Sermon on the Mount

Definition and Meaning

The Sermon on the Mount takes its name from the teaching Jesus gave on a mountain; the Korean term, sansang suhun, literally means "teaching delivered from atop the mountain." It consists of what Jesus Christ taught His disciples and the multitudes after going up onto a mountain, and it extends from Matthew 5:1 through 7:29. Its principal contents are as follows:

• The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12): eight blessings beginning with "Blessed are the poor in spirit."
• The sayings on salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16)
• The fulfillment of the Law and six teachings introduced by "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time…" (Matthew 5:17-48), addressing murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and love for one's enemies.
• Teachings on almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (Matthew 6:1-18), which include the Lord's Prayer.
• The teaching against anxiety ("Take no thought"), the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12), and the parable of the house built upon a rock.

Biblical and Historical Background

Luke 6:20-49 contains similar material. Because this passage records a sermon given "in the plain," it is commonly called the Sermon on the Plain. Matthew records that Jesus came not to destroy the law of Moses but to fulfill it. For this reason the Sermon on the Mount has been read as a portrait of the life of the people of the kingdom of God.

Interpreters differ over how these teachings can be put into practice:

• Martin Luther emphasized that these teachings expose human inability and so lead people to grace. This view is connected to the Lutheran tradition of distinguishing between law and gospel.
• The Anabaptist tradition sought to follow teachings such as the prohibition of oaths and nonviolence literally.
• Some dispensationalists interpret these teachings as the ethics of the kingdom yet to come.

Practice in the Korean Church

In the Korean church, memorizing the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer is common, and most denominations recite the Lord's Prayer together in worship. The Sermon on the Mount is also frequently used as the text for sermon series and as material for discipleship training.

Emphases vary by denomination:

• Presbyterian churches and others in the Reformed tradition tend to read these teachings as the rule of life for believers who have been saved.
• Methodist and Holiness churches value the thirteen sermons that John Wesley wrote on the Sermon on the Mount. These denominations emphasize the Sermon on the Mount as a call to sanctification and a holy life.
• In Baptist and Full Gospel churches as well, the Sermon on the Mount is widely used as a text for teaching the life of discipleship and prayer.