The Sermon on the Mount is relevant to our lives today as much as it applied to the very people who heard the words from the lips of our Savior Himself on the day He spoke them. The lessons our Lord relayed were key concepts every Christian should wrestle with and strive to adhere to in response to the saving Gospel. He described the godly character that only He Himself perfectly possessed and exemplified. He also gave guidance regarding how to respond to certain situations and temptations that have been dealt with in light of his teachings for two thousand years.
He began by addressing pride, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” He taught that God will bless those who, as Matthew Henry commentates, “see their want, bewail their guilt, and thirst after a Redeemer.” He did not ask us to focus on this world or ourselves; contrarily, He said God is with those who see this world as temporary pain, trials, and suffering, and focus on eternity. He lovingly urged us to be comforted in the midst of persecution and pain by none other than the Author of love Himself. We can run to Him when it is our own sin that grieves us, as well as when we are mistreated by others. We can trust that He will remain steadfast when we are fickle.
Christ spoke about the importance of what is in the heart regarding anger, lust, fasting, and retaliation. The Lord analyzed the Old Testament law and dug deep to the core of why God created such ordinances; He concluded that the law is violated when you sin in your heart. The Pharisees were devoted to the law, but they focused on how they were viewed by onlookers. Jesus expressed God’s standard by saying that what we do, though it may cause us to look pious to others, doesn’t have an effect on God. Jesus always kept to the scriptures, and this lesson was a reiteration of 1 Samuel 16:7b, which reads “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” God looks not on how one is perceived, but He looks directly into the heart of man. He is aware of each imperfection. He is not ignorant of any evil judgment we make or the complaints that flit across our minds; He sees it all. Jesus later says “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” ( Matthew 23:27-28).
To love one’s enemy isn’t an easy feat; in fact, it is impossible on our own. Jesus proclaimed that His people ought to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Jesus Himself was the ultimate example of this: as He was dying on the cross, He prayed for those who were killing him. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” (Luke 23:34). We also ought to love those who hurt us. When we are offended by the trivial things that we often are offended by (perhaps a spiteful glance from a friend or family who isn’t sympathetic with our complaints), we ought to show love to those who are unkind to us. Even more intensely, we ought to love those who absolutely abhor us.
Jesus spoke convicting words in the Sermon on the Mount. He points out that God provides for the birds, and yet He informs His people that they are of much more value than they. Jesus encourages us to “seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first and all of these things will be added to [us].” We can trust Him in every single aspect of life. He is sovereign over everything, from each leaf that falls from a tree to the number of hairs on our heads.
One of the most startling and concerning passages of the New Testament is when Christ warns, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’…[but] I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” This exhortation was done in love; Jesus was warning His people to check themselves. Such a warning is terrifying, but the Lord also says in Matthew 7:8 that everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds. He gives salvation freely, and will breathe life into the spiritually dead and bring their salvation to completion. This verse entreats us to listen to our hearts in regards to the pride we may kindling. We are prone to wander, and we must seek the Lord with our whole hearts, because only with Him can we reach full sanctification.
It is imaginable how they responded to this Man as He spoke that day. He spoke eloquently, lovingly, and gently. He spoke convicting words and encouraging words. Those present were astonished by His claims and by the authority with which He spoke (Matthew 7:28-29). But He spoke with the authority that was rightfully His as the son of God, and His message endures to this day unlike any other message has ever endured. It is a message that Christians easily apply to their lives today, learning from the wisdom of our Lord.
