The Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew 5: 1- 7: 29)

Beatitudes and Antitheses. Matthew’s Gospel offers five teaching discourses: the Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:29); missionary instructions (10:1–42); parables concerning the kingdom (Gk. basileia) of heaven (13:1–53); church guidelines (18:1–35); and predictions of the end time (24:1–25:46). The discourses do not necessarily create a new Pentateuch, but they do suggest that the Gospel functioned as a catechetical guide for the early church. The first discourse combines material from Mark, Q, and M, along with editorial glosses to provide a summary of Matthean ethics…