Welcome!
This summer we’re taking a close look at the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7. Rather than be understood as a single sermon delivered by Jesus, it is helpful to think of the Sermon on the Mount as a distillation of Jesus’ teachings, pulled together by the writer of Matthew’s gospel for a late first century (80-100 CE) Christian community. Here, in 3 short chapters, we find what a group of first century Christians felt was the core of Jesus’ teachings.
In Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount comes near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has called four disciples and has been making his way through Galilee. Along the way he has taught in the synagogues, healed the sick, and proclaimed the good news of the God’s kingdom.
Now, Jesus heads up the mountain; his disciples in tow. He sits down and begins to teach them.
For the next couple of weeks we’ll look at the beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12. This link has two versions of the passage; one from the English Standard Version and the second from Eugene Peterson’s The Message. Take some time this week and read through them. Perhaps even read them out loud to yourself. Compare multiple versions with each other.
What stands out in the text for you?
Are these words comforting? disturbing?
What questions come to your mind as you read the passage?
June 11, 2008 at 8:21 pm
“What stands out in the text for you?”
*The words in The Message calling the disciples Jesus’ “apprenticed” and “the committed” jump out to me. I appreciate the image of being able to be an apprentice or on-the-job trainee of Jesus rather than my needing to be an experienced and pre-qualified craftsperson who is already supposed to know what to do!
*The differences between the translation and the paraphrase also stand out.
“Are these words comforting? disturbing?”
*I found the paraphrase comforting, most likely because it is more easy to relate to in today’s context (for me), and I feel like I fit into those words somewhere!
*And yet, the words are somewhat disturbing in that Jesus’ “blessed are’s,” are complete flip-flops of the conventional wisdom of the time, and make me wonder — do we take them to heart now as much, more, or less than the “committed apprentices” did then?