The Sermon on the Mount: Famous Teachings of Jesus

Have you ever wished you knew what God thought about a particular subject? Or how Jesus Christ would respond if he was in your situation today? The Bible might not tell us a clear right and wrong answer for every specific situation, but it does provide strong teaching to guide us in our decision-making. The Gospel of Matthew records Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, which conveys God’s heart and a kingdom perspective that provides valuable wisdom for how we live our lives and discern challenging situations still today. Join Groundwork for our series, “The Sermon on the Mount: Famous Teachings of Jesus” and we’ll examine these rich teachings that reveal God’s heart and show us how our daily lives can honor God and reflect his heavenly kingdom on earth here and now. 

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

It was common in Jesus’ day for Jewish rabbis to sit with their followers and explain or interpret the Old Testament texts. The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of rich teachings Jesus shared with his disciples, but in all likelihood, there were also crowds gathered around listening and learning from Jesus as he taught.

The Sermon on the Mount includes many of Jesus’ most famous teachings and sayings like the Beatitudes, salt of the earth/light of the world, teachings on understanding God’s law, murder, adultery, money, worry, the Lord’s Prayer, and more. Many of these teachings are also recorded in Luke 6. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus corrects false teachings perpetuated by other religious leaders of his day—these were misunderstandings of God’s Word that led to strict, rigid observance and elitism and that completely missed God’s heart. Consequently, Jesus also includes many warnings in the Sermon on the Mount, warnings meant to keep his followers focused on God, his grace, and his mercy. 

Remember

Before we dig into Jesus’ sermon, there’s an important point for us to remember. None of these teachings are about securing our salvation or living perfectly in order to achieve God’s acceptance. Jesus’ teachings share God’s kingdom perspective on our earthly realities. Jesus is teaching us what it means to live as God intended, and he’s teaching us how to be, or become, if we want to be Christ-like and have our lives reflect the kingdom of God. We would fail every time if we tried to keep these teachings perfectly on our own. No, Jesus achieved our salvation on the cross and it is because of that salvation that we can lean on the Holy Spirit to help us live God’s way instead of our own way.

Every generation faces different challenges and societal values often change over time, but in any and every cultural climate, we can discern how best to live and respond by returning to Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount to remember God’s heart and align ourselves again with his kingdom perspective. 

Study and Grow

I invite you to seek God’s heart and learn how he intended for us to live through our Groundwork series “The Sermon on the Mount: Famous Teachings of Jesus”…

• The Beatitudes: A Kingdom Perspective on People who are Blessed - Matthew 5:1-12
• Salt and Light: A Kingdom Perspective on Jesus' Followers in the World - Matthew 5:13-16
• You Have Heard it Said: Jesus Teaches Us How to Understand God's Law - Matthew 5:17-37
• The Lord's Prayer: Jesus Teaches Us How to Pray - Matthew 6:5-14 and 7:7-12
• Jesus Teaches about Money, Worry, and Judging People - Matthew 6:19-7:5
• Jesus Teaches about Entering God's Kingdom, False Prophets, and Strong Foundations - Matthew 7:13-29

...and together we’ll gain a kingdom perspective on our lives and the wisdom to discern what it means for us to reflect his kingdom in our thoughts, words, and actions today.