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The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 1-12)

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The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 1-12)

The Sermon on the Mount appears in the gospel of St Matthew and it stretches all the way from chapters 5-7. This study will only focus on the beatitudes, which appear in Mathew (5: 1-12). The Sermon appears in no other place in the entire bible and the closest equivalent being the Sermon on the plain found in the gospel of St Luke (6:17-49). According to (Kendall, 2011) Saint Matthew authored the book of Matthew, which contains the Sermon on the Mount. St Matthew or Levi as referred to by Mark (2:14) and Luke (5:27) was the son of Alpheus, born in Capernaum. Capernaum was a town found near the shore of the Galilean sea. St Matthew was a patron of Tax collectors, meaning he was originally a tax collector by profession in the service of the Roman Empire. In his service, he learned different languages such as Hebrew and Greek that came of great use to him.

According to (Greenman and Larsen, 2007) the Roman tax collection system was engulfed in corruption and fraud therefore people perceived the tax collectors to be extremely corrupt and unclean. The tax collectors fraudulently charged extortionist amounts and were hostile to the Romans in the way they collected the taxes. In Matthew (9:9), Jesus finds Matthew sitting in his office and calls him to become one of his disciples. He became a disciple and spread Christianity even after the crucifixion and death of Jesus. He became a Christian martyr put to death with an axe. According to (Greenman and Larsen, 2007) He was executed at Naddabar in Ethiopia where he had fled in the time of persecution of Herod Agrippa 1 in 42 AD.

According to (Bransfield, 2011) the beatitudes are the first of what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon may have come much later in the order of events of the life of Jesus; however, Mathew places it at the beginning of Christ’s works because it creates a proclamation of the kingdom. This sermon happens just after he is tempted in the desert by the devil and starts preaching about repentance in preparation for the coming of the kingdom of God (Fox, 2012). The beatitudes would not come before he preaches on repentance to his followers. Jesus moves from Nazareth where he was raised to the city of Capernaum where he intends to reach a wider audience. The sermon is given when Jesus is seated on a mountainside where he addresses a large crowd. According to (Quarles, 2011) the sermon reveals the character, foundations and rewards of life in the kingdom of God and is intended for the nation of Israel. The ethical teachings and guidelines all focus to the quality of righteousness characterized by life in that kingdom although it does not show how this righteousness will be achieved.
The beatitudes found in the book of Mathew are:
Blessed are those who know they are spiritually poor: the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Spiritual poverty involves accepting one owns weakness and accepting the need of a divine power from God to walk in righteousness. This beatitude condemns pride, (Nashville, Tenn and Quarles, 2011) which is linked to wickedness. Jesus is looking for the spiritually poor with who can inherit the kingdom of heaven and rule alongside him. The poor in spirit shall be exalted and all those full of pride will fall out from the kingdom of heaven (proverbs 16:18). We must exhibit dependence upon God if we want to live; those who do not embrace spiritual poverty embrace themselves and in turn embrace death.

Blessed are those who mourn: God will comfort them. Jesus offers comfort to those who mourn and grief over their own shortcomings or reality of the situation. Mourning indicates a feeling of sorrow after an honest evaluation of our heart and condition. Often people fail to mourn their heart and condition in relation to following the word of God. They assume everything is okay and continue with their day-to-day lives. Those that mourn due to their lack after an honest self evaluation and conditions surrounding them of, will receive comfort from Jesus Christ

Blessed are those who are humble: they will receive what God has promised. Jesus strongly values humility. In receiving Gods promises one requires great humility. We should live and serve others with great humility. God requires those who use their authority and privilege to serve others rather than for selfish gains. According (Bransfield, 2011) People should present themselves with humility before God. Humility involves treating others well since and having confidence in Gods words. It involves having confidence in God and waiting upon him to deliver on his promises. Jesus expresses humility as he submitted on the cross even though he is the son of God who has authority over the entire creation. He waited on Gods promise and rose on the third day. Humility is about taking less for betterment of others and in so doing, God will deliver u to them what he has promised.

Blessed are those who greatest desire is to do what God requires: God will satisfy them. God will satisfy and in abundance those that pursue what he requires despite the trials, pressures and obstacles one faces. In other bible versions, (Bransfield, 2011) this great desire is compared to hunger and thirst. Just like man focuses all his efforts to quench his thirst and feed his stomach, so should he focus his efforts in pursuing what God requires. One should desire to do what God requires as though our lives depended on it. This desire to pursue what he requires makes one to love him the more and in turn God promises to abundantly bless those who hunger and pursue what he requires.

Blessed are those who are merciful to others: God will be merciful to them

God promises to be merciful to those who are merciful to others. Those who demonstrate mercy to others is are seen to understands Gods heart. God’s mercy extends to all Jesus therefore invites people to be merciful to those who offend and hurt others. Revenge is not necessary and as a leader dealing with a failure, mercy should be involved in the mode of discipline. People often fail to view God as a merciful God and in turn fail to show mercy to others, but in this beatitude, God requires us to show mercy unto others and he will be merciful to us.

Blessed are the pure in heart: they will see God. Jesus calls people to have a pure heart so that they can enjoy a deep spiritual intimacy with God. God not only desires disciplined actions and good works but also a transformed heart. A Pure heart has pure thoughts and in turn does pure actions. People are not capable of achieving total purity by themselves, therefore the holy spirit was sent as an inner guide to purity. God in his act of sending the Holy Spirit shows that he desires purity so that people can relate with him. The promise of seeing God is used not to help us look within our hearts but to provoke us to pursue purity (Bransfield, 2011). A complete transformation not only in the actions people undertake but also in the hearts of men is required so that our hearts can be like God’s own. He requires that in his second coming that people will be able to look into his eyes without shame but with pure hearts

Blessed are those who work for peace: God will call them his children. Jesus calls people to pursue and campaign for peace amidst a dynamic world engulfed in war. Spreading the message of peace is not an easy task, People should persevere the wrath of men to restore peace between God and man. Jesus is presented as a great peacemaker as he fearlessly reconciles man and God by dying on the cross. The messengers are also required to maintain peace amongst themselves. Those that maintain peace against all odds will be called Gods children. Being called a child of God is symbolic, as position of honor and authority that God bestows upon the peace maker to carry out his work.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires: the kingdom of heaven belongs to them, Just as Jesus was persecuted for doing what God requires, and on the third day he was taken up to the heavens, people should do what God requires without fear, and if they face persecution they should persevere just like Jesus did. According to (Bransfield, 2011)Doing what God requires involves following his commandments to the letter, loving him and loving their neighbors. This is a call for self-sacrifice for a greater reward which is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and tell all kinds of and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. This beatitude is very similar to the previous one, it is is basically an expansion of the previous beatitude. Jesus addresses the issue on persecution twice, showing that it is an issue of much. Persecution in this case is divided into two: being persecuted for things we have done, and being persecuted falsely for things not done. We should endure both persecution for Christ sake and the reward will be great. Just like Jesus was not bothered by false accusations since he had faith that Gods judgment would be ultimate, the same should not bother Christians (Fox, 2012). The reward that God gives to the persecuted, which is his kingdom and being called his own should be understood as very significant and should not be taken lightly since the reward is before the very throne.

Be happy and glad for a great reward is kept for you in heaven, this is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted.

Jesus demonstrates persecution just like the prophets endured, and if Christians humble endure these persecutions as the prophets endured, the reward in store for them is great.

conclusion

In today society, the lesson that Christians can learn from the beatitudes would be that, Christians should dedicate their lives to Jesus and live for him. Christians and people in general should follow the ethical teachings and guidelines that characterize righteous living found in the beatitudes, which include humility, being spiritually poor, justice, mercy, righteousness and perseverance. Christians should always remember that genuine righteousness is offensive to many and therefore they will face a lot of opposition and persecution. They should be ready to persevere with a lot of humility for them to inherit the kingdom of God and be called gods own people.

References

Bransfield, J. B. (2011). Living the beatitudes: a journey to life in Christ. Boston, MA: Pauline Books & Media.

Fox, E., & Fox, E. (2012). The Sermon on the mount: the key to success in life ; and, The Lord's prayer, an interpretation. New York: HarperOne..
Greenman, J. P., & Larsen, T. (2007). Sermon on the Mount through the Centuries, The From the Early Church to John Paul II.. Grand Rapids: Baker Pub. Group.
Kendall, D. R. (2011). Sermon on the Mount, The. Grand Rapids: Baker Pub. Group.
Nashville, Tenn.: B & H Academic. Quarles, C. L. (2011). Sermon on the Mount: restoring Christ's message to the modern church. Nashville, Tenn.: B & H Academic.
The Good News Bible.
Quarles, C. L. (2011). Sermon on the Mount: restoring Christ's message to the modern church.

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