The Beatitudes: Sermon On The Mount

In Chapter 2 of Encountering the New Testament the author talks about a few of the different practices that unified the Jews as well the different religious groups that had different beliefs. Judaism was unified in the beliefs that they had been chosen by God, they were waiting for the messiah to come, they respect the synagogues, they shared the same laws and traditions of elder. Although these beliefs were unifying there were seperate religious groups and leaders that held different beliefs. Probably the most well known group of religious leaders were the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a small group of religious leaders that believed in God, and the coming messiah. Although many of the Pharisees did live good lives many of them were

We consider the Beatitudes counter-cultural because it is a different perspective of “blessedness” as of what we think in our society today. For example, we think that blessedness, or happiness comes from physical well-being. We say people are blessed when they have the most money, the best house, the best clothing, desirable appearance, etc. In our society, we view “blessedness” as happiness from materialistic prosperity. Another example of how we think “blessedness” is the happiness from non-physical well-being. We commonly say that someone is blessed when they possess talent (musical, art, etc.), are highly intellectual, or are simply experiencing from good luck. These examples of blessings are very contrasting to the blessings depicted in the Beatitudes. For example, the Beatitudes describe that blessed are those who are poor in spirit, those who are persecuted, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, etc. In our society, we do not consider someone who is poor, persecuted, or hunger and thirst as “blessed”. However, the Beatitudes depict the meaning of “blessed” as happiness that is awarded spiritually for our faith, instead of physical or mental well-being. The true blessings described in the Beatitudes are recognizing the need of God in our lives by meekness and grief from our sins, and God inheriting in our souls.

Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, as outlined in the book of Matthew chapter five to seven, employed ordinary worldly objects and events that people associated with daily to communicate a divine message. For instance, Jesus challenged his followers that they should be salt and light in the world and should strive to change the world for the

Caritas shows this quality as they believe that disability is both a consequence and cause of poverty. They ensure that all the development programs are accessible to people with disabilities. Caritas also work towards funding specifically to people with disabilities to empower them to develop their decision making helping them become more normal.

These five great discourses illustrate that Matthew has constructed his Gospel around Jesus as the perfect teacher. This greatest of all teachers communicates his message through these five discourses, a repetition in the New Testament of the law of Judaism- the five great books of

There are three stories from Jesus' Galilean ministry that stick out to me. The stories that stick out to me are, The Sermon on the Mount, the story of the Pharisees trying to trick Christ, and the third is the story of when Jesus fed 5,000 people! All these stories show the power of God and the transparent teachings of Christ.

The Sermon on the Mount is a sermon given by Jesus Christ found in the book of Matthew in the Holy Bible. The beginning of this sermon includes a list of blessings called the Beatitudes. Jesus uses these to explain God’s favor towards those who are striving for righteousness. For those who had come to believe and follow Jesus as the son of God, every word that he spoke in the Sermon on the Mount was intended as words of encouragement for Jesus’s disciples and were taken as such. For those who were skeptical, the crowd, that Jesus was truly the son of God, Jesus’s words took on a totally different meaning. The Beatitudes, simple words that promote the humility of man, were explicit words of encouragement for Jesus’s disciples. Yet at the same time, to the crowd listening, the Beatitudes were an implicit invitation to become men of God by believing that this man is God in the flesh, God in spirit, God almighty, God omniscient, God omnipresent, and God omnipotent.

On September 11th, 2011, an attack and a resulting war against terrorism had come forth in broad daylight, knocking at the doorstep of about 3,000 innocent civilians who were to unknowingly die that day. As a result, one of the inevitable questions Christians had to sorrowfully face and ask was the view, position, and stance upon war; particularly, the matter of consistency between the biblical emphasis upon forgiveness, forbearance, and love where it is most notably pin pointed in the Sermon on the Mount. John Howard Yoder argues against the criticisms towards pacifism, indicating the differences between the sacredness of a neighbor’s life and the sustainability of the ethic with exceptionless prohibition. Despite his eloquence and successfully

The rapture, anti-chirst, marking of the beast, and the tribulations are just a few things that come to mind when I think of the book of Revelation. I have personally read the book a few times. My church has also taken an a large amount of time to break down the book for the congeration. My church also produced a movie called Defiant, which follows a character during the rapture and attempts to paint a picture for the audience to see the potential of life once the anti-christ rules. My exposure to the topic and the book has left with me with many questions. Although, the talk of Eschatolgy once made me feel worried and sick, I can say now I'm more at peace with what is to come.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave his followers a template for living a life with Gods blessings. Many believe that these guides known as the Beatitudes are unrealistic because they are not usually considered ones of blessing. The people in the Roman empire, where Jerusalem was located, and where Jesus taught, would have grown up with stories of the Greek and Trojan war. Their heroes were very much unlike those that Jesus taught would be blessed. Achilles and Odysseus, who many would consider blessed by the gods, could not line up with these teachings. Among those in their history who could have lined up with this teaching, Socrates might come close, but his life hardly seems to reflect blessings. Jesus’ teaching was revolutionary because

The sixth beatitude is found in the book of Matthew chapter five verses eight, it’s a beatitude between man and God and its futuristic in nature. It states blessed are the pure in heart for there will see God. A pure heart is a heart that has only one objective and that is pleasing God. Here Jesus tells the multitudes that those who please God will go to heaven.

The beatitudes are just a sample of the many teachings that this book has to offer.

The word blessing has different meanings to everyone. It may or not have a religious significance meaning to it. The word blessing means to me is when good things happens to someone when they least expect it. For example, when I was in eighth grade I got news that I became a National Junior Scholar. I have considered this moment of my life a blessing because I never really thought that I would become a Junior Scholar. However, this is only one of the many blessing I have experienced and I am grateful for them.

In the beginning of Matthew there is a discussion about the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah. It starts with the sons and fathers of men in the bible and goes to how Joseph accepts Jesus as his son. Then is the birth of Jesus, the baptism, the wilderness test, preaching, and so forth. It isn’t until chapter 5 that the Sermon on the Mount is introduced and discussed throughout the book of Matthew. The introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

What are the Beatitudes? What do they do for us? The Beatitudes are the eight declarations of blessedness spoken by Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount. They each begin with “Blessed are…” The Beatitudes show us what is good to do, and how we will be rewarded for doing it. They are basically shedding light on how we will be able to meet God and what we need to do here on earth. So today, I will discuss each Beatitude and how they have a spiritual and concrete connection.