On Earth as It Is in Heaven
Sermon on the Mount
3 chapters filled with phrases that are very well-known in our culture
Phrases
- Love your neighbor as yourself
- Do to others what you would have them do to you
- You are the salt of the earth
- You can’t serve both God and money
- Take the plank out of your eye before you take the speck out of another’s
- If anyone strikes you on the cheek, turn and offer him the other cheek
- Love your enemy and bless those who persecute you
- If your hand causes you to sin, cut it… off
References
- Mark 12:31
- Matthew 7:12
- Matthew 5:13
- Matthew 6:24
- Matthew 7:5
- Matthew 5:39
- Matthew 5:44
- Matthew 5:30
Meditation
Sermon on the mount is chiastic
3 main parts to the Sermon on the Mount The middle part has 3 parts Each of those parts has 3 parts
Climax
The center of the chiasm is a famous prayer
“Our Father in Heaven, may your name be treated as holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”9
- Matthew 6:9-10
Jewishness
God's kingdom was to be ushered into the world by his creation, but Genesis 3,6,10 tell us that humans choose wrong when we define good and bad by ourselves. Yahweh chose Abraham and built up Israel as a second attempt of sorts to bring the his Kingdom to earth but the HB is filled with the story of how they mostly failed.
NT time is where Jesus reveals the Kingdom to Jews who are oppressed by Roman Empire and he reveals this to exactly the oppressed audience - "Blessed are the poor in spirit"