The **Sermon on the Mount** (Matthew 5–7) is Jesus' most comprehensive ethical teaching, establishing the core values of God's Kingdom. Delivered on a mountainside (evoking Moses on Sinai), it redefines righteousness, challenges religious hypocrisy, and calls disciples to radical faithfulness. Below is a structured analysis:
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### 📜 **Context & Significance**
- **Audience**: Disciples + Jewish crowds (Matthew 5:1–2; 7:28).
- **Location**: A mountainside in Galilee (Matthew 5:1), symbolizing divine revelation (Exodus 19:3).
- **Purpose**: To reveal the heart of God’s Kingdom ethics, contrasting with Pharisaic legalism. Jesus positions Himself as the authoritative interpreter of Torah (Matthew 5:17–20).
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### ✨ **Structure & Key Teachings**
#### **A. The Beatitudes (5:3–12)**
**8 blessings** highlighting *spiritual conditions* over material ones:
> *"Blessed are the poor **in spirit**... those who mourn... the meek..."*
- **Focus**: Inner posture before God (e.g., "hunger for righteousness," "pure in heart").
- **Promise**: Kingdom inheritance, divine comfort, adoption as "sons of God."
#### **B. Disciples’ Identity (5:13–16)**
- **Salt**: Preserve Kingdom values in a decaying world.
- **Light**: Reveal God’s truth through visible good works.
#### **C. Fulfilling the Law (5:17–48)**
Jesus reinterprets Torah with **6 antitheses**:
> *"You have heard it said... **but I tell you**..."*
1. **Anger = Murder** (5:21–26)
2. **Lust = Adultery** (5:27–30)
3. **Divorce & Oaths** (5:31–37)
4. **Non-Retaliation** (5:38–42)
5. **Love Enemies** (5:43–47)
6. **Perfection Call** (5:48): *"Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect."*
#### **D. Practical Piety (6:1–18)**
Warnings against hypocritical acts:
- **Giving**: Do it secretly (6:2–4).
- **Prayer**: The Lord’s Prayer model (6:5–15).
- **Fasting**: Hide it (6:16–18).
#### **E. Kingdom Priorities (6:19–34)**
- Reject materialism: *"Store treasures in heaven"* (6:19–21).
- Seek God first: *"Do not worry... your Heavenly Father knows your needs"* (6:25–34).
#### **F. Relational Wisdom (7:1–12)**
- **Judgment**: Remove your own "plank" first (7:1–5).
- **Discernment**: *"Do not throw pearls to pigs"* (7:6).
- **Prayer Confidence**: *"Ask, seek, knock"* (7:7–11).
- **Golden Rule**: *"Do to others what you want them to do to you"* (7:12).
#### **G. Final Warnings (7:13–27)**
- **Two Gates**: Narrow vs. broad (7:13–14).
- **False Prophets**: Test by their fruit (7:15–20).
- **True Obedience**: *"Only those who **do** the Father’s will enter heaven"* (7:21–23).
- **Two Foundations**: Rock (obedience) vs. sand (hearing only) (7:24–27).
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### ⚖️ **Sermon on the Mount vs. Plain (Luke 6)**
| **Feature** | **Sermon on the Mount (Matthew)** | **Sermon on the Plain (Luke)** |
|----------------------|--------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| **Length** | 3 chapters (107 verses) | 1 chapter (30 verses) |
| **Beatitudes** | 8 blessings; *spiritualized* (e.g., "poor *in spirit*") | 4 blessings + 4 woes; *physical* (e.g., "poor," "hungry *now*") |
| **Lord’s Prayer** | Included (6:9–13) | Absent |
| **Golden Rule** | Stated positively (7:12) | Stated positively (6:31) |
| **Core Command** | *"Be perfect"* (5:48) | *"Be merciful"* (6:36) |
| **Audience** | Jewish crowds (implied) | Disciples + Gentiles (Tyre/Sidon) |
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### 💡 **Key Themes**
1. **Inward Righteousness**: True holiness flows from the heart (5:8, 28).
2. **Radical Love**: Enemy-love as God’s trademark (5:44–45).
3. **Kingdom Economics**: Trust over greed (6:19–34).
4. **Authentic Worship**: God values secret devotion over public performance (6:1–18).
5. **Covenant Continuity**: Jesus fulfills, not abolishes, Torah (5:17).
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### 🔍 **Modern Application**
- **Social Ethics**: Challenges systemic injustice (e.g., Matthew 5’s call to reconciliation).
- **Personal Integrity**: Rejects hidden sin (lust, anger, hypocrisy).
- **Anti-Materialism**: Urges simplicity in a consumerist world (6:24–34).
- **Peacemaking**: Offers a path beyond retaliation (5:38–42).
> *"Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."*
> **—Matthew 7:24**
The Sermon on the Mount remains Christianity’s most revolutionary manifesto—calling believers beyond rule-keeping to wholehearted love for God and neighbor.
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