Sermon On the Mount Outline

Once after a long sermon series a member wondered why there was not a summary at the end.  So this week, at the end of the SOM, here is a summary.  It also fits the final verses of the text which call the reader not only to be aware of the words of Jesus, but to listen to them.

Sermon on the Mount Outline  is here: summary-of-the-sermon-on-the-mount   The texts of the sermons are available at www.bethanyfreechurch.org under “recent sermons”.

What I am now going to work on is a 50day study, suggested by the comments of U. Luz that the Lord’s Prayer is the center of the sermon.  It would see that a study of the 7 parts of the prayer by means of the various parts of the sermon would be a good spiritual exercise.  Stay tuned.  An outline of that idea is here:  lprayerdiagram

Don’t judge dogs?

So we wonder, how do we understand Matthew 7:1, often quoted at someone else who seems overly rigid in their denunciations of others?  “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”  It is memorable and pointed.

Notice in verses 1-6 there are some judgments made – v. 5 says “You hypocrites” and v. 6 says, “Don’t give what is holy to dogs or cast your pearls before pigs.”  So do not “dogs”, “pigs”, “holy” and “pearls” involve judgments?

We think that the structure of the passage is like this

A  – v.1  Proverb

B – v. 2 Judgment is reciprocal

C – v. 3  Start with yourself

C’ – v. 4 Start with yourself

B’ – v.5 Removal is reciprocal

C’ – v. 6 Proverb

If this is fair, then verses 1 and 6 are proverbial sayings that together make a balanced teaching.  Do not judge in the sense of declaring a final condemnation.  but do discern the reality of a situation.  The line between judgment and discernment is a fine one. 

There is a lot that is reciprocal – that is what is good for the other is good for me.  Before I judge others, I should be judged.  When I judge, I will be judged.

Like the Hebrew wisdom teachings these are not Laws but proverbial in nature, require considerable care and wisdom in their application.  A wooden “do not judge in any manner at all” would not capture the teaching.  Since there are situations where judgments need to be made about teachers as is seen in the remainder of chapter 7.

If we follow the chiastic structure to its logical end, the point of the passage is much more about starting with yourself, than it is in not judging at all.

FR

Lord’s Prayer and Sermon on Mount Chart

lprayerdiagram

So here is what FR developed.  The possible connections between the prayer and the units of the SOM are pretty endless.  The Sunday Class found about about 2x as many as we did initially.  Unfortunately someone erased the marker board!

I did not come to abolish – Matt 5:17

“I tell you the truth, Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” 

 

            There are letters in Hebrew that can be changed by a dot.  Other letters are differentiated by a little mark of the pen.  We have the same in English.  Take a vertical stroke.  If you put a line through it, it becomes a “t”.  If you put a dot over it, it is an “i”.   Remove a line from an “E” and you get and “F”.  Or add a line to the side of an “F” and it can look like an “A”.  This is an old trick for changing report cards.

 

            Jesus’ point is that down to the dots and strokes of letters, every bit of the Old Testament will find its intended fulfillment.  Nothing will be left un done.

            Think of the Old Testament as a grocery list.  When I take a list to the store, I check off the items I have found.  If something is missing from the store, I circle it.  So I can say, “I guess we will change the menu because they were out of Brussels sprouts today.”

            Jesus said that all the Old Testament will be checked off.  Nothing will be circled or erased.

The Wisdom of Jesus – Matthew 5-7

From January to April we will be posting on the “Sermon on the Mount” which is found in Matthew 5-7.  This text contains a number of familiar passages such as the Lord’s Prayer, the Golden Rule, the Beatitudes, and much more that is familiar. 

This will help us put the Fresh in Fresh Read.  Again, our purpose is to read the text freshly, with all the appropriate tools and with care, but ultimately through our own eyes, not through the eyes of previous readers.

So as we begin, pull out the text and read it through.  You will find it a passage worth the time to savor.

FR