The Sermon on the Mount: An Introduction
By Peter Amsterdam
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The Sermon on the Mount is one of the best known of Jesus’ teachings. While it doesn’t cover the full spectrum of His message, it provides guidance on how to live as Christians within God’s kingdom. The importance of understanding these teachings and applying them in our lives is seen in the closing words of the Sermon:
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:24–27).
The Sermon addresses the character of believers, describing the kind of people we are meant to be, and the attitudes of heart and spirit we are to possess. Jesus’ words are the map that shows how those who live in the reign of God and the awareness of His presence in their lives are meant to journey through this life. Jesus proclaims as blessed those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the merciful, and the peacemakers. Likewise, those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness” and “those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” are blessed, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3–10).
The Sermon (as well as the other teachings of Jesus) teaches that everyone who follows Jesus is to take on a new perspective, a different attitude and outlook, than the one they had before entering the kingdom of God. It teaches us to focus on the things which are important to God and to adjust our thinking, perspectives, goals, and worldview to be in alignment with Him and His will. Jesus teaches us to not lay up treasures for ourselves in this world, but to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19–24). This causes us to adjust our attitude toward money and possessions, how we relate to and interact with others, and much more.
Jesus teaches us in the Sermon to not be anxious about our lives but to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and trust that the rest will be added to us (Matthew 6:25–34). As people who build our lives on the foundation of Jesus’ teachings, our center, our focus, the foundation of our lives, is God. And when it is, then He through His Spirit and Word changes us. The Sermon on the Mount contains teachings that are meant to be guiding principles in our interaction with God and others. They are foundation stones to living Christlikeness. Understanding and living these principles provides us with a compass to navigate the challenges of this life, while keeping us heading true north.
Some scholars consider that the Sermon is a collection of many separate sayings of Jesus compiled into one discourse or sermon, and that Jesus never taught these principles in one setting. Others disagree, and believe that Jesus did teach these things as a sermon or a talk to a specific gathering. As an itinerant teacher, Jesus could have sometimes taught the Sermon as a whole, sometimes in sections, and sometimes as individual points. Itinerant preachers would typically preach and teach the same things many times over in different settings. They may not preach the exact same sermon over and over, but teach portions of it depending on the time, the place, the audience, etc.
We’re told that Jesus went to cities all throughout Galilee, as well as to some of the surrounding Gentile areas. His message about the arrival of the kingdom of God was His key theme and undoubtedly He spoke of it time and again. It is likely that the points presented in the Sermon were also repeated many times over. This would make it fairly easy for His disciples to recall Jesus’ sayings later, if not word for word, at least in a manner that was conceptually accurate.
There are two versions of the Sermon: the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3–7:27), which contains 107 verses, and the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20–49), which has 30 verses. The term “the Sermon on the Mount” is the title that Augustine gave to his commentary on Matthew 5–7, written somewhere between AD 392–396, though it wasn’t generally referred to as the Sermon on the Mount until the sixteenth century.1
The setting of the mountain is taken from the first verse of Matthew chapter 5, which says: “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them” (Matthew 5:1–2). The inference is that the Sermon was given only to His disciples. However, at the end of the Sermon, Matthew reports that “when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28–29).
Most commentators explain that the crowds were people interested in Jesus’ teaching and His miracles, and that while Jesus was speaking to His disciples, the crowds were also present and heard what He said. The setting was most likely somewhere in the hill country of Galilee, and since just prior to the Sermon Jesus is recorded as healing the diseases of many (Matthew 4:23–25), it’s probable that the “mountain” was a hilly area, as the diseased and those in pain wouldn’t have been able to climb up a mountain to hear Him.
Luke’s Gospel tells us that Jesus went out to a mountain and spent the night in prayer. The following morning He called His disciples together and chose the twelve whom He named apostles. Afterwards He came down from the mountain to a level place, with a great crowd of His disciples, and spoke to a multitude of people who had come to hear Him and be healed. He then spoke to His disciples in the presence of the crowd (Luke 6:12–20). In more modern times this version has been called “the Sermon on the Plain,” since Jesus “stood on a level place” (Luke 6:17).
Some commentators point out that since there are two accounts that refer to Jesus specifically teaching similar things in the presence of crowds, this makes a case that the Sermon was a historical event. In any case, the fact that many of Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon are also articulated throughout other New Testament writings makes it clear that whether He taught them in a specific setting or preached them at different times, they are His teachings. That’s what matters.
The Sermon is important for Christians because it speaks of the transformed behavior of those who have entered the kingdom and who follow Jesus. It speaks of what the Christian’s character and conduct should look like in relation to God and our fellow human beings; of the influence we are called to be on others for good; of the righteousness we are asked to embrace in relationship to God’s law; of the devotion we are meant to have for God; of our desire to glorify God; of our relationships with others in light of our relationship with God; and of our commitment to do what Jesus taught.2
The Sermon teaches the principles of how our lives can truly reflect God, how His image can be seen within and through us. It tells us the means by which we can begin to live now in the manner that we will live fully in eternity. It shows us how to develop inner spiritual habits which will align our beings with God’s kingdom. We begin to live them now, and will carry on living them in the final kingdom.
As we understand and apply the words of Jesus, the principles He lays out in the Sermon on the Mount (and elsewhere within the Gospels), our lives are progressively transformed. We become more Christlike, in closer alignment with God’s character, and a better reflection of His nature and attributes. In short, we live our Christianity.
Originally published August 2015. Adapted and republished March 2025. Read by Reuben Ruchevsky.
1 G. N. Stanton (1992), “Sermon on the Mount/Plain.” In J. B. Green and S. McKnight (eds.), Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 736.
2 John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1978), 24–25.
