The Sermon on the Mount, the Kingdom, and the Gospel

(avg. read time: 5–10 mins.)

One of the texts most frequently commented on in the NT, and the Bible in general, is Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in Matt 5–7. The Sermon has been approached from so many angles and has such a complex history of interpretation as perhaps the major touchstone for Christian ethics in the NT that I could not even dream to interact with all of it here. But one approach that I find particularly helpful and that could prove edifying and illuminating is to look at the theological-ethical framework of the Sermon in relation to the hope of the kingdom on the one hand and the correlations to the gospel—which we have outlined previously in terms of crucifixion, resurrection, and exaltation—on the other hand. In addition to the aforementioned series on the gospel narrative, this entry will also be building on my previous post about the kingdom of heaven in Matthew. I will also not be attempting here to make the correlations of all of these teachings with either the eschatological hope of the kingdom or with the gospel narrative, as Jesus’s point here is not to show the threefold narrative dynamics of the gospel in every ethical teaching. Rather, since the gospel is the capstone of the grand narrative that provides the theological-ethical framework of the Sermon, I will be looking at texts that provide the ethical framework. That is, I will be looking at the Beatitudes, Jesus’s teaching on his fulfillment of Scripture in 5:17–20, and doing the will of the Father in 7:15–23, since these are also the texts that reference the kingdom of heaven in the Sermon.

The Beatitudes

First of all, the Beatitudes (5:3–12) identify some of the kingdom virtues. This is by no means a complete list, but it is a broadly representative one. The poor in spirit, those who are lowly and humble in the present, have the kingdom of heaven as their possession, representing a reversal of their current situation. The mourners, those who respond to the state of the world with mourning and repentance, will receive God’s promised comfort for his people. The meek, those who have surrendered themselves to God and live peaceably (in terms of shalom), will inherit the earth (i.e., when the kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven). Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness or justice (the key word could mean either)—that is, those who seek the “rightwising” of the world—will be satisfied in receiving what they longed for. The merciful—those offering compassion in action, forgiveness, healing, aid, and steadfast love, among other things—will receive what they have given others. The pure in heart, whose singularity of purpose is devotion of themselves to God, will get what they have always wanted in seeing God. The peacemakers—those who seek to embody and spread the shalom of harmony and wholeness that they have with God, who loved them and offered them peace even when they were enemies—will be called children of the God they reflect. The last two blessings go together in reference to those persecuted for the sake of Jesus—and thus of righteousness—whose possession is the kingdom of heaven.

We have already established in the previous part how “kingdom of heaven” is a reference to the eschatological hope and kingdom language is Jesus’s (and Matthew’s) most preferred way of referring to that hope. The phrase is uniquely Matthean, but it resonates with Daniel’s descriptions of the eschatological kingdom (2:44–45; 4:37; 7:13–14, 18, 22, 27). That framing alone establishes the eschatological import of the other blessings, but we can say more about these expressions of hope. The hope for God’s comfort marks the eschatological state at multiple points in Isaiah (40:1; 51:3, 12; 52:9; 61:2–3; 66:13). The promise of inheriting the earth fits with both promises of restored inheritance and with the hope for new creation (Isa 49:8; 58:13–14; 60:10–17; 61:4–6; 65:17–25; 66:22; Jer 30:3; Ezek 36:24–32; 37:24–26; 47–48; Amos 9:11–15). Justice and/or righteousness are frequently noted characteristics of the eschatological kingdom, and there are yet many more texts in which final judgment is referenced or implied (Isa 9:7; 11:4–5; 32:1, 16–17; 33:5; 42:1, 3–4; 51:4–8; 54:14; 58:6–8; 59:15–19; 61:8, 11; Jer 23:5; Dan 12:3; Hos 2:19; Zech 8:8; Mal 4:2; cf. Isa 65:13). Likewise, mercy is a frequent characteristic ascribed to the eschatological state as an expression of God’s action (Isa 33:24; 43:25; 51:3; 54:7–8, 10–15; 55:7; 60:10; 63:7, 9; Jer 30:18; 31:20, 34; 33:26; Ezek 39:25; Dan 9:9, 18; Hos 2:19, 23; 14:2–3; Mic 7:19; Zech 10:6). The promise of seeing God is nowhere a direct focus per se, but it is an implication of several promises concerning the final state (Isa 40:5; 60:19–20; 62:11; Ezek 43:6–9; Zech 8:21–23; 14:5, 9), and it also fits with the larger complex of hopes concerning the Lord’s return to Zion (Pss 50:3–4; 96:12–13; 98:8–9; Isa 4:2–5; 24:21–23; 25:6–10; 31:4–5; 35:3–6, 10; 40:3–5, 9–11; 52:7–10; 59:15–21; 60:1–3, 19–20; 62:10–11; 63:1, 3, 5, 9; 64:1; 66:12, 14–16, 18–20; Ezek 43:1–7; 48:35; Joel 3:16–21; Zeph 3:14–20; Hag 2:7, 9; Zech 1:16–17; 2:4–5, 10–12; 8; 14:1–5, 9, 16, 20–21; Mal 3:1–4). As peace is a frequently noted characteristic of the eschatological state (Isa 2:4; 9:6; 11:6–9; 32:17–18; 33:20; 52:7; 60:17; 65:25; 66:12; Jer 23:6; 30:10; 33:6, 15–16; 37:18–23; 39:26; Mic 4:3–4; 5:4; Zech 8:12; 9:10), it makes sense that those who make peace would be called God’s children, which is another affirmation confirmed by the eschatological deliverance (cf. Isa 43:1, 3, 6–7; 49:14–16; 54; 63:16; Jer 31:9, 20–22). This hope also fits with the ultimate reaffirmation of what was first declared in Exod 6:7 of the formula “You will be my people and I will be your God” (Exod 29:45–46; Lev 26:12; Deut 26:18–19; Jer 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; 31:1, 33; 32:38; Ezek 11:20; 14:11; 34:30; 36:28; 37:23, 27; Hos 1:9; 2:23, 25; Zech 8:8; 13:9).

How, then, do the Beatitudes show the narrative dynamics of the gospel? The correlation is perhaps most obvious at the beginning and end with the virtues most directly linked to the kingdom of heaven, as those who are poor in spirit in the present and are persecuted for the sake of Jesus/righteousness are those who are what they are because of their commitment to obedience, even unto death, in conformity to the crucified Jesus. The fact that their inheritance is the kingdom of heaven correlates to the exaltation, even as Jesus is said at the end of this Gospel to have all authority in heaven and on earth (28:18). The resurrection is not explicit here, but it is, of course, part of the larger theological framework of Matthew’s Gospel, particularly in the hope for vindication. The same points apply to the blessing of the meek, although the promise that they will inherit the earth is perhaps more pronouncedly indicative of resurrection, as it indicates an earthly and bodily eschatological state. We see a similar dynamic of reversal for the mourners, and since this is implicitly connected with repentance, it also resonates with “cruciformity” in its signification of self-denial for the sake of faithful obedience. Hunger and thirst for righteousness/justice signifies both a commitment to the pursuit of it, as well as an acknowledgment that the satisfaction of that hunger and thirst is beyond the scope of this present life. The correlation comes simply in the fact that the gospel events embody God’s righteousness, being the events by which he accomplishes setting the world aright; thus, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness look to these events for that pattern and for the roots of their promised satisfaction. These events also embody God’s mercy towards creation, and so those who would seek to be merciful must look to Jesus and follow him. The cruciform life embodies the purity of heart that is the single-hearted devotion to God that leads to taking up the cross and following Jesus and through which, by resurrection and exaltation, people will see God. Finally, the peacemakers are those who show themselves to be children of God because they bear his image in making reconciliation, which God accomplished through the crucifixion, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus. For these reasons, those who embody these virtues are essentially participating in the grace they have received and have an inheritance in the kingdom, the kingdom which is itself established by the events of the gospel story.

Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets

Another indirect correspondence may be implied by the crucial framing text of Matt 5:17–20, where Jesus declares that he came not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. This is crucial framing for both his ethical instruction here and for his mission more generally. Matthew regularly draws attention to Jesus fulfilling Scripture, and this culminates with the gospel events that fulfill Scripture (21:33–46; 26:54, 56). Indeed, this latter theme was included in the early gospel proclamations as well. But as the rest of the segment after v. 17 shows, this framing also affects his instructions for how people should live. Their way of life also ought to fulfill Scripture, rather than simply abandoning it and acting as if it is abolished. To know the way of righteousness, they must look to the one who fulfills Scripture by his life that led to the gospel events. The one who is incorporated into his cruciform life is the one who will be raised and exalted like he was to enter the kingdom of heaven. This teaching also frames the rest of ch. 5 (and, secondarily, the rest of the Sermon) as fulfilling instead of abolishing Scripture.

Doing the Father’s Will

Though I am primarily focused on 7:21–23 here, that text must be read in connection with 7:15–20. After all, Jesus is concerned here with false prophets, and this more generally opens up the question of how to recognize true and false followers of Jesus. What Jesus says of the prophets also applies to claimed disciples in general: by their fruits you will know them. If they bear good fruit, they are good trees. What does it mean to bear good fruit? It is not enough to claim to be a follower of Jesus, even when prophesying in his name, casting out demons in his name, and performing works of power in his name. Rather, good fruit consists of doing the will of Jesus’s Father who is in heaven (7:21). All of those condemned in this teaching could say that they did things in his name, but such things were taking his name in vain if these people were not doing what he said and thus obeying the will of the Father. The connection between doing the Father’s will and entering the kingdom of heaven fits with the entreaty of the Lord’s Prayer that connects the coming of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven with his will being done on earth as it is in heaven (6:10). As earlier, the entrance into the kingdom of heaven is implicitly tied with resurrection and exaltation (as the notion of the body being thrown into Gehenna in 5:29–30 is implicitly tied with the resurrection to condemnation), even as crucifixion is linked with faithful obedience to the Father’s will (26:39, 42). As I have noted elsewhere, this same dynamic underlies Jesus’s foundational teaching on discipleship in 16:24–28, where Jesus says, after predicting his own crucifixion and resurrection, that those who want to be his disciples must deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow him. As the crucifixion, resurrection, and exaltation accomplished the Father’s will and established the kingdom, so those who embody the pattern of cruciformity in faithful obedience to God and his commands will be conformed to Jesus’s resurrection and exaltation.