ConversationOnTheMount

Conversation on the Mount

Here I've pointed to the first part of the Sermon on the Mount (I haven't pasted it here, as I'm trying momentarily to be a good boy re copyright) - whenever you come here, why not interact with what Jesus is saying, and what other people have thought about it? If this works, we could look at other passages too. For example, think about adding things about

• What you think the passage/verse means;
• What practically we can do about it;
• Problems you have with the verses, or things to help with other people's problems;
• ...

Matthew 5.1-12

General Comments

• This is the start of a big teaching session by Jesus. Some people have called it his manifesto - it turns the tables on a lot of religious thinking at the time. How does it challenge you?

• Some people have wondered how this relates to Luke 6, where Jesus preaches at a level place - is it a contradiction that here it's a mountain? In fact, if you go to the traditional site of this sermon in Israel, it's a plateau, so there's no need to suppose there's a paradox.

Also, like any preacher, Jesus probably repeated bits of his favourite subjects many times - so it wouldn't be a surprise if they were two different occasions with similar preaching.

• ...

Comments on particular verses

Matthew 5.1

He sees the crowds - presumably he wants to teach them. It only mentions his disciples gathering around here, but in Matthew 7.28 it's clear that the crowds were there too.

Matthew 5.2

Matthew 5.3

• What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
  • Humble? Realising you haven't got spirituality sorted out?

I love this verse. It's easily the most encouraging thing (for me) that Jesus said. I hope it means what it seems to say - that those like me who find it really hard to "feel" God and who don't have many supernatural "spiritual" experiences will finally get what they long for when they go to heaven. Finally I will be able to be sure I am with God and not worry about whether I'm good enough.

That would be cool if it did mean that - have never been very sure what it meant.

Matthew 5.4

What is outrageous here is the idea that it's a blessing to mourn - I'm comfortable and happy in the belief that God will comfort those who mourn, but it's hard to see how mourning in itself could be a blessing. How does this fit with parts of the Bible about being joyful?

It depends how you take 'Blessed are those who mourn' - I don't understand it to mean 'It's good in itself to mourn', but 'Although you're mourning, you are fortunate because you will be comforted'. On the other hand, I think there is an idea here that those who mourn are in the right (it's in the same position as being poor in spirit, or being a peacemaker) - perhaps J is pointing out that Christians are going to have a rough time?

Matthew 5.5

For they will inherit the earth... if that's alright with everyone else ;)

Seriously, what does it mean to be meek?

Humble? Putting others first? Servant-hearted? These are such different priorities to the way the world normally looks at things - Jesus is being very radical here. How do you think he would reply to: "What - are you saying I should be a doormat?"

Matthew 5.6

At first this sounds like I just want to ignore it as it doesn't apply to me. But then I think about it again and I think hang on, I do hunger and thirst for righteousness - I do want to be good - why else would I feel so bad about everything I do wrong? Jesus doesn't say "blessed are the righteous" - he says you should be happy if you want to do right (even if you often fail) because you will get what you want. I can't wait!

Now that is just very cool.

Matthew 5.7

Not entirely being sure what merciful is - can you explain please???

Can we think of practical ways to be merciful?

• When someone takes more credit than they should for something at work, not to let that sour your relationship with them.

• When someone doesn't do the work they've promised to do, to be patient with them.

Matthew 5.8

Purity... I certainly don't feel holy. I need a lot of forgiveness and changing...

Ok - how can we be pure in heart when basically we sin all the time and all that kind of thing?

I sin all the time, as you say, and need God's forgiveness every day. But I still hold out hope that God is changing me... I don't think we should give up hope of becoming better. I can see some real growing holiness particularly in some of the older Christians I know, so I'm not despairing just yet that I'll always be this bad...

Matthew 5.9

• What does it mean to be a peacemaker, especially at the moment re Iraq? Should we never support war?

I think we should certainly be on the slow side to support war. With Iraq, have we really run out of diplomatic options? I personally don't think so. How can we be peacemakers in this context? Write to our MPs?

Does it only refer to really big situations like that? Or does it mean in little ways too - like with conflict between individuals?

Very good point. How can we be peacemakers 'locally'?

Matthew 5.10

Do you think you've ever been persecuted because of righteousness? What kinds of things would this mean for us? I'm not sure I've been persecuted... life has been a bit more awkward occasionally - like if you decide to do things above board and no-one else does. But I don't think that counts as persecution, really.

Should we be worried if we are not being persecuted, as it were?

• I think sometimes God gives us periods of non-persecution, which we should be relieved about. But I'm sure that there are some situations in which we should be worried about not being persecuted - for instance, I hardly ever point out that I'm a Christian, so it's no surprise that I'm not persecuted... but that's not a very good reason for not being persecuted!

I don't think you should necessarily expect to be persecuted a lot of the time. I've met people who get worried when they're not being because they think they must therefore be doing something wrong which I don't really agree with. But I think it's a lot easier here than in countries where you can die if you say you're a Christian.

Matthew 5.11

Very appealing, the whole being insulted thing. But for me, insults aren't usually related to God in any way - they seem to be about other things. Unless they come from Christians.

Matthew 5.12

If we're being sneered at, we shouldn't despair (actual rejoicing is hard, eh?) - God will reward us in heaven. We're not alone - many NT and OT believers have faced this sort of thing.

Is comfort some of the time to know that others went through what we go through (and a lot of the time, worse stuff than I do) but sometimes don't find that helpful at all - sometimes it's kind of like well it was all very well for them but how does that help me right here right now? Which is probably a very wrong attitude!

• I agree with you - just saying 'Oh they went through much worse' might not help, and could even be guilt-inducing. I find it useful to actually look at some of the examples of people being persecuted in the Bible - then I pick up some things about how to cope. (eg David's Psalms can be seen as one big attempt to cope with opposition - I sometimes find them very comforting.)