THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

Luther: It is beyond understanding how through his apostles the wicked devil has managed so cleverly to twist and pervert expecially the fifth chapter, making it teach the exact opposite of what it means. Christ here deliberately wanted to oppose all false teaching and to open up the true meaning of God’s commandments, as He emphasizes when He says: “I have not come to abolish the Law.” He takes it up piece by piece and makes it completely clear. (LW 21:3)


Read Matthew 5:1-2.Where did Jesus preach this sermon?

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When did Jesus latuer refer to the openness of his preaching?

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Luther:The office of the ministry and the Word of God are supposed to shine forth like the sun. We should not go around sneaking and plotting in the dark, to make it perfectly plain that both preacher and hearer are sure about the propriety of the teaching and the legitimacy of the office. You have no right to teach outside your own household and to force yourself upon other households or upon your neighbors.


How was Jesus’ teaching different from the teachers of the day?

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How should preachers learn from this?

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Are there any good examples of preachers in the Bible, besides Jesus?

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The Beatitudes


What kind of a Savior were the Jews hoping for?

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Therefore, what kind of a religion did the Jews teach?

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How is this like the “religion” of America?

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Robert Schuller: The most serious sin is the one that causes me to say, "I am unworthy. I may have no claim to divine sonship if you examine me at my worst. For once a person believes he is an `unworthy sinner', it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ.(Schuller 98)


Jesus needed to overthrow this delusion at the outset and tear it out of their hearts. So he preaches against the Jews and the successful minded preachers of today, with a fine, sweet, and friendly beginning for His instruction and preaching -


Read vs. 3-4. Who is blessed in God’s eyes?

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What does it take to be spiritually poor?

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Evaluate: Jane didn’t like the idea of starting a worship service out with a depressing “confession of sins.” Her attitude of worship was that it should always be joyful and they always should sing joyful songs.


A or D: If you haven’t cried over your sins, you’re not a Christian.


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What are some good examples of people who lived for pleasure and are now weeping?

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Paul said in Philippians 4:4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!Isn’t that a contradiction to what Jesus is saying here?

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Luther: Having riches is not sinful, nor is it forbidden. So also being joyful, eating and drinking well, is not sinful or damnable. A man is said to “mourn and be sorrowful” - not if his head is always drooping and his face is always sour and never smiling; but if he doesn’t depend upon having a good time and living it up, the way the world does. No man can stand continual mourning. As the wise man says (Ecclus 30:25): “Sadness has killed many people.” Therefore we should not neglect this but should command and urge such people to have a good time once in a while if possible, or at least to temper their sorrow and forget it for a while. Thus Christ doesn’t want to urge continual mourning and sorrow. He wants to warn against those who seek to escape all mourning and to have nothing but fun and all their comfort here. (LW 21:19)


How was David a good example of this Paul?

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Read vs. 5.What does it mean to be “meek?”

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How can a football player or a police officer be meek?

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What does Jesus mean by “inherit the earth”?

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Luther:If you want to do right and have rest, let your neighbor’s malice and viciousness smother and burn itself out. Otherwise you can do nothing more pleasing to the devil or more harmful to yourself than to lose your temper and make a racket.

Do you have a government? Then register a complaint, and let it see to it. The government has the charge not to permit the harsh oppression of the innocent. God will also overrule so that His Word and ordinance may abide and you may inherit the land according to this promise. (LW 21:25)


Read vs. 6. What kind of righteousness can this not be?

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Why not?

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In what two ways can we hunger and thirst for righteousness?

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Read vs. 7.Mercy could be defined as caring for the frail and weak. How would this apply to everyday life?

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How could this apply spiritually?

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When will the merciful receive mercy?

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Luther: Think of the rich man in Luke 16; daily he saw poor Lazarus lying before his door full of sores, yet he did not have enough mercy to give him a bundle of straw or to grant him the crumbs under his table. But look how terribly he was requited; in hell he would gladly have given a hundred thousand guldens for the privilege of boasting that he had given him even a thread. (LW 21:32)


Read vs. 8.How would this have been difficult for the Jews to swallow? What was their version of purity?

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Jesus was getting to the “heart” of the matter, as he did in these passages - Matthew 23:25 25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Matthew 23:27 27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.

Water doesn’t make our hearts pure.What does?

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Ephesians 5:25-26Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.


Luther: If a poor housemaid does her duty and is a Christian in addition, then before God in heaven she is a lovely and pure beauty, on that all the angels admire and love to look at. On the other hand, if the most austere Carthusian fasts and whips himself to death, if he does nothing but weep out of sheer devotion, if he never gives the world a thought, and yet lacks faith in Christ and love for his neighbor, he is nothing but a stench and a pollution, inwardly and outwardly, so that both God and the angels find him abhorrent and disgusting. So you see that everything depends on the Word of God. (LW 21:35)


How do we “see God” already?

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Read vs. 9. This is only talking about war.In what other situations can we be peacemakers?

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How could you be a peacemaker at work? Within the home? At school?What if someone is destined to start a “war” with you? What can you do? answer

Luther: Even though a woman may be full of faults and have no other virtue, she is still a creature of God. At least she can carry water and wash clothes. There is no person on earth so bad that he does not have something about him that is praiseworthy. Why is it then, that we leave the good things out of sight and feast our eyes on the unclean things? It is as though we enjoyed only looking at - if you will pardon the expression - a man’s behind, while God himself has covered the unpresentable parts of the body and has given them “greater honor.” We are so filthy that we only look for what is dirty and stinking, and wallow in it like pigs. (LW 21:42) I once heard of a case where a married couple lived together in such love and harmony (could this be true?) that it was the talk of the whole town. When the devil was unable to undermine this in any other way, he sent an old hag to the wife, to tell her that her husband was having an affair with another women and planned to kill her. Thus she embittered the wife against her husband and advised her to hide a knife on her person in order to beat him to it. When the hag had done this, she went to the husband and told him the same, that his wife planned to murder him; and as proof of it, she said, he would find a knife next to her in bed at night. He found it, and he cut her head off with it. Fact or fiction, it shows what wicked and poisonous mouths can do, even to people who love each other deeply. So learn to put the best interpretation on what you hear about your neighbor, or even to conceal it, so that you may establish and preserve peace and harmony.


How does Christ do this for us?

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If Luther believed in keeping the peace, why did he attack the pope so viciously?

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So far we have been treating almost all the elements of a Christian’s way of life and the spiritual fruits under these two headings: first, that in his own person he is poor, troubled, miserable, needy and hungry; second that in relation to others he is a useful, kind, merciful, and peacable man, who does nothing but good works. Now He adds the last: how he fares in all this. P,>Read vs. 10-12. What happens to the peacemakers and poor, troubled, Christians?

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What kind of suffering is this?

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1 Peter 4:15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.

Why would Jesus tell us this?

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Luther: Otherwise this would look outwardly like a troubling and unhappy situation, and it wears us down to be sitting constantly amid danger to life and property. But when faith takes over, we can lift ourselves up above this and think: “Nevertheless Christ has said that I am blessed and well off. Because He has said so, I let it be my comfort and pleasure. The Word will make my heart great, yes, greater than heaven and earth. (LW 21:46)


Will God reward us for suffering for him? Does the Bible talk about a “works religion”? What’s going on here?

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