The Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:1-12 Part I

As you have already noticed, the text reads a little different from the common readings that we have heard all our lives.  And that is mainly due to the fact that the verb forms that have been supplied in the common translations, such as “blessed are the poor in spirit,” and “blessed are those who mourn,” have been added to make the reading smoother.  They aren’t in the text.  And they aren’t there for a reason.

And the reason is that Jesus is making a declaration of fact – or judgment of fact.  The apostle isn’t saying that men exist in blessedness because of some intrinsic value in these eight things listed here.  But he does say that Jesus has pronounced – or judged – or declared – men to be blessed who are described by these eight qualities.  “Blessed the poor in spirit.”

So Matthew has made a studied, grammatical decision, quoting the Lord Jesus, to let everyone know the Gospel – that Jesus Christ pronounces men blessed.  The state of being blessed occurs naturally in no man; either by being naturally meek in character or lowly in spirit.  Neither do reviling, persecution, being poor and beggarly, or acting as a peacemaker make one blessed.  Blessed is a judgment of Christ – it is a pronouncement of the King on His Own subjects.  A man in mourning over his own state of life is naturally driven from Christ into his own sin and degradation.  But one over whom Christ rules mourns his own sin.  And the King pronounces him blessed.

Our Lord begins the great Sermon on the Mount by making a clear distinction between His Kingdom and the world order.  His preaching had begun – “Repent, for the Kingdom of the Heavens is at hand.”  And this sermon, chapter 5-7, is an exposition of that.  What does it mean to repent and be in submission to the King, and live in His realm – the Kingdom, God, Heavens, Lord – interchangeable.  What happens when a sinful head of household sees the depravity that is there and then turns to obey the words of the King?  What happens when an employer finally “sees,” and submits to every word that flows through the mouth of God?

Now, there are many different views out there concerning the sermon of the mount, as it is called.  Jesus preached repentance, and He preached the Kingdom.  The nature of man, and his obedience to the King.  And every aberrant view of the sermon leaves out one or both of these two elements. 

I just want to touch on a few of these, by way of explanation, so that you can see what I mean.

For example, there is the view that leaves out a clear exegesis, or exposition of each and every verse in the sermon, and exegesis of the whole, preferring to “summarize” the sermon by choosing a few particularly pertinent verses – such as the “golden rule.”  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, (or some variation on it).  And the idea is that if everybody treats his neighbor right, then we’ll have the great society.

Now, this is called the social gospel in which, I suppose, there is some loose form of a kingdom concept, but certainly not the Kingdom of Christ.  And there is no understanding of depravity or repentance – without which sin and degradation will continue to run rampant.  And for that reason the social Gospel does not work!

Another view, which is, perhaps, a little more serious for us as reformed people, is that the sermon is an elaboration of the Mosaic Law.  But this is a pharisaical, law-and-order interpretation of it which leads to autocracy, tyranny and human abuse.  I will say a lot about Jesus’ exposition of the Law and its Kingdom application from time to time, but, for now, it is enough to say that this approach to the Sermon on the Mount completely omits Jesus’ preaching of repentance first.  And without it the law and order approach to society only culminates in an abusive wielding of the sword.  Freedom disappears when men usurp the reign and realm of the true King, and install their own aberrant views of the Law.

The next interpretation that I want to mention is one that’s very popular today – in fact, most of the thousands of evangelical churches out there believe it in some form or another, and it’s taught from many, many  pulpits and TV programs.

And it says that the Sermon on the Mount has nothing whatsoever to do with modern Christians.  They say our Lord began to preach the Kingdom of God, but the Jews didn’t believe Him.  They rejected the Kingdom preaching.  So Jesus, at that point, went ahead and submitted to death on the cross, and couldn’t, therefore continue to preach and establish the Kingdom.  So the Church age came to pass – and that will persist up to a certain point in history. Then our Lord will return with the Kingdom and the Sermon on the Mount will be re-introduced and preached again.

In other words, the Sermon on the Mount isn’t for us.  It’s for a distant Kingdom age.  It isn’t Christianity.  It’s the Law for the age of the kingdom of heaven.

And according to this interpretation I needn’t read this portion of Scripture.  Preaching it is foolish – indeed it is heresy!  Being the light of the world and the salt of the earth, chapter 5, was for the early disciples and it will be for people later on, but it doesn’t apply to us