Bible Question:
what is the whole theme and main emphasis of the Sermon on the Mount from Matt 5-7 |
Bible Answer: This is a question we could certainly spend a lot of time on. The blessings (Beatitudes) in chapter 5 alone are enough to keep us deeply engaged for some time. I've heard the teaching that this list is a progressive series of how "good" Christians are to act. I think there is some merit in this teaching, but think also that this is a small piece of a much larger teaching of Jesus. Another small part (but no less important) is the one that says blessed are you, even you poor and tired and spiritually bereft; you sick and hungry and downtrodden; you who search for righteousness somewhere - anywhere, you who need some assurance that there is mercy somewhere. Blessed are you, even you, for the Kingdom of heaven is open. If one looks back over the last few verses of chapter 4, the picture that emerges is one of a poor and motley crowd. Those who gathered to hear Jesus talk on the hill were the sick and infirm, the poor and the weak. They were hungering and thirsting for more than righteousness. Jesus was telling them, yes, the Kingdom of heaven is available to you. Then Jesus proceeds to explain the kind of life available to those who occupy the kingdom of heaven. He talks about true righteousness, and how that manifests itself in those under Kingdom rule. Enough for now. What do you think? God bless you, Dave R. |