The *Sermon on the Mountain

The Life of Jesus Christ - Chapter 4 - Jesus, the great teacher - Part 2

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An online Bible Study course by Barrie Wetherill about the life of Jesus. This book is in EasyEnglish Level B. Use the links below for other online Bible Study books and commentaries that will help you. Or go to the Word List, which explains words with a *star.

Easy English Bible homepage | Matthew (commentary) | Mark (commentary) | Luke (commentary) | John (commentary)

Jesus went up a mountain with his *disciples. A large crowd followed them, and he taught them there. We call this ‘the *Sermon on the Mount’. (Mount is another word for mountain.) This *sermon was Jesus' most famous *sermon.

This *sermon is about the *kingdom of God. Jesus described the people who will be in the *kingdom of God. This is a wonderful *sermon. It tells us the best standard for real goodness. Nobody else could teach so well about God's standards. The behaviour that Jesus described is not natural. It is behaviour that comes from the *Holy Spirit. The words of this *sermon force us to think. We should never forget these words.

An important message for Christians

Jesus spoke these words to the *disciples. So, this sermon is especially important to Christians (Matthew 5:1, 2). At the beginning Jesus spoke about what kind of person a Christian is (Matthew 5:3-10). Then in Matthew 5:11, 12 he spoke about how other people may behave towards Christians.

All Christians should behave as Jesus describes in Matthew 5:3-10. Jesus describes different kinds of behaviour that please God. God will *bless people who behave in each of these ways. All Christians should behave like this, but none of this behaviour is natural. It all comes from God, and from the *Holy Spirit.

These words of Jesus show us a great difference. The difference is between the Christian and someone who is not a Christian. This is because the *Holy Spirit is working in a Christian's life.

[Note: the word that describes each small section from verse 3 to verse 11 is ‘*beatitude’. This means that God is very pleased. Each small section describes behaviour that pleases God. He will *bless a person who behaves like this.]