sermon on the mount,

Meaning of the Sermon
Jesus concludes the sermon by setting up certain requirements that
relate directly to one's being saved or lost.He divides mankind into
three classes:those who (1) follow him (7:13-14,17,21,24-25),(2)
do not follow him (vss.13-44,26-27),and (3) pretend to follow him
(vss.15-20,21-23).To be saved one must actually follow the
teachings of the sermon,but Jesus does not say they must be performed
perfectly.The saved are those who accept and actually attempt to
direct their lives by the sermon; the lost are those who pretend to
follow or who reject these teachings.Is this any different from
Paul's man of faith?Was Paul not scandalized by the notion that a
person may live the way he wants?The person who rests his faith in
Jesus determines to follow him.This is Jesus and Paul.Mere
profession of belief,without the following,will secure Jesus'
condemnation,"I never knew you.You evildoers,depart from me" (vs.
23).An unfortunate feature of much post-Reformation Christianity has
been the interpretation of Jesus in light of Paul rather than the
converse.One of the contributions of Bonhoeffer's treatment of this
sermon is his insistence on reading Paul in light of Jesus and,hence,
his stressing the necessity of doing the sermon.Perfection is not
demanded and aid is provided,but still the true disciple is "the who
does the will of the Father" (vs.21).
The Sermon on the Mount is the discourse of Jesus in Matt.5-7,
containing the epitome of his ethical teaching.The shorter but
parallel sermon in Luke 6:20-49 is usually known as the Sermon on the
Plain,because of a different description of the setting.No other
block of Jesus' teaching has enjoyed such wide influence and intense
examination.Its uniqueness derives not only from its impact as a
whole,but also from the fact that some of its parts have attained
classical status on their own.
The sermon has been called anything from essential Christianity to
Jesus' manifesto,but it is best seen as the height of Jesus' ethical
demands on his disciples occasioned by the nearness of the kingdom.
Since Matt.portrays Jesus as seated in rabbinic posture teaching his
disciples,the term "sermon" is an unfortunate,though now
unavoidable,one.
Three parts of the sermon have wielded considerable influence in their
own right on Christian consciousness and liturgy.The Beatitudes have
the kingdom as their primary theme,but they also introduce other of
the sermon's emphases.In contrast to their consoling nature in Luke,
in Matt.they assume the character of ethical demands,and the focus
of the blessings themselves is eschatological.The Matthean version of
the Lord's Prayer is poetic with beautiful symmetry and has heavily
influenced Christian liturgy.Jesus uses it as an illustration of the
need for simplicity in prayer,and some of its words suggest his
follow-up principle of reciprocal forgiveness.The Golden Rule (7:12)
brings to their apex the sermon's earlier teachings on interpersonal
relations.Its interpreters have often stressed Jesus' positive mode
of formulating this principle in contrast to the negative way by other
great religious teachers.In the context of Jesus' thought as a whole,
the Golden Rule is his way of expressing Lev.19:18b,which he
elsewhere calls the second great commandment (Matt.22:39),for he
sees both as the epitome of the law and the prophets.