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17. The Sermon on the
Mount.
Once when many people
were gathered around Jesus, he went up a mountain with his disciples and
taught the people and gave them exhortations to godliness.
The following are some sayings on godliness from Jesus' discourse,
teachings of the kingdom of heaven, living water springing up into
eternal life:
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
I tell you not to swear.
Let your speech be yea, yea, nay, nay: whatsoever is above these is evil.
Love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray
for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be
the children of your Father which is in heaven. For he causes his sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on
the unrighteous. Therefore be ye perfect, even as your Father which is
in heaven is perfect. If you forgive men their faults, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust
devour, and where thieves dig and steal. But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is,
there is your heart.
Look at the birds of the air! They do not sow, they do not reap; they do
not gather into the barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Look
at the flowers of the field, how they grow! They do not labour, nor do
they spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of
them. How much more will God take care of you, O you of little faith!
Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you.
Judge not, lest ye be judged. For with what judgement you judge, you
will be judged; and with what measure you measure, it will be measured
to you.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks
finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Whatever you want people to do to you, you do to them. This is the law
and the prophets. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter
the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father in heaven.
Jesus, who loved his family and his people so much, also gave his
contemporaries other exhortations and teachings of wisdom on this
occasion, in which one must remember the circumstances of the time. In
those days, the poor found no justice and no protection before the
judge's bench. Indeed, he often exposed himself to the greatest dangers
and maltreatment if he only dared to complain, especially against a
pagan before the pagan court. Jesus warns his listeners: ‘If anyone
wants to go with you for your coat, let him have your cloak as well; or
if he wants to force you to go with him for a mile, go with him for two;
or whoever strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the left also!’
This means: ‘Better put up with all injustice before you go before the
judge.’
But not everything that Jesus says to his contemporaries applies to all
people and all times. Although meekness, forbearance with honour and
prudence are to be recommended in all times, and many a person who would
not allow himself to bear an injustice due to quarrelsomeness,
selfishness or the desire for revenge has plunged into the greatest
misfortune as a result.
There is a grain of gold in all that Jesus said for those who seek and
recognise it.
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