Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" recorded in the Gospel of Matthew is the most quoted passage in all of scripture. So much has been written about it that it seems a tad presumptuous to add more to this vast treasure trove of commentary. Presumptuous or not, here goes.

As the first listeners heard this kingdom manifesto, this declaration of the arrival of a new heavenly kingdom, they didn’t have a copy of the text in their hands. They heard it, they listened to it, and it came as a startling wave of truth and insight to the audience on the Galilean hillside that day. When Jesus finished, those in attendance said, “This man teaches with authority, and not as the scribes.” They felt the authority of his words and their hearts were stirred with this hope-inspiring vision of a new society preparing for a new world. And while I don’t know the complete nature of that authority, I’m quite sure it included an obvious correspondence with reality, the "way things really are." There was something powerful about the way Jesus described his kingdom, because they said, “Yes. This is true.” There was a deep correspondence with reality that touched their hearts and for many ignited hope.

This sermon has been used in many different ways. It has provoked a lot of controversy. It has been used at times to create what seems to many people like a new and higher standard of legalism, so that when they read it they respond with, “Oh, I’ll never measure up to this. This is impossible. The 10 Commandments were tough, especially when it came to ‘Thou shall not covet.’  But this? Impossible!”  I’m not sure that is what the first listeners heard. It’s not necessarily a new kind of law, but a new paradigm is presented in this sermon that is an invitation to a new kind of life in a new kind of society. This is the declaration of a new kingdom that is now present because Jesus, the Son of God, has arrived.

The church historically has recognized that this collection, Matthew 5-7, really is a summary work of all of Jesus’ teachings, of all of his ministry, compiled very precisely and eloquently into these three chapters. So if you look at the writings of Christians throughout history, these three chapters have been quoted more in their writings than any other chapters in the entire Biblical text. Of those three chapters, Matthew 5 is quoted more frequently than any other single chapter in the Bible. 

This sermon also served a very practical function in the early church. A lot of evidence points to the early church using this as part of the catechism for new believers, and particularly those coming from a pagan background though not as commonly with those who had grown up in the Jewish synagogue and in the Jewish family

If this sermon is so central to the Christian message, let’s assume that the proverbial visitor from Mars is traveling from outer space, coming to planet earth and on the way in he is reading Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. He lands in your Christian community, and observes you at work, at play, and in worship. Would he recognize your community of faith as adhering to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount? Is it central to who we are as followers of Jesus? Should it be central to who we are as followers of Jesus?

Augustine, writing in about 400 AD, described the Sermon on the Mount as a perfect standard of the Christian life. He went on to say, “I think that whoever meditates in earnest love upon the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount found in Saint Matthew’s gospel will find there a perfect model for Christian living. At the close of the sermon, we see that it has brought together all the precepts (notice the word “all”—he is saying it’s comprehensive) we need for our guidance in life. I have made these observations to show that this sermon is perfect, since it gives us all the precepts needed for Christian living.”

John Dunne, an Anglican pastor, preacher, lawyer, satirist, and poet, in 1629said, “As nature hath given us certain elements (and notice the word “all” as it appears here again) and all our bodies are composed of them, and art hath given us certain alphabet of letters and all words are composed of them, so our blessed Savior in these three chapters of the gospel hath given us a sermon of texts of which all our sermons may be composed. All the articles of our religion, all the canons of our church, all the injunctions of our princes, all the homilies of our fathers, all the body of divinity is in these three chapters, in this one Sermon on the Mount.”