Rebecca Stark is the author of The Good Portion: Godthe second title in The Good Portion series.

The Good Portion: God explores what Scripture teaches about God in hopes that readers will see his perfection, worth, magnificence, and beauty as they study his triune nature, infinite attributes, and wondrous works. 

                     

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Tuesday
Apr162013

Theological Term of the Week

Sermon on the Mount
The title given to Jesus’ sermon recorded in Matthew 5-7.

  • From scripture:

    Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

    And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying … . (Matthew 5:1-2 ESV)

    (Read the whole sermon.)

  • From ESV Study Bible notes on Matthew 5-7:
  • This is the first of five major discourses in Matthew (chs. 5–7; 10; 13; 18–20; 24–25). Speaking to his disciples (5:1), Jesus expounds the reality of discipleship lived in the presence and power of the kingdom of God but within the everyday world. Some interpreters have thought the purpose of this sermon was to describe a moral standard so impossibly high that it is relevant only for a future millennial kingdom. Others have thought its primary purpose was to portray the absoluteness of God’s moral perfection and thereby to drive people to despair of their own righteousness, so they will trust in the imputed righteousness of Christ. Both views fail to recognize that these teachings, rightly understood, form a challenging but practical ethic that Jesus expects his followers to live by in this present age. The sermon, commonly called the “Sermon on the Mount,” is probably a summary of a longer message, but the structure is a unified whole. 
Learn more:
  1. The Bible: Matthew 5-7
  2. Got Questions.org: What is the Sermon on the Mount?
  3. Greg Herrick: A Summary of Understanding of the Sermon on the Mount
  4. Bob Deffinbaugh: The Sermon on the Mount
  5. R. W. Glenn: A Sermon on the Sermon on the Mount (audio)

Related term:

Filed under Person and Work of Christ

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

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