This sermon has a strong connection with the 10 Commandments. It is more abstract than the 10 Commandments, aimed more at attitude than behaviour. It teaches principles, character qualities and relationship guidelines, rather than listing the main offences to avoid. It is addressed to a higher intellectual level, to a people for generations familiar with the Torah, but unaware of the breadth of the ideas it points towards. This sermon is intended to open to the people some of the broader picture, to help them see the beauty of the Torah's two great principles in operation - supreme love for God and unselfish love for one's fellow man.
The theological teaching of the time was determined largely by the scribes and Pharisees. This sermon has a number of points that apparently seek to redress the spiritual corruption of the day arising from the influence of those groups. Matthew's comment following the sermon in is “The people were amazed at his teaching, He taught them as someone with authority, unlike the scribes”, indicating that the scribes were a major source of religious teaching, yet without life-changing spirituality.
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector in highlights the situation of the day. The Pharisee represents the establishment as a patriotic, orthodox Jew. The tax-collector works for the Roman occupiers, and so is perceived as having sold his soul for money. The Pharisee is portrayed as self-righteous, pleased that he has avoided the gross sins against his fellow man and that he demonstrates his piety in fasting and tithing. Yet in his prayer there is no concern for his fellow man, no seeking God's will. He thinks that his performance is adequate to commend him to God, so he has nothing pressing to learn, no desire to learn how God might want him to change. The tax-collector however, even though he presumably is an extortionist and doesn't practise fasting or tithing, is filled with remorse at his life, and admits from the heart that he needs to improve.
Another example of the spiritual attitude of the scribes and Pharisees is given in , where they allowed people to dedicate their material goods to the temple and thus act pious while avoiding their duty to their parents. Jesus described this as a violation of the 5th commandment. V 9: “You fully disregard God's commandment so that you can keep your own tradition”.
Their attitude is explained in the first few verses of : “The scribes and Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses”, implying that they have some understanding of the Torah. One of them (a nomiko,j ) was commended by Jesus on his understanding of the Torah in . “So whatever they tell you to keep, keep it and do it. But don't follow their actions, since they don't practise what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens that are hard to carry and put them on people's shoulders, but won't lift a finger to move them. They do all their works to be seen by people”. They showed a desire for spiritual authority, to feel wiser and holier, and to be in God's good books through their own efforts. They “love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues” (Matt 23:6). They used religion as a way of achieving social status.
The religion of the Pharisees is a form of the religion of human adequacy, first demonstrated by Cain. It is an attitude that fails to acknowledge God's infinite superiority, and shows a loss of the sense of mystery and wonder at God and His creation. God's law was originally intended to be an object of contemplation to point us onward to the bigger picture of harmonious life that we were designed for, a picture that we can only understand in part. The Pharisees had attempted to crystallize God's requirements and expand on them in order to give themselves control of spirituality and draw attention to their own piety.
One belief that seems to have been popular in New Testament times is the idea that misfortune is always deserved because of sin. Certainly there is a teaching along those lines: the second commandment speaks of the third and fourth generation suffering, and in there are blessings and curses dependent on obedience. It's easy to imagine how this sort of teaching in the Bible could be extended to condemn anyone found suffering, especially by a class such as the Pharisees who were prosperous, influential members of Jewish society. In the conversation in , about actual victims of violence and accidents, Jesus denies that any guilt of theirs was responsible. And in Jesus says that it was not the sin of the parents of a man born blind, nor his own sin that caused his blindness.
Teachings such as this must have weighed heavily on the minds of people who through no fault of their own found themselves in misfortune. Presumably the Pharisees, with their belief in the importance of following a strict code of behaviour, would have blamed an individual's suffering on his own poor spiritual performance.
To point people to God's true way, Jesus had to break the hold the Pharisees had on their minds. In a number of places in the Sermon Jesus addresses the influence of the Pharisees The first of the places is the very first verse: “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, where Jesus offers reassurance to those who recognize their spiritual poverty and are not inclined to commend their own performance to God.
Next, the beatitudes end with 3 verses of blessing for the persecuted, the opposite of the social esteem that the Pharisees hoped to achieve with their religion.
The third is in , where they are mentioned by name: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there's no way you're getting into the kingdom of heaven”. This is in the context of the permanence and validity of God's commandments, which the Pharisees made great show of keeping. From verse 21 to the end of the chapter, Jesus delivered a number of ideas using a formula like “You heard how it was said to those of long ago... But I tell you...”. In these sections Jesus strengthens the commandments of the Old Testament, in most cases stressing that the attitude underlying the command needs to be cultivated, the idea that the heart needs to be changed.
Again, in chapter 6, Jesus 3 times warns against the religion of “hypocrites”, those who fast, pray and do charity in order to impress others. In Jesus named the scribes and Pharisees as people who do works to be seen by other people. From verse 13 of that chapter as far as v 33 Jesus addresses the scribes and Pharisees, repeatedly using the phrase “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites”. In fact, doing things to be seen by people is close to the definition of the original Greek word u`pokrith,j “actor”.
In particular, Jesus taught a short prayer in after warning His disciples against the habit of the hypocrites of making long or showy prayers. In Jesus accused the scribes and Pharisees of “for a pretence making long prayers”.
The second half of chapter 6 warns against materialism, which was a problem among the Pharisees, accused in Matt 23:14 of “devouring widows' houses”.
The “authority” that impressed the audience () came because Jesus was in touch with His Father. His vision was broad, not confined to His own reputation and sense of piety, but encompassing the needs of the people He was addressing. He gave them a panoramic view of the godly life, pointing out the central need for a genuine connection with God and a life a motivated by love for God and the people He had created. He highlighted the way to avoid the trap of a self-centred religion based on performance and rationalizing - by deliberately keeping one's piety private.
5:3-12: Beatitudes
13-16: Influence and prominence of church
17-19: Permanence of law
20: Inadequacy of Pharisaical righteousness
21-48: Strengthening of commandments
Murder -> anger, insulting
Need for reconciliation greater than religious duties
Adultery -> sexual fantasies
Oaths -> Always tell truth
eye for eye -> helpful attitude
love thy neighbour -> love thine enemy
6:1-18 The privacy of piety
1-5: Privacy of charity
5,6: Privacy of prayer
7-15: Simplicity of prayer
(14, 15: Importance of forgiving)
16-18: Privacy of fasting
6:19-34: Kingdom of God better than materialism
19- 21: Treasure in heaven
22-24: Keep the eye single: no one can serve 2 masters
25-34: Don't worry
26: God provides for the birds
27: Worry can't change your height
28-30: Don't worry about clothing
31-34: Seek God's kingdom
7:1-6 Don't judge others
7:7-11 Ask: God gives good gifts
7:12 Golden rule
7:13-14 Broad and Narrow ways
7:15-20 By their fruits you will know them
7:21,22 Not those who say “Lord, Lord” but those who do God's will
7:24-27 Building on rock or sand
5:3-12: The introduction to the sermon is the beatitudes. Jesus' audience were a people burdened by the spiritual teachings of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 23:4: “They tie loads that are heavy and hard to carry and load them on to people's shoulders, but won't lift a finger themselves”). Those interested in a genuine search for God must have often been at odds with the prevailing mentality. By using the word blessed, Jesus offers reassurance that God accepts them.
The different characteristics of the beatitudes in their order represent stages of the Christian life. They start with humility, the most fundamental characteristic for accepting God's influence, and also the point of departure from the hypocrisy and ambition of the Pharisees They culminate in peacemaking and persecution, the positive and negative aspects of challenging the world with God's way.
Blessed are those struggling with the various stages of spiritual growth, because God will reward them. Jesus leads them from their present struggle with the various discomforts of life, to the promise of a better life in store for them. Suffering will continue until Jesus comes. The 7 promises can have their fulfilment guaranteed only after God has taken control of the world again. A “9th beatitude” (11, 12), echoing the 8th but switching from 3rd to 2nd person, encourages those suffering persecution and contempt on Earth with the promise of a great reward - in heaven.
5:13-16: After promising those seeking God a better life in the world to come, Jesus focuses on the essential but fragile role of His followers in the present world. He calls on them to retain their flavour as the salt of the Earth, and to shine as the light of the World. They are to be a positive influence in the world on the basis of their distinctive relationship with God.
5:17-19: But there is a risk associated with achieving influence in the world, a tendency to believe in one's inherent goodness and wisdom. Because of the limitations inherent in human nature, people will always need to submit to an authoritative external moral code to ensure that they remain in harmony with the universal, eternal principles that God determined for us at Creation.
5:20: Yet that submission is different from the religious zeal of the scribes and Pharisees Jesus wanted to expand his followers' thinking to see the bigger picture of the harmonious society that He hoped to set up, and to learn the attitudes that would best allow them to be part of it.
5:21-37 The Christian needs to meditate on God's commandments to see them not as a set of rules, but for the values they express. Those values, pointing to a selfless quality of love, are to permeate every action, word and thought, not just regulate the points covered in the few words of Exodus 20 and the rest of the Mosaic moral code. God wants us to live in harmony with others as far as possible. This harmony has priority over other religious duties (23, 24).
5:38-48: This love doesn't just apply to those who seem to be on our side, but to everyone we meet. In fact the way to be like God in character is to have an impartial love for everyone we encounter, even those who would for the moment make our lives miserable. This attitude is based not on our impressions and assessment of them, but rather what they can become with God, in eternity, something that we can only have a dim insight into.
6:1-18: Such spiritual love for humanity, a “God's eye view” of our fellow man, is not easy to achieve. It requires a strong, genuine relationship with God through which we can regularly reorient our point of view away from the conditioning of the individual's limited point of view, toward a more universal, long-term view. For sensual human beings to maintain such a relationship with an invisible God requires sacrifice, determination and self-discipline, exercised through charity, prayer and fasting. However, in a society where religion has social importance, there is the danger of piety degenerating into a means for attracting admiration. Private religion carried out in secret is the best way to develop a genuine relationship with God.
6:7-15: Prayer is especially important for reaffirming our spiritual world view. Jesus emphasizes the need to speak to God as Someone Who is really listening and cares for us. Also, in developing our walk with God, we must not allow ourselves to become harder on others, but we must always continue to accept those who disappoint us (14, 15). Our “God's eye view” cannot see the whole picture of other people's strengths and weaknesses and potential for growth, but will lead us to aim for the best outcome in every situation.
6:19-24: Out of this closer relationship with God should develop a contented reliance on God for one's quality of life. For as the desire to be appreciated by others can poison our spirituality, so can the desire for material wealth. The qualities encouraged in the previous verses to help develop a good relationship with God are also necessary qualities for success in making money. Establishing a business or profession requires contemplation of the needs of others, a clearly defined purpose and deferred gratification. Thus it could be easy for Christians to slip into a materialistic orientation. The tangible and consistent rewards of material success, with their cause apparently in one's own efforts, will tend to produce a sense of pride and satisfaction that crowds out the more delicate joys of establishing a connection with a spiritual God.
6:25-34: But relegating material concerns to a subordinate role does not mean that God expects us to go without. It is simply the appropriate order of priorities. We need to look to God and God alone for our pride and satisfaction. In general, God's plan will produce the best economy, and in a society where Christianity, the salt of the Earth, is active there should hardly ever be a need to worry about one's immediate welfare.
If it happens in some cases that seeking material benefits or even one's material needs would contravene God's will, then God's will is the better course of action. Our faith in God will give us the ability to face an uncertain future with hope and contentment, and thus to accept temporary hardship.
7:1-6: Since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, it is to be expected that people following the foregoing advice will develop greater perception of others and their spiritual state. This knowledge can be useful in avoiding offending people by presenting them with ideas that they are not ready to appreciate. But we must remember that our minds are limited. We cannot judge an other's deeper motives. Nor do we have the right to assume that our own strengths and areas of spiritual development are the most important. If I have developed in one area of life, then observe someone who falls short in that area and start trying to correct him, he may be able to see other areas of my life that are underdeveloped, and will be offended by my pride in trying to set him right. There is a place for helping each other with character development, but it is much smaller than we are inclined to think.
7:7-11: It is to God that we are to turn in the main for our spiritual direction. Our lives may at times appear to be drifting or disconnected from God's blessing, but if we remain committed to God, He has promised to give us what is good for us, whether or not we recognize it at each moment. Our faith is developed in smoothing out our commitment to God over the ups and downs of apparent spiritual blessing.
7:12-14: As this quality of walk with God is developed, we become more observant of others' state and needs and our behaviour becomes more precise. Most of walking with God is learning the delicate balance of treating others, despite their differences, as being as important as ourselves on the one hand while making an invisible God our primary object of devotion on the other hand.
7:15-20: If the balance shifts too far toward treating others with respect, we risk adopting their wrong ideas about God, which may appear attractive but ultimately lead to spiritual disaster. We need to temper our respect for our fellow man with reluctance to accept their philosophies before they have come to fruition and demonstrated their true direction.
7:21-23: On the other hand, if we think we can be devoted to God without living for other people we are ignoring the very message God has been communicating to us, and our apparent spirituality is worthless.
7:24-27: The instruction in this sermon contains the essential wisdom that determines the ultimate quality of one's life and work. At some points of one's life courses of action that go against Christ's teaching may appear compellingly to offer a better result. But they are deceptive. In the long run, the only way to produce lasting results is Christ's way.
similarly describes the reaction of the people that Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum. There is a word for word match with the verses - comparing Jesus with the scribes. A similar reaction is recorded in , where the high-priests and Pharisees sent their assistants to arrest Jesus, but they came back saying �Never has any one spoken like this person.
Jesus impressed them with His authority. The rabbinic tradition as we know it today involves interpreting the writings of the rabbis of the past. Presumably even then it must have been characterized by citation, qualification, counter-example. As Jesus told them in “You fully disregard God�s commandment so that you can keep your own tradition.”
Jesus on the other hand spoke on God�s authority, direct from the source. He took the principles, which centuries before had been divinely revealed to their forebears, and explained them in His own words, without reference to the interpretations of others. The audiences must have been touched by the consistency and sense of higher purpose running through Jesus�s speeches. The words and images Jesus chose made His message accessible to the masses. The simplicity of the language masks somewhat the intricate underlying structure of His thoughts, but the more attentive listener will discern the development of thought.
Jesus� thoughts in the Sermon on the Mount range from the broad sweep of the convert�s character development (in the beatitudes), to techniques for improving self-control (5:27-30); He covers our relationships with others (Matt 5), our relationship with God (Matt 6), and the limitations of the human mind (Matt 7) - all in everyday language. Thus a complete course of spiritual teaching is presented without much apparent effort required on the part of the hearer to understand it.