What is the “Sermon on the Mount?”

The Miracles of Jesus

The “Sermon on the Mount” is a collection of teachings from Jesus, which describes his moral beliefs and teachings. This sermon is found in the “Gospel of Matthew” (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2013). The Sermon is the first of five discourses in the Book of Matthew. The “Book of Matthew” also known as Matthew’s Gospel is a narrative that shows Christians that the word of God is true. Matthew spends much of the book discussing how the prophets of Jesus’s time had made predictions concerning Christ and that these prophecies came true. Matthew also spends a great deal of time discussing the life of Jesus and his works. This gospel provided the evidence for early Christians of the deeds of Christ.

The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), which was given by Jesus as related by Matthew, describes the many miracles of Jesus and how he was able to combat evil (Oden, 2008). Through the Book of Matthew early Christians were able to understand the life of Jesus and his death and how he died. The Sermon on the Mount would define the basic principles for early Christians by defining the pacifist ethics prevalent in the religion. These are known as the Beatitudes which would become the basic principles of Christian belief:

· Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
· Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
· Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
· Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
· Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
· Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
· Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
· Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Gospel of St. Matthew 5:3–10

Historically, the Sermon is considered to be a compilation of teachings of Christ as there is no evidence to suggest that he actually sat down and provided this sermon. There are two accounts of this Sermon one by Matthew and one by Luke. (The Gospel of Matthew (5:1- 7:29); The Gospel of Luke (6:17- 49)). These rules would become the defining attributes of the Christian faith and would also set into motion many rules and concepts set forth by the Church. For example, Monks were supposed to live simple lives. The interpretations of the Sermon are tremendous in number and this is probably one of the points that would divide the Church into many denominations eventually.

References

Duiker, W. J., & Spielvogel, J. J. (2013). The Essential World History Vol I: To 1800 (Vol. 1). Boston, MA: Cengage.

Oden, T. (2008). Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture: New Testament, Volume 12. New York: Intervarcity Press.

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