Knowing The Word in Matthew 5:1

The Sermon on the Mount

[Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” is a collection of Jesus’ teaching that is reproduced in Luke with about half the material in various areas of Luke. In Matthew this teaching encompasses 5:1-7:29. Because Luke is so different, including differences in wording but with the same message, it is most likely that Matthew has composed this “sermon,” piecing together various teachings in a helpful order. It deals with the character, duties, attitudes, and dangers of the Christian disciple, setting out the nature of life in the kingdom of heaven. It is not a universal code, an ethic for all people, but one for followers of Jesus. Its concern is with discipleship. And central to all of it is Jesus himself, because for his sake his disciples will be persecuted. It is demanding: you shall be perfect. We know that the only place we can be perfect is in Jesus himself. Our destiny depends, therefore, on our relationship with him (7:21-23) and our response to his teaching (7:24-27).]

1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain [non-specific, into the steeply sloping hills on the western side of the Sea of Galilee], and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. [The audience is not a general crowd but Jesus’ disciples.]