse. Let your li ght s o shine before men, t hat th ey maysee your good works a nd give glory to your Father who is in h eaven. (5:13-16)1. Using the metaphor of salt and light, Jesus now turns to the topic ofhis followers’ effect on the world because the kingdom norms hepresented are meant for public, not private, expression.2. The teaching also assumes that these norms, when lived out in fullview of the world, will attract attention. Much of it will invitevigorous opposition because the world is opposed to the norms Jesushas enunciated as the main points of his sermon.3. The metaphor of salt suggests two meanings, one having to do withpurity. Salt, by its very nature, cannot turn into something elsebecause it is a fundamental chemical element. It can becomeineffective only as it is infiltrated by another impurity as was thecase with salt from the Red Sea. Therefore, its meaning in these fourverses points out the importance of ‘purity’ in all aspects of life. Italso suggests that the ‘salt’ of disciple will have an effect on a worldassumed to be in the process of decay. The second possible meaningrelated to salt’s preservative qualities. By living according to kingdomvalues, the disciple restrains the natural decay of society.4. The metaphor of salt also suggests Jesus’ radical distinction betweenthe ‘world’ and the ‘church’. The church, therefore, must be fullyengaged with the culture without being compromised by it.5. Certain words used in scripture are loaded with theological meaningand we must not assume that these words always meant to the writerwhat they mean to us now. The Biblical meaning can differ or gobeyond the contemporary meaning. ‘Salt’ is one of these words. Thesymbolic meaning of salt is usually explained by introducing chemistryinto the equation. Salt, by its very nature, delays decay and addsflavour. Everyone knows this fact. But is this the sole meaning Jesus,speaking as a first century Jew, intended? Perhaps not. Salt mayhave an additional symbolic meaning for a Jew that is even richer andmore challenging. In Ezekiel 16:4 the prophet gave a devastatingcriticism of Jerusalem because of its unfaithfulness. The citieswicked state is accounted for by saying it was not rubbed in salt at its9
birth. Apparently, new born babies were rubbed in salt to protectthem from the effects of evil and to indicate that they are bornaccording to the Promise. Additionally, Numbers chapter 18 concernsthe giving of holy offerings. Strict rules are given and in verse
The sermon describes what human life looks like when it comes under the reign and rule of God. It calls the church to live as a . 2 counterculture in order to call all of mankind to God. This was precisely Israel’s call and task. (See Leviticus 18:1-4) 4. As Jesus preached the sermon, he was announcing the arrival of the
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Silat is a combative art of self-defense and survival rooted from Matay archipelago. It was traced at thé early of Langkasuka Kingdom (2nd century CE) till thé reign of Melaka (Malaysia) Sultanate era (13th century). Silat has now evolved to become part of social culture and tradition with thé appearance of a fine physical and spiritual .
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Chính Văn.- Còn đức Thế tôn thì tuệ giác cực kỳ trong sạch 8: hiện hành bất nhị 9, đạt đến vô tướng 10, đứng vào chỗ đứng của các đức Thế tôn 11, thể hiện tính bình đẳng của các Ngài, đến chỗ không còn chướng ngại 12, giáo pháp không thể khuynh đảo, tâm thức không bị cản trở, cái được
SERMON TITLE: Wisdom: Wise or Otherwise SERMON REFERENCE: James 3:13-18 LWF SERMON NUMBER: #0518 We are grateful for the opportunity to provide this outline produced from a sermon preached by Adrian Rogers while serving as pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. This outline is intended for your personal, non-commercial use.
