Structure in the Sermon

The Sermon on the Mount ends with a contrast between a house built on a rock and a house built on the sand. This point is the conclusion. Jesus had been addressing stability all along in the Sermon on the Mount; the end is fitting to the whole. What is not easily apparent is the structure of the whole. A pattern of three points addressing a particular issue can be seen; this pattern is helpful to understand how parts of the Sermon on the Mount relate to each other. Seeing that seeking His kingdom is related to fasting helps us understand how to do what He is teaching.

The pattern of three points follows a particular order. The first point addresses the work of the Father in the heart. The second point addresses the work of the Spirit in the body. The third point addresses the work of the Son in the soul. The overall structure of the Sermon on the Mount is Father, Spirit, Son, then Father, Spirit, Son, and then keeps repeating for a total of five times. The overall structure ends with the one point about the house on a rock.

The first part of Matthew 6 addressed three spiritual disciples; each discipline directed at a separate point. The last part of Matthew 6 addressed the effect of these disciplines in us, again using the pattern of three points. The first part of Matthew 7 addressed the challenges of these disciplines, again using the pattern of the three points.

The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 (the word beatitude is from a Latin word for blessing). The Beatitudes give a perspective on what God is doing in our heart. He is bringing a blessing through His work in us. The Father gives good things.

Following the Beatitudes are the passages about salt and light. These passages are about our place in this world. We are salt; we are light. These passages imply that we have been changed. This is what the Spirit does in our body; work of the Spirit results in a bodily change.

After this, Jesus taught about Himself, and entering the kingdom of heaven. He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; He came to fulfill. The righteousness of the Law is more than the outward observances; the kingdom of heaven requires a greater righteousness. This is the work of the Son, to fulfill in us the intent of the Law.

Jesus began with an overview of what God in three Persons is doing. The Father is giving a blessing through life. The Spirit is changing us bodily. The Son is calling us into the kingdom of heaven. These are the first three points; God is doing these things.

The next part of the Sermon on the Mount brings in contrasts. There was no contrast to what God is doing in the first part of the Sermon on the Mount. But when Jesus began explaining the Law, He used contrast to help make it clear. Jesus repeatedly contrasted what men had interpreted the Law to mean, with what fulfills the intent of the Law. Each of the six pieces follows this pattern. But Jesus also gave the pieces in pairs, to illustrate complementary aspects in what He taught.

The first pair is about murder and adultery. The fulfillment of the Law is that we hold no anger against our brother, and that we have hold no lust for a woman. Both concern what is in our heart; the Father judges both.

The second pair is about divorce and vows. The fulfillment of the Law is that we keep our covenant with our wife, and that we make no oaths. Both concern outward sin; the Spirit in hindered by both.

The third pair is about justice and neighbors. The fulfillment of the Law is to entrust justice to God and to accept men as neighbors in the eyes of God. Both concern our soul; the Son calls us to be sons of our Father who is in heaven.

The second part of Matthew 5 is again a set of three points addressing what we are to do. The set of three points, beginning in Matthew 6 on the spiritual disciplines, gives us how we are to do this. The set of three points, beginning in the middle of Matthew 6 tells us why we are to do this. The set of three points beginning in Matthew 7 tells us the problems in doing this. These five sets of three points lead to the conclusion that the word of the Lord is the rock to build our life on.

Jesus based this teaching on Psalm 18. This psalm of David is about the struggles of a man with his enemies. Jesus understood that it is about the kingdom of God; the struggles are spiritual struggles. The process within Psalm 18 reflects the order that Jesus used in His teaching.

The psalm begins with David praising God who is his rock; the psalm begins with David saying that he is blessed. David has been given a place to grow. This is how the Sermon on the Mount begins: God gives blessing, a place to grow.

David described where he had been; he was overcome. But in his distress, he called on the Lord. The Lord came down and delivered him. This is the picture that underlies the Beatitudes. We are not blessed because we are poor; we are blessed because in our poverty we have cried out. We are blessed because the kingdom of God has come near to us.

David described being brought to a broad place; he was set free. We have also been set free; we are examples of deliverance. We are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world.

David related deliverance to righteousness, to keeping the ways of the Lord. David repeatedly brings up reward and recompense. This is what Jesus builds on in the Sermon on the Mount. Righteousness is significant; actions have consequences. The Law reflects the heart of the Father. It is in His eyes that we find reward.

David then turned to the character of God. To the kind, He shows Himself kind. David lists three things, and then gives the contrast. To the crooked, He shows Himself crooked. This is what Jesus builds the three spiritual disciplines on. This is what He also uses to say that the hypocrites receive nothing from God.

David told of God saving an afflicted people, but humbling the proud. Jesus spoke of the treasures that direct our heart.

David told of God lighting his lamp, and giving his body great strength. Jesus spoke of a lamp shining in the body.

David told of a refuge in God. David told of God making his way blameless. Jesus spoke of seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.

David told of how God in His gentleness had made him great. He had made him sure-footed; He had trained him. He had given him a shield; He had upheld him. Jesus spoke of keeping the gentleness of God upon us; we should not judge lest we lose the gentleness of God.

David told of how God enlarged his steps, how God gave him victory over his enemies as he pursued them. Jesus spoke of the prayer of pursuit: asking, seeking, knocking. David's battle became a picture of prayer.

David told of how God had given him opportunity to establish his kingdom in war, and how his enemies pretended obedience to him. Jesus spoke of a small gate, and a difficult way that leads to life. Jesus also spoke of those who pretend obedience to God.

David then concluded with praise for his rock. "The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock". David expressed again that it was the Lord who gave him victory over his enemies, and establishs his kingdom. Jesus concluded with the picture of a house built on a rock, which withstood the storms that burst against it.

Jesus translated the language of a prophecy written by David into a message of the kingdom of God. Jesus taught with an authority that their teachers did not have, and yet He was teaching from the same Book. The structure of the Sermon on the Mount came from Psalm 18, but the message was of the kingdom of God. Jesus was sent to preach the kingdom; He had an anointing to do it.

"The Spirit of Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To bring good news..." Isaiah 61:1