A Summary of The Sermon on the Mount

In my Matthew class, at Foothills Christian College, I was given the assignment of summarizing Matthew 5-7.  I had to do it in two pages, double-spaced, with one inch margins:

 

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountainside and taught them.  He started with the basics of the kingdom, which show that kingdom living is completely opposite from anything we would expect.  Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers.  Then, if we fulfill these first seven beatitudes, we will be persecuted because of righteousness.  This is a blessing though.  We can rejoice and be glad, looking forward to our reward in heaven.

We live in a fallen world, so we must be like salt, fighting the corruption.  In order for salt to work, it has to make contact.  Likewise, we are to be the light of the world.  We can’t hide it.  We need to let it shine; doing good works for all to see, so that God will get the glory.

The Lord makes it clear that He didn’t come to do away with the Old Testament; rather He came to set a higher standard.  The Law is still valid and, if we want to enter heaven, we must keep it in it’s entirety; we have to be perfect.  The new standard is that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, but this righteousness doesn’t come from outward observance of the Law.  God judges the heart.  Jesus is out to make a point that no one is righteous.  Everyone thought the Pharisees were, but he’s about to prove otherwise.

Jesus gives us six illustrations of this.  First, He said that murder is not just an action, but if we hate someone, we’re guilty.  He says the same thing about adultery.  If we lust in our heart, we’re guilty.  Despite the prevalent teaching of the day, that there were cases where divorce was lawful, Jesus said it is never lawful.  Matthew added the exception clause to explain that he wasn’t talking about the case with Joseph and Mary from chapter one.  The fourth antithesis is about oaths.  We shouldn’t make oaths, but let our ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and our ‘No,’ ‘No.’  The fifth is dealing with revenge.  It’s really an issue of humility.  We can’t give into our pride.  If someone embarrasses us, we must show them the light of Christ by not returning the favor.  Finally, we are to live like Christ by loving the people that our flesh wants to hate.

Chapter six starts with three examples of right vs. wrong motives.  When we give, pray or fast, we shouldn’t do it so others may see us.  If we do, that will be our reward.  But if we do these things to glorify Christ, our Father in heaven will reward us.

Then, Jesus warns us to focus on eternal things.  We need to sow into the kingdom of heaven, not the world.  This might cause us to worry, but we can’t let it be so.  Jesus makes the promise that if we seek his kingdom and his righteousness, God will take care of us.

Chapter seven starts by showing us that we need to be careful not to be hypocritical in our judgments.  We are supposed to make judgments, but before pointing out sin in others, we need to be sure we are not guilty of the same sin.  Also, our standard must be the Word of God.

Jesus then assures us that our heavenly Father knows what we need.  If we are in need, we can pray to Him.  If it’s his will, he will give it to us.  With that being said, our God is incredibly gracious, treating us better than we deserve.  We need to do the same to others.

We are then told about two paths; the wide one leads to destruction and the narrow one leads to life.  Most people choose the wide path.  There will be some that lead others down the wide path, convincing them it’s the narrow path.  Many will think they are on the narrow path, yet when they stand before the Lord, their hypocrisy will be shown.

In closing, Jesus admonishes us not only to hear his words, but to put them into practice.  Those who do this will endure, but those who don’t will be swept away.

Jesus taught with authority.  This, above all else, is what amazed his hearers.  Never before in Israel had a man rose up to teach with such authority.