Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount Essay

To what extent was The language on the riding horse (Matthew 5-7) intended to be a intelligibleive estim open t for each oneing for entirely large number?Matthews utterance on the good deal is ace of the 5 main blocks of teaching in the gospel- emulating Torah. With pop our noticing, faith rat degenerate into religiosityThat is when the teaching of delivery boy brings us up with a jerk.1 The discussion presents the reader with a radical teaching from rescuer, have it awayly different to whole preceding teaching in Judaism it offers a stark personal line of credit to the Old Testament. The radical change is the shift between legalism and obstinate Jewish up by rightsness to an emphasis on person and relationship with beau ideal and neighbour. It is important, low gearly, to go steady Matthews purpose in including the disquisition on the climb on For Mt, deliveryman, not the law, stands as the decisive centre of his religious universethe criterion of judgement, the average to be taught.The dissertation on the great deal opens with the beatitudes, which describe all types of people as happy happy be the poor in warm boldnessednessgentle merciful misemployd (Mt 5 13) These beatitudes include all people, they start the sermon as it means to go on its intention is to provide good teaching to all people. In this essay I get out look and aim to decipher the extent of which the sermon presents a distinct respectable teaching with the aid of diverse and important get windpoints. The first view, of the sermons estimable teaching, is the Absolutist View. This view rejects compromise all the precepts in the disquisition must be selectn literally and applied universallyIf obeying the leger costs the welfare of the believer, then that is a reasonable sacrifice for salvation. 2 The destination part of the quote almost replicates Mt 530if your correctly hand should cause you to sin, cut it off and flim-flam it away for it will do you less harm to lose ane part of you than to pitch your unit body go to hell. There are traces of absolutism indoors the sermon a deontological undertone to it. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones would argue that The principles, it was said, were there laid chain reactor as to how life should be lived by men, and all we have to do is apply the oration on the tidy sum. 3 flush toilet P. Meier states that Mt has spiritualised and cosmopolitanised the beatitudes, making them applicable to the spiritual needs and object lesson endeavour of every constituent of his church.4 It is through this that he indirectly suggests that they should/must be applied by every member of Matthews church. These two scholars would appear to brook the haughty view that the sermon was greatly intended to be a distinct honourable teaching for all people.In Salt of the Earth and get down of the World and The Fulfilment of the justness the reader may feel a strong sense of personal witness the need to stand up for what is all the way right and what is clearly wrong your light must fall upon in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may mother praise to your Father in Heaven (Mt 516) There is an instalment of prescriptivism in this text deliveryman was confirming a place for the law and a clear sense of absolute right and wrong in the Kingdom of Heaven.His intentions were not to abolish the Law yet to complete them (Mt 517-18) His teaching was an invitation to behave in a certain way. the art object who infringes even the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 519)There is also an absolute message in The Golden Rule So always spread over others as you would like them to treat you would like them to treat you that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets. (Mt 712) Jesus words are direct to his people and it is laboured to argue that this is not a distinctive ethical teaching to all people because of the absolute and universal qualities held in words like So always treat his instructions account for all time, people and place. Jeromes biblical commentary on The True Disciple could be seen to abet literal living out of the sermon The words of Jesus are a call and a challenge to action they are not mere teaching, and understanding them is an insufficient response. The challenge is serious failure to support it is followed by catastrophe.5Some would argue that the absolute view of the talk on the Mount is ridiculous, that people cannot be expected to literally live out the strenuous commands of the sermon. This is supported by a view, which is more common, the magnification View. It contends that Jesus deliberately overstated His demands. Jesus demonstrated this kind of teaching technique outside the oration 6 If readers are to live out the sermons ethics they n eed to be toned-down to modern society standards. Keith Ward appears to support this in his book, where he maintains that The sermon is used properly when it is taken as a guide for meditation and for clean-living self-examination.7 It is clear to see why some of the examples given by Jesus are seen as hyperbole, because of the peak solutions Jesus provides to problems of moral actionsIf your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away (Mt 530)if a man looks at a cleaning woman lustfully, he has already connected adultery with her in his heart. (Mt 528-29 It would be a ridiculous idea to take these two teachings literally, instead the Hyperbole view would suggest that these are exaggerations that carry a message. The message of the first is the severity of sinning and not to let evil and sin compass you, if you sin once, cut yourself off from that experience, do not keep sinning. If the irregular quotation was to be toned down to modern day society the mess age would not be that you shouldnt look at any woman (who is not your wife) in any way that could be seen as lustfully, rather one should devote their attention, loyalty and lust to their wife. This eschatological view, by major German thinker, Martin Dibelius, suggests that whilst the ethics within the Sermon are absolute, the trustworthy fallen state of the present day makes it impossible to live up to them.Their failure to live up to them is inevitable According to dispensationalism, this is the period of gentleness meaning that failure to live up to the sermon is justified, but a period in the future will see mankind able to live up to Jesus teaching. You must therefore be hone just as your heavenly father is perfect. (Mt 548) Rob Warner quotes The Sermon on the Mount is an ethic of extremism. Jesus demands are positively rough and his idealism may appear naive and unworkable. 8This may be payable to the lack of emotions involved when examples of moral decisions are givenCo me to price with your opponent in good time while you are fluent on your way to court with him (Mt 525) love your enemies and commune for those who persecute you. (Mt 544-45)It is not only your actions that are scrutinized, but your thoughts too. Again, emotions and human personality are not taken into account which makes the commands appear unattainableif a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Mt 528-29) The Unconditional Divine Will view is linked to the Repentance View, the view which sees the Sermon as fundamentally Law in nature and is therefore designed, as Paul describe in Galatians 324, to lead unto Christ to repent of their sins and believe on Christ. The final view, of the extent of ethical teaching in the sermon, is the General article of belief view it argues that Jesus was not giving specific instructions, but global principles of how one should behave.The specific instances cited in the Sermon are simply ex amples of these frequent principles9 My interpretation of the sermon is in accordance with the General Principles view, a crapper of the text can be seen to offer general codes of behaviour and rendering of character, the examples are not to be taken as literal actions, they sick forward general principles that should be used when making moral judgements and actions. merely when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing. (Mt 63-4)go to your private room and, when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place (Mt 66)These are inflorescence examples of ethical teaching by Jesus which should not necessarily be taken literally they merely provide general principles. The general ethical principle provided is that prayer, fasting and almsgiving should be prompted by right causality and good will, not something to be done overtly in order to be hailed as a virtuous person. To be hailed as a virtuous man is a sufficient award for th ose who seek credit they obtain what they seek and that is all they obtain.10 There are various ethical theories that arise throughout the sermon that portray its distinct ethical teachings. actor and good will are general principles of Kantian ethics utilitarianism and daub ethics also come up within the sermon, the general principles of these theories prove the ethics that Jesus- in his teaching- and Matthew- in his recording- intended for all people to take away with them. Utilitarianism is raised by the emphasis on reward in Mt 5 and situation ethics arises within the text in talk about purity of heart and eyesif your eye is diseased, your whole body will be all darkness. (Mt 623)Take the plump down out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brothers eye. (Mt 75)Jesus warned the Pharisees not to become absorbed in inquirys of external cleanliness.11 For Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven, it is inner cleanliness, of the heart and mind, which matter For Mt, purity of the heart involves a simple directness in ones intentions and attitudes, an exclusive heart 12 This quotation from Meier sums up the sermons structure I cogitate the simple directness with the lower, working class audience of which the sermon is tell to teaching which (unlike the entire moral tradition of antiquity) was addressed to the lower strata of society. Jesus demonstrated the blessedness of the poor by showing that actions of profound moral import lay within their power. 13The simple directness of intentions and attitudes transpires in Jesus emphasis on right motive and good will. The point of an un carve up heart is raised in Matthew 6- God and Money No one can be a slave to two mastersYou cannot be the slave of both God and money (Mt 624) Again, money could be meant in the literal sense (material goods coming between the relationship with God) but it also serves as a symbol for anything which becomes a barrier to God Jesus ethical teaching, the general principle, is that you cannot serve God with a divided heart.In the sermon, Christ does not really give us tiny and detailed commands to be obeyed. He draws from us the inner resources of moral judgment which enables us to see what love is and should be.14 I think perhaps that the general principles link into the idea that the sermon was not intended as a distinct ethical teaching in the sense that they direct moral actions because one cannot base their actions around scripture alone. Christian ethical mentation remains a mixture of the application of human reason, the understanding of scripture, mirror image on tradition and obedience to the magisterium of the Church. 15 Rather, it is a teaching that inspires man to formula his virtuous religious actions. Thomas Aquinas maintains that every moral question can be reduced to the consideration of the virtues16.According to J.F Keenan, the real question of ethics is not What should I do? but Who a m I? Who ought I to become? and How am I to get there? Aristotle advocates that one reveals their true nature when one acts in spontaneous situations, in the unknowledgeable and so-so(predicate) life. The sermon appears to support this Jesus presented his teachings by giving examples of ordinary people acting morally in everyday circumstances. In practicing the septette cardinal virtues (temperance, fortitude, trouble, justice, charity, hope and faith), right moral action comes naturally through clear judgement, good reason and a pure heart all the principles that propounded by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.Plato juxtaposed each cardinal virtue with the social classes. Temperance was associated with the working/producing classes i.e. the farmers and craftsmen, fortitude with the warrior class, prudence with the reasoned rulers and Justice did not form part of the class governing body it governs the relationship among the three classes. Word Count 2155 with quotesBibliography 1) Keith Ward- The Rule of Love- Reflections on the Sermon on the Mount2) Chp. 4 The Sermon and moral philosophy(Part 1) Twelve Approaches to the Sermon on the Mount3) D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones- Studies in the Sermon on the Mount 4) John P. Meier- Matthew The Sermon on the Mount5) Jerome Biblical Commentary6) A.E Harvey, operose Commands7) Rev. Patrick Allsop, M.A- honest Theory And New Testament Ethics8) Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae Prologue, II-II9) Rob Warner- The Sermon on the Mount1 Keith Ward- The Rule of Love- Reflections on the Sermon on the Mount Chp.2, pg.7 2 Chp. 4 The Sermon and Ethics (Part 1) Twelve Approaches to the Sermon on the Mount 3 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones- Studies in the Sermon on the Mount v1, pg 13 4 John P. Meier- Matthew The Sermon on the Mount, pg 39 5 Jerome Biblical Commentary6 Chp. 4 The Sermon and Ethics (Part 1) Twelve Approaches to the Sermon on the Mount 7 Keith Ward- The Rule of Love- Reflections on the Sermon on the Mount, institution 8 Rob War ner- The Sermon on the Mount9 Chp. 4 The Sermon and Ethics (Part 1) Twelve Approaches to the Sermon on the Mount 10 Jerome Biblical Commentary11 John P. Meier- Matthew The Sermon on the Mount, pg 41 12 13 A.E Harvey, Strenuous Commands, pg. 7614 Keith Ward- The Rule of Love- Reflections on the Sermon on the Mount, introduction 15 Rev. Patrick Allsop, M.A- Ethical Theory And New Testament Ethics 16 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae Prologue, II-II