Blog | Centered Ministries

Sermon on the Mount – Introduction

Blog•on September 10th, 2010•1 Comment

Introduction

We are beginning our study of the Sermon on the Mount, probably one of the most famous texts of the New Testament in the Bible, surpassed only by John 3:16. Its importance can hardly be overstated.

Augustine described the Sermon on the Mount as a perfect standard of the Christian life.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote “The Cost of Discipleship” on an exposition of the Sermon on the Mount.
Even unbelievers like Mahatma Gandhi were greatly impressed and impacted by the message of the Sermon on the Mount.
R. Kent Hughes, in his commentary (The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom, p. 16) says that the Sermon on the Mount is the greatest sermon ever preached:

“The Sermon on the Mount is the compacted, congealed theology of Christ and as such is perhaps the most profound section of the entire New Testament and the whole Bible. Every phrase can bare exhaustive exposition and yet never be completely plumbed… . It shows us exactly where we stand in relation to the kingdom and eternal life. As we expose ourselves to the X-rays of Christ’s words, we see whether we truly are believers; and if believers, the degree of the authenticity of our lives. No other section of Scripture makes us face ourselves like the Sermon on the Mount.^“

One of the finest books written about this Sermon, entitled “Christ of the Mount,” was titled as such because E. Stanley Jones realized that the words spoken in the Sermon are rooted in the “Being of the One who speaks.” Jesus claimed to be “one with the Father”; however, the incarnation of the Son of God had the purpose of revealing the Father, as Hebrews 1:3 clearly teaches, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” In the Gospel of John Jesus declares that no one has seen the Father at any time and He alone has manifested the Father to us (John 6:46; 10:30; 14:9-10).

The great theme of the Sermon is the “Kingdom of heaven.” Most other New Testament writers prefer the expression “Kingdom of God,” but Matthew, as a good Jew (who wrote the most “Jewish” Gospel) intentionally avoided using the word “God,” as Jews of those days felt it was too holy and too exalted. However, in meaning “Kingdom of heaven” is identical to “Kingdom of God” (see Matt 19:23; Mark 10:23).

Observations on the “Kingdom”:

1. The idea of “Kingdom” in both the Old and the New Testaments is primarily dynamic rather than spatial. It is not necessarily a kingdom with geographical borders as it is a “kingdominion” or “reign.”

2. Although the “Kingdom of God” can refer to the totality of God’s sovereignty, this is not what is in view in the Sermon of the Mountain. Indeed, in the universal sense, God’s kingdom – His reign – is eternal and all-embracing, and no one and nothing can escape from it. But in the Sermon of the Mount Jesus refers to the Kingdom of heaven from a different perspective. For instance, only the “poor in the spirit” (5:3) and the “obedient” (7:21) enter the Kingdom of heaven. John declares in his Gospel that only those “born from above” can see or enter the Kingdom of God (3:3, 5). It is clear that the kingdom Jesus speaks in the Sermon is not universal; there are certain conditions to be met before entrance is possible.

Further, when we compare Mark 9:45 and 9:47 we get another dimension to our understanding. The first verse reads, “It is better for you to enter life crippled…”; the second one says, “It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye…” To enter the Kingdom of God, clearly, is to enter life. Thus, the Kingdom of heaven as presented in the Sermon of the Mountain is “the exercise of God’s sovereignty which bears directly on His savings purposes. All who are in the kingdom have life; all who are not in the kingdom do not have life.”

3. “Kingdom of God” applies to both present and future. On one hand, the New Testament teaches that the Kingdom of God has already arrived. By faith anyone may enter the Kingdom and receive life now, life “to the full” (John 10:10). Jesus explained to his opponents that if He drives out demons by the Spirit of God than the Kingdom of God has come (Matt. 12:28). On the other hand, the New Testament also teaches that the Kingdom will be inherited only in the future when Christ comes again. Eternal life, though experienced now, is going to be fulfilled and consummated at Jesus’ Second Coming that’ll bring “a new heaven and a new earth.” There is an “already” and a “not yet” aspect of the Kingdom: the Kingdom has already come, but it has not yet arrived.

4. The very idea of “Kingdom” strongly suggests the elements of “authority” and “submission.” The Kingdom of God speaks of God’s authority, mediated through Christ, and demands our whole-heartedly allegiance to that authority. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus underlines the idea of obedience: “Not everybody who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your Name, and in your Name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evil-doers’!”

The more one reads Matthew Chapters 5, 6, and 7 the more one will be both drawn to them and shamed by them! The brilliant light of the Sermon of the Mountain draws us like a moth to the fire, but its flame is so bright that it sears and burns. Perfection, and nothing less, is demanded. Jesus says, “Be perfect … as your heavenly Father is perfect” (5:48). Jesus is the Incarnated-God and when He call us He proclaims a discipleship that seems like a burdening yoke – but is hard only for those who try to resist; but for those who willingly submit, the yoke is easy and the burden is light (1 John 5:3). Bonhoeffer says, “Jesus asks nothing of us without giving us the strength to perform it.” (The Cost of Discipleship, p.38).