Sermon Series:
The Sermon on the Mount
We’re heading back into the New Testament in Term 2! The Sermon on the Mount is one of the richest collections of Jesus sermon teaching. I expect that every week is going to challenge us - Jesus teaches with authority, reaching past the letter of the law, to the heart of the matter.
THE MESSAGE OF THE SERMON
There’s considerable work in each study if we are prepared to let our hearts be challenged. I imagine that you’ll come across these thoughts at some points:
The Sermon on the Mount is heavenly truth in practice. The teachings might seem opposite to the wisdom of the world, as if Jesus has it “upside down”! In fact, it’s our world which is upside down and Jesus is teaching the right way up! Some lessons will seem hard, but they describe a heavenly reality that God wants you to live out, a reality only made possible in Jesus.
THE STRUCTURE OF MATTHEW
While we call it “The Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus didn’t speak these words in a sermon in a way we know it: he wasn’t in a church building, he wouldn’t have had a lectern, and it wasn’t a 30-40min speech like the sermons we hear. Rather “the sermon” is most likely a collection of Jesus’ teachings, organised thematically.
Matthew collates Jesus’ teachings and places them within a logical framework of Jesus’ ministry. Overall, there’s of 5 teaching blocks collated by Matthew. You can see how they’re grouped together in the diagram on the right. Some Bibles will have these teaching blocks printed mostly in red: this indicates words spoken by Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount is the most significant teaching discourse in the book of Matthew.
The way the Sermon flows is arranged in spiritual thematics. Jesus engages us in what it means to be a true, authentic person who lives with faith in God.
Matthew 7:24:27 concludes the chapter telling us that if we put Jesus’ words into practice, we are like the man who built his house on solid ground. Even with all the wind, rains and floods that come our way through the course of life - we might stand because we build our faith on Jesus. Ultimately, he is the bedrock of our faith because of who He is.
Our prayer is that the Sermon on the Mount will challenge you in your discipleship: the way you follow and obey Jesus’ authority in your life: that you’ll be able to test and approve God’s perfect will in your life. (Romans 12:2)